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(1) Raises: At a time when many if not most of us have seen our incomes decline---and it's a struggle even to maintain our current pledge levels, let alone increase them---it hardly seems fitting that we should be asked to give raises to the paid staff, no matter how deserving they are---and they are! The raises are modest enough---3% in Jim's case, and God knows he's earned it---but let them be postponed, at least during this recession. Don't we all have to make sacrifices?
(2) Bagels, etc.: Why the increase from $1500 to $2700+---over 80%? Sometimes I've seen leftover bagels end up in the garbage; so why spend 80% more for additional bagels that may well end up the same way?
(3) Sexton: Why the increase from $3500 to $5500---almost 60%---for someone who hasn't even been hired yet? With the current unemployment levels, how do we know we can't get someone for the $3500 that was budgeted last year? Better yet, why not postpone the hiring till the recession ends?
(4) Charging for RE: An additional source of income for the Fellowship. Linda Martin pointed out that attendance may well increase since people put more value on what they have to pay for.
(5) Minimum pledges: Good idea, perhaps, but it's one that should have been acted on many years ago, when the economy was (or seemed to be!) better and we all had more discretionary income. If people who really care about the Fellowship are going to be forced to choose between the Fellowship and their personal solvency, do we really want to take the risk that some of them may see no choice but to resign?
(6) and (7) Endowment fund and capital fund: Also good ideas that should have been acted on many years ago. If we are going to set them up at this late date, then the budget will have to be cut to the bone so people in these hard times can spare a few dollars for each of those funds. In any case, we can't expect them to grow significantly for years to come.
(8) Putting more in the Sunday collection baskets: The LOFT's policy is to ask everyone attending a meeting of one of its groups to make a voluntary $5 donation: "More if you can, less if you can't". It can't hurt to at least ask for more.
(9) Generally, the proposed budget is 14% higher than last year's; I believe we can save around $2200 in raises + $1200 in bagels + $5500 in leaving the sexton's job open---or $8900 so far---and perhaps additional amounts in budgeted items that are more than we can afford at this time.
And how knows how much extra revenue can be raised by charging for RE and asking people to put more in the collection baskets?
Al
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It has come to my attention that although the specific figures I cited earlier were used as a basis for last Sunday's budget discussion, they were NOT the basis for the 2009-10 proposed budget, which has not yet been submitted to the Fellowship for consideration.
I regret the error, but it doesn't necessarily invalidate my main point that many items adopted in previous years will have to be drastically cut, if not eliminated altogether, because they are luxuries we can ill afford.
Al
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