Annual Operating Budget at the Annual Meeting

The major topic of the Budget Review meeting on April 29 was the proposed $2,000 decrease in the Music budget for the 2012-2013 church year. In response to questions raised at that congregational meeting, much work and many staff and volunteer meetings have occurred since then and I’d like to make sure you know that. The bottom line is, following much review, and knowing that more than $2,000 is available to transfer from the Music Fund to the operating budget as needed, the Board has recommended that the same budget that was in last month’s newsletter be presented at the Annual Meeting.

A step-by-step description of how the proposed annual budget gets prepared is below. Click here to find a table of data showing five years of expenses highlighting programs. 

Fully 90% of our budget goes to personnel costs (salaries + benefits), facilities operations, governance and office supplies for all. This year, we chose not to provide our employees with full cost-of-living increases. Only hourly employees will get 2% increases rather than the actual 3.5% cost-of-living increase. No salaried employee received any increase at all.

Another 5.4% of the budget goes to pay our Fair Share of UUA and Southeast District costs. The Fair Share is calculated by the UUA and SED and is based on the number of members a congregation certifies the previous January.

With that done, there is no place else to look for ways to balance our budget other than by making program cuts. No matter how we apportion money to our programs, there is no question that all our many high-quality programs are run efficiently on very tight budgets and perform the equivalent of UU miracles through the efforts of paid staff and us (the volunteers).

The changes in program budgets over the past 5 years are illustrated in the accompanying line graph at the bottom of this column. Program budgets have risen and fallen as much as 50% as priorities, programs and most especially available funds have changed.

The point of providing this information is to show that all programs have incurred losses and gains in various budget years. We spend low amounts for all of our programs. There is no line item for FUN! We barely spend any money at all in helping new members connect into the congregation ($500). But we do better than our best with the funds we do have. It is extremely difficult to balance the multiple demands of excellent programs with our limited resources.

The congregation will vote on the budget at the annual meeting on June 3. My fondest desire is that the high trust that you have placed in your Board, Finance Committee and staff will continue and that the proposed 2012-13 budget will be approved. We’ve learned a lot from this year’s budget process and expect next year’s process to be much smoother and better communicated.

See you at the annual meeting!

BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

In the ideal world, this is the way we develop our budget:
1. Congregation agrees on Mission.
2. Board, in concert with the congregation as much as possible, creates Ends Statements to aim toward Mission.
3. Ends Statements guide Executive and senior staff (asst. minister, LRE director, administrator) on direction for programs. (Executive and staff set their own priorities.)
4. Senior staff, the people who directly report to them (membership coordinator, music director) and all the program committee volunteers who are essential parts of this system work together, collaborate, communicate to determine what programs they see as being most effective in moving the congregation towards the Ends Statements.
5. The actual proposed budget figures are compiled by the administrator and fully vetted by the Finance Committee while awaiting the results of the Annual Budget Drive (ABD). The senior staff is notified of this budget. Again communication should flow from senior staff members to their respective staff members and committees and back again as needed.
6. Once it is moderately clear what the future year’s income will be (and by May 16, 2012 we are still not totally certain of our income because not all congregants have made their commitments yet), the budget is adjusted to balance.
7. The budget is physically adjusted by the administrator (because SOMEONE has to sit at the computer!) in conjunction with senior staff and is re-vetted by the Finance Committee. Again communication should flow from senior staff members to their respective staff members and committees and back again as needed.
8. At the April board meeting, the Board of Trustees reviews the budget and approves it for distribution to the congregation.
9. Between the April and May board meetings, we hold a budget town hall meeting for all congregants.
10. If the town hall meeting suggests that the proposed budget warrants further review, senior staff members again review the budget. Again communication should flow from senior staff members to their respective staff members and committees and back again as needed. Whether the senior staff changes the budget or not, the Finance Committee reviews it again.
11. This proposed budget then goes to the Board for final approval in May for the annual meeting.

The ideal world eluded us this year, and we made a huge and regrettable error in Step #5 in that part about “communication should flow from senior staff members to their respective staff members.” This was not a systemic problem but one that was inadvertently caused by Rev. Mark Ward’s absence. It should not have happened anyway, but it did. All other steps occurred properly.

PRESSURES ON THE 2012-2013 BUDGET 

First, the amazing good news (yes, there is some!). Once again, we have committed more money to the annual budget drive this year than we ever have before. And that is awesome and we need to be proud of that. And yet…..

