The bottom line is that people give the most money where they are the most involved. Strangers don’t give a great deal of money. Friends do. Our goal as nonprofits must be to seek INVOLVEMENT as well as dollars. OWNERSHIP as well as donations. We must rely on the on-going and increasing support of friends.

Effective asking doesn’t make your prospects feel like they are being “beat up” for money every five minutes. Effective asking creates ownership, involvement and on-going support. Recognize that donors hate to be sold to, and that fundraisers and donors must be on the same side of the table.

Fundraising is entirely inseparable from the cause and donors are shareholders in our cause. It is as much theirs as it is ours.

Fundraising is ultimately an exchange; you have something the donor wants and the donor has something you want. When the exchange is made, it is magic for all involved. After all, doesn’t every parent have a need to see their children maintain Hindu values?

Although it can be anxiety producing to ask for money the first few times you do it, it is thrilling to get a commitment from a major donor. The most effective way to raise the most amount of funds from people is also the oldest way. Asking for it. Although there is no quick fix” in fundraising, it is easy to say “no” to a letter or a phone call. It is hard to say no to your face!

5 Pointers on Fundraising

1. Our real competitors are not other charities, but the less tangible adversaries of distrust, uncertainty, fear of criticism, inertia, and confusion.

2. Present a positive picture; your donors are betting on a winner. Donors like to contribute to strong agencies with a solid future. (This is especially important when presenting the financial information.) “We need your help getting this project off the ground. This Temple will be solid and will serve our community for several hundred years.”

3. You and the donor are on the same side of the table. We are a team working together for a common interest – “We have the vision. You have the resources. Together we will …”

4. The bottom line for the donor is – What’s in it for me. How will the donor benefit? A sense of community. Keeping their children interested in the culture. The feelings of peace and solace that come from visiting the Temple. Feelings of magnanimity.

5. Be proud of your cause and your organization. Remember you are not begging. Your organization is contributing a valuable service to the community.

WHAT KEEPS US FROM ASKING?

Now, the time has come. The potential donor is willing to see you. You head for the door and STOP COLD! “What keeps us from going? What keeps us from asking for money?”

The response almost always will be “FEAR OF REJECTION”

What does it feel like? Rotten. Is it permanent? We hope not. Does it happen often? You bet.

Some requests will result in rejection. So what? Rejection is a way to find out how the donor can become more involved in the future. Many rejections turn into positive responses in the future – after we learn how we best can involve the prospects. If you get to have a face to face discussion with a prospect to talk about your agency, you are ninety percent there! If the prospect cannot donate at this time, they almost always will tell you why and you may learn what you need to know to turn the rejection into an acceptance in the future!

Remember, you may “lose them in the wash,” but you’ll “get them in the rinse!”
“What Keeps Us from Asking” from How to Ask for Money without Fainting by Susan M. Scribner.

• 60 percent of an organization’s income comes from 10 percent of the donors;

• 15 – 25 Percent of the income comes from 20 percent of the donors;

• the remaining 15 – 25 percent comes from 70 percent of the donors.

In other words, the vast majority of of the gifts you get will be small, but the majority of the income will be from a few big donations.

 

 

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Donors are shareholders in our cause. It is as much theirs as it is ours. Explain that the Temple does not have a need; our congregations do. Two words you must remove from your vocabulary forever are “we need!” Donors don’t give US money. They give the money to all of those who benefit from the Temple.

 

Recommended Resources

Grassroots Fundraising has many excellent books about fundraising and publishes The Grassroots Fundraising Journal.
www.grassrootsfundraising.org

The Grantsmanship Centerin Los Angleles is an excellent resource for information and training on Management, Proposal Writing/Grantseeking, Foundation/Corporate Funding, Government Funding, Fundraising, Nonprofit Business Ventures, Internet Issues, Consulting, Nonprofit Law, and International Funding. They offer a free magazine subscription to staff members of nonprofit organizations and you may access articles from recent issues. www.tgci.com

This report is presented to promote the development of Hindu Temples in America by improving their level of managerial professionalism, including the selection and compensation of specialized staff members. This report recommends that temple boards of directors study and adopt the methods used by established religious institutions that have developed a reputation for professionalism, strategic management and long-term growth including Christian Churches and Jewish Synagogues.

Board members and staff are the “face” of the organization. How they conduct their duties is of great importance to the long-term health of the religious organization. Poorly managed Hindu Temples not only undermine their own long-term growth, but also undermind the cause of Hindu dharma throughout the world. Every Hindu Temple must develop a management standard that avoids these problems at all costs.

This report is therefore written to benefit both sides of the management/labor issue: namely the board of directors that are charged with the responsibility to run the religious organizations, and the staff who are expected to adhere to professional levels of performance.

