Money for Mission Special Edition 2

Money For Mission

News From The

Stewardship and Income Generation and FinanceTeams

Becky Nicholson Lead Stewardship and Income Generation Officer [email protected] 0113 353 0216 or 07496 265509	Janet Edmond Stewardship and Income Generation Officer [email protected] 0113 353 0214 or 07376 525684

Philip Deane Accountant (Financial Services) [email protected] 0113 353 0231	Clare Bellamy Finance Officer (Financial Services) [email protected] 0113 353 0226
Sajid Boota Finance Manager [email protected] 0113 353 0220	Hayley Drury Finance Supervisor [email protected] 0113 3530 223

Generosity

This last week, like many of us, I was following the activities of our churches closely on social media and was struck by the determination and creativity of our Clergy and Laity to bring worship to their congregations from afar. Services via Facebook Live and recorded video have emerged, testing the skills of even the most technologically talented.

In this time of great challenge, it has been heartening to see so many examples of adaptation. Churches have embraced new ways of worshipping and bringing people together even though separated by distance.

It has been equally heartening to see how much trouble people are taking to make sure that the offertory and monetary gifts can still be received. Even in these difficult times, when many are struggling financially, stories of extraordinary generosity emerge.

The church still offers prayer in our communities as we remain in our homes and o ur giving remains as valuable as ever.

Thanks to you for your commitment to keeping the financial affairs of your church in order during these turbulent times.

Becky

Finance Team Update

Parish Share

Some Parishes have advised us of their difficulty in meeting share payments. If you are also having problems and have yet to let us know, please email one of the team.

Cheque Payments

If you usually pay Share with mailed cheques, please hang onto those until further notice. The Diocesan office is closed and we cannot presently receive mail.

UK Government Financial Measures in Response to Coronavirus

A download is available from the National Church of England about the Government Financial Measures. Please click here.

Accounts Submission

Under Church Representation Rule M5(8), PCCs should submit their annual report and accounts to the diocesan board of finance within 28 days following their APCM. As highlighted in the last edition of Money for Mission, the APCM deadline this year is 31st October 2020.

Where registered with the Charity Commission (annual income greater than £100k), PCCs must also submit their annual report and accounts to the Charity Commission by 31st October.

Stewardship and Income Generation Team Update

Thank you to all the Parishes who are trying new ways of giving and we know it is a real challenge to adapt to new systems. Rest assured, we are listening and taking action to support you where we can.

The following tips may be useful for you right now to maintain and encourage giving.

1. Get in touch with all your envelope givers to suggest ways that they can give without leaving their homes. Give out BACs details and encourage standing orders online, using their name as a reference so you can trace the donation back. We know that plenty in our congregations are not comfortable with internet or phone banking so an alternative suggestion might be to make payments though the post office or banks. A standing order form can be posted to a bank to save making an unnecessary trip and a sample form with a suitable letter can be found here.

2. Appeal to all givers and members of your Church community for their support as your church faces times of financial challenge. Suggested wording for an appeal could be:

Your church relies on donations and income from xxx to stay open and provide care and support to everyone in this community.

During the next three months your church will loose £xxx of this income due to xxx and o ur work in the community to support those most in need will consequently suffer in the coming months.

Now more than ever, please consider giving generously to support our Mission and Ministry during these difficult times and beyond.

Thank you for your support.

Placing appeal notices on websites and social media is fine, but please be sure to follow GDPR procedures when sending email and postal appeals.

3. Post a message on the landing page of your website and on social media about ways people can give their monetary gifts. You may wish to emphasise the importance of continued giving to support Mission and Ministry at this difficult time. Suggested wording can be found here.

4. Add an online donate button to church websites and Facebook Pages

While our churches are unable to gather physically for worship, donate buttons are a useful way of enabling people to give. Church software providers Data Developments offer a donate function for websites and Facebook have Birthday/Anniversary buttons so other people can fundraise for you.

5. Offer text giving. If you already have a text to donate number, communicate it far and wide. If not, explore what Donr offers to the Diocese of Leeds.

