finance team update - anglican diocese of leeds for mission special...finance team update new update...
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Money For Mission
News From The Stewardship and Income Generation
and FinanceTeams
Becky NicholsonLead Stewardship and IncomeGeneration [email protected] 353 0216 or 07496 265509
Janet EdmondStewardship and Income [email protected] 353 0214 or 07376 525684
Philip DeaneAccountant (Financial Services)[email protected] 353 0231
Clare BellamyFinance Officer (Financial Services)[email protected] 353 0226
Sajid BootaFinance [email protected] 353 0220
Hayley DruryFinance [email protected] 3530 223
Zoom-inLast week, we were delighted to have 16 church treasurers join our zoom-in to askquestions related to gift aid, parish share payments, digital collections and dataprotection. Thank you to all who joined and special thanks to those talentedtreasurers who were able to offer the benefit of their experience when I didn't knowthe answers!
Trees Fewster from St Mary's Church in Gomersal kindly shared her poem whichraised over £3300 for their church windows in just 10 days. On the back of thatsuccess, Trees was able to write an application for £5000 to a grant funder and ananonymous donor has given the church an extra £3000. Trees' poem is at thebottom of this newsletter and she is willing to let anyone alter and re-use it for theirown appeal.
Another zoom session will be held on Tuesday 21st April at 12-2pm. Please join usif you have a question, or even if you don't we would love you to drop in to say hello.
The zoom meeting link is: https://zoom.us/j/2319270670
Becky
Finance Team UpdateNew Update on Cheque PaymentsIf you usually pay Share with mailed cheques, please now send them in to theDiocesan Office. We are able to collect mail and can process them as usual.
UK Government Financial Measures in Response to CoronavirusA download is available from the National Church of England about the GovernmentFinancial Measures. Please click here.
GASDS Update Questions around making claims under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme havearisen. This is because many church donors are keeping their cash gifts at homeuntil they can get back into church. These gifts would normally be eligible forGASDS claims, but by the time they reach the treasurer, in hopefully a few weeks,they will no longer be small and may not qualify for GASDS.The National Stewardship Network have been holding discussions as there seemsto be no clear guidance from HMRC at this time.The view is that HMRC will probably end up taking a common-sense approach tothis problem eventually, but it is quite low on their list of priorities so it may be sometime before we know what that is.One solution for churches would be to collect enveloped gifts after the lockdown indifferently dated envelopes to prove they were given at that particular date andtime. Another solution would be to collect the gifts through standing order. With commonsense applied, these gifts may be viewed at a later date as cash gifts and eligiblefor GASDS.Unfortunately we have no real idea which way it will go eventually. Our hope is thatboth scenarios would still enable GASDS claims to be made in the future.
Accounts SubmissionUnder Church Representation Rule M5(8), PCCs should submit their annual reportand accounts to the Diocesan Board of Finance within 28 days following theirAPCM. As highlighted in the last edition of Money for Mission, the APCM deadlinethis year is now 31st October 2020 but do please submit approved accounts andyour Return of Parish Finance as soon as you are able.
Where registered with the Charity Commission (annual income greater than £100k),PCCs must also submit their annual report and accounts to the Charity Commissionby 31st October.
Stewardship and Income Generation Team UpdateThe Parish Giving SchemeThe Parish Giving Scheme is now fully operational. They can now access mail andtherefore process Parish and donor registrations. In addition, from 20th April, theywill have a new telephone donation facility.
We are advising parishes who have registered but have no donors yet toencourage church leaders and PCC members to start donating inpreparation for a wider launch to the congregations after lockdown.Parishes who haven't joined the PGS yet can join now if they so wishand get started on this excellent method of Direct Debit Giving
All PGS information is on our website here.
Further information on telephone donor registration will be communicated tostatement receivers this week. For a full explanation please click here.
Seven Top Tips for Giving
More information to help you implement these tips is on our webpage here.
New on the DLPA brand new training resource has been uploaded onto the Digital LearningPlatform. Our ever-popular 'Making a Fundraising Plan for your Church' session hasbeen recorded and is there for you to view at home. The session is very similar incontent to the financial reviews that we hold at PCC meetings. It aims to help you
look at your historical financial information, make sense of it, and make an actionplan that ultimately helps you achieve financial gains.
Our new DLP session 'Making a Fundraising Plan' can be accessed here.
A film explaining financial reviews is below.
Financial Review for Parishes in the Diocese of Leeds
Don't forget, our Facebook Page is also a really useful way to stay connected. Thepage is updated frequently with grants available for struggling communities andspecial COVID-19 projects.
