Stewardship Follow-Up After the Ask: Running Your Diocese's Phone Script Without Enough Volunteers

What is stewardship follow-up after the ask?

Stewardship follow-up is the contact a parish makes with households that didn't respond to the stewardship appeal: after the letters, after Commitment Sunday, before the budget is set. It is not an extra that a vendor invented. Dioceses treat it as part of the campaign itself.

• The Episcopal Diocese of Washington gives it a section of its giving toolkit: following up after the ask.
• The Anglican Diocese of Southwark covers "how to follow up with people who may not have engaged with your campaign yet."
• The Catholic Diocese of Charleston publishes a "Stewardship Renewal Telephone Follow-Up" script as standard equipment in its Renewal Toolkit.

What does the diocesan telephone script actually say?

Charleston's template is short, warm and built around one idea: a fellow parishioner is calling.

• The opening line: "Hello, Mr., Mrs. or Ms. _____. My name is _____. I am a member of the parish and I have donated some of my time to the stewardship effort" (Diocese of Charleston).
• It picks up where the mail left off, referring to "the mailings from the parish in the last couple of weeks about stewardship."
• It takes the pressure off: "No one will call them to task if they fail to live up to their commitment."
• It is a commitment call, not a collection call. It asks households to take part, and never mentions an amount owed.

Why do most parishes never run the phone script?

• It needs volunteers, and they are scarce. The diocese says so itself: "If the parish is not able to recruit volunteers from the parish, the diocese will help find lay witnesses from other parishes."
• Coordinating callers is real work: a phone bank means "coordinating dozens of people, training them on scripts, managing shifts, and hoping enough show up" (RoboTalker).
• The timing is the worst of the year: late October to December, alongside Advent, Christmas and year-end.
• So follow-up falls back to paper and email. Charleston runs a four-letter mailed sequence across the year, and the Episcopal process escalates to email.
• After the fourth letter, nothing happens. The households that ignored the mail are the ones the script was written for, and nobody calls them.

What can an automated call honestly do, and what can't it?

The line to draw is the first sentence of the script. An automated call cannot truthfully say "I am a member of the parish," and it never should. Everything else is open.

• It can call on behalf of the parish, and say who asked it to call: your pastor and stewardship committee.
• It can leave a voicemail in a voice people know, recorded by your pastor or stewardship chair.
• It can text the commitment card so a household can respond in a minute.
• It can answer practical questions: how to give online, when the campaign ends, who to talk to.
• It can sort the list for your volunteers: who responded, who wants a person, who is going through a hard time, who never answered.

How do automated calls and parish volunteers work together?

1. The letters go out as usual, from the parish and the diocese.
2. An automated first pass reaches every household that didn't respond: a call on behalf of the parish, a voicemail in your pastor's voice if nobody answers, then a text with the commitment card.
3. Each morning the office gets one list: responded online, will respond, wants to talk to someone, going through a hard time, no answer after three tries.
4. Volunteers get a short list, not the whole directory: households who asked for a person, long-time members who have gone quiet, and anyone who never answered.
5. Clergy get the pastoral needs the same day: grief, illness, hardship.
6. A last text before Advent reaches households that are still open.

For example, a parish with 400 households that didn't respond to the letters might end up with a few dozen that genuinely need a fellow parishioner. Those are the calls your volunteers make.

What should the automated call say instead of the peer line?

• Who is calling, honestly: "Hello, this is St. Mary's parish, calling on behalf of Father Joseph and our stewardship committee."
• The same bridge from the mail: "You'll have seen our letters about stewardship over the last few weeks."
• The easy step: "Would it help if I texted you the commitment card?"
• The door to a person: "If you'd like a parishioner or Father Joseph to call you, I can arrange that."
• The same reassurance the diocese uses: nobody will be called to task, and no amount is ever mentioned.
• Your parish's own words: parish, church or congregation, stewardship or giving, whatever your people say.

Which households still need a fellow parishioner?

• Long-time members who have stopped giving: a conversation with someone they know means more than any script.
• Households new to the parish: a welcome from a parishioner is part of joining.
• Anyone who asked for a person: the call arranges it, and a volunteer follows up.
• Members who never answered three tries: a volunteer may know them, or know why.
• Households going through a hard year: these go to clergy first, not to a volunteer list.

What should the morning list show your stewardship committee?

The list is what turns an automated first pass into less work for volunteers, not more. Each morning it sorts households by what they need next:

• Responded online: recorded, nothing more to do.
• Will respond on Sunday: a reminder text on Saturday.
• Would like a parishioner to call: goes to the volunteer list with a note of what they asked.
• Would like the pastor: goes to your clergy by name.
• Going through a hard time: the ask stops, and the note goes privately to clergy.
• No answer after three tries: goes to a volunteer who may know the household.
• Moved, wrong number or remove me: records fixed the same day.

How do you measure stewardship follow-up?

• Commitments received after the letters, against the same weeks last year.
• Volunteer calls needed, compared with the size of the directory they would otherwise have worked.
• Households reconnected, including long-time members who had gone quiet.
• Pastoral needs found, and how quickly a person followed up.
• Records corrected before next year's mailing.

Diocesan letters vs. volunteers vs. an automated first pass

Here is what each approach covers in the weeks after the ask.

Is it appropriate for a parish to follow up about giving by phone?

The traditions that write stewardship guidance say yes, with one clear boundary.

• Asking again is sanctioned: an Episcopal diocese says "it is OK to ask again," and a Methodist-affiliated seminary advises "even if you need to contact people repeatedly, avoid shaming."
• It is pastoral work: the Presbyterian Foundation calls stewardship "a pastoral care opportunity," and an Episcopal diocese notes that "part of knowing parishioners is knowing their financial struggles."
• The boundary: the guidance is about asking for a commitment. None of it prescribes phoning about an amount already owed, and Charleston's script explicitly says no one will be called to task. A follow-up call should never sound like collections.

When should stewardship follow-up happen?

• Late October to December: the weeks after Commitment Sunday are the calling window.
• Before Advent, which begins 29 November 2026: finish the first pass so the parish can plan its budget.
• December: year-end reminders for households completing a gift in the tax year.
• Early to mid March 2027: the same thread works for Easter invitations, with Easter on 28 March.
• Summer 2027: plan next year's follow-up before the autumn appeal starts.

What does it cost, and what does it save?

• Congregation campaigns run on the $60/month plan and up, with outbound calling and 220 minutes included, then $0.20 a minute.
• The market anchor: broadcast calling for churches is sold at "$50-200/month" for small and medium parishes (RoboTalker).
• The real saving is volunteer hours: your callers work a short list of households that need them, instead of the whole directory.
• Measure by result: commitments received, households reconnected and pastoral needs found, not calls placed.

What should the parish set up first?

A summary of public regulatory material, not legal advice. Talk to TCPA counsel before your first campaign.

• Consent on your forms: AI and prerecorded voice are both regulated under the TCPA (FCC 24-17), and mobiles need consent. Add one line to the commitment card and membership form.
• A registered texting number: carriers have blocked unregistered business texting since 1 December 2024.
• Your pastor's voicemail, recorded once, in a minute.
• Your parish list, connected for you from Planning Center, Breeze, Pushpay, Tithely or Realm during setup.
• Named handoffs: who takes pastoral needs, who coordinates the volunteers, who answers giving questions.

For the follow-up plan right after Commitment Sunday, see Commitment Sunday: How to Follow Up With Every Household After the Pledge Cards Come In. To see the calls, voicemails and texts for a parish, visit the churches page.