As mentioned last month, pledge income is never a steady amount. We are aware that personal budgets have variations. Required minimum distributions from retirement accounts used for pledge payments have tax advantages and may be taken at any time over the year, also creating variations in pledge income.

We are looking at ways to examine historical trends for insight on how to manage these pledge variations, while at the same time hoping to see a trend in pledges that will reduce our reliance on cash reserves in the annual budget. As an example of how pledge income can fluctuate: pledge income for January was $99,660; for February $39,400. Additionally, we want to move toward a budgeting process that anticipates major one-time needs such as can occur with the facility or other unexpected expenses.

It is our intention to continue to increase transparency of FCC’s financial policy leading to increased confidence and support for programs that express FCC and UCC values.