Income
The overwhelming majority of Chalice's operating income comes from your annual pledges. Chalice members understand that pledging is an expectation of membership. Non-member congregants who make a pledge commitment are known as "friends" of the congregation. We currently have 144 members and 35 friends, comprised of 93 households (sometimes called "pledge units").
The reliability of promised ("pledged") income allows Chalice to plan our spending for the fiscal year with confidence. Each pledge is important, and every amount is needed.
Based on three years of information (pre-pandemic: FY17, FY18, and FY19), Chalice's income sources have been as follows:
Chalice's income sources are varied and have become less predictable in recent years. This is likely the result of a combination of factors, including vagaries of the pandemic, changes to tax law, and competing demands for charitable giving.
Expenses
In the spring, Chalice's Coordinating Team drafts a budget for the coming year, which the Board of Trustees approves in May, and which the congregation votes on at the June congregational meeting. The draft of the budget is created as follows:
The overwhelming majority of Chalice's operating income comes from your annual pledges. Chalice members understand that pledging is an expectation of membership. Non-member congregants who make a pledge commitment are known as "friends" of the congregation. We currently have 144 members and 35 friends, comprised of 93 households (sometimes called "pledge units").
The reliability of promised ("pledged") income allows Chalice to plan our spending for the fiscal year with confidence. Each pledge is important, and every amount is needed.
Based on three years of information (pre-pandemic: FY17, FY18, and FY19), Chalice's income sources have been as follows:
- Pledges (87% of income)
- Annual auction income (9% of income)
- Cash collections (Sunday offering) (2% of income)
- Special fundraisers (1.5% of income)
- Facility rental income / E-scrip and AmazonSmile (0.5% of income)
Chalice's income sources are varied and have become less predictable in recent years. This is likely the result of a combination of factors, including vagaries of the pandemic, changes to tax law, and competing demands for charitable giving.
Expenses
In the spring, Chalice's Coordinating Team drafts a budget for the coming year, which the Board of Trustees approves in May, and which the congregation votes on at the June congregational meeting. The draft of the budget is created as follows:
- Expenses: Staff Compensation (67% of the budget)
As Chief of Staff, Rev. Sharon makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees regarding staff wages, hours, and benefits to ensure that our staff are compensated fairly. One of her primary sources of information is the salary recommendations that come from the UUA. Our staff who work 20 hours a week or more (called "Executive Staff") receive health benefits and contributions of 5% of their wages to an IRA fund through TIAA. The Board of Trustees makes decisions regarding the compensation of the Minister.
Our excellent staff include:- Minister - full time
- Director of Family Ministries - half time (20 hours a week)
- Music Director - half time (20 hours a week)
- Congregational Administrator - half time (20 hours a week)
- Sound Engineer
- Childcare Providers
- Expenses: Caring for Our Campus (19% of the budget)
The costs of running and maintaining our buildings and grounds are overseen by Coordinating Team. We try not to stint in this area, as delayed maintenance of buildings can create more problems in the long term than it solves in the short term. This is also a budget area where many costs are fixed. - Expenses: Program Costs and Office Expenses (10% of the budget)
The Coordinating Team requests that committees and teams--including staff-led programs like worship, music, and family ministries--use a "budget request form" each spring, submitted to the Coordinating Team in April. The budget request form asks what the committee/team budget has been for the current year, and how much has been spent. Then the form asks for the request for the coming year, with an itemized list of plans and associated costs. We encourage our committees and teams to dream big and to think of ways to support and grow the congregation's mission. This is a surprisingly small portion of the budget considering the tremendous impact that our committees and teams have on our congregational life. - Expenses: UUA Donation (4% of the budget)
As part of our relationship with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), the congregation makes an annual donation to the UUA's Annual Program Fund (APF), which provides the largest source of income for the UUA to carry forward its mission of equipping congregations, supporting and credentialing leaders, and advancing UU values in the world. The donation amount for each year is requested by the UUA through a formula based on Chalice's reported expenditures and our geographic location. Chalice has paid the full requested contribution for more than 10 consecutive years and has been recognized by the UUA as an Honor Congregation.