FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF NEENAH/MENASHA

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Finance Committee Mee= ting Minutes

Tuesday, June 14, 201= 1

Members present: Ashley Vandermau= se, Sue Prince, and Ed Nokes.

Minutes from 5/17/11 had been sent out previously and = were approved.

Ed presented the May treasurer’s report and bala= nce sheet. The treasurer’s report showed total ytd revenues of $158,489 and total ytd expenses of $172,997 for a deficit of $14,508. This is $2,596 worse than budgeted.

We also reviewed the monthly financial plan progress r= eport that will be posted on the bulletin board. It shows that ytd contributions are $1,909 behind budget while ytd expenses are $6,279 over the budgeted amount. Ytd other income is $5,592 over budget.

Attendance reported on the monthly financial plan prog= ress report is up from 2010 by 2.

With no other business for the committee, the next mee= ting date was scheduled for September 20^th at 5:30.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Finance Committee Mee= ting Minutes

Tuesday, May 17, 2011=

Members present: Ashley Vandermau= se, Sue Prince, Bonnie DeBraal, Karen Cartner, Barb Genett, and Ed Nokes<= /span>.

Minutes from 2/15/11 had been sent out previously and = were approved.

Karen presented the April treasurer’s report and balance sheet. The treasurer’s report showed total ytd revenues of $118,975 and total ytd expenses of $131,459 for a deficit of $12,484. This is $3,553 worse than budgeted.

We also reviewed the monthly financial plan progress r= eport that will be posted on the bulletin board. It shows that ytd contributions are $5,140 behind budget while ytd expenses are $1,915 under the budgeted amount.

Attendance reported on the monthly financial plan prog= ress report is up from 2010 by 3.

Bonnie informed the committee that Church Council woul= d be asked to approve an agreement with an architectural firm to facilitate the = next step in the facility renovation process. The cost of the agreement would be paid from the property development fund.

With no other business for the committee, the next mee= ting date was scheduled for June 14^th at 5:30.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Finance Committee Mee= ting Minutes

Tuesday, February 15,= 2011

Members present: Bob Hays, Ashley Vandermause, Sue Prince, Kathy Sagehorn,

&nbs= p; Bonnie DeBraal, Karen Cartner, Barb Genett, and Ed Nokes<= /span>.

Bob Hays led us in an opening prayer.

Minutes from 1/18/11 had been sent out previously and = were approved.

Karen presented the January treasurer’s report a= nd balance sheet. The treasurer’s report showed total ytd revenues of $51,952 and total ytd expenses of $= 31,749 for an income of $20,203. This is a tremendous start to the year and is due= to several members giving most or all of their pledge at the start of the year= .

We also reviewed the monthly financial plan progress r= eport that will be posted on the bulletin board. It shows that ytd contributions are $16,572 ahead of budget while ytd expenses are $1,595 under the budgeted amount.

Attendance reported on the monthly financial plan prog= ress report was down from 2010 by 6.

Bob brought up the issue of back-up for Karen and Ashl= ey in an emergency situation. He suggested that since they should not be back-up = for each other that Ed learn enough to be able to do the basics if the need ari= ses.

Bob also brought up credit card limits for the staff o= f the church. We have run into problems with insufficient limits for Jeff and oth= ers. Our current limit is $20,000. Karen will work with the bank to raise that to $25,000 with the following individual limits: Karen V., Tony, Chris, and Ethan-$1,000 each; Bob - $8,000; and Jeff - $13,000.

With no other business for the committee, the next mee= ting date was scheduled for May 17^th at 5:30.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Finance Committee Mee= ting Minutes

Tuesday, January 18, = 2011

Members present: Bob Hays, Ashley Vandermause, Chris Vlachakis, Kathy Sag= ehorn,

&nbs= p; Bonnie DeBraal, Karen Cartner and Ed Nokes.

Bob Hays led us in an opening prayer.

Minutes from 12/14/10 had been sent out previously and= were approved.

