The Table Finance Update - August 5, 2018
It’s August! We’re more than half way through 2018! We wanted to take a moment to give a bit more of a detailed update on The Table finances heading into the Fall so you know what’s happening and what you can do to help.
If you’re on The Table’s midweek email update (click here to get signed up) you’re used to seeing a brief update of Table giving set against what we hoped to receive according to the budget we passed at our AGM last February. Here’s this past week's numbers
You’ll notice for the Victoria location we’re quite a bit behind what we had hoped for internally (about $36,000). It’s difficult to project what we might make internally from year to year because The Table is home to those with varying stages of stability in terms of geography and finances. From one year to the next we may lose over a dozen people or more who are regular givers to good things like jobs and education opportunities out of town. This can swing our finances quite significantly over the course of a year.
The external income for both locations is also lower than we hoped (about $24,000 between the two). Typically external giving is less consistent than internal giving (we're more likely to get bigger chunks at different points throughout the year). For example, we know that we have over $25,000 in external donations pledged for the remainder of 2018, as well as we typically do quite a bit of external fundraising in the fall. We're confident that we are going to catch up in this column.
The next set of numbers shows giving (both internal and external combined) set against actual expenses to date:
You’ll notice the deficits aren’t nearly so big in these charts. There are two main reasons for this.
1) Our expenses tend to be higher in the fall. We’re starting new things, have more outreach and leadership development going on. This is one reason we prefer to regularly show the projected numbers rather than the actual expenses.
2) The budget reflects what we hope to be able to do. Both locations want to grow. For Table Victoria we want to build our leadership development program (Kaleo) in order to strengthen and grow the whole community. Likewise, Peninsula seeks to grow its community through training and outreach. However, we hold back on some of the spending we'd like to do when finances are tighter.
Right now, if we keep our expenses relatively low while also staying true to the vision of expanding leadership development at The Table we’re heading for about a $30,000 deficit at the end of the year. Some of this we may be able to make up externally with some fundraising appeals. But we’d like you as a member of The Table community not only to be aware of this need but to also consider upping your financial commitment to The Table. If every Table regular attender increased their giving by $75/month for the remainder of the year we would cover this deficit without any external help.
If you would like to increase your giving at The Table here’s what to do next.
Click on the DONATE button below to give via either CAFT (auto-debit) or CHIMP (credit card).
If you have any questions about The Table's finances please do not hesitate to send us an email - we'd be happy to sit down with you!
With great affection and hope in Christ,
Andy and Josh