As I noted in a previous newsletter column, the volunteer leaders of this congregation took a very big chance two years ago to hire a very experienced professional for our lifespan religious education programs and a full-time assistant minister (to help lead our pastoral care, membership and social justice programs) with the congregation-approved plan of using part of a large bequest to “bridge” our operating expenses as the congregation raised its giving levels to meet our operating costs. So, although we HAVE raised our giving levels, we haven’t quite raised them enough.

The unplanned purchase of 23 Edwin has also increased our operating expenses, but thanks to the wildly successful capital fund-raising of last fall, those operating expenses are covered by those funds for three years. You can see the transfer of the money from the Building Fund in the Income section of the “UUCA Mission Budget Proposed for 2012-2013” that you have already received.

WHAT IS THE MUSIC FUND?

A year or two ago, a member of the congregation gave a gift to the congregation and part of that gift was designated for Music. A special fund was set up to hold that gift until the music director decided how it should be spent. Additional funds have recently been similarly gifted. While we do not encourage designated gifts like this since the practice might encourage specific-fund giving to the detriment of both our annual budget drive and sense of community, we do gratefully accept them. To address the problems of this year’s income shortfall, the Finance Committee has suggested that the Music Fund be used as needed for operations. We expect this will be a one-time patch since most of us believe it’s better to use such funds for capital items rather than operations.

DO YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?

Please feel free to contact me, directly via email or through this blog, or any Trustee (see the list on the front page of any newsletter). We’ll do what we can to answer you!

Standing on the Side of Love

I am proud to report that there were at least 10 UUCA folks at the vigil this evening at Pack Place in support of LGBT rights and against the ridiculous idea of a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages. There are two very wrong things about that. First of course is the singling out of people based on whom they love, but second is the abuse of a constitution.

I'm against the amendment and I'm letting State Sen. Apodaca know it.

Solemnity & Fun

Yesterday was the kind of day where you're glad you belong to a congregation. What a lucky thing that the 10th anniversary of 9-11 landed on a Sunday. That made it perfectly normal to head to church and join MY community to remember the awful day, celebrate the day after (everyone in the world was an American that day--remember?), play and commemorate. If you missed the picnic after church, I'm sorry. It was about the loveliest little thing you can imagine: about 80 folks, just a block N of the church, plenty of shade, a tent and tables set up for those who simply could not bear the thought of eating without a table in front of him/her (I am married to a person like that), games for children and a most amazing sound system to convey the music (congregational singing accompanied by Lenora and led by Nana Hosmer) and the words (Mark led with commentary and stories by David Novak). I'm sure everyone's favorite was the spiral "dance" led by Benette. It was nice to see our full ministry staff (Mark, Lisa, Benette, Lenora) all there, leading and enjoying the event. (Giant thanks to Stan Nachman for this one!) Later in the day, I attended the interfaith Service of Remembrance and Hope at First Baptist Church. It was great to see Lisa Kemper already actively participating in the life of Asheville as she joined a flock of other religious leaders in commemorating 9-11, each in her/his own faith tradition. So we had our UU, the rabbis, the priest, the college chaplain, the witch, the Islamist, the Baptist and the Christian who witnessed her faith by reading relevant quotes of Jesus.... It was beautifully interfaith. And, it was the kick-off event for the Asheville Listening Project, a coalition of individuals from widely-different backgrounds united in the belief that it's time for us to listen to another. "We believe that receptive and respectful listening can help to bridge our divisions and create possibilities to work together for a better community." I'm joining!

More on Policy Governance

You didn't think I would ignore policy governance once I got to the presidency, did you? There has been an interesting conversation lately on the UU Policy Governance listserv. Here are a few excerpts that I want to keep track of and figured I would be able to find them here. And you can find them, too!

From Rev. Richard Speck, District Executive, Joseph Priestley District:

In creating the Ends for a church the whole congregation is involved in lifting up the major values that the Ends represent. A PG board always takes its work back to the membership to ascertain that it is representing the whole correctly in discerning the Ends.

Volunteerism and lay participation in the carrying out of the Ends through the programs and services is linked to the members understanding their role in making the values stated as Ends the reality of the congregation. So the whole membership helps to create the Ends and the whole congregation is responsible for making them real. How is that a diminishment through Policy
Governance?

As to the whole congregation deciding how a board should manage and govern, up until Policy Governance came along, no congregation in my 21 years of ministry and 11 years of UUA service had ever held a vote on how the board should govern itself and the congregation. Only because the model is so different from previous governance models do people feel they need to have input on what the board does. Boards do a disservice when they do not educate a congregation about the model, the advantages and changes, and the reasoning for choosing it. But they do not need congregational approval to use it.