Chris presented the December treasurer’s report = and balance sheet. The treasurer’s report showed total ytd revenues of $368,326 and total ytd expenses of $391,869 for a deficit of $23,543. This is $9,751 worse than budgeted.

We also reviewed the monthly financial plan progress r= eport that will be posted on the bulletin board. It shows that ytd contributions are $20,187 behind budget while ytd expenses are $8,834 under the budgeted amount.

Attendance reported on the monthly financial plan prog= ress report was missing but Bob indicated that it was similar to last month.

There was discussion on what to recommend to Church Co= uncil regarding apportionments. One thought was to make a token payment to show g= ood faith to the conference. The other comments were that we shouldn’t pay conference something we don’t have. The latter option was approved as= the suggestion to Church Council. If Church Council approves this recommendatio= n, expenses would go down $16,036 and the new annual deficit would be $7,507. =

The church received a letter from the conference asking several questions related to not paying apportionments. Bob discussed the topics he would include in his response. These include:

Past apportionments have been high at least partially = due to the family church. We have created a deficit paying those apportionments in= the past.

We anticipated stair-stepping our way back by paying 5= % of contributions the first year on up to full apportionments over a four year period.

We have aggressive pledge drives, special appeals and = fund raising.

Bob reported on the budget discussions he had with sta= ff since the last finance committee meeting. His recommendations increased revenues by $2,150 to $373,331. He also recommended decreasing a variety of expenses by $27,978 to a total of $402,658. This left a deficit of $29,327, which is $4,524 less than budgeted apportionments. The finance committee ag= reed to recommend this budget to the Church Council.

With no other business for the committee, the next mee= ting date was scheduled for February 15^th at 5:30.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Finance Committee Mee= ting Minutes

Tuesday, October 12, = 2010

Members present: Bob Hays, Ashley Veldboom, Chris Vlachakis, Ann Stein,

&nbs= p; Barb Genett, Bruce Stowe, and Ed = Nokes.

Bob opened the meeting with a prayer.

Minutes from 9/14/10 had been sent out previously and = were approved.

Chris presented the September treasurer’s report= and balance sheet. The treasurer’s report showed total ytd revenues of $265,788 and total ytd expenses of $286,167 for a deficit of $20,379. This is $6,886 worse than budgeted. It should be noted that this is the first month that contributions have significantly exceeded the anticipated amount. The committee agrees that we need to remind the congregation that we need a strong finish in December li= ke we have had every year but last year.

We also reviewed the monthly financial plan progress r= eport that will be posted on the bulletin board. It shows that ytd contributions are $20,456 behind budget while ytd expenses are $13,718 under the budgeted amount.

Attendance reported on the monthly financial plan prog= ress report shows average attendance ahead of last year by 16 people. This year’s average and the spread between this year and last year are both down from last month.

The Closing the Gap drive has received pledges of $6,3= 40. We have received $2,940 of that so far. It was decided that we should report t= his info in the bulletin and in person during the church service.

Chris presented some preliminary 2011 budget numbers. = Most revenues and expenses were increased by 3%. The result was a $14,196 deficit for the year. Bob reported that staff parish is waiting to see how the stewardship drive goes for everyone except Bob so many of our expenses will= be undecided for the time being.

Bob reported that stewardship sermons will start Octob= er 24^th. Bob will preach two weeks and Tony will do one. He also reported that within the first week after being asked, 30 families donated $1,000 toward the stewardship event at Bridgewood.

Bob also reported that we had received a couple of contributions to the sound system/hearing loop project. There is a $2,000 memorial from the Kurkas and a $500 donation fr= om the Detras.

With no other business for the committee, the next mee= ting date was scheduled for November 16^th at 6:00.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Finance Committee Mee= ting Minutes

Tuesday, September 14= , 2010

Present: Bob Hays, Ashley Veldboom, Chris Vlachakis, Rollie Nail, Ann Stein, Bruce Stowe, and Ed Nokes

Bob opened the meeting with a prayer.

