DREAM BUDGET&PLEDGE DRIVE

Why have a Dream Budget?• Democratic because all requests are included• Inspirational because it reflects what we can become• Allows us to Dream (Appreciative Inquiry)• Mission focused: Transforming people who transform the world• Creates a foundation for the pledge drive• Informs members how their generosity can support First Universalist in the coming year

Budgeting Process• Dream Budget is presented at the February Budget hearing for input and revision• Priorities are further refined in an ongoing dialogue between the Board of Trustees and Executive Team• Dream Budget the basis for the second budget hearing in early May in which congregants are encouraged to attend and provide input • The results of the second budget hearing are presented for adoption at the Spring Congregational meeting and become the operational budget for the coming year

February Hearing

Refinement &

Prioritization

May Hearing

ApprovalSpring Cong.

Meeting

Moving to a three year plan• A dream budget typically exceeds what is possible in one year• Looking back, items presented in a dream budget that continue to have merit are funded within three years•We want to move to a three year financial plan to provide better guidance and continuity• Provides consistency with commitments previously made by the congregation.

2013

2014

2015

Growing in Spirit•We all have stories of how both the church has grown and changed in these important areas, transforming us in the process:• Making Meaningful Connections• Growing Spiritually, Intellectually, Emotionally• Living Our Values in the Wider World

• And we do this by• Building a Vibrant Organization

Dream Budget Buckets• Historically, the dream budget exceeds our ability to fund all of the requests within a one year timeframe• Initial bucket groupings help us communicate with the Congregation the relative priority of every request•We use the following three buckets• Urgent• Important• Worthy

Urgent• Dream of a Second Minister• Transition from hired Assistant Minister to called Associate Minister

• Growing Spiritually, Emotionally and Intellectually• Director of Faith Formation, full-time• Early Childhood and K-5 Coordinator• Assistant Director of Music• More Child Care hours

• Care and Connections• Hospitality Coordinator• Connections Coordinator

• Dynamic Organization• Operational Support (custodial support, utilities, postage, phone, etc)• FICA, Benefits• New Church Management Database Total:

$84,000

Important• Growing Spiritually, Emotionally and Intellectually• Increased compensation for Director of Music• Sunday Morning guest Musicians

• Dynamic Organization• Audit• Increased hours for Communications Coord.• Hire Multimedia Technician• Long Term Reserve Study• Hours for Office Manager

Total: $40,000

Worthy• Growing Spiritually, Emotionally and Intellectually• Senior Minister compensation (to be determined by the Board

of Trustees)• Minister-in-Residence• Ministerial Intern

• Care and Connections• Care and Connections Ministry support • Volunteer Coordinator• Committee on Ministry support

• Dynamic Organization• Staff and Lay-member training

Total: $33,000

Giving in Gratitude•While a pledge is an requirement of membership, we believe that First Universalist is a worthy organization; and therefore, is worthy of financial support of all who participate•We are asking for 100% participation in pledging by everyone who is participating in the life of First Universalist Church• That support must come in the form of a pledge since the Sunday Offering no longer supports the church

Compassion in Action: A Testimonial in Giving in Gratitude• Each week we ask you to be generous• The congregation is responding by giving $50,000 to the Compassion in Action offering this year• This combined with our denominational support is a full tithe to the wider community • An amount over 10% of our operating budget goes to support the work of our faith in the larger world

Snapshot on Giving• Compared to last year,

pledging increased 10% to support this year’s budget • This average conceals the

dynamic nature of a pledge drive• Some people doubled their

pledge and some tripled it• Some people had to decrease

their pledge because of financial circumstances, but their level of giving was still generous• Because of 100%

participation we had 54 new pledges, 15 of whom were pledging friends

Range of Giving• There is a wide range of pledges• Some make a spirit pledge of $12 a year and given their

financial circumstances, that is generous• Some people make a pledge of $20,000 a year and that is

generous• We depend upon your generosity

$4,800-$20,000$2,400-$4,800$1,200-$2,400

$12-$1,200

Trends in Giving in UU Congregations• Giving in Conservative Christian Churches is 10%: a full tithe• Giving in Liberal Christian Churches is 7%• Many UU churches are introducing the concept of a liberal tithe of 5%, realizing that many members give at least 5% to other charitable organizations

Blanche DuBois said “…I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”  We depend upon your generosity.

How does First Universalist Compare?• The UUA ranks metro areas based upon 5 categories, with 5 being the most expensive• Denver is rated a 4, it costs more to operate our church

• Last year, First Universalist was the 34th largest church in the UUA• Because of the membership growth over the last 12 months

(adding 81 new members) First Universalist is now the 28th largest UU church• This growth is reflected in other areas• Last year worship attendance grew 9.4% over the previous year

• Current Worship attendance is 12.4% ahead of last year

• RE registration is 10% higher than last year and continues to increase

This is happening because we are doing a lot of things in compelling ways!

First Universalist• The average UU pledge (average of all UU churches in the US) is

2.8% of household income. • Last year the average pledge at First Universalist is estimated at

1.8% of income, this year it is 2.0%• If the average pledge at First Universalist was 2.5% of income, we

could easily fund all three buckets in the dream budget and more

While we would like to move toward a liberal tithe that is something that can only happen over time. Some members are already making a liberal tithe including our Senior Minister and Executive Director. Jeannie Shero is committed to a liberal tithe, but that is dependent upon fair compensation for her position.

Bucket Metaphor, again“No one asked you to fill the bucket – especially all alone?... We may feel daunted, we are one drop among many- and every drop helps.” And every drop gets us closer to our dream.

Gordon McKeeman

If everyone is generous we can fund the requests in the Urgent Bucket, and even some of the things in the Important Bucket