Reverend Father Layog and the Holy Family Parish: Prophetic Paradigms and Purposeful Pursuits

Introduction

Statement of the Problem

a. How will Reverend Father Layog and the Holy Family Parish acquire sufficient fund to pay the
debts and maintain the continuity of the project?
b. What is the best method to use in order to have transparent and updated financial information
concerning the “whereabouts” of the donations?

Objectives

a. To identify ways for collection of sufficient fund to pay the debs to suppliers.
b. To determine efficient method of solicitation of fund to maintain the project.
c. To identify best method to use to have transparent and updated financial information regarding
the donations and expenditures.

Alternative course of Action

An important question for every church considering a major appeal is how they will find the people with
the time and skills to carry out the many tasks involved. Churches usually think of fundraising activities
in order to acquire certain amount for their projects. Aside from the donations that will be received by
the church, it is important to do some activities in order to suffice the amount needed for the debts of
Holy Family Parish. Most common sources of funds include:

a. Sponsored Events: a sponsored marathon, a car wash, a car boot sale etc. These sorts of
events may raise relatively modest sums, but will be important in other ways in providing an
opportunity to generate enthusiasm in the wider community, and therefore connection with
the project.
b. Online: Raise money from asking anyone you know to set up on line giving systems such as
‘Give as You live’. Register your charity with them.
c. Commercial Giving: Approach companies that may have an interest in a specific element of
your build – sports, community, youth, disabled etc…You can call these ‘Corporate
Supporters’. Some companies support employees with a matching funding system.
d. Locality: Run events that engage the community around you – that widens the net of the
money you are trying to attract and also engages the community with the project.

The purpose of financial reports in a church is to produce information that is useful in making decisions.
To be useful, financial statements should be as transparent and easy to interpret as possible. Many
churches use the pure cash basis to account for transactions and prepare their financial reports. These
churches find the cash basis simple and less costly to use. Many large churches use the accrual basis or
the modified cash basis, since they believe that financial statements prepared on this basis more
accurately reflect their financial position.
Holy Family Parish can use either these methods. The Pure cash basis is simply showing a breakdown of
the cash receipts that include the contributions and the cash disbursements which include all expenses
like salaries and benefits, utilities, maintenance, purchases, etc. The other method is the Modified cash
basis which alters the pure cash method inorder to present more accurate financial statements. Some
common modifications used by churches might include the capitalization of property and equipment as
fixed assets, the depreciation of fixed assets over their useful lives, the recognition of investments in
marketable securities as assets, and the recognition of certain liabilities.

Churches using the modified cash basis normally prepare two financial statements. The “Statement of
Assets, Liabilities, and Net Assets – Modified Cash basis” presents all of the permanent accounts used by
the curch. Businesses refer to this statement as the “balance sheet,” so named because this is the
statement that demonstrates that the accounting equation (assets = liabilities + net assets) is in balance.
This statement presents a snapshot of the financial position of the church at the end of the period. The
“Statement of Revenue, Expenses, and Other Changes in Net Assets – Modified Cash Basis” presents all
of the temporary accounts used by the church (revenues and expenses). It is similar to an income
statement.

References:

Ministry and Money: A Practical Guide for Pastors by Janet Jamieson and Philip Jamieson
https://www.causevox.com/blog/church-fundraising-ideas/
http://www.churchbuildingprojects.co.uk/how-to/6-finance/6-4-ways-to-raise-the-money/