Think Spring!

We’re celebrating the first day of Spring with our next newsletter delivered to the printer, our Annual Report information sent to our graphic designer, and the Resource Shop at our St Louis Center gratefully receiving over $2,700 worth of baby supplies and equipment donated this week by the Women’s Group of Central Presbyterian Church!

Enthusiasm continues to build for the Run&Walk 4 Life with well over $5,000 raised to date! Three youth groups have signed up this week to participate and 15 new fundraising pages have been set up by event participants. We now have over 58 active fundraising page – is one of them yours?? If not, here’s the link http://www.firstgiving.com/thrive.

We continue to contact individual donors, especially those who typically give in the Spring, visiting with them about our mission and determining what particular areas of our ministry they are most interested in supporting.

Our Spring Cleaning includes tidying up our database and we’re starting with churches, contacting them with the information we have on file to secure corrections and updates. You can help us stay current with your home congregation by mailing Chris Blassingame a copy of the weekly bulletin – or just the contacts section - once every quarter.

April is just around the corner. We’ll be featured and Mark Dungan will be speaking at Bonhomme Presbyterian as part of their Faith in Action series. All month long, Bonhomme congregants will collect and donate diapers, baby wipes and personal care products for our Resource Shops!

Enjoy Easter!

Identifying Prospective Donors

A visit with any of our program managers will identify dramatic needs and projects that merit attention. Almost without exception, what impedes critical needs and worthwhile projects is the lack of funding. And the quest for funding, as you all know, is led by Development.

Although we have made progress during the past year, there is much more that must be accomplished. One of our immediate goals is to maintain a steady inflow of donor prospects to help increase the number of regular supporters and replace donors lost to natural attrition.

Churches are one place to find prospective donors, so Erin is charged with building and strengthening church relations and she has worked feverishly during the past several months to do just that! We have been invited to speak, to provide mission materials and bulletin inserts, or to participate in mission fairs for more churches in the past three months than we have in the previous nine months combined. And, we're recruiting new volunteers and receiving more in-kind donations from churches, too.

Erin's contact with churches has been targeted to promote involvement in the Run&Walk 4 Life 2008 and as of today, we have 50% of the number of registrations and 20% of the total income raised during the 2007 Walk event!

If you have questions about our church relations program, or would like to request information or a speaker for your congregation, please call Erin at 314-783-3040 ext 224 or send an email to eherwig@thrivestlouis.org.

Another avenue through which we are introduced to prospective donors is by referral from existing donors. We strive to maintain clear and consistent communication with our regular donors to keep them aware of our programs, our progress, and opportunities for further funding. We invite them to bring friends for tours of our City center to introduce them to our mission.

Donors and potential donors are most moved by hearing how their contributions help individual people. We can show people where we counsel clients or show them the ultrasound room, but it makes a far greater impact when we present a true-life and compelling story to illustrate a human need. Please help us keep that 'story bank' full by sharing your successes, challenges and prayer requests with us by email to me at thunter@thrivestlouis.org or call 314-783-3040 ext 225.

Speaking of prayer requests, this one is for Angie Davis. Her story is chronicled at http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/ where she wrote "We are not praying because we believe that God will heal our Audrey. We don't know that He will. We are praising Him because He can."

Truly He can.

Pennies from Heaven

It's a happy day in the Development Department - we received an additional allocation of $20,000 in tax credits, which will leverage $40,000 in gifts! Yippee!!!

As you may know, ThriVe participates in two Missouri State Tax Credit programs through which the State of Missouri allows individuals and businesses to claim a state income tax credit equal to fifty percent of their donations to our organization.

And you may also be aware that there are a limited number of tax credits available, with allocation dictated by the State of Missouri annual budget. We market these credits aggressively as a tool to attract new donors and to encourage existing donors to increase the amount of their gifts.

Since this is the season when taxes are on all our minds, please keep tax credits in mind, too. If you or someone you know may benefit from a state tax credit, we can help. Give me a call at 314-783-3040 ext 225, or check out the additional information is available on our website, if you would like to know more. Just cut and paste the following link into your browser -

http://thrivestlouis.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=51&Itemid=48

And join us in giving thanks for 2,000,000 pennies from Heaven!

Silent Auction Sneak Peek...

Regardless of how you choose to spend your leisure time, the Spring Fling silent auction has offerings to entice.

Planning a family outing? We have passes to Six Flags (any of the 21 parks!), Raging Rivers Waterpark, Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis, Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri History Museum, Museum of Transportation, and the Sachs Butterfly House...

Spectator sports? Look for St. Louis Cardinals baseball and Rivercity Rage indoor football tickets...

Are you a Culture Vulture? You'll find opportunities to attend performances at the Sheldon Concert Hall, or of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Stages St. Louis...

Teeing up for some spring golf? Check out our rounds of golf at various area courses...

Something more personal? You'll find romance packages, spa services and plenty of other indulgences...

Make plans to attend - invite your friends - and bid early and often! It's all for a GREAT cause!