The lazy, hazy days of summer have been anything but that for PPF this year.
There’s a great deal happening in the community, including an emerging clarity as we move closer to identifying the community’s next staff leader.
Meanwhile, three items are filling my spirit with joy and enthusiasm about what’s just around the bend for PPF. I want to share some big thanks, a big ask, and a big tease.
Big Thanks!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your generosity. Our Pentecost campaign, which aimed to raise $12,000, closed a little bit past $15,000! Special thanks to the small group of PPF members who issued a matching gift challenge at the beginning of July. That challenge spurred an outpouring of generosity from the entire PPF community, and we are incredibly grateful.
Even with the success of the Pentecost campaign, we remain behind on our year-to-date aims for income. We need to raise about $150,000 before the end of the year to reach our budgeted goal.
On the other hand, our expenses are running about $30,000 less than budgeted to date, due mostly to staffing changes including not filling the accompaniment coordinator position and filling the communications role on an interim basis at fewer hours than the digital organizing position was budgeted for. Our current deficit of $32,500 is less than the executive committee anticipated at this point and less than it was this time last year, but still concerning and not long-term sustainable.
As of the end of July, our cash on hand is approximately $137,000, which is about $30,000 less than it was at the end of last year. PPF’s endowment fund holds approximately $1,150,000 in value.
Full budget information is available. Let me know if you would like to dig into the numbers, or if you have questions beyond these top line figures.
Big Ask!
Following a good news-challenging new finance update you might anticipate the big ask would be for your money. Actually, no.
Oh, to be sure, we will always gratefully receive your gifts, but this ask is for your voice and a bit of your time. As announced earlier this month, the search team for PPF’s next executive director has circulated the position description and a call for candidates. The ask is twofold: first, please share the information with anyone in your circles that might be a compelling candidate to become PPF’s next staff leader. Second, please hold the search team and the eventual candidates in your prayers as we seek wisdom in the discerning.
Big Tease!
At its meeting last month, PPF’s executive committee enthusiastically accepted the invitation extended to us by the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America to participate with them next year in a joint gathering. Next year BPFNA celebrates its 40th anniversary, and, coincidentally, PPF celebrates its 80th.
I was privileged to attend BPFNA’s Peace Camp back in June, and when Jason Smith, BPFNA’s executive director, and I got to talking we recognized an opportunity that holds great promise for each of our communities.
While we definitely want to share a moment of joint celebration, we also share a commitment to focusing on the future and the issues that most concern us as we work to build a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. We’re working this summer at the staff level to pin down major logistical matters such as time and place, and as soon as we land on that we’ll extend invitations to participate in planning. There will be cake!
This opportunity feels Spirit-led, and I am excited at the possibilities that may emerge as old relationships are renewed and new ones forged.
The Spirit is moving in our midst. PPF is poised to move with it!
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