Annual Budget Drive Appeal

Please look for a very important letter in your mail this week from the Governing Board. I’m including it here for you to read as well.

The Annual Budget Drive Committee did a fantastic job running our Annual Budget Drive this year. We received great support again from the top 5% of our givers and we beat our average pledge goal of $ 2,250! A number of people increased their pledges to the most they have ever given and we had many new pledging households. That’s a lot to applaud! But we need each and every household to consider pledging an additional $ 20.00 per month.

Why? Despite the generosity of our congregation, we have come up well short of the funds required to maintain our expenditures (what we pay our staff, what we pay to maintain our buildings, our financial support to the good work of our committees, our mortgage, etc.) at their current level. In the interest of the UUCR’s fiscal health, it is imperative that we pass a balanced Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) budget. Given the current projection of the funds we expect to raise in this year’s Annual Budget Drive ($ 417 K) we will need to institute very painful cuts totaling approximately $ 33,000 from our current (FY12) budget to balance our FY13 budget.

Before we do this, we’d like to let you know about the current situation so that you are better informed, and we request that you consider raising your current pledge by $ 20.00 per month to help us to sustain our quality programming.

Below are some questions you may have:

Q: What do the graph labels mean?

Level Services: $ 450 K in pledges: A flat line budget for FY13 compared to FY12: No increases in expenses except where they are unavoidable (e.g. increase fuel oil costs, etc.)

Projected: Total Annual Budget Drive income, if all anticipated pledges come in: $ 417 K in pledges. (If you haven’t yet turned in your pledge card, please do so right away!)

Current Status: The actual pledges received to date: $374 K in pledges

Q: What does it cost to run our church each year?

$ 570 per adult congregant to support our church’s ministry (staff - including minister and intern minister, and all adult programs)

$ 280 per adult congregant for our Faith Development Program ($ 570 per student)

$ 620 per adult congregant to maintain our property and pay our mortgage

$ 280 per adult congregant for administrative expenses

Summary: It takes $ 1,750 per adult congregant to support our Level Services budget for FY13

Q: What would we accomplish if we raise more than the $ 450 K necessary to maintain level services in FY13?

• Pay our Minister fair wages at last, in keeping with UUA standards

• Address the most critical of our campus property repairs

• Start to replenish funds taken from our financial reserves over the past few years

Q: What would we need to cut to balance the budget with the Projected Annual Budget Drive income ($ 417 K)?

• Reduce the payroll, postage, and computer repair expenses (reducing our ability to effectively communicate with the congregation and maintain working computers for staff and church office)

• Eliminate UUA and MBD dues, in which case we will not be supporting the programs, outreach, and mission of our denomination, nor will we have access to district consulting services and advice. We essentially take ourselves out of fellowship with the other UU churches in the country.

• Eliminate General Assembly allowance for our Minister. (For a second year in a row, our minister could not attend the denomination’s national meeting and represent our congregation.)
• Stop accepting credit card payments for pledges and winter auction.

Q: What options are available to balance the budget with the Current Status Annual Budget Drive income ($ 374 K)?

• Cut staff by eliminating one or more positions.
• Eliminate contingency funds, putting the church at future financial risk.
• Cut property budget and further defer critical campus maintenance.

What we need from you now!

We are asking everyone to help make up the shortfall. Any pledge is helpful. Please consider pledging an additional $ 20/month. That’s $ 240/year per household. We understand that not everyone is in a position to make an increased pledge, but if you are able to, we urge you to do so. And if you are in a position to be able to do more, we would greatly appreciate it!  As you can see, the monies we receive will be put to good use.

Acting on the recommendation of the Governing Board, I will move to delay consideration of the budget at the annual meeting on May 20th. The board will then call a special meeting of the members on June 17th. This will give us the time we need to raise more funds. For the longer term, the board is taking a fresh and critical look at long-term expense and income strategies and looking at a range of solutions to bring our financial picture into better health.

To increase your pledge, you can do any of the following:

• Contact the Annual Budget Drive Co-Chairs: George Marinakis or Matt Wilson: Contact Form
• Contact Rosemary in the church office: 781-944-0494: Contact Form
• Return the card that will be enclosed with the letter that comes in your mail with your additional pledge amount specified; please provide postage.

Please feel free to contact me or any other member of the board with your questions. Thank you for your consideration,

Tracy Sopchak
Governing Board President

Governing Board Members are: Tracy Sopchak (President), Jamie Maughan, Jay Schwartz, Armando Villarroel (Vice Presidents), Matt Wilson, David Oakes, Jean Hanson, Christine Lusk, Christine Thomas (At-Large Members), Chad DeGraca (Treasurer), Jane Jolkovski (Clerk), Rev. Tim Kutzmark (Minister)