Giving

Why Give to Ferry Beach?
Ferry Beach is more than just a conference center, a facility that offers workshops and retreats. Ferry Beach is about building community. It’s about living UU values. Ferry Beach is where people come together, not only to pursue interests, but to be spiritually fed, to find peace, to come home. Each one of us has a responsibility to secure the future of our beloved Beach.

By supporting Ferry Beach, you are joining with generations of men, women and children whose lives have been shaped by their experiences here. You are giving back to an organization that has given so much.

Ferry Beach has evolved into a substantial non-profit organization with 32 acres of ocean front property and 17 buildings.

The annual budget is over $900,000 with a year-round staff of five, summer staff of 50, and many thousands of supporters and volunteers who constitute the backbone of the organization. Over 7,000 people enjoy Ferry Beach every year!

It is our goal to cover the costs of annual operations from operating revenues, and raise additional funds from other sources to pay for major maintenance projects and for new buildings. Now you know why you need to give to Ferry Beach!

There are several ways to give:

1. Membership

Ferry Beach is an intentional community built by its members. From its creation in 1901, Ferry Beach has served the diverse spiritual and personal needs of its membership respectfully and responsibly. As a dependable, responsible non-profit organization run by an elected Board of Directors and professional staff, members of Ferry Beach play a critical role in its ongoing success.

Annual Membership
By becoming a Member of Ferry Beach Park Association, you affirm that Ferry Beach is important to you. You support the wonderful programs and ongoing mission of Ferry Beach. Membership also has its perks:

• Voting privileges at the Annual Meeting held during Labor Day Weekend, allowing adult members (over 18) to help shape the future of Ferry Beach.
• Early registration—the first 3 weeks of registration—will be open exclusively to members, thus giving members the first choice of rooms and campsites.

• Use of the facilities and beach all summer long.
• Discount vacation packages during slower summer conference weeks.
• The rewarding feeling of helping to support and sustain a place that nourishes us.

Annual membership is available for individuals ($50) and families ($95).

2008 Annual Membership Brochure and Form (click to view/ print)

Life Membership
Life Membership offers a deep sense of connection, belonging and commitment - a commitment to the future of Ferry Beach and all its members. By becoming a Life Member, you become a steward of Ferry Beach, its values and future.

In addition to the benefits of Annual Membership, Life Members receive the thanks and recognition of the Ferry Beach community in several ways:

• Listing on a plaque in the Quillen Lobby.
• Distinctive “Life Member” listing on conference nametags.
• Invitation to an annual banquet held each fall in honor of Life Members.

Life Memberships cost $1,000 and may be purchased for oneself, or as a gift for someone you love. You may direct your life membership dues toward general operations, a specific capital project, or the Endowment Fund. Payment plans are available.

2. Annual Stewardship Pledge Campaign

Contributions and pledges can be made at anytime. With your help, we must raise approximately $85,000 support our programs and plan for the future.

Each year, we ask our members and friends to help us sow the seeds that will allow Ferry Beach to grow and flourish. We ask everyone who has been touched by the magic of Ferry Beach to give generously to our Annual Stewardship Pledge Campaign - to support the life-changing spiritual and educational programs and mission of Ferry Beach.

Ferry Beach is committed to providing exceptional educational, spiritual and recreational experiences to its members, Unitarian Universalists and the wider community. It is critical that our programs are affordable for as many people as possible, but it is equally important that we cover annual operational costs. To charge what we need to be profitable annually would preclude many from attending our summer conferences and church retreat weekends. If we are to thrive for decades to come, we need to do more than break-even. We need to plan for the future. We need to build a reserve fund for routine maintenance, facility upgrades, proper staffing and unforeseen problems.

We also need to continue developing inspirational programming that strengthens our communities and renews the spirit. Generous annual pledges help us accomplish all of these objectives.

Is Ferry Beach one of your spiritual homes? Does it support your Unitarian Universalist values and renew your spirit? Do you love Ferry Beach? If so, please take the time to look through the information provided and reflect on the spiritual and educational value that Ferry Beach has contributed to your life. Then fill out the pledge form and mail it back to us anytime. Your heartfelt generosity will ensure that the unique spiritual community we call Ferry Beach will continue to thrive for all of us and those who will follow us. We change people's lives.

2008 Annual Stewardship Pledge Card (click to view/ print)

2008 Annual Stewardship Pledge Campaign Brochure (click to view/ print)

3. Capital Giving

Each year, Ferry Beach raises funds for specific capital projects. In past years, these projects have included building handicapped accessible ramps, walkways and bathrooms; upgrading the washrooms in the Grove; re-visioning the playgrounds through renovation and new equipment; building a new multi-purpose court for tennis, basketball and everything else our children, both young and old, can dream up; renovating the cabins used by the chaplains and ministers of the week; and creating the GAYLA Theatre in Rowland Hall. In many cases, specific conferences champion an individual project, but we always have several ongoing projects that need financial support.

If you are interested in knowing what projects Ferry Beach is working on, please call Craig Lentz, Executive Director, for details.

4. Ferry Beach Endowment Fund

The Memorial Garden
Our new Memorial Garden in the Grove is almost three years old. What began as a means of honoring the memory of Ferry Beachers who have died and increasing our endowment has blossomed into a place more beautiful than any of us could have imagined. It is truly a living memorial to generations of Ferry Beachers and a tribute to all who debated, collaborated, compromised, and finally, pulled together to make this dream a reality. If you would like to have the names of your loved ones inscribed on a stone paver lining the paths, simply donate $500 for one name, or $1,000 for two names to the Ferry Beach Endowment Fund. To have a name inscribed on the upright markers, donate $2,500. You may also contribute $5,000 to the Endowment Fund and have a granite bench dedicated to your loved ones. All donations to the Memorial Garden, from plants and trees to memorial markers and benches have contributed to the spiritual beauty of our new garden of memory.

The Garden has been well used for strolling through or pausing in respectful and contemplative silence. It is vital to support the integrity of the original design and neither add to nor subtract from that which is already in place. At present the Garden presents a combination of original growth and carefully selected native plants. Its leafy shade and varieties of plant textures and shades of green are a testimony to our landscapers' talents.

Maintenance and improvements are constantly carried out by our devoted staff and volunteers. Although the overall design is established, more planting is needed and drainage and other stewardship of the land remain ongoing.

Continuing care must be provided for by donations. Gifts of plants or money are welcome. Craig Lentz, Executive Director, should be consulted about specific items needed and about how to add the name of your loved one to the landscape of the Garden.

Quillen Shinn Society
The Quillen Shinn society is an association of caring individuals who have provided a legacy of hope in their wills or estate plans for the future of the Ferry Beach Park Association.

When you give a gift of caring through your will or estate plan, you help endow the future of Ferry Beach and enhance the financial ability of Ferry Beach to sustain itself. Your gift, invested in the endowment, will produce a perpetual stream of income. You may direct where and how your gift will be used or you may make an unrestricted gift that would allow the Board of Directors to use it where it is most needed.

What will I receive as a member?

• Annual member recognition reception
• The knowledge that my action will encourage others to follow.
• Helpful information on estate and charitable gift planning
• A certificate of appreciation
• Other special recognitions from time to time

To learn more about becoming a member of the Quillen Shinn Society, contact Craig Lentz, Executive Director at fbcraig@maine.rr.com.

Quillen Shinn Society Brochure (click to view/ print)