In the United States, over 90% of the clergy in all major religions are college graduates with almost 60% holding masters degrees or higher. Priests are trained not only in ritual and language but management, counseling, and theology. In general a priest in the American religious community is not only a respected member of society but also a learned practitioner of that religious tradition. A priest is genuinely spiritual and feels that his or her ordination is a “calling from God.” The priest serves the community as a first priority. The priest is an dedicated worker who goes above and beyond the call of duty. In the Christian and Jewish traditions the typical priest or rabbi is seen as a tireless preacher, teacher, minister, counselor, fundraiser and administrator. Nothing less should be expected of a Hindu priest.

While most of the priest’s salaries in this report are much higher than those presently being offered in Hindu temples, temple managers must realize that if they wish to operate their religious institution on a professional level, they must be prepared to hire qualified priests and management staff. This means that priest salaries must be high enough to provide not only a viable living, but also a reasonable standard to attract quality individuals. The positive side is that quality priests and management staff members will ultimately increase contributions to the temple. Qualified priests and other staff provide the organization with a reputation for being conscientious and professional.

Many donors demand a high level of performance. They are impatient with sloth and amateurism. They will support only those organizations that consistently produce results . Therefore, the real competitors to any mandir are not other religious institutions, but the less tangible adversaries of distrust, criticism, inertia, lack of cleanliness, and confusion.

Staff Job Descriptions and Salary Ranges 

The salary ranges in this report are based on The 2001 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff by Church Law & Tax Report. This handbook is a data survey from over 2,000 United States religious institutions including Christian Churches, Jewish Synagogues. The survey information was obtained between January, 2000 and April, 2000. Comparisons were made regarding church attendance, income, and setting, and priests’ gender, education and years employed.

The survey did not take into account differences in the cost of living from one part of the country to another. For example, Riverside California, a mid-size city near Los Angeles, has a cost of living that is 10.60% higher than the national average for general workers and 28.03% higher for executive workers.

Items that make up the salary averages include base salary, housing, retirement (not including social security payments), life insurance, health insurance, vacations, auto allowance, and education funds (amount provided for continuing education). The average annual increase for priest’s salaries was 5-6%.

Most Hindu temples will have the following four categories of paid staff positions:

1. Senior Priest(s)
2. Assistant Priest(s)
3. Bookkeeper/Secretary
4. Custodian

1. Senior Priest

Salary
The 2000 national average salary for a 40 hour work week of a senior priest was $66,096 with 3-4 weeks vacation and an average annual increase of 5-6%. This amount represents compensation for priests who serve full-time and includes base salary, housing, retirement (not including social security payments), life insurance, health insurance, vacation, auto allowance, and education funds (amount provided for continuing education).

In 2000 approximately 85% of senior priests were married ministers with families and earned between $50,000 and $82,101. The salary of a Catholic priest who has taken a vow of celibacy and a vow of poverty (comparable to a sannyasin) averaged $29,698.

Annual Senior Priest Compensation–Averages by Education.
Over 92% were college graduates, 42% held master’s degrees and 20% held doctoral degrees.

High School $53,387

Associate 55,920

Bachelor 58,317

Masters 65,902

Doctorate 79,668

Five-Year Compensation Trend: United States National Average for Pastors
1993 $49,536
1994 50,400
1995 51,592
1996 55,027
1997 56,172
1998 59,067
1999 62,869
2000 66,096

In addition, sabbaticals are generally offered to senior priests. A sabbatical is an extended leave of absence during which a priest is allowed to pursue writing, education, or other religious related activities. Religious institutions that provide a priest with a sabbatical usually continue his compensation in whole or in part during the absence. The length of the sabbatical is based on number of years employed and dedication of the priest.

The objective behind a sabbatical is that a priest needs time to refresh himself periodically with a leave of absence for rest, introspection and spiritual growth. Commenting on the importance of the religious sabbatical one religious commentator states, “In general priests have an excessive, compulsive absorption in work, and tend to neglect their personal needs. . . . Diversity of expectations is a common factor, a priest is expected to be spiritually deep, theologically wise and fiscally clever, while being good at preaching to the young and old. Each person in the congregation expects only a limited something, but the conglomeration can be overwhelming. . . . We need to install mechanisms for preventative care and guided growth, with procedures for intervention before stress leads to burnout and crisis.” A sabbatical is one mechanism to avoid these pitfalls.