6. In online worship, highlight different ways of giving during the offertory.

Perhaps signpost people to your website or social media pages for information about how to make gifts. Introduce the offertory perhaps by choosing some of these words and some offertory prayers It might also be helpful to explain why giving is as valuable now as ever, while our mission remains constant and our churches continue to serve our communities.

7. Share the latest updates from the Stewardship and Income Generation Team

Please forward this e-newsletter to those who may find the information useful and follow us on Facebook.

As mentioned in the previous edition of Money For Mission, Parish Resources have produced an excellent webpage giving guidance for churches during these uncertain times. You can find information about ways to enable your church community to keep giving, through text, mobile phone, contactless donations and online donations. Government support measures are also signposted from there so please do take the time to read through.

The Parish Giving Scheme

Parishes are continuing to register for the Parish Giving Scheme during the Coronavirus situation.

PCC members do no longer have to provide written signatures on the PGS Registration Form during the Coronavirus lockdown. To replace signatures on the registration form, named individuals can email Stewardship officer, Janet Edmond at [email protected] expressing their agreement to join the scheme.
Please note new PGS donors will not be processed until Coronavirus restrictions are relaxed. For the latest guidance from the PGS team in Gloucester please visit the PGS website.

For further clarification on any aspect of the Parish Giving Scheme please contact Janet Edmond on [email protected]

or tel: 07376525684

This PGS document explains the present situation in detail.

Available Grants

Please refer to the section below

What we can do for you now

Don't forget, i f you feel willing and able to continue with financial planning, support can be provided via email, over the phone or if you wish via online conferencing. If you wish to have a financial review, we can make you a film and deliver it to your email inbox so you can view at home. To see what a review entails please take a look here.

If you wish to continue planning at this time and would like support in this way please let Becky or Janet know so we can arrange a suitable time to 'meet'. If you are unsure about the technology we will be able to guide and support you so please don't be put off.

Our Facebook Page is a really useful way to stay connected. We will be putting updates of grants, 'fundraising from afar' and support from the Diocese on there. We will also put the same information in more frequent editions of this newsletter, Money for Mission, so don't worry if you are not connected on Facebook.

National Grants Available for People Affected by Coronavirus

Those of you who follow Money for Mission on Facebook will have seen the details I have posted about the Community Foundations around our region who will be distributing money from The National Emergencies Trust.
At the moment information is limited but it is well worth checking their websites regularly for updates:
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/

The Charities Aid Foundation has launched a rapid response fund to help smaller charitable organisations affected by the impact of Covid-19. Grants of up to £10,000 will help them to continue to deliver much needed support to our communities across the UK.

The National Lottery Community Fund is to commit up to £300 million over the next six months to help charities tackling the coronavirus crisis.

Church Meetings

PCCs - Guidance for holding remote meetings

The Charity Commission brought out guidance at the end of last week.The guidance states that even where there is no provision to enable them to do so in their governing documents, trustees should hold remote trustee meetings in the present situation and they should document their decision to do so to demonstrate good governance of their charity.

The Church Representation Rules do not make any provision for a PCC meeting to be held remotely. However, there is provision for business to be done by the PCC trustees by correspondence.

PCC meetings (trustee meetings not APCMs) can be held remotely during this period when face to face meetings are not permitted and PCCs should document the decision to do this, in line with the Charity Commission's guidance.

Following a remote PCC trustee meeting, any business agreed or resolutions passed should be circulated to all PCC members under Rule M29 of the Church Representation Rules so that the business agreed remotely can be formally approved under the Church Representation Rules using the business by correspondence provision M29.

Video Conferencing

Video conferencing allows you to communicate to your team, even when separated by distance. Zoom have emerged as a quality service provider, offering a stable platform for many users at a time. It is so easy to use, even the biggest technophobes in the Diocesan Office have been impressed!

A special offer is available through Parish Buying. Find out more here.

Stewardship and Income Generation and Finance 0113 353 0216 [email protected]

www.leeds.anglican.org

Diocese of Leeds

Church House

17-19 York Place

Leeds, LS1 2EX