[RMC News] From RMC Treasurer: Tithe Transitions Vol. 1, No. 18

[Roe, Ben]

Tithe Transitions
Mission and Money for The Rocky Mountain Conference
Vol. 1 No. 18					January 8, 2007
"...by the fifteenth of every month, each local church treasurer shall remit to the annual conference 10% (+1%) of the previous month's net contributions." 
6 Weeks Remaining to First Report!

Our much awaited 2008 is well under way.  Our Church Tithe Apportionment is now our practice.  I wanted to remind you that you will want to submit one Church Tithe form (rmcumc.org/CR/Finance/index.htm#titheform) each month communicating your total income from the preceding month.  The best way to look at the Total Income line (line 14 on the form) is to take the total deposits from your bank statement for the month and put that number on line 14.  Then subtract out the "Less..." lines for the various amounts named on the form, to arrive at the Adjusted Total Income (line 41).  

With this letter, I wanted to comment on a matter which we all share.  That is donor confidence.  All of us support our church willingly.  That goes better when we see what our church does with its money.  We write and talk a lot about running transparent organizations.  Transparency is great when the inner workings that are revealed actually appear to be as we would want them to be.  

One function which you should all expect from your Conference Treasurer's office is advice and counsel on best practices in non-profit management so that your and our transparency will reveal dependable and trustworthy practices.

At some point, and from time to time, it would be well if you were to review your financial practices with regard to staff compensation, benefits and professional reimbursement.  If you would like help with what the law allows in each case, do not hesitate to ask.  The Conference reviews its practices as well.

Proper definitions of employees, consultants and contractors are kept.  If someone is truly an employee, she or he is not paid as a contractor only to avoid taxes and benefits.

Professional expenses are reimbursed according to policies and procedures that properly document them.  Receipts are kept, for instance.  And ordinary personal and optional expenses are never disguised as professional expenses to artificially expand compensation beyond what was agreed to in the employment.

Employers who cannot raise sufficient funds to keep faith with the full cost of compensation and the agreed-upon benefit package, should not enter into an employment agreement that is beyond its means.  Manipulating benefits to lower the cost of staff, rather than committing to the full, legitimate and actual cost of staff, is not responsible.

Dual relationships are those where one person relates to an organization in more than one way.  For instance, some members are also employees of their local church.  Some persons employed to fulfill certain functions for which there is a legitimate job description may also receive additional remuneration for certain extraneous or occasional activities that are not recorded or agreed to anywhere.  Even if this is a long-standing practice and no impropriety is intended, it may appear to be an improper use of precious resources by an 'insider.'  There are good remedies.  Any duly authorized governing body, such as a board, could have Conflict of Interest Agreements with all staff persons so that the full financial transaction is apparent, above board, and subject to the affirmative vote of the proper body.  These agreements are not difficult to write at all.  They only need to do two things:  1. Disclose all kinds of remuneration that the person will receive from the organization, and all kinds of relationships that the person has with the organization, and 2. Expect the person to record an abstention, in the minutes, from all decisions that may affect the eventual remuneration that she or he may receive from the organization.

Attention to transparency pays great dividends in donor confidence.  Assuming trustworthiness is not the same as demonstrating trustworthiness.  The benefits of doing so actually create an active and positive membership.  Remember, the organization that impresses its members with its attention to transparent and fair practices will inspire greater donor confidence.  Donors have lots of choices and you want your donors to choose their church as the recipient of their gifts, for reasons that you can support with a clear conscience.

Best blessings,
Paul

When we all participate, we all benefit, and when we participate transparently, trust is built.  

We have been collecting e-mail addresses for local church finance chairs and treasurers so they might get these messages directly. If there are persons who need this information who may not have received it, please help us get it to them by: forwarding this e-mail to them, sharing their email address with us, or by printing it out and handing or mailing it to them.  Thank you for helping this new system to work!  This and previous editions  of T2 are on the web at rmcumc.org/CR/Finance/ (under Church Resources). The remittance form is the second link in the list at the top of the page.

Ben Roe
Information Administrator
Rocky Mountain Conference, The United Methodist Church
ben at rmcumc.com  303-325-7046  800-536-3736x146 
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