This time last week seems rather more than seven days ago! We listened to James delivering the results of our Renewal of Giving. He gave us a lot to celebrate in the face of some strong headwinds. Firstly, 85% of members returned their Promise Card. This is even better than last year.
James had two pieces of bad news.
Firstly, rental income will fall by £5,000. One of our larger tenants is closing down. Secondly, in view of people relocating and others needing to adjust their giving downwards we were also looking at a loss of £7,000 in giving.
Was there any good news? Yes there was.
10 households joined the giving scheme for the first time and collectively pledged £6,000 in new giving!
Our giving also rose by £6,000 from households increasing their giving. Though reductions of £5,000 resulted from households needing to adjust their giving downwards, it is so encouraging that people pledged to keep giving despite their changed circumstances. The full year forecast of £99,000 of giving gives us an uplift over baseline of over 7%! In summary:
- 32% of people increased their giving.
- 8% were new joiners to the giving schemes.
- 32% were able to maintain their giving at the present rate.
- 13% needed to reduce.
- 15% did not respond.
The result means that we can pay our parish share in full. We can meet all our bills and commitments. We can do everything we want in terms of ministry and still save about £2,000 a year into our Development Fund for crises like the subsiding floor. That is remarkable achievement in the light of the loss of a major tenant.
…And The Future?
So where are we today? Sadly, things have changed. We will not be receiving rental income during the current emergency. It is a big financial blow and the loss of revenue will be keenly felt.
If our members put their promises into operation and change their standing orders it will help us greatly to weather the storm. Those who give by envelope are strikingly faithful in giving to St John’s when prevented from attending. We need you to be again this year.