September Volunteer Hour Update

Can you believe that it is already October?  The past couple of months we have been rolling out the volunteer tracker on trackitforward.com.  I wanted to share an update with you on how many hours were recorded for the month of September.  We had 276.5 hours reported that is equal to $7200.84 for the month.  There were 23 volunteers who logged time during the month.  The activities with the most participation were:
Coffee Ministry - 25.5 hours
PAG - 40.5 hours
Stewardship - 45.5 hours
Worship Associate - 30 hours
Pastoral Care - 12 hours
Sunday Ambassador - 10 hours
Office Volunteer - 18 hours

Here is the piece I need your help with - I KNOW that there is more happening at UUCA!  Have you noticed that most evenings the parking lot is full?  I also KNOW that we have more than 23 volunteers.  We have 56 total people registered who are using the tracker.  My goal is to have over 100 by the end of October.  Can you help spread the word?

The blog that I published on 11 August 2016 had detailed information on how to sign up.  Please take a minute to help me tell the story of UUCA.  I would really appreciate your help!

Let's talk about UUCA's cost by the day...$1027.60

Can you believe that it is almost October?  It seems like just yesterday I was walking into UUCA for the first time.

I have heard from many of you saying that you enjoy this blog.  My primary goal is to raise awareness and work as a team with all of you to make this your spiritual home. 

Most people don't like to talk about money.  I completely understand.  I thought I would give you some figures on what it takes to just pay basic bills, just like we all do at our homes.

First let's talk about our mortgage.  This is a large facility, and with the recent building project we added some responsibility to our budget.  We budget $236,000 annually to pay for our mortgage which is the result of two separate loans.  The daily rate we pay is $647 and that is without paying any of our bills to open the doors. 

When our doors open, we then have to pay for heat, air, water, gas, trash, internet.  Here is the daily average cost for each:
Trash $28/day, Electric $138/day, Water $23, Gas $26, Air/Heat Monthly Maintenance $55, Taxes (Parsonage) $18, Telephone/Internet $15, Copier $36, Insurance $39

Side note - Toilet Paper Daily cost $3.60.  Anyone care to guess how many rolls we purchased last year?  The closest guess will be awarded a prize!  email tsrader@uucava.org with your guess!

Grand total:  $1027.60 per day

I am always looking at ways to save money on basic operating costs.  Having an idea on what it costs to operate a facility as large as UUCA helps everyone understand how your contributions are spent.  Thanks for your generosity!

Fall is quickly approaching and this past Sunday began the regular schedule at UUCA.  I have been amazed about how many people have commented on reading this blog - and I thank you for your time to read these quick posts.

I have several updates for you to review.  First, Track It Forward participation is increasing - AND - we need more!  To date we have 710 hours reported by 32 participants.  If I based the sign-up rate on our membership, we are at around 4% participation.  I will continue to encourage those who participate to sign up - it is completely free and I will not be sending out additional email using this application.  We have so many places where you receive communications I know it has to be overwhelming. (http://www.trackitforward.com/site/unitarian-universalist-church-arlington-virginia)

We have a great team here looking at ways to facilitate communication with everyone at UUCA.  Mary Ann does a fantastic job of creating the weekly Connections newsletter.  Did you know that over 1500 people are on our mailing list - and that is almost double our membership!  The newsletter sent this past Thursday on the 8th of September had the following statistics:

• 1498 sent
• 708 opened (47.5%)
• 232 clicks - with 28% of those going to registration for covenant groups and looking at information on the PBS schedule for the 9/20 showing of Defying the Nazis.

It takes an entire team to keep things fresh and new in our communications!  Did you know that we have two twitter accounts ( @uucateaming and @uuarlingtonva) where you can follow real time activities here at UUCA?

I hope you have a terrific week!  Thanks for your time and efforts to make this a great place to connect, grow and serve!

Tamara

Track it forward - Update!

Great news!  Here is what I can already see ( you can get the visual)...

For the month of August, we had 156.5 hours submitted by 14 volunteers.  The dollar value would be $4,083.85.  What makes this even more amazing is that is only a fraction of people we have recording hours in this congregation.  Imagine if we had the entire community recording their time.

Thank you to all those who are tracking UUCA forward!

Here is another interesting fact - only 40% of those who receive the weekly connection actually open and take a look at the contents.  If you know of someone on your teams ask them if they have uploaded the Track it forward app and signed up for an account.

Last - remember we are closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

Thanks for all that you do here in our community! 

Amazon - how can you help?

UUCA uses Amazon to purchase many things.  One of the things we have not leveraged is Amazon wish list.  What is wish list?  Many charitable organizations use this to minimize their costs on items that would otherwise be paid for out of the operating budget.  We have added some items that we need on a regular basis:  pens, name tags, copy paper and sharpie markers just to name a few.  Although these items will not gain you a tax deduction, they can help us reduce our expenditures.  I will be running a test these next few months and reporting out how many times we see the list being used.  I will be posting updates so you can see the progress.

A link to the list  - https://amzn.com/w/3MYCB8X2Z9CQA

Thanks for your help!  Every little bit helps...

Tamara

Amazon Smile - another quarterly donation to UUCA!

