Giving

2023 Annual Giving Commitment

Our 2023 finance campaign is 95% of the way to our goal at this time. This year’s theme is “Reconnect, Renew, and Reach Out.” Our financial gifts make possible the ministries to change lives, transform communities, and renew the church. John Wesley urged us to “earn all you can and save all you can so that you can give all you can.”

A strong and active church allows us to serve others well! Our church is always there for us as well through our children and youth ministries, inspirational music programs, dedicated staff, and most of all, our finest traditions of relishing the glory of God in our lives.

As the church, we are the heart, spirit, and hands of God’s love — and we are putting love into action. As the Finance Committee works on the 2023 church budget requirements, be aware that estimates show we will need a 4% increase in pledges.

We are very grateful for your continued generosity. A special thank you to all who already turned in your pledge cards. Every pledge and every gift, great or small, helps our church maintain our programs, staff, worship, educational and mission opportunities, and historic building.

Giving Opportunities

We encourage all to give online. If you plan to give regularly this year (weekly, monthly, or quarterly), we encourage you to use the recurring giving option.

You can also give using your phone. Download the Vanco Faith app, the church's electronic giving program or give by texting 630.812.7062.

Questions? Need assistance?

For more information about online giving, visit dgfumc.org/giving or for questions or assistance contact Carolyn Donnelly at 630.968.7120, x208 or carolyn@dgfumc.org.

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Reconnecting Our Ministries - 2022 Annual Giving Commitment

We Need Your Help to Reconnect Our Ministries!
Our church continues to build momentum as we come out of the pandemic. While our church finances have remained stable, operating revenues are behind budget $15,000. Thank you for your continued generous support!

Please mail or email carolyn@dgfumc.org your commitments to our church and any questions you may have, to reaffirm our shared mission. We look forward to sharing in this commitment with you in the coming year.

About Reconnecting Our Ministries

Dear Friends,

As we reconnect as a church after the pandemic, we need to fully fund our activities. We operate with an annual operating budget of approximately $900,000. This covers all the costs of operating the church — ministries, missions, music, staff, and property. Much of the budget is allocated to ministries and property, which enables us to continue to enjoy the programs that make us who we are.

For the past several years, we have had an annual shortfall in that budget, and this trend continues in 2022 with an estimated $66,000 gap. A number of elements contribute to this, including changes for members such as moving away, losing employment, passing away, or simply not reconnecting yet. Income from commuter parking fees and building rental has also significantly decreased during the pandemic.

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2022 Annual Giving Commitment

Thank you for your gifts to God through Downers Grove First United Methodist Church in 2021! Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our church has remained faithful with recurring gifts that have made all of our programs, ministries, missions, and community connections impacted by the world possible and viable. Thanks to your contributions in the name of God, our church and community have been Growing Our Gifts for New Life Together in vibrant new ways. Our church has gone through so many changes, yet our core values of Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors (in person and online) remain constant.

This October, we explored our membership vows of presence, prayer, service, gifts, and witness. On Commitment Sunday (October 24) we celebrate the exciting opportunities for the church as we stream forward with new technologies that we can utilize now and in the future.

Christ is always with us, and our church is always there for us as well. Our youth ministries, inspirational music programs, dedicated staff, and most of all, our finest traditions of relishing the glory of God in our lives, are still there but look a little different.

The activities of our church require a large financial investment for our beautiful, but old, church building, the spiritual leaders of our youth and music programs, and our mission work. By making this investment, you commit to the success of the church’s overall mission of enriching the spiritual lives of the congregation and the community. Every gift, no matter how big or small, furthers that mission and helps bring the message of Jesus to the world striving to provide full inclusion recognizing our strengths and our diversity.

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Check Free Giving

Cancelled check If you don’t like to write checks or keep forgetting to bring your envelopes to church on Sunday, there is another way to maintain your giving to the church.

You can make your tithe/pledge/offering directly to the church through a direct debit to your checking/savings account. The advantages to you are that you won’t have to write checks, you will never get behind on your pledge due to vacations, etc. The advantages to the church are an improved cash flow especially during the summer!

If you are interested in this program, please download the ACH Debit form from the link below and fill it out with your banking information (most of which comes from the bottom of one of your checks). Fill out the necessary dollar information and include a voided check.

Direct debits will only be made MONTHLY to your account. (Sorry can’t do weekly!)

If you have any questions, regarding this program, please contact Carolyn Donnelly (630-968-7120 x 208).

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Endowments

With your help, the Board of Gifts and Bequests will seek to ensure the church's endowed funds remain a vital force for the church and its congregation for generations to come. A well-funded endowment will not only provide security, but help to fund programs and outreach that would otherwise not be possible. We encourage you to consider how your special gift can allow our congregation to reach beyond what is possible in our general operating budget.

Read more about Endowments

Office Hours

9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday

The building doors are locked at all times. Please call first to ensure that a staff member will be available.

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God, as known to us in Jesus Christ, welcomes all.

We welcome people of any race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, social or economic status, employment status, or life situation; including people with physical or mental illness or disability.

We practice loving acceptance of each person and respectful discussion
of our differences.

Affiliated to Reconciling Ministries Network

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Downers Grove First United Methodist Church (DGFUMC) operates under the Employer Identification Number 36-2212709. DGFUMC is an affiliated organization covered by the United Methodist Church Group Ruling of the Council on Finance and Administration of the United Methodist Church's 501(c)(3) federal tax exempt status.

You can be confident that your transactions are secure. Our online giving portal meets the recommended standards for security. It is PCI-DSS compliant and encrypted through a 256 bit SSL.