August 26, 2002
Gifts to CBF increase for the year
but fail to meet budget allocations
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ended its fiscal year under budget but still in the black, due to designated income from prior years and keeping expenses below budget.
___Taken together, the organization's regular operating budget and Global Missions Offering came up short by nearly $1.5 million for the year ended June 30.
___However, no budgeted ministries or projects went undone due to lack of funds, explained Jim Strawn, chief financial officer. He credited a watchful eye on expenditures and help from designated contributions and investment earnings as balancing factors.
___The 22 ministry partners aided by the CBF--including two Texas Baptist seminaries--were funded at 97 percent of their approved budget allocations.
___The brightest news of the organization's financial year was in designated gifts, which were bolstered by a $4 millionanonymous gift for missions causes and about $300,000 in contributions for relief projects in New York City and Washington after last fall's terrorist attacks.
CBF ministry partners, including two Texas Baptist seminaries, received 97 percent of the funds budgeted for their work.
___Excluding the $4 million gift, which will be allocated in equal installments over the next three years, designated giving to the CBF was up 7 percent for the year, to $1.9 million.
___Designated giving excludes the organization's Global Missions Offering, which was down less than 1 percent from the previous year but fell 11.5 percent below the $6 million budget goal, with receipts of $5.3 million.
___Texas churches and individuals increased their support for the Global Missions Offering, registering a 10.9 percent bump, from $1.2 million in 2000-2001 to $1.37 million in 2001-2002.
___Nationwide, undesignated gifts to the CBF's regular ministry budget increased 2 percent over the prior year but fell 8 percent short of the $9.7 million budget goal.
___Undesignated gifts to the CBF come from two primary sources--individuals and churches. Undesignated gifts from individuals dropped 6 percent for the year, from $510,000 to $480,000, while similar gifts from churches increased 3.5 percent, from $8.14 million to $8.4 million.
___Undesignated budget gifts to the CBF from Texas churches and individuals fell 3.9 percent, from $1.6 million in 2000-2001 to $1.57 million in 2001-2002.
___CBF spokesman Ben McDade said the Atlanta-based network of moderate Baptist churches fared better than might have been expected in a year of terrorist attacks and a troubled national economy. Nationwide, charitable contributions by individuals, corporations and foundations fell 2.3 percent for the year, he noted.
___Tied to the CBF's mixed report on funding for the year, however, is a downward trend in the number of churches financially supporting the CBF. Churches are counted as contributors if even one member designates an offering for the CBF and the church passes it on.
___The organization began in 1991 with contributions from 640 churches and grew to 1,806 contributing churches by the 1998-1999 budget year. However, that number has dropped slightly each of the past three years, landing at 1,715 churches for the year just ended.
___The number of contributing churches from Texas also decreased for the year, from 400 to 379.
___CBF officials said they cannot explain why the number of contributing churches is declining.
___Despite this drop, the organization is drawing greater increases in financial support from church contributions than from individuals.
___In every category except the Global Missions Offering, contributions from individuals were down for the year. Contributions from individuals make up a relatively small percent of the CBF's income--less than 12 percent of undesignated and Global Mission Offering receipts. Individuals usually donate directly to the CBF when their churches refuse to process such mission offerings out of loyalty to the Southern Baptist Convention.
___Because of the budget shortfall for 2001-2002, the CBF did not fully meet its budget allocations for partner ministries.
___According to an administrative practice begun four years ago but not widely known, participants in the CBF general assembly adopt a budget for partner ministries that is not fully funded from the outset. The CBF funds those ministries at only 90 percent of the approved budget until year-end giving is finalized. Under this plan, partner ministries have received monthly distributions at the 90 percent level and then a 13th check to make up whatever is allowable based on budget receipts. This year, the partner ministries will receive only quarterly checks, with a fifth bonus allocation.
___For 2001-2002, the 13th check brought partner ministries up to the 97 percent funding level. So, for example, Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University was budgeted to receive $175,000 from the CBF but actually received $169,750. Likewise, Logsdon School of Theology atHardin-Simmons University was budgeted to receive $20,000 but actually got $19,400.
___The largest allocations of the CBF's partner ministries budget went to Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond ($271,600), Baptist Joint Committee ($230,263), McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University ($221,160), Central Baptist Theological Seminary ($194,000), Truett Seminary, Associated Baptist Press ($138,158) Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity ($116,400), and International Baptist Theological Center ($104,760).
___Other ministry partners funded by the CBF are Baptist Center for Ethics ($97,000), Campbell University Divinity School ($63,050), Baptists Today ($47,492), Baptist Women in Ministry ($29,100), Baptist Studies program at Emory University's Candler School of Theology ($29,100), Baptist Studies House at Texas Christian University's Brite Divinity School ($24,250), Baptist World Alliance ($19,400), Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School ($19,400), Logsdon, Center for Christian Ethics ($13,192), Wake Forest University Divinity School ($9,700), Seeds of Hope ($5,000), Ministry to Ministers Foundation ($4,850) and Bread for the World ($2,910).
___Overall, the CBF gave $587,365 to its partner ministries for the year, a little less than 7 percent of its undesignated budget receipts.
___Global missions was the agency's largest budget line item, receiving $10.33 million, which includes $5.3 million from the Global Missions Offering and about $5 million from the operating budget and designated gifts.
___Other categories of funding within the $17.6 million distributed by the CBF for the year include $2.5 million in administrative costs, $2 million in leadership development, $942,000 in communications, $886,083 in building community, $508,155 in faith formation, $426,703 in hosting the general assembly and $15,000 for the CBF Foundation.
___
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