Category Archives: Finances

Finances, Meetings for Listening, Notable Minutes, Process and Policies

Minute on Financial Contributions to Outside Organizations – 6/3/2012

At our meeting for worship with a concern for business held on 6/3/2012, our minutes include an item relating to financial contributions to outside organizations.  This question has come up repeatedly in our meeting and was the subject of several meetings for listening over the years, including:

The relevant minute from 6/3/2012 was:

Bethanne reported that the Peace and Social Concerns (P&SC) committee met and reviewed the outcome of the threshing session on Meeting contributions to outside organizations.  The proposal from the P&SC Committee was read: Continue reading Minute on Financial Contributions to Outside Organizations – 6/3/2012 →

Finances, Process and Policies

Guidelines for Scholarships (2/2011)

From the minutes of the meeting for worship with a concern for business, 2/6/2011, the revision below to the guidelines for scholarships was approved.  The guidelines were originally approved on 7/3/2005 as part of the Policy on Expenditures.  Additional discussion on these guidelines for scholarships appears in the minutes from 1/2006, 3/2006, 7/2006, 9/2006, and 1/2007.  On 9/3/2006, the business meeting approved a budget process for the developing the scholarship budget.

Guidelines for Scholarships

While scholarships/grants may be given for a variety of events, not all of which may by known or anticipated, specific guidelines are given for those which occur most often.

Those members or committed attenders who plan to attend BYM events (examples: annual session, the Women’s Retreat or one of the summer camps); or broader Quaker events such as FGC or Pendle Hill would qualify for a grant, as follows:

  • The cost of one week of camp per child
  • The cost for two nights at the annual session
  • 25% of a BYM sponsored event (other than camp, covered above)
  • 25% of FGC Annual Gathering (at the lower end of living arrangements, such as camping or cooperative dining)
  • 25% of the Pendle Hill cost

People needing more than the above amounts should not hesitate to request more for consideration. People are also encouraged to ask for scholarships from the sponsoring organizations of the various events.

Approved, 7/3/2005
Revised, 2/6/2011

Finances, Ministry & Care, Personal Assistance Fund, Process and Policies

Minute on Personal Assistance Fund (3/2010)

From the minutes of the meeting for worship with a concern for business, 3/7/2010, this minute supersedes the minute on a Personal Assistance Fund from 9/2000:

Minute on a Personal Assistance Fund
for Patapsco Friends Meeting

Purpose:

If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; not withstanding ye give them not those things which are useful to the body; what doeth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

James 2:15-17

A Personal Assistance Fund is established as part of the General Budget.

The Personal Assistance Committee is appointed to oversee disbursements from this fund to members and regular attenders as requested.

The committee that oversees this fund shall be available in a timely way to those asking for assistance who have bodily needs: food, clothing, shelter or medical needs which if not met quickly are likely to become urgent. Requests for aid should be made to the clerk of the committee.

Responsibilities of Personal Assistance Committee members and of those requesting aid:

Any two members of the Personal Assistance Committee have the authority to disperse up to 50% of the amount remaining in the Personal Assistance Fund at the time of the request. If more funds are needed, the requestor must meet with the Personal Assistance Committee.

Members of the committee should seek to discern the nature of the help being requested, the level of help being requested, the likely duration of the problem and the ability of the committee to give the requested aid, and the rightness of the request.

The committee should help the person requesting aid to develop a plan to address his/her needs.

Committee members should be prepared to follow up with the person requesting aid and to provide spiritual support.

The business of the committee shall be conducted in strict confidence. If, however, the committee and person requesting aid are clear the problem is not a bodily need, or goes beyond bodily need or that the need exceeds the resources of the Personal Assistance Fund, then, with the agreement of the person requesting aid, the committee may refer the problem to another committee or to the Meeting as a whole.

Repayment of disbursements from the fund:

Disbursements made from the fund shall be considered non-interest bearing loans. After a disbursement has been made, it shall be the responsibility of the committee and the person requesting aid to establish a plan for repayment, as appropriate. If it is appropriate to have a repayment plan, the plan should be one that the person requesting aid can in good faith agree to. Aid should not be dependent on the likelihood of repayment.

Committee Members:

The committee shall have 3 members, all of whom are regular attenders at Patapsco Friends Meeting. One member shall be appointed from and by the Ministry & Care Committee, one shall be the Treasurer of the Meeting and one shall be appointed by the Meeting through its nominating process. The term shall be for 2 years.

After approval by the Meeting of the members of the committee, it will meet to select a clerk, review its purpose and determine any other necessary business. All other meetings will be called.

The Committee shall report the amount of aid given and the number of people who have received aid to the Business Meeting at least once a year.

Approved on March 7, 2010

Finances, Process and Policies

Budget Process for Financial Support of Attendance at Quaker and Other Spiritually Nurturing Events (9/2006)

From the minutes of the meeting for worship with a concern for business, 9/3/2006:

Budget Process for Financial Support of Attendance at Quaker
and Other Spiritually Nurturing Events

In the spirit of spiritual hospitality, our meeting provides funds to help pay for attendance by active participants of our meeting at a variety of events that would nurture their spiritual growth and enrich the life of the meeting.

Nurturing the life of the meeting is the responsibility of all participants in the meeting and particularly members of committees. Promoting attendance at spiritually enriching events is one way to do that. We ask Friends to be alert to events that could be especially enriching and to identify people who could be enriched by them. The more we anticipate these opportunities the more we can be sure to budget sufficient funds and encourage participation.

Our annual budget process is one opportunity to think about and plan for how many Friends we would like to sponsor for which events.  Anticipating such opportunities through our budget process would help us to sustain our awareness of these opportunities and our desire to encourage attendance. Using the budget process in this way is not intended to set absolute limits on funds the meeting will provide; the meeting can modify the budget at any time during the year.

Examples of such events include:

a. BYM summer camps;
b. BYM Annual Sessions (including youth programs);
c. Other BYM-sponsored events, such as the Women’s Retreat and conferences for Young Friends (high school), Junior Young Friends (junior high school), or Young Adult Friends (roughly 18-35);
d. The Annual Gathering of Friends General Conference (FGC);
e. The mid-winter gathering of Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Concerns (FLGBTQC);
f. Pendle Hill and other Quaker retreats and workshops;
g. Board Meetings of Quaker Organizations.

Budget Process for Scholarships

1. Each committee will identify events at which it would like to encourage attendance and how many people it would like to support for each. Committees are encouraged to consider which individuals to sponsor for each event, though no commitment is expected at this time.
2. Each committee will itemize in its budget request an estimate of the amount required for those events and include a list of those events.
3. The treasurer will pull together these estimates in determining the proposed budget item for scholarships. The treasurer will also provide a list of the events proposed by the committees.