Stewardship and Finance Committee

The Stewardship and Finance Committee consists of 14 members nominated by the Nominating Committee and appointed by the Yearly Meeting, with careful attention to the special need of this Committee to be knowledgeable about the situation of all Monthly Meetings. Each Quarterly Meeting should be represented. In addition, the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer are ex officio members of this Committee, and either the Treasurer or the Clerk of the Stewardship and Finance Committee from each local Meeting is a corresponding member.

The Committee each year prepares for Yearly Meeting consideration a budget and a plan of apportionment of the budget to the Monthly Meetings. At least every three years and whenever the Treasurer changes, it should arrange for a certified public accountant to audit the Treasurer’s books and records, and those of any other group or individual having charge of the expenditure of funds. It has oversight of the accounting methods used and the adequacy of the financial reports given by the Treasurer, and it should make adequate provision for preservation of all assets of the Yearly Meeting not specifically managed by the Trustees.

This Committee also should keep all Monthly Meetings informed of the financial needs of the Yearly Meeting and aware of their responsibility to support adequately the activities of the Religious Society of Friends, including any special appeals from Friends General Conference and Friends United Meeting.

The Clerk or another member of the Stewardship and Finance Committee serves as a member of the Camp Property Management Committee.

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Manual of Procedure, July 2004, p34

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Forms and Memoranda

• Memo on Apportionment - 1998

A Simple Question
And a Reponse Invited!
How are we doing?

As of the closing of BYM Annual Session, our Yearly Meeting is doing very well, if you measure by the number of capable new people joining committees, the challenging issues that we’re taking on wholeheartedly, or by the joy with which Friends greeted each other all week.

One thing that Friends agreed on, though, is that we are not doing well at voicing the need for contributions to cover our annual budget, or “general funds,” to Friends. After long discussion, many options were suggested, some of which are more sophisticated than anything our Yearly Meeting has done in the past. And a new subcommittee is about to look into those ideas.

In some ways, though, the real message is very simple. The 2007 Yearly Meeting budget was approved with $30,000 to be raised for general funds. But as we were speaking together at Annual Session, very little money had come in. It was gratifying, therefore, that as soon as the financial discussions were finished generous gifts began to come in just as we were closing.

You can now keep this wave of support moving forward by donating to BYM general funds. Altogether this year, we have received $10,100 so far. That means we still need $19,900 before year end. You can see what needs to happen, and you can help.

General funds support the essentials of our Yearly Meeting – committees, staff, offices, travel. They also support our year-round youth programs and other activities key to our life as a community and toward our outreach to prospective Friends. Those costs are rising, but were are only asking for the same amount as last year and other recent years.

One more thing that Friends firmly agreed upon is that we cannot run deficit budgets. Surely that is a simple, practical principle that we can all adhere to. So let’s be intentional. Let’s make our plans to give enough to cover our commitment.

Choose the best way for you – donate by check or stock gift, or by credit card at the website, BYM-RSF.org (near the bottom of the home page). Please call 301- 774-7663 if you have questions. We thank you, and we look forward to making this goal together.

BYM Stewardship and Finance Committee

The Stewardship & Finance Committee (S&F) is responsible for preparing and overseeing the annual operating budget for BYM and proposing an apportionment among BYM Meetings of the unfunded portion of the budget. S&F is charged with making adequate provision for preservation of all assets of the Yearly Meeting not specifically managed by the Trustees. We try to keep Monthly Meetings informed of the financial needs of the Yearly Meeting and aware of their responsibility to adequately support the activities of the Religious Society of Friends.

This past year, we met at Annual Sessions in July and in October 2006, in March, May, and June 2007. The culmination of our year is Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions, where we present the proposed budget and apportionment for approval.

The last year has presented a few challenges to our Committee’s work. Notably, staff changeover in the Yearly Meeting office has illuminated some lack of procedures in office operation, and exposed a lack of clarity in how the budget is reconciled at the end of each year. The Yearly Meeting office is making a transition to a new accounting software package and new procedures that should allow us to better track expenses in specific categories and translate those directly to line items in the budget. We are updating the format of the budget to ease that process as well.

In response to a request from the General Secretary, a few members of S&F have begun to look at procedures for distributing assistance for BYM Representatives to other organizations. We have had line items in the budget to assist with travel, but there has been no procedure in place to distribute those funds in an effective manner. After several meetings, the subcommittee is making good progress.

Our Committee has not fulfilled our responsibility to communicate the financial needs of the Yearly Meeting to the Monthly Meetings. This is an area that needs improvement. Our expenses have been increasing for a variety of reasons and our income has not kept pace. At the same time, some Monthly Meetings have expressed concern with our method of determining apportionment and that the amounts asked of Monthly Meetings is burdensome in light of increasing costs within Monthly Meetings. Each year, S&F requests information from Monthly Meetings and Committees to help determine apportionment and budgets for the Committees. Fully one quarter of the Monthly Meetings failed to return surveys last year, and only a couple of committees did. This is a concern as it is impossible to make informed decisions without information. One goal of S&F over the next year should be improved communication.

One issue of concern in recent years has been a shortfall in the Yearly Meeting’s funds that has been present for quite some time and has grown to a significant amount. While this lies more in the province of Trustees, it concerns everyone in the Yearly Meeting and reflects on our collective stewardship of the funds entrusted to us. As a Committee, we made a request that Trustees take action to find the source of the discrepancy and find ways to prevent such a shortfall in the future.

With the turnover in office staff and increased expenses, it appears that we have not adequately funded some line items in our budget. For example, the funds that had originally been allocated to go to Friends United Meeting should have been set aside in a designated fund while the Yearly Meeting attempts to discern a Divine Will in the matter, but it appears that this was not done and the funds have instead been used to meet immediate and necessary expenses. After consultation with our auditor, we will be proceeding to put line items on the books for the money in question.