Minutes from 8-10-10 and 8-24-10 had been sent out previously and were approved.

Chris presented the August treasurer's report and balance sheet. The treasurer's report showed total ytd revenues of $227,178 and total ytd expenses of $253,508 for a deficit of $26,330. This is $17,909 worse than budgeted.

We also reviewed the monthly financial plan progress report that will be poste= d on the bulletin board. It shows YTD contributions $29,999 behind budget. The report shows that revenues are the problem, not the expenses. Attendance reported on the monthly financial plan progress report shows average attend= ance ahead of last year by 21 people.

Bob reported that he had looked at the members with the largest variance between pledges and giving (as he reported August 24th) and found that they have a history of paying most of their pledge in December. This means that they are not causing the shortfall in revenues. Bob and Ashley agreed to take a look= at differences in YTD giving from last year to this year to give us a better handle on decreased contributions.

Bob reported that we have received "Closing the Gap" pledges so far o= f $2,275. It was suggested that we report to the congregation after September 26th on= the "Closing the Gap" pledges and how much we are behind.<= /span>

The finance committee was invited to attend the stewardship meeting immediately following this meeting to help make decisions and become more aware of how = the stewardship campaign will impact our budget preparation.<= /p>

With no other business for the committee, the next meeting date was scheduled for October 12th at 6:00.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Finance Committee Mee= ting Minutes

Tuesday, August 24, 2= 010

Present: Bob Hays, Barb Genett, Ann Stein, Bruce Stowe, = and Ed Nokes

Bob reported that he had analyzed the info that Ashley had given him on pledges= and giving. He reported that 19 giving units were behind by $41,700 if they did= n't give the rest of the year. Of those units, 2 made up almost $27,000 of that total. Bob said he would talk directly to those two.

It was decided that we would do a special mailing rather than discussing all t= he details in worship. The letter will thank those that are on schedule with t= heir pledge, encourage those that are behind to catch up if they can, and encour= age those that can to pledge an additional amount this year. The mailing will go out right after Labor Day and ask for additional pledges by September 26th.=

We plan to reinforce the letter in worship on the 12th and 19^th wit= h Ed and possibly Bonnie DeBraal at second service restating the letter and encouraging pledging. It was also brought up that = we need to encourage the congregation in December to have a big finish to the = year like we have had every

year but last year.

The next regular meeting is still September 14th at 6:00 to be followed by meet= ing with the = Stewardship leadership team.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Finance Committee Mee= ting Minutes

Tuesday, August 10, 2= 010

Present:	Bob Hays, Ashley Veldboom, Chris Vlachakis, Barb Genett, Ann Stein, Bruce Stowe, and Ed <= span class=3DSpellE>Nokes

Bob opened the meeting with a prayer.

Minutes from 6-8-10 had not been taken but those attending that meeting informed us that the main discussion was about doing a special fund drive if the financ= es didn't improve.

Chris presented the July treasurer's report and balance sheet. The treasurer's re= port showed total ytd revenues of $196,502 and total= ytd expenses of $222,327 for a deficit of $25,825. Th= is is $17,489 worse than budgeted.

We also reviewed the monthly financial plan progress report that will be poste= d on the bulletin board. It shows YTD contributions $29,106 behind budget. The report shows that revenues are the problem, not the expenses.

Attendance reported on the monthly financial plan progress report shows average attend= ance ahead of last year by 20 people.

Bob asked Ashley to give him some reports to compare pledging/giving for 2009 versus 2010 so we can get a better handle on what is causing the shortfall = in contributions. Hopefully we can determine if people that pledged aren't giv= ing or if we have some other issue like the unpledged giving estimates.

We agreed to have a special meeting to discuss what the reports Bob is getting= show. This meeting will be August 24th at 5:30.

Regarding budget/stewardship, Bob will meet with Ed and Bonnie D= eBraal next week to start the process so that members of the stewardship team can = meet with Finance at their next regular meeting on September 14^th at 6:00.

With no other business for the committee, the meeting was adjourned= .