I hope that these paragraphs help you to see Policy Governance in a new way and clarify for you how it should work.

And then, from Margaret Keip (quasi-retired UU minister, and church PG consultant):

The paradigm shift of governance change to PG is significant, especially in relation to power. We're used to power as a zero-sum factor in everyday life -- i.e. when someone gains more power, someone else has lost some. PG embodies incremental power -- the more people power there is, the more there is in the system, available to use wisely and well, if we will. PG imbues more power in both the board, the executive (solo or team), and the congregation -- each focused within boundaries that are ethical and prudent and support the organization's reason for being (mission, in a congregation). It reflects our UU values as clearly as a mirror, when its truly understood and experienced.

My GA Favorite: Rev. Galen Guengerich

The Rev. Galen Guengerich of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City (the church that Taryn Strauss will be serving this year) spoke at two workshops, both addressing the religious aspects, or lack thereof, of Unitarian Universalist congregations. One wonderful thing he is doing for his congregation is providing them with the opportunity for a daily common spiritual practice.

There is a several hundred-year old spiritual practice called lectio divina or divine reading. It is a way of ritually reading the Bible and reflecting on it. He has modified the practice for UUs and sends out an email every day with a brief reading. So far, none of them have been from the Bible. Here's how he describes it:

The purpose: a daily spiritual practice to help spark our moral imagination and set our moral compass as individuals (Emerson called it “provocative reading”). It can also help establish a common spiritual conversation that will further unite us as a community of faith.

The practice: sit comfortably and take a few deep breaths to remind your body that it’s time to focus—any time of day (as short or long as you like), anywhere you have time to yourself.

1. Reading: read the day’s text carefully several times, preferably aloud.

2. Reflection: ask yourself which word or phrase provokes your attention. Why that word or that phrase? You may wish to jot the word or phrase in a journal. Reflect for a short time on the word or phrase and ponder what it evokes in you. Make a note or two.

3. Intention: ask yourself what purpose your reading and reflection suggests for you on this day. Set a specific intention that you can reasonably fulfill. Perhaps jot it down.

4. Contemplation: expand your awareness from intention to gratitude. Remind yourself that the world is full of untapped wisdom and your life is full of unrealized potential. Note a couple of things for which you’re especially grateful.

If you wish, end your practice with the final two lines of the All Souls benediction: “This is the day we are given; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

I have been doing this (well, most of it most of the time) every day since I returned from GA. My best friend is also doing it. If lots of UUCA people did it, we'd begin to have common readings that we might refer to in conversations with each other. If you want to get in on the practice, sign up on the All Souls website.

How cool is THAT?

OK, I admit, I haven't checked in for a while (been kind of busy I guess).  Upon arrival I discovered a comment by the actual Dan Hotchkiss.  Eesh.  Now I have to really THINK before I write.  Thanks for reading, Dan!  (Of course, now I am busted.  Dan knows HIS system and what we were doing were all mixed up.  Hope I didn't insult you, she writes rather sheepishly.)

Executive, Board and Finance Committee

Another tidbit picked up at the Large Church Conference:  Unity-Unitarian and Dallas are the two UU congregations who are working closest to Carver (which remember, is not designed for congregational polity churches) and have been doing it for over 10 years.  So, we posed the question, "Where does the Finance Committee fall in a church/Carver system?"

As we know, Hotchkiss (who is not Carver, remember?) keeps the basic organizational chart that we use.  And from reading Carver, we know that all the money dealings reside on the Executive side of the equation, meaning that any committee needed to help out in checking/advising on monetary issues will be an Executive committee (often called a Ministry Team to note that it is part of the Ministry or program side of the church).

As for the Board, it HAS to develop a monitoring policy that assures the Board that if they conduct the monitoring as written, they are confident that they are fulfilling their fiduciary role as a Board.  If everyone on the Board is not secure in that outcome, then the policy is not sufficient.  It is also possible that the Board could appoint its own committee to help with this monitoring (often called a Task Force), though it cannot delegate the fiduciary responsibility that it holds.

So what do Unity and Dallas do?  Unity for sure puts their version of a Finance Committee on the Executive side because they put all money oversight on the Executive side.  That's right, all of it.  Dallas puts all on the Executive side except the Endowment Fund.

The case to be made by Carver is that it's inappropriate to hand over accountability for programming to the Executive but keep the money on the Board side.  Monitoring and assessment should assure the Board that all is well.  I expect Hotchkiss doesn't do this because it makes UUs highly uncomfortable to give over everything to the Executive side.

We have no idea what we're going to do yet, though sooner or later it HAS to be decided.