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WHY WE NEED COMMITMENTS FOR GIVING TO GO LOVE TELL

Every Dawson member is being asked to make a commitment for their expected giving over the next five years to Go Love Tell.  Commitments should be turned in to Dawson by May 31.  They can be mailed to the church or placed in the offering plate at any service.  On May 31, there will be a time in each worship service for everyone to turn in their commitments if they have not already done so.

Historically, many Dawson members choose to not make a commitment for their expected giving but they do give.  Up until now, that has not been a real problem but for Go Love Tell it is totally different.

In the annual fall emphasis, we ask members to make commitments in November for their expected giving for the next year.  However, the budget is approved a month before commitments are made so commitments have no bearing on our spending plans. Only the actual giving impacts our spending.  We track giving during the year and adjust spending if needed. 

For building campaigns, we asked members to make a commitment for their giving over either three or four years but we have never received commitments for the full cost of the building and we borrowed the money.  Giving always exceeded commitments and we paid the remaining debt from the budget.

What is different for Go Love Tell is that we will not borrow any money and we will not pay any of the cost from the budget. 

We will not start a project if we do not have commitments from our members to give the money needed for the first five years of the project.  We do not have to have the money in hand before we start, just the commitments to give the money. 

Your commitment is your best estimate of what you can give over five years.  As has been true in every building campaign and for every year's budget giving, some people have financial changes during the time for which they made the commitment and they cannot give all they committed to give.  However, others have positive changes and are able to give more, so that it balances out.  Therefore, when we have commitments for the amount needed, we are comfortable starting the project. 

Therefore we must have every member of Dawson turn in a commitment card stating their expected five year giving to Go Love Tell.  We must get the full $5.1 million committed so that we can do everything God has called us to do.  We need the commitment cards turned in by May 31 so that we can move ahead as quickly as possible with the five projects. 

Please pray for God's direction about how much you should give to Go Love Tell over the next five years.  Then take the important step of turning in a commitment card with what you expect to give.