Money For Mission   

News From The 
Stewardship and Income Generation and FinanceTeams

Lead Stewardship and Income Generation Officer
becky.nicholson@leeds.anglican.org
0113 353 0216 or 07496 265509
Stewardship and Income Generation Officer
janet.edmond@leeds.anglican.org
0113 353 0214 or 07376 525684


Accountant (Financial Services)
philip.deane@leeds.anglican.org
0113 353 0231

Finance Officer (Financial Services)
clare.bellamy@leeds.anglican.org
0113 353 0226
Sajid Boota
Finance Manager
0113 353 0220
Hayley Drury
Finance Supervisor
0113 3530 223

Zoom-in
Last week, we were delighted to have 16 church treasurers join our zoom-in to ask questions related to gift aid, parish share payments, digital collections and data protection. Thank you to all who joined and special thanks to those talented treasurers who were able to offer the benefit of their experience when I didn't know the answers!

Trees Fewster from St Mary's Church in Gomersal kindly shared her poem which raised over £3300 for their church windows in just 10 days. On the back of that success, Trees was able to write an application for £5000 to a grant funder and an anonymous donor has given the church an extra £3000. Trees' poem is at the bottom of this newsletter and she is willing to let anyone alter and re-use it for their own appeal.

Another zoom session will be held on Tuesday 21st April at 12-2pm. Please join us if 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 Update
New Update on Cheque Payments
If you usually pay Share with mailed cheques, please now send them in to the Diocesan Office. We are able to collect mail and can process them as usual.

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.

GASDS Update 
Questions around making claims under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme have arisen. This is because many church donors are keeping their cash gifts at home until they can get back into church. These gifts would normally be eligible for GASDS 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 seems to be no clear guidance from HMRC at this time.
The view is that HMRC will probably end up taking a common-sense approach to this problem eventually, but it is quite low on their list of priorities so it may be some time before we know what that is.
One solution for churches would be to collect enveloped gifts after the lockdown in differently dated envelopes to prove they were given at that particular date and time. 
Another solution would be to collect the gifts through standing order. With common sense applied, these gifts may be viewed at a later date as cash gifts and eligible for GASDS.
Unfortunately we have no real idea which way it will go eventually. Our hope is that both scenarios would still enable GASDS claims to be made in the future.

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 now 31st October 2020  but do please submit approved accounts and your 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 Commission by 31st October.
Stewardship and Income Generation Team Update
The Parish Giving Scheme
The Parish Giving Scheme is now fully operational. They can now access mail and therefore process Parish and donor registrations. In addition, from 20th April, they will have a new telephone donation facility. 
  • We are advising parishes who have registered but have no donors yet to encourage church leaders and PCC members to start donating in preparation for a wider launch to the congregations after lockdown.
  • Parishes who haven't joined the PGS yet can join now if they so wish and 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 to statement 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 DLP
A brand new training resource has been uploaded onto the Digital Learning Platform. Our ever-popular 'Making a Fundraising Plan for your Church' session has been recorded and is there for you to view at home. The session is very similar in content 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 action plan 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
Financial Review for Parishes in the Diocese of Leeds

Don't forget, our Facebook Page is also a really useful way to stay connected. The page is updated frequently with grants available for struggling communities and special COVID-19 projects.

Helpful Resources
Many of our Church Treasurers are aware of the organisation Stewardship who are a organisation helping Christian communities to give and receive.
Topics added to their website recently include include:

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 to tackle problems arising from 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 results from text-to donate platform Donr. They set up three different numbers for three appeals, 'St Chad's Church', PAFRAS (Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers)' and to buy food parcels for struggling families at the primary school.
The team promoted the text numbers in their newsletter with a carefully worded introduction from Revd. Hannah Lievesley and were delighted to receive over £40 0 from 50 different donors in the first week.

Michael Clark, Church Treasurer said that promotion of the number really made a difference and the way that Hannah worded the appeal in the newsletter really persuaded people to join in. "I've been so encouraged by the response, I have now put a general donate number on our website. We have found people are keen to use 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 Buttons
Have you ever wished donors could give directly to your church through your website 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 and FREE '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 You
Just Giving will now accept the Church of England church code and certificate from ACNY as a form of proof of charitable status, as an alternative to the Charity Commission number.

They do still require the names and details of two members of the PCC to carry out their 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 power
To 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 pray
To 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 chairs
The 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 charge
Of the windows project, updating small and large.

She got a quote from a firm down the road in Leeds
Who 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 0216 resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org
Diocese of Leeds
Church House
17-19 York Place
Leeds, LS1 2EX