Helping hands

and done...

Russell wrote: and done...

Ditto!

I hacked the donations and stole $23.

I donated thirty seven sheep pelts.

@shargrol - I gave Tom your dinner for two at Outback Steakhouse.

Money much better spent!

Done!

Done, thanks for the reminder Tom! Much appreciated.

Short answer: yes.

This is a bit of a tangent, but one of the things that I'm interested in these days is "open book accounting" for spiritual centers. The idea has its advocates and detractors in business, but it seems like the model would be perfect for small religious institutions, meditation centers, etc. Basically having the books open let's people know what they are paying for with their donations and, perhaps more importantly, if the venture iis anywhere close to sustainable.

(p.s. if anybody knows of churches/temples/dharma centers that have taken this route, please let me know.)

Our parish church does this - they only started with the new priest who arrived last year, and I instigated for it, as I'd seen it done on the websites of churches in the UK. If I'm giving money I'd like to know what's being done with the budget.

This for me is less a concern that it's being snuck off with (because if that's happening, posting the account on the bulletin board each month won't reveal it anyway), and more a desire to understand the costs involved - many people think Catholic Churches are funded by a flow of cash from the Vatican. Actually, each parish has to PAY 10% of all collected funds to the archdiocese. The flow is in the other direction. EXCEPT that the priests are on a stipend (just enough to cover clothing needs, local transportation, extra food) (they have room and board at the parish).

But what became clear was that the monthly operating costs (staff, utilities, etc.) are about $10k US a month, and the collections were just under that. Additionally there are separate renovation and repair projects, such as new electric needed (wiring was from the 1940s), a leak in the roof, a broken window, etc that can't be covered except by special appeals for donations.

There's a culture here in the Catholic church in general not to ask for donations. What happens is the priest tells the little committee of the heads of the various parish groups which meets once a month, and then relies on a sort of word of mouth and the local ring of wealthier donors to chip in. Which works. I suggested once they post that: "Hey folks, we have a cost of $20k for the renovations and repairs needed in the west wing, can anyone chip in?" but people were really uncomfortable with that, because it was too culturally unacceptable.

What does seem to have worked is that with the monthly budget the priest posts a printout at the END of each month saying: "this month here were the expenses, and here was the take." And you can draw your own conclusions. But he has been doing that for a year now, and the result has been a doubling of donations.

Tom - you could always leave it at the bottom of the column, perhaps moving it to the top if the need arises. I think it's helpful for people to know.