Description of duties for Senior Priests
• Performing and overseeing of daily pujas and daily operations of Mandir
• Organizing and teaching of classes including Bal Vihar, Teen classes, Adult and Senior’s classes.
• Arranging and organizing Sunday programs and other regular festivals including monthly Durga pujas and Janmasthami, etc.
• Arranging for and providing weekly pravacans (lectures).
• Greeting, teaching, and visiting various outside groups including educational, religious and civic organizations.
• Overseeing altar maintenance and cleaning.
• Counseling, including bereavement and marriage.
• Hospital visitation.
• Overseeing assistant priests and volunteers.
• Assisting in fundraising.
•Participating in special projects including construction, library development, various promotionals, etc.
•Attending management meetings.
•Creating and overseeing Mandir publications: newsletters, advertisements, yearbooks, etc.
•Public relations–meeting with newspaper reporters.
• Overseeing special events such as summer camps, variety cultural show, etc.
•On call in emergencies.

Assistant Priest

Salary
The national average of compensation in 2000 for full-time assistant priests was $51,973 with 2-3 weeks vacation and an average annual increase of 5%. This amount represents compensation for priests who serve full-time and includes base salary, housing allowance, retirement contribution, life and health insurance payments, and educational funds.

Annual Assistant Priest Compensation–Averages by Education.
In 2000 approximately 90% of Assistant Priests were college graduates, 46% held master’s degrees and 11% held doctoral degrees.

High School $42,832

Associate 45,707

Bachelor 46,433

Masters 57,353

Doctorate 60,807

Description of duties for Assistant Priest
• Performance of daily pujas
• Greeting visitors.
• Maintaining and cleaning of altars.
• Murti-shringar
• Decorating for special festivals.
• Maintanence of altar supplies and altar storage facilities
• Opening and closing Mandir.
• Hospital visitation
• Outside pujas, including weddings and funerals, etc.
• Counseling, including bereavement and marriage (if qualified)
• Assisting in teaching classes
• On call in emergencies.

Book keeper/Secretary

Salary
The national 2000 average for compensation paid to full-time bookkeepers was $27,992. Most part-time bookkeepers worked about 19-29 hours per week and earned an average of $10.52 to 12.09 per hour. With the example Riverside 10.6% cost of living increase that would make the salary $30,959.

Full-time secretaries earned $21,965. Most part-time secretaries worked over 30 hours per week and earned an average of $8.15 to 12.22 per hour. With the example Riverside 10.6% cost of living increase that would make the salary $24,293.

A secretary should be knowledgeable in all necessary computer skills including word processing, accounting, database and simple page layout applications.

Description of Secretarial duties
• Entering financial data
• Answering the telephone
• Organizing the office
• Filing
• Purchasing of office and custodial supplies
• Organizing fund-raising mailers and other promotionals
• Preparing minutes to meetings
• Mailing/faxing announcements for meetings
• Assisting senior priest in various management duties such as correspondence, insurance, real estate and legal issues
• Paying routine bills
• Preparing thank you notes to donors
• Preparing routine flyers and advertisements
• Maintaining mailing lists.
• Printing address labels.
• Maintaining library catalog .
• Preparing sustaining membership mailer
• Public relations: notify newspapers of upcoming events and preparation of press releases, etc.

Custodians

Custodians includes cleaning staff, handyperson, and security and parking attendant. Each of these positions could be filled by separate individuals or one person. If one person filled all of these duties then the position would be full-time. If each position was fill separately then the positions should be considered part-time and compensated accordingly.

Salary
The national 2000 average for compensation paid to full-time custodians was $26,161. Most part-time custodians worked about 16 hours per week and earned an average of $8.74 to 10.79 per hour. With the example Riverside 10.6% cost of living increase that would make the salary $28,934.

Description of duties:

Cleaning

• General cleaning: bathrooms, kitchen, carpets, floors, trash, siderooms, etc.
• Deep cleaning: windows, cobwebs, kitchen.
Handyperson
• Small and medium maintenance including painting, changing locks, replacing light bulbs, plumbing drains, etc.
• Setup for festivals
• Setup and take down of tables, chairs and stage.
• Cleaning parking lot
• Care of lawns and flowerbeds, etc.

Security and parking attendant.

• Opening and closing Mandir.
• Directing traffic and parking during Mandir functions.

March 2001

 

 

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Board members and staff are the “face” of the organization. How they conduct their duties is of great importance to the long-term health of the religious organization. Poorly managed Hindu Temples not only undermine their own long-term growth, but also undermind the cause of Hindu dharma throughout the world.

Many donors demand a high level of performance. They are impatient with sloth and amateurism. They will support only those organizations that consistently produce results.

The real competitors to any mandir are not other religious institutions, but the less tangible adversaries of distrust, criticism, inertia, lack of cleanliness, and confusion.

 

Recommended Publications

*The Church and Clergy Tax Guide $17.95. A must for mandirs and priests. It contains complete and extensive information on all major tax issues that affect churches and clergy. Updated annually.

Compensation Handbook for Church Staff by Church Law & Tax Report. This handbook is a data survey from over 2,000 United States religious institutions including Christian Churches, Jewish Synagogues.