The Annual Appeal is the campaign Hancock conducts every fall to solicit giving commitments for the coming calendar year. It is separate from the current Capital Campaign, which is funding capital improvements to the church. The Annual Appeal funds Hancock’s everyday expenses: staff salaries, building maintenance, electricity, printing, etc.
A pledge is your estimate of what you or your family plan to give to Hancock in the coming calendar year. We ask every member of our Hancock community to pledge – it reflects our mutual covenant to build a strong, vital church together, and it’s how, as a community, we estimate our anticipated annual income and thereby construct a thoughtful budget for the coming year.
This year we are asking everyone to pledge as soon as they are ready, and no later than November 23rd. You can make your pledge using our online form or by filling out and returning the pledge card you should have received in the mail.
Life holds surprises for all of us. Your pledge is just your current good faith estimate and is not legally binding. If you find it necessary to change your pledge during the year, just notify Suzie Barry.
Pledges of all sizes are welcome. Only you can decide what’s appropriate for your family. We don’t want you to pledge more than you can afford or feel good about. We do ask that you prayerfully consider what you can do to help sustain this church and community for all the good it accomplishes for you, your family, our church community, and others we help.
Among the 116 pledges we received for 2025, we had 17 under $1,000 and 20 that were $10,000 or more. The average pledge was $5,770, and the median $3,600.
As a congregational church, we are entirely dependent on ourselves for our income; we do not receive any support from the denomination. We receive some income from building rentals and from endowment and special gifts made previously, but the large majority of our annual income, and therefore what we can accomplish together, is provided by the Annual Appeal.
There are many ways to fulfill your pledge, from gifts by cash, check, bank transfer or credit card, to gifts of stocks, IRA’s, property, and other assets. Check out our Ways to Give page for more details. Your gifts may entitle you to state and/or federal tax benefits.
Hancock Church respects and values the confidential nature of your pledging decisions. Only three people have access to the records of individual pledges: our Senior Minister, Director of Operations, and Treasurer.
The Giving Committee has access to pledge numbers and the names of those who have pledged, but not the amounts individuals have pledged. Members of the Giving Committee have signed Confidentiality Agreements that prohibit them from sharing this information with anyone not otherwise authorized by the church, and are required to return all such information to the church when leaving the committee.