What is the Thank Offering?

The Thank Offering is a PW offering collected in the fall of each year that gives women a tangible way to express their gratitude for the special blessings in their lives. The offering funds projects such as agricultural development, child care, community organization, criminal justice, drug counseling, economic justice, elderly care, employment training, homelessness, literacy, violence and women’s concerns. At least 40 percent of this offering supports health ministries throughout the world. The remaining 60 percent funds new creative ideas for mission.

PW in the Congregations typically collect the Thank Offering in the fall and dedicate their offerings at fall gatherings. No giving guidelines are suggested other than “give as you are blessed.” PWCs who collect the Offering should send their donation (as a check made payable to Treasurer of Presbyterian Women) with a PW Remittance Form to the treasurer of PW in the Presbytery. Email Presbyterian Women to find out the name and address of your PWP treasurer.

Individuals may also donate online.

History of the Thank Offering

The PW Thank Offering originated in the late 1800s with Eliza Clokey of Springfield, Ohio. Her plan was to ask each woman to give a gift in addition to her usual contribution to the Women’s General Missionary Society of the United Presbyterian Church of North America as a “thank offering to our Lord.” In 1888, the women designated a day for prayer and thanksgiving when this special offering should be received. These sacrificial gifts, it is said, saved the worldwide missionary movement of their denomination. Though the thrust of how and where the money was used changed over the years, the “thank offering to her Lord” continued to be an important part of United Presbyterian Women’s giving.

Present and Past Grant Recipients

2008 Grant Recipients

The Creative Ministries Offering Committee of Presbyterian Women has approved grants totaling $516,239.50 from the 2007 Thank Offering of Presbyterian Women. Twenty-eight projects were chosen from 139 proposals; 13 projects are in the United States and 15 are international. Learn about these projects (including their mission/purpose statements) and what your donation will provide.

2007 Grant Recipients

2006 Grant Recipients

The Creative Ministries Offering Committee of Presbyterian Women met in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2006 and approved grants totaling $860,686 from the 2005 Thank Offering. A committee of five members from the Churchwide Coordinating Team of Presbyterian Women and one representative from each of the General Assembly Council’s three ministry divisions — Congregational, National and Worldwide — made the selections. This year the committee chose 47 out of 108 proposals to receive Thank Offering grants. Of the 47 projects chosen, 26 projects are in the United States and 21 are international. Learn about these projects (including their mission/purpose statements) and what your donation will provide.

2005 Grant Recipients

The Creative Ministries Offering Committee approved grants totaling $834,535 from the 2004 Thank Offering. The committee chose 44 out of 158 proposals to receive Thank Offering grants. Of these, 23 projects are in the United States and 21 projects are overseas. Learn about these projects (including their mission/purpose statements) and what your donation will provide.

Thank Offering Grant Process

Thank Offering grants range from $5,000 to $50,000. Grant requests come from a variety of sources, such as PC(USA) governing bodies, health agencies, overseas churches, ecumenical councils, community groups, educational institutions and church related groups. Projects must meet the criteria established by Presbyterian Women.

Download a Thank Offering grant application.
Download a Thank Offering grant application in Microsoft Word format.

Applications for grants must be postmarked by September 15. The Creative Ministries Offering Committee of Presbyterian Women meets in the spring to review applications and make selections. Projects will be notified in April and will receive 70 percent of the funds in May; upon receipt of the Interim Report by September 1, the remaining 30 percent will be released by December 1.

Thank Offering Resources

Order or download the promotional materials and other resources such as bulletin inserts and covers, placemats and posters to help you celebrate the Thank Offering.

Questions?

Email Presbyterian Women. For more information, see the July/August issue of Horizons each year.

— Files marked with this icon can be downloaded in printable Adobe Acrobat format. This file requires the free Acrobat Reader. For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select "save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.