ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE FINANCE COMMITTEE
September 2004
The Finance Committee has continued forward with the strategies we began in 2003, which included reducing expenses, increasing donations and keeping an eye to improving efficiency. The success of this committee is in proportion to the success of all the other committees in introducing the revelation to the people of our world. It is by this yardstick we measure our efforts. Without funds and resources, the committees of the Fellowship are unable to function.
The Fellowship has had a major increase in the request for financial and other support from reader groups with projects either supporting the spread of the revelation or socializing the revelation. It would be wonderful for the Fellowship to be able to more fully support some of these projects. The readership has shown a resilient ability to fund those projects through a variety of resources outside the Fellowship. The importance of this should be noted and discussed by the Executive Committee of the Fellowship in upcoming meetings.
The Finance Committee’s goal for fund raising $500,000 has proved to be a difficult goal as of September 2004, at least in donations. With four more months of this fiscal year and some promised donations that will help to toward this goal, it is fairly certain we will fall far short of our goal. We have received contributions from 120 individuals so far in 2004, which is comparable to that of the last 4-5 years.
The Finance Committee did help to realize a wonderful gain in the sale of Wrightwood property, with the sale being $869,000 and with $221,400 be available for immediate use or for secure investing. $600,000 is secured by the Wrightwood property with an amortized loan of 5.5% interest, due and payable in 60 months. The sale of the Wrightwood property and continuing virtual offices of the Fellowship, will keep the Fellowships operating expenses lower than in any previous year.
The Finance Committee would rejoice in reaching a goal of $1,000,000 for the 50th anniversary, in 2005, of the publication of The Urantia Book and the formation of The Urantia Book Fellowship. The committee continues to evaluate short term and long term strategies to accomplish this goal, but realizes that if we continue doing the same thing, we will most likely continue with the same results. We continue to explore the possibilities, which include a more clear purpose the readership can identify with and support.
For long term goals, Ken Raveill and I continue working on strategies to increase fundraising through special bequests and wills. This avenue will be among the largest sources of funds for The Urantia Book Fellowship in the years to come, if the readership understands its importance and the importance of Fellowship continuing its work.
The Finance Committee has, with regrets, recognized the request of Lee Loots resignation due to personal difficulties. We look forward to her returning this committee in the future, as it is a great pleasure to work with her. The Finance Committee now is looking for two new committee members.
I gratefully acknowledge the dedication and hard work of the committee members. Working with such a group makes it an enjoyable process. I continue to be amazed by the dedication of all the volunteers and supporters of this revelation. The experience is like no other in my life.
Sincerely,
The Finance Committee
Robert Burns, Chair
Nick Curto
Lee Loots
Jerry Pando
Ken
Raveill
Email: fellowship@urantiabook.org Email: fellowship@urantiabook.org