Did you know that if you shop on Amazon, you can use Amazon Smile and they will donate a percentage of your purchase to UUCA.  This quarter we are receiving $54.53.  To designate UUCA as the organization of your choice, please use this link https://smile.amazon.com/ch/54-0519587. 

In addition, UUCA has started using Amazon wish list to identify things that we could use around the building.  We have created an Amazon wish list and will be adding things to this throughout the year.  If you would like to help in buying items we would greatly appreciate it!  https://amzn.com/w/3MYCB8X2Z9CQA

Please note, these donations are not tax deductible and not part of your annual pledge.  Thank you for your support of UUCA and the mission to connect, grow and serve!

Parking...please help!

Just a friendly reminder about parking at UUCA and I hope that you can help spread the word.  Each Sunday we work at keeping this facility a safe place for everyone - and that includes the parking lot.  Arlington County requires specific space in all parking lots for use of emergency personnel.

Reference:  503.1.1.  Fire lanes.  The fire official shall designate fire lanes on public streets and on private property where necessary for the purpose of preventing parking in front of or adjacent to fire hydrants and fire department connections and to ensure access to buildings and structures for fire fighting and rescue apparatus. Fire lanes shall have a minimum width of twenty (20) feet (5486mm).

When the parking lot was built the design was done in order to maximize space for our beloved trees.  We ask that people please park in the street along George Mason, in the adjacent neighborhood or in the Masonic Lodge lot across George Mason.

Each Sunday we will begin placing reminder signs on vehicles parked in the fire lane.  A good rule of thumb is if there is no marked parking space with white lines, it is not a parking space.  Parking along curbs is the biggest issue.  No white lines - no parking.

If you notice others parking in the spots that are not really spots - give them a friendly reminder.  It is also great to use lots that are a few steps from the building because new visitors could use a little help finding a great space! 

Thanks for your help with this.  We can all work together to make UUCA a great place to connect, grow and serve. 

Telling our story...Track it forward

Happy Wednesday everyone!  The summer is flying by and we are getting closer to an exciting new church year.  One of the things I am really excited about is celebrating all of the activities that this community engages in each and every week.  Over the past several months, a few people have been utilizing a pilot application to track volunteer time.  The feedback has been great and we have decided to move forward using this during the next year.  The platform is called “Track it Forward”.  This technology will enable everyone who volunteers to record their time and activities.  We can tell the story of the wonderful things happening here in our community!

Let me give you an example.  We currently have 34 volunteers registered.  Out of those 34, since February there have been 492.5 hours reported.  If we calculated this value it would be $12,849.33 (based on Virginia wage values given by https://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time). 

Here is a video of how to sign up:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU_L4hBEKn4

Link to sign up: http://www.trackitforward.com/site/unitarian-universalist-church-arlington-virginia?type=register  – do this prior to downloading the app on your mobile device.

Download the app on iPhone or Android (could be listed under OurVolts)

Once you have registered (a very simple process that is free and only asks for your email address and your name) you are then set up to enter your volunteer hours!

I am asking everyone, especially group leaders, to sign up for this app.  Imagine if we could really tell the story about this amazing community!  I will keep updating you in the coming months of the great work you are doing.  Thanks for taking a risk and helping move the mission forward of UUCA!

Month of giving - update to total

Hello everyone!  Just wanted to give a quick update to the total collected that will be going directly toward the principal of our mortgage payment.  Thank you so much for your generosity.  Just as with any give the plate, this will go directly to the bank and will not be used in the operating fund of UUCA.

2nd Sunday of July 7/10/2016  $2454.00
3rd Sunday of July 7/17/2016 $1093.00
4th Sunday of July 7/24/2016 $1193.00
5th Sunday of July 7/31/2016 $1142.00

Grand total $5882.00

Thanks to all of you who made this month of giving to the Center a success!

Thank you for your generous donations this month!

Greetings from the desk of the Point Guard!

This is the first of what I hope to be a monthly column highlighting important events and accomplishments here at UUCA.  Why point guard you ask?  When I was introduced by Rev. Aaron he called me the "point guard".  I played basketball most of my life and played the position of point guard.  I also was presented a jersey on my first Sunday.  I thought it would be an appropriate title for my blog. 

This first blog post I want to celebrate the generosity of our congregation.

The new building project dedicated in 2012 supports many community groups that do not have resources to secure their own space. The Center has hosted dozens of educational, fundraising, and advocacy events since its construction, promoting our values of hospitality and inclusion. Also, The Center provides our own ministries space to rehearse/celebrate/perform, which frees up other smaller rooms in the building for scores of non-profit and partner planning sessions and community meetings in our smaller rooms. 

Since the capital campaign officially ended in June, we have now absorbed the balance of the construction line of credit directly in the operating budget.  What does this mean?  Each month costs this congregation around $8500 just to pay for the recent upgrades to the campus. 

The past three weeks you have given $4740 that will go directly toward the principal balance of this mortgage of 1.5 million dollars.  Every dollar helps – so thank you!  We have one week to go and are $3,760 away from making a full month payment.  It would be a great accomplishment for the month!  Click here to give.  This new year will bring other opportunities to help reduce the mortgage – so keep your eye on connections to learn about ways you can support this work.

Thank you for all of your support!