HUUC Stewardship 2024-2025
We Create Our Future Together
It is spring, and in this season for new beginnings we are also entering our pledge campaign. Our pledge drive is a yearly opportunity to reaffirm our support for our church community and to look to the future that we would like to create together. That future includes a robust investment in our Religious Education (RE) programming for all of the lifelong learners in our community, young and old. In addition to some targeted new RE investments, The HUUC Board of Trustees has created a proposed budget that aims to meet the needs of the congregation in the new church year with fairly compensated staff and the resources to keep everything in the church running and in good repair in an inflationary environment.
2024-2025 Budget Priorities
Our single biggest expense, as is true with nearly any organization, is our amazing staff. Our Personnel Committee and Committee on Ministry, working with UUA salary guideline minimums for our region and church size, have recommended fair share salary increases that amount to an average of 5% across all positions, including both ordained and non-ordained staff. We’ve done a fair amount of catching up in past budget years to get our staff salaries in line with UUA guidelines, so this year’s proposal for an average of 5% across all staff is not as steep as the request has been in prior budget years.
While modest in terms of our overall budget, we do have a goal of increasing our investment in our Religious Education (RE) program. We have a new budget line of $1,000 for the revival of our participation in the city-wide UU OWL (Our Whole Lives) lifespan sexuality education program. For the rest of our RE programming we are requesting a 5% increase for each budget line: our Children’s RE Program, our Youth Program, and our Adult Faith Development program.
One last new investment that we are proposing for next church year also involves an enrichment program for our children, a musical one. We are proposing hiring a Children’s Music Director on a contract basis to provide music education and enrichment during RE time on Sunday mornings. This contract position is budgeted at $2,850.
What do all of these recommendations mean for your pledge? We are proposing keeping our rental and fund raising goals flat with last year, so that means we’ll need to support our increased budget proposals solely with our pledging. In order to support our overall budget increase of 6%, we’ll need to increase pledges by 12%. If we hit this percentage goal, we will achieve $247,000 in pledges for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
The need is clearly there, and there is no question that our congregation and its leadership support all of the services that we receive as a result of the planned expenditures in our proposed budget.
What if I am new to pledging at Heritage? Where do I start? The Fair Share Contribution Guide is a great way to determine an appropriate level of giving based on you and your family’s financial situation and your connection to HUUC. Based on the Fair Share Guide a pledging member or friend with an income of $80,000 a year (accounting for large and unusual anticipated expenses like medical expenses, educational expenses, etc. as adjustments to income), would pledge $195 per month at the Supporter level (the baseline level for giving), or $2,340 per year (3% per of income). That level of pledging is just above our average pledge at Heritage of $2,048 per year.
Here a few statistics on pledges at HUUC:
- We currently have 12 pledges for the 2023-2024 church year that are $5,000 or above. These pledges account for just under 40% of our total pledged income.
- We have 29 pledges in the $2,000 to $5,000 range, accounting for 41% of our total pledged income.
- We have 51 pledges under $2,000 per year, accounting for 19% of our total pledged income.
It’s going to take an average pledge of about $2,470 per month from about 100 pledging members and friends (including members and friends who are new to our congregation) to fully fund our proposed budget for the 2024-2025 church year. The reality is that we will receive pledges well above and well below that average monthly pledge amount, as we do every year. Every pledge counts, no matter what its amount.
We only ask that you please consider pledging an amount that reflects a serious commitment to the place you have chosen as your spiritual home — not simply making a donation to yet another charity. Whatever amount you lovingly choose, we hope you will give until it feels good.
And now, it’s time to submit your pledge. The pledge form is right here on the HUUC website, just below on this page. Your pledge is secure and private.
Any questions? Contact Reid Hester at:
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