Helpful ResourcesMany of our Church Treasurers are aware of the organisation Stewardship who area organisation helping Christian communities to give and receive.Topics added to their website recently include include:
Christian workers: Finances in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemicCOVID-19: Directory of resources for churches, charities and ChristianworkersCOVID-19: Financial Guidance for ChurchesCOVID-19: Financial planning and reserves for churches and charitiesCOVID-19: Making decisions as trusteesCOVID-19: Update on the Furloughed Employee SchemeCOVID-19: Updates and Guidance
For more information go to the Stewardship webpage.
National Grants Available for People Affected by Coronavirus
Those of you who follow Money for Mission on Facebook will have seen the details Ihave posted about the Community Foundations around our region who will bedistributing money from The National Emergencies Trust to tackle problems arisingfrom COVID-19.
Leeds & Bradford - https://leedscf.org.uk/Ripon Area: https://www.tworidingscf.org.uk/news/
Wakefield: https://www.nova-wd.org.uk/Kirklees: https://www.one-community.org.uk/Calderdale: https://www.cffc.co.uk/
Digital Giving
Text Giving - A Success!The team at St Chad's in Far Headingley Leeds have had some very positive resultsfrom text-to donate platform Donr. They set up three different numbers for threeappeals, 'St Chad's Church', PAFRAS (Positive Action for Refugees and AsylumSeekers)' and to buy food parcels for struggling families at the primary school.The team promoted the text numbers in their newsletter with a carefully wordedintroduction from Revd. Hannah Lievesley and were delighted to receive over £400from 50 different donors in the first week.
Michael Clark, Church Treasurer said that promotion of the number really made adifference and the way that Hannah worded the appeal in the newsletter reallypersuaded people to join in. "I've been so encouraged by the response, I have nowput a general donate number on our website. We have found people are keen touse digital giving technology if you make it easy for them!"
What a wonderfully positive result.
For more information about Text Giving visit the Parish Resources website.
Website Donate ButtonsHave you ever wished donors could give directly to your church through yourwebsite or from A Church Near You?
Well here's an offer that you can't miss...
Data Developments are offering FREE donations software, FREE training andFREE 'how to' guides for a limited period of time, after which it costs £15 per month.
More information can be found here:https://www.datadevelopments.co.uk/services/
Just Giving Charity Recognition from A Church Near YouJust Giving will now accept the Church of England church code and certificate fromACNY as a form of proof of charitable status, as an alternative to the CharityCommission number.
They do still require the names and details of two members of the PCC to carry outtheir AML processes under the law however.
To set up a Just Giving account go to https://pages.justgiving.com/charities.html
Church Windows
The windows of St. Mary's church date from 1851.Some are coloured, some are plain, but all were made by man.The Lord provided materials, and gave the people powerTo build a brand new church here, including a square tower.
It was a beauty, a real gem, a daughter of St. Peter's,It had an altar, a font, a pulpit, an organ, even heaters!Many people passed the threshold to worship and to prayTo say the 'Yes, I do', together we will stay.
Or people come to say 'Goodbye' to family or friend,When their journey here on earth has reached its final end.The church is a place where people can come to bare their soul,To pray for healing and forgiveness and again to be made whole.
The people haven't changed, it's another generation,We refurbished the church with thanks to generous donations.The wooden pews have been replaced with comfortable chairsThe pulpit is a lectern, gone are the pulpit stairs!
The leaking roof is now secure, away with pots and pans,No need to duck the rain when reading wedding banns.The masonry and turrets, they look as good as new,We have done lots of work here, I think that we're now through.
No, not quite, the PCC received a pressing question.'Can we renew the sheets that give windows their protection?'The windows are obscured, they look like they've been boarded,The polycarbonate has gone all dull, can some new ones now be ordered?
It looks as if the church is closed, without it's stained glass majesty.And the PCC agreed that indeed it was a travesty.Trees Fewster volunteered, so she was put in chargeOf the windows project, updating small and large.
She got a quote from a firm down the road in LeedsWho would cut the polycarbonate to her specific needs.The 10 windows with similar arches, that would be a sensible start.But the cost of the replacements made the treasurer's heart smart.
The cost per window is £200 and that's without the V.A.T.If you say it quick enough, it comes out quite easily.Can we find some funding and get it nicely done,Perhaps we could appeal to you before the summer fun.
Can you sponsor a window, a full one, half or third?Do you feel kind and generous, have you heartstrings gently stirred?Do please let me know how much that you can spare.So the church can stand radiant, and show how much we care!
Trees Fewster
© Anglican Diocese of Leeds, 2019
Stewardship and Income Generation and Finance 0113 353 [email protected]
www.leeds.anglican.org
Diocese of LeedsChurch House
17-19 York PlaceLeeds, LS1 2EX