The state of giving within the Yearly Meeting seems quite low. The most recent data that we have been given from Monthly Meetings shows an average annual contribution of $622 per contributing household to their Monthly Meeting (not counting households that contribute $50 or less). Is it any wonder that money is a concern for us at the Monthly and Yearly Meeting levels? Does this level of giving reflect the value we place on our Meetings?

As funding is a concern, several members of S&F have joined with several members of Supervisory Committee to discuss fundraising policies.

The Committee wishes to acknowledge the support, cooperation, and hard work of the Yearly Meeting staff in preparing pieces of the budget, attending meetings, answering questions, and helping to disseminate information.

The current members of S&F are Dick Bellin, Kevin Caughlan (ex-officio), Tim Cline, Natalie Finegar, Hugh Fuller, Lorne Garrettson, Don Lamb-Minor, Arthur David Olson, Hank Rupprecht, Allison Sleeman, Sharon Stout, and myself.

Allen Kenneth Briggs, Clerk

Oversight of the Yearly Meeting annual operating budget is the business of Stewardship and Finance with the able help of many friends, both in the office and throughout the Yearly Meeting. At meetings at Yearly Meeting, Fall Interim Meeting and in the Spring this Committee endeavors to look ahead one year (and sometimes more) in an effort to plan for the financial needs of the entire Yearly Meeting.

In addition, members of this Committee have attended and worked with Camping Program Committee, Camp Property Committee and with the committee composed of representatives from Ministry and Pastoral Care, Ad Hoc Committee for Gender and Sexual Diversity Concerns as well as Stewardship and Finance. The latter committee was charged in June of 2004 with addressing Friends United Meeting's policy on marriage as it differs from the understandings of many within Baltimore Yearly Meeting.

In our Meeting in April of 2005 we were happy to receive many treasurers and those who are responsible for the financial lives of various Meetings. We invited each representative to bring not only their concerns on apportionment for their Meetings but also their methods of handling budgeting and fundraising in their various circumstances. This broadening of knowledge and understanding has lead us to try to make the financial workings of the Yearly Meeting less mysterious by including a presentation on how we create a budget and how we look at various ways to finance continuing programs and new ideas.

Our proposed budget for 2006 includes a three percent increase in the overall amounts that are apportioned to the Meetings. Our self-supporting programs like the Annual Meeting and the various camping programs prepare their own budgets. Committees are responsible for their own budget requests.

Our greatest concern is to achieve an endowment for the Yearly Meeting so that there are available funds other than current revenues to help with the many and diverse needs of our growing monthly meeting. We hope to be able to put in place an endowment plan for future gifts or bequests from Friends which will help keep our Yearly Meeting a growing space for young and old for years to come.

Frances C. Taylor, Clerk

Annual Report 2004

The Stewardship and Finance Committee (S&F) is responsible for preparing and overseeing the annual operating budget for BYM and proposing an apportionment among BYM Monthly Meetings of the unfunded portion of the budget. S&F is charged with making adequate provision for preservation of all assets of the Yearly Meeting not specifically managed by the Trustees. We try to keep Monthly Meetings informed of the financial needs of the Yearly Meeting and aware of their responsibility to support adequately the activities of the Religious Society of Friends.

This year we met at Annual Sessions in July, at Interim Meeting in October, and in April 2004, where we discussed our 2003 financial review with the auditors. We will be meeting at Interim Meeting in June 2004. We are planning to meet with Ministry and Pastoral Care and the Ad Hoc Committee on Gender and Sexual Diversity earlier in June to discuss BYM’s relationship with FUM. The culmination of our year is Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions where we present the proposed budget and apportionment for approval.

During Yearly Meeting Sessions Stewardship and Finance met with Trustees, Camping Program and Camp Property Management committees to develop a long range plan for the camp properties. A Long Range Planning Committee for the Camp Properties, clerked by Sheila Bach, was the result. That Committee is charged with developing a 5-year, 10-year and 50-year plan for the camp properties. The combined group of four committees recommended that Stewardship & Finance set up a Development Committee to raise money for BYM and recommended to Trustees that a Property Manager be hired. It was felt that apportionment can not be increased sufficiently to cover the costs of a property manager and many years of deferred maintenance on the camp properties.

As part of the campaign, Stewardship and Finance will encourage BYM members to remember Baltimore Yearly Meeting in their wills, and to name BYM as the beneficiary of IRAs and life insurance policies. We also want to encourage our constituents to give gift annuities to BYM, which often return 8percent annually to the donor. Charitable remainder trusts are another giving vehicle that Stewardship & Finance hopes Yearly Meeting will promote to its membership as a means of making a deferred gift to Yearly Meeting. The donor puts some type of income-producing property into a trust which then generates income for the donor and/or a beneficiary; upon the death of the final beneficiary, a charity or charities selected by the donor receives the assets of the trust.

Friends Peace Teams is in the process of obtaining its own 501(c) (3) status and will no longer be using BYM as a depository for its contributions.

The Committee wishes to acknowledge the great support and cooperation it receives from our General Secretary, Frank Massey, and to thank Chris Fowler for his excellent minutes of our meetings.

The current members of S&F are Dick Bellin, Alan Briggs, Will Candler, Kevin Caughlan (ex-officio), Christopher Fowler, Lorne Garrettson, Ted Green (ex-officio), Oliver Moles, Arlene Rodenbeck, Marjorie Scott, Frances Taylor, Susan Russell Walters and myself.

Marion Scattergood Ballard, Clerk