December Update from the Finance Committee

​Dear Duke Memorial members and friends,
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The Church Finance Team is grateful for your giving and wants to update you on both our 2024 Stewardship Campaign and the current 2023 Budget. As well, we have provided a table, below, that shows 2023 spending as compared to previous years and changes in our budget request for 2024.

2024 Stewardship and Budgeting Update. The Finance Team has held off on setting next year's budget in hopes of getting more pledges from those who have pledged in previous years. We will keep the link open until December 12 for anyone else who would like to pledge. 
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We celebrate all contributions for our upcoming 2024 budget year that have so far reached 69% of our goal, nearly $450,000. This leaves us with about $200,000 left to raise. We recognize that we may not be able to meet our target, and have been considering creative ways  to increase our income and to reduce our spending that still allow us to grow our ministry in the city.

The conversations we are having are important and are challenging as we recognize we may be tasked with making reductions in our budget. The table below shows how the budget is distributed by different expense categories, and if reductions in the budget are required, we will make reductions by expense category and share the updated budget with the committees who are responsible for overseeing those funds. They will determine how to proceed with any budget reductions.

2023 Budget Update. We are doing well financially for this current year, which is in large part thanks to your continued giving. As your consistent giving continues, we are on track to come in above our expected total congregational giving. This fact, coupled with our spending likely coming in below expected, should allow us to contribute more than anticipated to our 2023 apportionments. Once we have a good sense of the final 2023 numbers, Finance will recommend to Council, in early January, how much to pay in apportionments. Council will then vote to approve this amount.

If you have any questions or comments before our next meeting, or any ideas to share regarding the budgeting process, please reach out by email to Caleb Parker, Chair of Finance (wcp0622@gmail.com).