By Sandee Steinberg, Finance Committee Chair
Halfway through our fiscal year, we are running ahead of our estimated pledge collections and slightly below our budgeted expenses. Due to previous finance teams’ hard work and planning, we have healthy savings.
On Sunday, January 12th, our congregation voted to spend $64,000 in church savings for a short-term, part-time assistant minister. We still have $150,000 in the Operational Reserved Funds, maintaining our strategy of holding at least three months of expenses in our Operations Reserved Funds. We have $200,000 in our Facilities Reserve Fund (replacement of HVAC, roof, etc), a healthy endowment fund for special grants, and savings from our Capital Campaign.
At our last annual meeting, the congregation decided, instead of borrowing from our bank, to borrow from our unrestricted cash funds and lend to the Capital Fund to pay a portion of construction costs. This loan will be paid back in two years as Capital pledges are paid.
After paying the construction loan, the assistant minister’s salary, and the 2024-25 projected budget deficit, we will still have ~$20,000 in unreserved cash. After the capital campaign pledges are paid back, we should have $90,000-$100,000 in unreserved cash funds.
Challenges
- Post-construction costs. Expenses to fix issues discovered during construction.
- Post-COVID additions. Supporting in-person and online meetings has increased the cost of cleaning and maintaining technical equipment.
Supporting Our Church’s Financial Health
Stewardship Sunday will be February 16th – To quote from Stewardship for All: “As UUs, we don’t tell people what to believe. We ask them to determine what they believe and live according to it as best they can. It’s the same with stewardship; we don’t tell people what to give. We ask them to use their best selves to figure it out and do their best to fulfill it.”
Online Auction – This year’s auction will be held online from Saturday, April 26, through Saturday, May 3rd. We plan a kick-off party for “Finding Joy Together.” If you have questions and/or would like to help with planning, please contact Barbara Drew, Jayme Trott, Lori O’Neil, or Marcia Wittmann at auction@uucwc.org.
Endowment – Our Endowment team, Bonnie Gilbert and Mike Hanson co-chairs, continues to grow. They are also updating documentation describing the process for contributing.
Holiday Plant Sale – Donna Miller, our Fundraising chairperson, had a successful Holiday Plant Sale, raising $800 for our church.
The bake sale raised $901.
We are always looking for new members to join our group. Serving is a great way to discover what is happening at the church and influence the management of its finances.