Heart Havens Endowment Campaign

We’ve been busy at Heart Havens preparing for the opening of our 12^th home in Ashland, VA.  Five adults will be moving into their new home in a few weeks.  Their lives will change, as well as the lives of their families.  As with all that we do at Heart Havens, our success is directly related to the support of the United Methodist Men across Virginia.  Thank you for your commitment. 

There are two separate items I’d like to bring to your attention:  Heart Havens Endowment and Heart Havens Month in February.  We want to eliminate any confusion that the two projects are linked.  Heart Havens month has always been an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for the general operating expenses of Heart Havens.  The Virginia Conference allows us to make that ask in churches during the month of February.  The Endowment will provide ongoing support for larger maintenance issues as our home age; we do not expect you to speak of the Endowment Online Campaign during Heart Havens month. 

Heart Havens Month

We are asking you to communicate the Heart Havens’ mission at your own church and throughout the district.  Ask your pastor if you could have at least 5 minutes to share your mission project.  Speak from the heart and tell your neighbors why Heart Havens and the people we support are important to you.   Heart Havens sent materials to the Mission/Lay leaders at your churches.  Once you’ve scheduled a date, contact Heart Havens with your date and church.  If you need additional materials or help, call Pat or Kiki at the Heart Havens office (804 237 6097). 

Heart Havens Endowment Online Campaign

At the October UMM Cabinet meeting, you voted to support our plans for a $1,000,000 Endowment to support the ongoing maintenance needs of our existing homes.  At that meeting, the Portsmouth UMM made a generous donation of $25,000 to kick-off the campaign.  At this time, we need to move forward with our plans for an online fundraising campaign.  This campaign will revolve around friends asking friends; contacting your friends and business contacts via email in support of Heart Havens.  We plan to structure the campaign around churches, schools, businesses and organizations forming teams, with each team committing to a fundraising goal.  All communication and donations will be handled on a secure Heart Havens website, with individuals having the opportunity to compete for incentive prizes and bragging rights.

Here’s what we need to get started:

• Steering Committee of 5-7 people who are comfortable with computers and want to help Heart Havens (we can meet via phone conferences and/or webinars…so minimum travel).  This committee will develop our communication plan, work on our website and recruit district leads. 
• Lead contacts of 2 or more people for each district.  These folks will help to spread the word in their district, recruit team members for the district team and recruit businesses and organizations to form their own team.

Groups with far smaller numbers than the United Methodist Men have been very successful raising over $100,000.  They’ve done this with a small group of dedicated volunteers.  To make this happen, we need volunteers.  We need you.  Please prayerfully consider how you can help Heart Havens safeguard the future of the homes and people who live there.

Following the Virginia Conference UMM meeting on Feb 5^th, we will have a short meeting to discuss the Endowment and the online campaign plans.

Thank you, 

Pat Maehr                                                                   Bob Tate
Director of Development                                            Board Chair
Heart Havens, Inc.                                                      Heart Havens, Inc.