The year 2007 was our second full year of enrollment in Thrivents GivingPlus program. This is the program which allows members of Thrivent to have their donation to WMPL supplemented by Thrivent Financial.
The program has been a tremendous blessing for hundreds of Lutheran charities across the nation. It has been a blessing for the Prayer League as well. In 2007 Thrivent had $27.5 million available to give away, and gave away almost all of it. The amount targeted in 2008 is again set at $27.5 million.
For our part, we received $45,800 through this program. This was an increase of 16% over the previous year in spite of the fact that Thrivent tightened restrictions on how donors could participate. Until 2007 any member of Thrivent could participate in the program. Beginning last year only individuals who own Thrivent Mutual Fund accounts or Thrivent Life Insurance Company products were eligible. In spite of the changes, 222 Prayer League donors participated up from 190 in 2006.
We hope to build participation in this supplemental gift program during the year 2008. If you participated last year you will receive a thank you letter with another gift form enclosed sometime soon. If you have not participated in the past please consider doing so this year. This is a simple way to stretch your donation a little bit further. All you need to do is complete the GivingPlus Gift Form and send it to WMPL. Thrivent will then supplement your gift by $1 for every $2 that you contribute, up to a maximum of $300 for the year.
You can learn more about the program on the web at <https://wmpl.org>. Click on the Business Office tab at the top of the page, and then on the Matching Gift Form and Information box on the navigation bar on the left side of the page. You will find more information about the program as well as a link to the member gift form necessary to apply for matching gifts. Member gift forms should be submitted to WMPL for processing and not to Thrivent.
You can also contact me for more information or to request a member gift form. Give me a call at <612-871-6843> or drop me a line at <jdahl@wmpl.org>.