How Many Fundraisers Per Year

Hi, I’m at odds with my Bishop over the interpretation of this passage about Fundraising from Handbook 2.

13.6.8 Fund-Raising Activities
Fund-raising activities are not usually approved because expenses for stake and ward activities are paid with budget funds. As an exception, a stake president or bishop may authorize one group fund-raising activity each year.

My Bishop interprets that as one fundraiser per group, i.e. one for Scout Camp, one for Girl’s Camp, one for Cub Scout Camp, and has received this direction from Stake Presidents in the past.

Traditionally, our ward only does one fundraiser, flags, but ALL of that money goes to the scouts. I see this as unfair to YW and cubscouts. The YW have tried to do a separate fundraiser, but it isn’t nearly as successful. I personally feel this ultra successful flag fundraiser should be shared reaponsibility and shared benefit. Especially since my reading of the handbook indicates that we’re allowed only one fundraiser anyways. That way the YW camp and Cub camp gets funded too.

What do I do? Does anyone else have multiple fundraisers?

jeremyc2010 wrote:What do I do?

You do the best you can with what you have. And that includes the bishop and the stake president that you have. If the stake president has already approved the bishop's interpretation of the handbook, there is not much you will be able to do to influence a different interpretation.

There is not much to add here at the Forum. Policy matters are determined by priesthood leaders.

I would propose an activity and ask for budget money to fund it. If I was told the raise funds, I would do the best fundraiser I could do, and leave it at that. If you are at that desperate point, there are some fundraising topics here at the forum. I would start here.

To answer your question, I have lived in wards that do not do fundraising projects and that budget everything as the handbook suggests should be the first approach to funding. I have lived in wards where a combination of the first and second handbook approaches are used.

And I have lived in other wards where every organization does the third method, a fundraiser every time they need some money for an activity, without even thinking of the two approaches that should be considered before any fundraising at all.

Your priesthood leaders have the keys to decide how to follow the handbook in your area. Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that there is a whole lot of invisible ink in the handbook, any discussion of which would be as off-topic as is most of this post.

I served once as a ward activities chairman. I was given two guidelines from the bishop. I could use no budget funds, and I was not to ask the ward members to do anything that would cost them money.

We had some wonderful activities that year, and I came closer to the Lord and better able to receive revelation and inspiration than at many other times in my life. Because I had to. I do not remember praying harder or with more specific purpose and intensity. It was great preparation for callings I would be given in the future.

In every ward I've been in each group has done their own fundraiser. Ultimately it is up to the Bishop (and the Stake President) to interpret the manual when it is not clear.

The handbook also says that the fundraiser may only be used to help pay for one annual camp. Obviously the various groups do not have (and should not have) a single joint camp so there is an implication that the rules apply to each group. So I'd say per-group fundraisers is at least a plausible interpretation.