Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

Discuss questions around local unit policies for budgeting, reconciling, etc. This forum should not contain specific financial or membership information.
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ckmcdonald
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Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#1

Post by ckmcdonald »

It is our understanding that for the new youth program beginning Jan 1 that funds should not be solicited from members to pay for youth activities such as camps. Is the intent for the youth leaders to spend less on weekly youth activities to preserve budget funds to cover the cost of youth camps and other larger outings, or will there be a larger budget allocation to cover these more expensive activities?
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#2

Post by jdlessley »

Our stake and ward do not anticipate any real changes in budget needs for the change in programs. We will still have one large event, typically a summer camp for the YW, one for the YM, and one day camp for the primary children. All other activities will require essentially the same funds. The direction from the bishop has been to submit a proposed budget based on a planned annual program and work within the budget allocated. The need for additional funds to cover the one summer camp will be as it has been done in the past with budget as the primary source, individual participants contributing as needed, and a fund-raiser as a last resort.

Where do you see an increase in funding required for the new programs? Has your ward planned next year's programs and estimated the funding required? Does the budget needed to support those programs exceed the anticipated ward budget?
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ckmcdonald
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#3

Post by ckmcdonald »

In the wards of our stake the funds to support a girls and boys camp as well as a primary day camp have been paid for by a fee/head by the parents of the youth attending. If I understand correctly, we are not to request funds from members for these activities any longer. So in order to have these events in 2020 and onward the funds will have to come from our youth budget which is not accustom to covering them. If there isn't an increased allocation from headquarters to cover these events (not to mention the "6 other larger activities" suggested) then the existing allocation will have to be stretched painfully thinner across the year, or, forego the camps, or, take funds from other organizations within the wards and stake.
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#4

Post by russellhltn »

ckmcdonald wrote:It is our understanding that for the new youth program beginning Jan 1 that funds should not be solicited from members to pay for youth activities such as camps.
I think that "Members should not pay fees to participate." has been a part of Handbook 2: 13.2.8 for some time. The current version on-line indicates it was last updated in October. I don't think it has the new youth program yet. This might be a case of leadership noticing what's always been there. Unless there's a new directive that says fund-raising is off the table, I doubt if many wards will see a difference.

Edit: See comments below.
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#5

Post by eblood66 »

The Aaronic Priesthood Camp Guide (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... w?lang=eng) indicates that camps should be planned ahead so there is time to (among other things) 'raise the necessary funds according to Church policies'. This would indicate that fund-raising is still allowed. Unless and until we hear differently I would assume that the same fund-raising policies that have applied to scout and girls camp previously will apply to Aaronic Priesthood and Young Women's camps now.

As jdlessley indicated, It has long been the policy that budget should be used first, then funds raised individually by the youth and finally from a single group fundraiser as a last resort. But in my experience that order is not always followed and often parents just pay even though that is not actually one of the options listed. But the policy has said differently for quite a long time.

I'm not aware of any mention of an increase in the budget allocation so I'd plan on working what is currently given.
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ckmcdonald
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#6

Post by ckmcdonald »

The current handbook allows for the collection of funds from participating members for one girls camp, one boys camp and one day-camp per year. (HB#2 13.2.8)
It is this policy that the wards in our stake have used in the past to fund camps (collect from members). It might be a rumor but we were led to believe that the above 3 exceptions to the "Members should not pay fees to participate" rule are not going to be allowed beginning in 2020. Can anyone validate whether this is true or not?
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#7

Post by lajackson »

ckmcdonald wrote:It might be a rumor but we were led to believe that the above 3 exceptions to the "Members should not pay fees to participate" rule are not going to be allowed beginning in 2020. Can anyone validate whether this is true or not?
I have neither seen nor heard of any change to the way youth programs are funded. I believe the fundraising option is still in 3rd place.
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#8

Post by russellhltn »

ckmcdonald wrote:The current handbook allows for the collection of funds from participating members for one girls camp, one boys camp and one day-camp per year. (HB#2 13.2.8)
I stand corrected. I missed that.

I haven't followed the changes closely, but I didn't notice any changes in funding. So, at this point, I'd gently ask the leadership about "chapter and verse" on where these changes are spelled out. If nothing else, it will clarify at what level this is coming from.
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chriswoodut
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#9

Post by chriswoodut »

I also thought it is allowed a request youth to contribute to their FSY trips. The ward covers half, from what I remember. One fundraiser per year has always been allowed which we almost always take advantage of.

The change we see in our ward is the without organized scout camps and scout awards (which are expensive) AND with the direction to allocate funds evenly between YW and YM based on headcount, that the YW are going to have more money than they have had in the past IF we leave the total combined allocation the same. Mainly it is the deacons that are getting less money than previous years. Also, the YW are thinking out of the box about doing more things and possibly an occasional overnight activity that they haven't done before. None of this has been approved yet but that's the discussions going on with the YW presidency.
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ElliotQuinton
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Re: Budget Incease for New Youth Program?

#10

Post by ElliotQuinton »

As a Stake Finance Clerk, we've been grappling with how to fund the new youth programs. From our perspective the big new element is the FSY funding.

We've been relying on the: From the Planning Guide and FAQ
Areas should be self-sufficient in funding FSY and should adapt conference plans according to the local resources that are available (see pages 6–8 for adaptation guidelines). To that end, funding for conferences should not be requested through new and expanded budgets but should come from the following sources: a. Local Unit Budget Allowance (LUBA) b. Participant Funds c. Fund-Raising.
From the Newsroom and FSY FAQ
Each participant will be asked to pay U.S. $75. In addition, the stake or ward will pay U.S. $75 from the local unit budget allowance (LUBA) for each individual. The bishop may also use LUBA to help individuals when necessary. If desired, wards may use the annual fundraising effort to help offset the cost.
As a Stake, we have over 200 youth ages 14-18 that could potentially attend (practically they all won't); the maximum impact to our LUBA would be $15K. That is not an insignificant amount of funds compared to our allocations; many stake organizations are being cut back as well as the possibility of tinkering with the allocation percentages to lessen the administrative burden between the stake and its units. Additionally, we have run a Stake Girl's Camp for many years and will now begin a new Stake Young Men's Camp. Since the fundraising guidelines are restrictive to raise funds for only one annual activity, we're going to attempt to fully fund FSY from the Stake (and Ward) LUBA. Traditionally Girl's Camp and the former scouting program have conducted their own fundraiser. We're under the impression that either FSY or the youth camps could do a fundraiser, not both.

So its a big pinch on our LUBA, but we also seem to have gotten the message loud and clear not to expect an increase in the LUBA at this point. Positively, the Facilities Management budget is picking up the tab for renting the college campus where FSY will be held; that is likely the biggest ticket item for operating FSY which then doesn't have to be passed on to the local units.

**Some of the figures I quoted could certainly vary by region. We happen to be in North America Northwest**
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