5c0tt J. Brenden
Casas Global Outreach
Plan for Global Outreach
Financial Decision-Making
The Origin of the Plan
The challenges this plan is designed to overcome:
· an constant flow of financial requests throughout the year
· an inordinate amount of time spent on answering those requests
· no consistent criteria to rely on to answer those requests
· no consistent process to use to answer those requests
· process is very slow for answering those requests
· no consistent person or group defined to answer those requests
The purpose of this plan is to:
· organize and systematize outreach spending, thereby managing the amount of time spent on responding to requests for financial support (“The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage” Proverbs 21:5)
· provide appropriate input and accountability for outreach spending (“Make plans by seeking advice” Proverbs 20:18)
· establish lasting criteria based on our values for responding to requests for financial support (“The plans of the righteous are just “ Proverbs 12:5)
The Plan
1. CRITERIA USED TO GUIDE DECISION-MAKING FOR MINISTRIES AND PROJECTS FUNDED BY EACH OF THE CASAS FUNDS.
A. All ministries and projects will:
1) fit our core values
a) aim at planting churches among the least reach peopled groups groups in Tucson and around the world
b) involve more Casas people at a deeper level. There will be a straightforward way Casas can participate beyond the gift (through sending short-term teams, through Bible Fellowships’ regular involvement, etc.).
2) produce significant, lasting, measurable results
a) produce great impact proportional to the investment (and for building fund projects, have a long life to affect multitudes)
b) avoid increased dependency (and for building fund projects, not be benevolence in nature [vehicle repair and maintenance, legal costs, or medical costs]).
c) produce obvious, measurable results
3) help accomplish the strategies of our global partners
2. INPUT, REVISION, APPROVAL, AND COMMUNICATION PROCESS
A. Input and revision process for all ministries and projects
1) Outreach Pastor prepares a recommended response to each request and piece of information (see “Annual Processing of Requests and Financial Information”)
2) Outreach Pastor gets input from Outreach Staff Team, revises recommendations
3) Outreach Pastor gets input from Outreach Leadership Team (at next meeting), revises recommendations
B. Additional input and approval steps for annual items ([a]Annual Budget, [b] Responses to Annual Reports and Strategies, and [c] Building Fund Proposals)
1) Outreach Pastor brings final recommendation to Outreach Leadership Team (at next meeting) for input
2) Outreach Pastor reports result of Outreach Leadership Team input to Associate Pastor for final approval
3) Outreach Pastor presents final recommendations on annual items to the Associate Pastors
C. Additional approval step for Annual Budget only - Once a year (each May), Associate Pastor or Outreach Elder(s) give(s) annual budget to Adult Education and Student Ministry Team for approval.
D. Communicating the decisions - Once a year (each May) Outreach Administrative Assistant communicates decisions to global partners, disburses funds, and communicates that this is the end of the process for this year
3. ANNUAL GATHERING OF FINANCIAL REQUESTS AND INFORMATION FROM GLOBAL PARTNERS (NOV-DEC-JAN) - Once a year (fall) Outreach Administrative Assistant collects information by:
A. gathering previously received Applications and Recommendation forms for Support, Blessing, and Commissioning as a Long-Term Casas Missionary
B. sending the Request for Project Proposal for Long-Term Ministry Project From Casas Building Funds to global partners and gathering the resulting proposals
C. requesting and gathering annual reports from global partners (including Strategies/Ministry Plans)
D. requesting and gathering annual budget requests from those responsible for major budget areas (Short-Term Support, Student Global Outreach, Global Worker-in-Residence Program, Outreach Team Special Request Support, Hispanic Inner-City Project)
4. ANNUAL PROCESSING OF FINANCIAL REQUESTS AND INFORMATION (FEB-MAR-APR). Once a Year (late winter/early spring), based on the above criteria, the above process is used to develop the spending plans.
A. Annual recommendation responses are developed for each area:
1) each Proposal for Building Fund Project (response is yes or no and the amount)
2) each Annual Report and Strategy/Ministry Plan (response is to recommend (or not) (a) one more year of support/ministry partnership with the strategy, (b) the amount of support, and (c) whether to initiate or renew a written partnership agreement)
3) each Application for Support, Blessing, and Commissioning as a Long-Term Casas Missionary. (response is yes or no and the amount)
B. Based on those recommended responses, Outreach Pastor prepares a draft Annual Budget which covers all sources of income, including
1) Global Outreach Pledge Funds
2) Building Fund Project Funds
3) General Budget Global Outreach Salary Supplement
4) Designated Gifts
5. NON-ANNUAL (YEAR-ROUND) REQUESTS
A. Mexico Partners -Goal is to significantly reduce the overall time and processing of funds related to Primera Iglesia Bautista.
1) Designated funds- We pass on immediately to our partners in Mexico funds that are given designated to their ministry.
2) Other funds- We communicate that we have no other funds for special requests besides Mexico Leadership Training and Mexico 10/40 Window accounts.
3) Mexico Leadership Training account - will continue to be disbursed throughout the year as merited and on request. We work with our previous years’ actual spending records to develop a Mexico Leadership Training budget which can be planned a year in advance as well.
4) Mexico 10/40 Window account - will continue to be disbursed throughout the year as merited and on request.
B. New full-time missionaries are approved during the January-May process unless time-critical. If time-critical, they are approved at other points during the year using the process above.
C. Occasional requests from the Special Request Support account using the criteria outlined above and the input process outlined above
D. Reserve Fund – available for unforeseen circumstances at the discretion of the Global Outreach Team using the criteria outlined above and using the process outlined above