The main priority is to continue supporting all of the many programs, activities, and social outreach work at FUUN as set by the current budget.  Our staff and facilities allow that to happen, and we are grateful for both. The only increase the Board has planned for next year is a 1.2% cost of living raise for our amazing and hard-working staff.

The goal is $650,000.  That’s about a 6% increase from what we raised during last year’s stewardship campaign.

Last year’s budget was a “deficit” budget in that we budgeted more expenses than income. The reason for that was that we knew we would receive $27,500 in one-time forgiven loans from the Paycheck Protection Program and a one-time $12,000 grant from the FUUN Endowment Trust to hire a part-time financial coordinator.  We will now need to raise the funds to cover these one-time cash flow events.

Salaries and expenses related to our amazing staff make up 72% of our budget.  That sounds like a lot until you realize how many hard-working staff members we have: Rev. Diane (Lead Minister), Rev. Denise (Asst. Minister), Jaie (Director of Music), Marguerite (Director of Lifespan Religious Education), Mary (Office Administrator), Sheri, (Communications Director), Holling (Pianist), Tony (Custodian), RE/Youth Coordinator, Childcare Coordinator, Children’s Music Coordinator, and Financial Coordinator.

Building and grounds maintenance accounts for another 10%, as does other general and administrative expenses (office equipment and supplies, postage, telephone and internet, and consultants for tech support and bookkeeping).

That’s what we do when we talk about a “Program Budget”.  It rearranges the expenses discussed earlier into all of the various programs of the church.  For example, expenses associated with Worship and Music make up about 35% of our budget.  Funds to support Programs, such as Pastoral Care, Lay Ministry, Covenant Groups, and New Member Classes, comprise about 22% of the budget.  Another 22% supports the Lifespan Religious Education offerings, like Children’s RE, Adult RE classes, and Our Whole Lives (OWL).  The chart below shows “Where the Money Goes”.

It’s completely understandable to feel that way.  While several fellowship events, such as Wednesday Night Dinners, Dinners for Nine, and the annual spring picnic are taking a break, most other programming is as strong as ever.  Religious education classes are continuing, covenant groups are meeting, book groups are reading, and the lay ministry team is busy addressing pastoral needs.  Making all of this work in the current environment has been challenging, for sure, and our staff and volunteers deserve much credit for their dedication.

You can log into Breeze, the web-based system used by FUUN to manage the members and friends database, at https://fuun.breezechms.com/login.

On your PC:

• Access your Breeze account on your computer by clicking on Breeze link at the very top of this page or signing in at https://fuun.breezechms.com/login.
• From the menu across the top of the page, click “My Profile”.
• Click “Giving” on the left.
• You’ll see two gray buttons in the middle of the page under your contact info: one says “Giving”, the other says “Pledges”. Click the Pledges button to see your history of pledges.
• You can see your giving history by clicking on the “Giving” button. Change the dates to see contributions prior to January 1.

On your mobile device:

• Sign in to the Breeze app.
• Tap on My Profile.
• Tap on the dollar bill icon at the top and tap on Pledges under your contact info. (Note: You may have to scroll down on your phone to see all of the information.

If you’ve never registered for the site, please do. Email stewardship@thefuun.org if you need assistance.

Any amount that you are able to give is truly appreciated. There is a FUUN Generous Giving Guide that provides a range of practical gift levels for individuals or households to consider when making a pledge. It serves as a social justice tool, in that it recognizes people have varying capacities to give, based on their resources and other financial responsibilities, while providing recognition for giving at various levels.

Each of us has to make our own decisions about the right level of financial commitment to make; the Guide is an excellent first step in making that decision, every time we make it.