Financially Speaking | Shir Tikvah is made up of families who do what they can do financially, but it is the care for one another that is our real wealth. We hope that you make Shir Tikvah a priority in your annual giving. Thank you |
Our Revenue Vision - Recently the Shir Tikvah board appointed a Revenue Task Force to study Shir Tikvah’s revenue and look at new ways of “doing business.” Based on the Revenue Task Force recommendations, we then formed Team Nadiv to help educate all members about our financial vision and how we would like to move forward with a new approach to membership giving.
Our Current Financial Situation - The Revenue Task Force concluded that the concept of “fair share” - asking for 2% of a member’s income - not only has been confusing to congregants, but it is not helpful to our budgeting process (given its unpredictability). Running a congregation of over 500 households and maintaining a building is surprisingly expensive.
Our mission over the next few years is to educate our congregation on Shir Tikvah’s financial realities and increase membership contributions.
In the future we must budget responsibly both for our annual expenses and for future needs, including the expansion of programs, deferred maintenance and capital costs.
We want to increase our annual pledges
Click here to check out the: The Finance and Administration Committee meets the third Tuesday morning of most months at 7:30 am. If you wish to attend please contact the Executive Director so we know in advance who is attending and we can welcome you and get you material before the meeting, which helps in the preparation. So if reading about our financials motivates you to do more than an annual pledge check out our new underwriting/sponsorship program that gives you the ability to support a particular project. Find out more ... Got Questions? email alison@shirtikvah.net | Frequently Asked Financial Questions Does Shir Tikvah have a balanced budget? The Finance and Administration (F&A) committee works very hard to create a balanced budget. Last year (which ended the year on June 30th) we had a small surplus. Shir Tikvah is now carrying an accumulated deficit of just over $100,000, which has built up over the years, primarily because of the recession and staff change overs and the associated costs. For the past few years F&A put an $18,000 contingency into the budget to cover unexpected costs; last year we did need to use some of it. Do "Annual Pledges" (formally called Dues) and fees cover expenses? No. Annual Pledges only cover about 53% of the budget. LIfelong learning fees (school/adult ed/etc.) cover about 18% of Shir Tikvah's annual operating budget. Shir Tikvah's board designated endowment (Shir L'Atid), building rental and Minneapolis Federation Support make up about 12%. The development committee works to provide inspired moments for joyful giving such as High Holy Day Contributions, Give to the Max, other fundraising activities, and Memorials and Tributes to raise the remaining 14%. Is each family paying their equal share? If you took our budget of $1,100,000 and divided it by the number of households (550), the amount needed to cover our cost per household would be about $2,100, which is about the cost of sending 2 children to religious and Hebrew school for a year! Our average pledges (dues) is just over $1,100 - we always seem to need to raise another $130,000 - $150,000 from the congregation each year. Some families contribute more because they can, and some do what they can. All is appreciated, and we don't turn anyone away. Why should I pay $2,100 (or about $180 per month) if I only go to Shir Tikvah a few times a year? Shir Tikvah is here for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you are ill or a loved one dies, the clergy are here for you. At joyous times in life - anniversaries, weddings, baby namings and B'nei Mitzvah, we are here for you. Shir Tikvah never sleeps and so your financial support keeps us going to stand up for what is right (or left) in the community at large and makes sure we are here for all of you when you need us. |