Good Projector for small groups

[lajackson]

Well, I imagine if one or two Bishops want to spend their own funds for their own purposes, it won't cause the stake or church headquarters too much consternation, but I'm willing to learn whatever you want to teach me. Would you mind starting with the definition of FMG, FM Funds and LUBF?

FMG: Facilities Management Group, responsible for managing church buildings and other facilities.

FM Funds: Facilities Management Funds (the FMG budget).

LUBF: Local Unit Budget Funds (the budget the ward or stake uses to fund activities and other local unit programs.

[russellhltn]

Would you mind starting with the definition of FMG, FM Funds and LUBF?

FMG = Facilities Management Group. They're the ones that pay for things that are part of the building, including the TVs in the library and the clerk computers.
FM Funds = The funds that FMG uses.
LUBA = Local Unit Budget Allowance, which is intended to fund ward activities and small offices supplies.

If the ward buys it, the ward has that much less cash to fund activities for the members. Most likely this will fall on the youth camps in the summer since they are allowed to raise funds. If FM Group buys it, then the ward's budget is not hit.

[Gary_Miller]

Well, I imagine if one or two Bishops want to spend their own funds for their own purposes,

The funds is not there for the Bishops own purposes. They are there to fund ward and stake activities and supplies, which do not include computers, printers, copiers, TVs, projectors, or VCR/DVD players.

Here is some training resources on the principles and purposes for the Local Unit Budget Allowance. You should also consult Handbook 1 and 2 for further understanding.

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1990/05/teach ... s?lang=eng
http://www.lds.org/ensign/1990/05/the-l ... y?lang=eng
http://www.lds.org/ensign/1990/05/rise- ... k?lang=eng

it won't cause the stake or church headquarters too much consternation, but I'm willing to learn whatever you want to teach me.

Its not wither it would cause problems or confusion, it about using the correct funds for the correct purposes.

[TinMan]

I think what he is asking is "What if a bishop wants to buy a projector from his personal funds and donate it to the ward. What kind of projector should he get?"

[jdlessley]

Would you mind starting with the definition of FMG, FM Funds and LUBF?

FMG = Facilities Management Group, sometimes shortened to FM. This organization was explained already.
FM Funds are the funds allocated by the Church to manage Church facilities and equipment for facilities. This is to relieve this burden from stakes and units and place it in the hands of professionals to reduce facilities operating costs.
LUBF = Local Unit Budget Funds. The preferred term is LUBA (Local Unit Budget Allowance). The Local Unit Budget Allowance (LUBA) program was implemented in 1989 to allow local units to fund their programs using funds supplied by the Church.

When stakes and wards need equipment covered under the responsibilities of the FMG then they should coordinate first with the FMG to determine the FMG's ability to support the need. The point of contact between the stake and FMG is the high councilor for physical facilities. Just like local units plan their programs and activities to fit within the allocation provided so must the FM Group.

The budget planning for facilities expenses is a bit more lengthy than planning for stake and ward programs and activities. The FMG does planning for the following year in the spring while most stakes and units do their planning in the fall. So if a stake or unit has a need that should be filled by the FMG then they have to coordinate that need with the FMG in the spring of the year before the need. Unfortunately most stakes and units are finding shorter term needs that can't wait for the FMG planning cycle. This is when FMG responsibilities to support equipment needs fall short.

[johnshaw]

I think what he is asking is "What if a bishop wants to buy a projector from his personal funds and donate it to the ward. What kind of projector should he get?"

Problem there is what if the Bishop want's to pay out of his own funds for a new Meetinghouse that has a roller-skating rink inside, or what if a Bishop wants to pay out of his own funds for a Trip for the Youth to go on a World-tour visiting countries on all 7 continents. Whether it is small or large there is little room for Donating to Budget. Budget comes the same to everyone, which was a PURPOSE of moving to the self-funding. You had wealthy wards doing all sorts of stuff, EQ Parties in Hawaii, etc...

That is the reason to use FMG funds where they should be used.

Problem is generally lack of planning, right now, everything you identify is for purchase in 2014. The budget process starts April/May of 2013 to be submitted by July 2013 for 2014 projects, etc.. If a Stake Fails to gather, ongoing, their needs, get them into the Budget for FM, then the process doesn't work, and putting it back on track is nearly impossible.

Stakes who have been 'just buying stuff ourselves, not waiting for FMG' enable the lowering of budgets for FMG because the demand is not there and normalizes the budget lower than should be necessary.

[wsplawn]

Thank you all for your input. I am considering all that's been said.

Best Regards

[TinMan]

Problem is generally lack of planning, right now, everything you identify is for purchase in 2014. The budget process starts April/May of 2013 to be submitted by July 2013 for 2014 projects, etc.. If a Stake Fails to gather, ongoing, their needs, get them into the Budget for FM, then the process doesn't work, and putting it back on track is nearly impossible.

Oh.

How was I supposed to budget for the capabilities for 6 classes to play videos all at the same time last April/May when I didn't find out about the new curriculum until a month ago?

wsplawn: For what it is worth, we are looking at using 24 inch Samsung monitors with speakers built in and hook ups for ipads, laptops, and USB drives. As well as streaming input capabilities.

We also used 3 old routers and a booster to put Wi-Fi capabilities into our building because the FM group told us that our building was too old and had too much cinderblock to make WI-Fi possible. So if we wanted it, we had to do it ourselves.

Which we did.

Our Elders quorum had to cancel their trip to Hawaii, but they will survive.

[wsplawn]

Large monitors seem the way to go to me. I hadn't thought about built-in speakers. What kind of built-in hook ups for ipads, and laptops are you talking about? My understanding is that it's just a matter of plugging the monitor into the back of a computer (laptop or whatever) with a regular monitor cable.

We have already purchased 5 flash drives and downloaded the videos to them. If I had a big monitor (with speakers) I'm supposing it's just a matter of plugging in the flash drives and using them like another hard drive. Our internet connection at the stake center is spotty at best for good streaming.

[TinMan]

Sorry, I am far from a geeky person. That is why I was hoping someone else would answer your question. On the back of the monitors we are looking at, there are about 6 or 8 different plug in connections. There is a place to plug in an IPad, (but we need to purchase a separate cord, apparently) and I have been told that you can even plug your IPhone into the same spot. There is also a place to plug in a lap top. There is a connection for an antenna hook up. And on the side there is a spot to plug in flash drives. There is no DVD slot. I don't think. Which is causing us to pause. But I think we will go ahead as we haven't found anything we think will work better for us.