Are you interested in the details of where our budget goes?  Read on! The figures provided are round approximations. A more detailed budget will be put forward for a vote during our annual meeting in June.

The pie chart provides some highlights of the current year (2023–24) UUCL Budget. Salaries and benefits for our current staff account for the majority of the budget and are approximately $185,000 annually. This includes our full-time minister, our full-time office administrator, our part-time music director, and our five nursery and RE teaching assistants. We want to rebuild our RE program with a half-time DRE which is adding another $33,000 to our personnel expenses.  We are excited about the candidates for our ministerial search.  We are likely to have some one-time expenses this coming year with a successful search such as moving expenses.

We aim to support the UUA’s Annual Program Fund at the Honor Congregation level, which means an expenditure of around $15,000. For more details on this support, visit the UUA’s APF website.

Our physical facility needs to be maintained, repaired, and insured. We all know utility bills are increasing, we have supplies to buy for the kitchen, bathroom, and RE rooms, and ongoing expenses and updates for our audio-visual system and Internet. We also have grown to where we need to pay professionals for accounting, cleaning, and lawn care.  And we need to pay for insurance on our building.  Not in this year’s budget, the Board approved a solar system on order (about $ 30k), which will make UUCL much “greener”.  This will pay for itself in the long-run, but we need to cover the cost of this in the near future.

There are many other things in the budget - Sunday morning program and worship services, music, and RE. We support social justice activities in Lawrence.  Our contributions toward Justice Matters, LINK, Kansas Interfaith Action and Ecumenical Campus Ministries (ECM).  And UUCL also provides Helping Hands, visitor and member outreach, leadership development, and support for celebrations and memorials.

The right amount for each person or family to pledge is a personal decision. Here is some information that may help. 

*** UUCL really needs about 30% more in total pledge income.. Please help the best you can given your circumstances.***

• One way to think about this is to try to make your standard of giving reflect your standard of living. Given your budget, what can you contribute on a weekly or monthly basis? When you pledge, you are demonstrating your commitment to a place you have chosen as your spiritual home — not simply making a donation to yet another charity. So let your pledge celebrate your generosity and commitment!   We are energizing our future!
• Sustaining our congregation costs just around  $2,400 per individual member annually (~$200 /month.) Some can give at that level. Others cannot. Some may find themselves in a position to provide an extra level of support to UUCL at a time when others cannot.
• In any case, please consider upping your pledge from last year if you are able to!
• The Fair Share Giving Guide is a good tool to use to understand UUCL’s specific stewardship situation in combination with your own personal situation. It may help you land on where you feel comfortable giving.
• If you are giving all you can, Thank You! Whatever amount you choose, we hope you will give until it feels good. Maintaining your pledge and fulfilling your promise are deeply appreciated! 

We have some specific suggestions for your consideration this year:

• If you currently pledge at less than $2,400, can you double your existing pledge, or make a different increase with a leap of faith? In any case, please consider upping your pledge from last year if you are able to!
• If you are between $2,000 and $5,000, can you add 10-15% more?
• If you are above $5,000, we appreciate you being a sustaining member and hope you can continue your strong commitment and even adding if possible.
• A pledge commitment in our faith tradition often ranges from 3% to 7% of household income, with some members able to give at the 10% level. Other members have proudly set themselves a multi-year goal of reaching those levels.

To see what you pledged last year, or the status of your pledge and overall giving, you can log onto your Breeze account. (Breeze is our friends/member directory and repository of donation information.) Click on "My Profile" and then "Giving”.

There are two buttons in the middle - Giving and Pledging. The Giving button is selected by default and will show the range of any giving to UUCL in the time frame indicated by the start and stop dates. To see your pledge and the status of your pledge(s), click on the button "Pledges". That will show the amount paid and pledged for the current and previous pledge cycle.

Unsure if you have a Breeze account? Need more help? Email finance@uuclks.org. 

To make your pledge, please visit the 2024–25 Stewardship Campaign in Breeze. You will be committing to an amount to contribute during the July 2024 to June 2025 fiscal year.

The amount you indicate to pledge/contribute for our 2024–25 budget is used for our planning purposes as is the payment method and frequency indicators at the bottom of the page. 

No matter how you choose to pay, the payments will be recorded in our software system Breeze. If you would like to automate your payments through Breeze you may set that up yourself through Breeze. If you would like assistance in setting this up, please email finance@uuclks.org. Please note that the user is responsible for starting and stopping any automated payments through Breeze, but we are happy to help you through the process.

A Special Note for Retirees: Wondering about using your Minimum Required Distribution for your pledge this year?  Check in with Denise Perpich about directing your contribution to UUCL and avoiding taxes on that retirement distribution!