Finance Management Committee
During budget creation time the FMC worked very diligently with the staff to present a conservative yet realistic budget to the board for approval at their spring meeting. We worked with a two-year mind set projecting what we thought the expenses and revenues for the ' 05- ' 06 budget year (NCYC year) would look like. Thanks to the projected attendance numbers for NCYC supplied by you, the members of the Federation, we felt confident projecting a bottom line for ' 05- ' 06. This gave us the information and material necessary for drafting this coming year’s budget.
Impact of Financial Decisions
In light of that we made some serious decisions that will affect all of us. These include, but are not limited to:
- eliminating all face-to-face committee and task group meetings this budget year;
- reducing our tithe to the Foundation;
- reducing the amount of money available for new project proposals.
Lest you think, however, that all of our decisions reflected negative approaches
that is not the case. We seriously took into consideration the values of the
Federation and intentionally made the above decisions so that we could still
hold the line on diocesan dues and membership meeting fees. We also felt that
holding the line on new projects would force us to finish the very worthwhile
projects that we are currently pursuing—to concentrate on bringing them
to fruition.
Proactive Stance
The good news in all of this is that we are still in a proactive stance. With the National Association of Catholic Youth Ministry Leaders and the National Center for Catholic Youth Sports we are pursuing new revenue streams. We are moving ahead with hiring a marketing and development staff person. The Foundation is moving forward. The stock market is rebounding. The NCCYM provides us with a wonderful opportunity to not only put on a quality conference for the folks in the field but to also challenge and invite each of us to grow our diocesan attendance at this wonderful event. Two or three more attendees from each diocese and our financial picture takes on a whole new frame! .
As we work within the FMC and with the staff and board to make the Federation fiscally solvent and responsible, let us each remember that we are not simply members of the Federation but we are the Federation.
Email Connections at connections@nfcymoffice.org