Setting Our Table 2023-2024 Annual Budget Drive

Dear Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church Community,
It is good to be together. It is good to be seen, to be seen with inherent dignity and worthiness, as an integral part of the interdependent web of all existence. Here may we find friendships, gentle encouragement to grow and learn together, smiles and giggles from all ages, a space to be held in times of sorrow, and spiritual nourishment to bring with us through another week. And through this, we grow, we change a little, we move closer toward our hopes, our dreams of beloved community.
We love this place; in that we love these people. We hope for this place, in that we hope for these people. We believe, we know, that our faith is needed here in Racine, matters here in Racine. You make this church possible. It takes time, talent, and treasure in equal measure to make a church possible. We reach out annually this time of year to talk about our budget drive.
Each year, our budget, which includes our programs, worship services, staff salaries, expenses for the building, and more, is built off the pledges we receive from our members and friends. As you are considering your pledge this year, think about how you have been called to change, called to care, called to love through your relationships in this community and imagine together what more is possible.
A message from our board co-presidents, Carl Hubbard and Cory Mason-
Our church depends on the goodwill of our congregation to sustain our mission to work towards a more just, inclusive and sustainable world. Your contribution to the annual pledge drive is the financial lifeblood of our church. The money you give to OBUUC enables us to continue the vitally important work of supporting both our church and the community beyond our doors, where our outreach makes a positive difference. Our greatest expense and our greatest asset is our minister and her staff, and we want to pay them fairly. Please give generously to this year’s OBUUC Pledge Drive.
Join us for our 2023-2024 Annual Budget Drive where we will be Setting Our Table! We are setting the table in preparation for the journey to come. Our meeting with Stewardship for Us has given us much to consider. May we make the necessary preparation now to sustain us as we journey through and into what is yet to be for OBUUC. It is an exciting time!
Thank you for all of the ways you are giving to the life of our church. It takes all of us to make OBUUC possible.
If you have questions, please reach out to our Annual Budget Drive Team, Linda Wetherbe, Anita Miller, Rev. Danielle or to our board co-presidents, Carl Hubbard and Cory Mason.
With care and gratitude, Your Annual Budget Drive Team
 COMPLETE YOUR PLEDGE FORM TODAY!
OUR MISSION
Our mission as a church is to be a community of hope, challenging us to transform ourselves, promote love and justice, respect all faiths, and shepherd our planet.
The 2023-2024 church year we will be setting our table. The table is built, that’s who we are right now. We are a loving community that takes care of each other well, shows up for our city, and works to build the beloved community in imperfect and beautiful ways.
Our goal for 2023-2024 is to set the table. We will be asking ourselves who we are in the process of becoming? What’s important to us now? What ministry are we uniquely called to offer to our home, to Racine, to Wisconsin and to our planet?
Celebrating Us!
  • We brought in outside support to help us understand our strengths and our opportunities as a congregation.
  • From our 8th Principle Committee-
  • Education: Open Conversations: Paula Cole Jones workshop, racism, white privilege, microaggressions, critical race theory
  • Community Outreach – Fundraisers: Put the Guns Down, Grow Racine Flexibility Fund.
  • Systemic Change: UU the Vote collaboration with Social Justice Committee, including 30-35 volunteers from OBUUC.
  • We have a fun liberal religious community where youth of all ages thrive.
  • We are running two Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education classes.
  • The Love Pantry, created by our Youth, continues feeding people in Racine.
  • From our Social Justice Committee-
  • Green Thumbs for Justice expanded and shared many pounds of produce from our Racine Urban Garden Network’s Villa Street & Marquette St. Gardens with OBUUC’s Love Pantry and St. Luke’s Hospitality Center.
  • We helped to stabilize, support, and journey with our asylum seeking family of four.
  • Social Justice partnered with Coming Together Racine, Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice, Unity Racine, and LULAC #320 to educate on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women’s Movement and raised $1,055 to support the Waking Women Healing Institute in Gresham, WI.
  • SJC worked jointly with our 8th Principle Committee with UUA’s UU-the-Vote, WUUSAN and a variety of community partners to support election activities that culminated in OBUUC being named a John Lewis Good Trouble Congregation.
Honoring Our Future!
  • Working together on a vision statement that speaks to our ministries today and for the future
  • Developing a strategic plan to guide our next five years and beyond.
  • To honor our role as justice focused employers and offer cost of living increases to staff.
  • Continuing to listen and care for the needs of our church community, both in our sanctuary and outside our church roles.
Making OBUUC Possible
One way to consider our annual budget is to look at how the money sharing is used in specific budget categories. If we look at the pie chart below, we see that like many other nonprofits most of our budget goes to staff costs. We are grateful to have a dedicated staff team at OBUUC!
It is a more helpful way to consider our budget by area of focus. We know that our staff creates and supports our programming. If we break down the budget into these core program areas, it looks like this-
Our focus areas include:
Worship
Music
Congregational- how we take care of our church
Community Care- how we take care of our community beyond our Church
Lifespan Religious Education
Administration and Facilities
Our Ask for 2023-2024
Thank you for all of the ways you are supporting OBUUC. We know that it takes time, talent, and treasure to make a church possible.
We are setting our table. We know that there are big conversations to have regarding our future, big decisions, big hopes, and big dreams. This year, we are asking everyone to increase your pledge in a way that honors what generosity means to you.
An 8% increase from each pledge unit would allow us to keep up with rising inflation costs and honor the goals we shared above.
We are grateful and honor giving at all levels.
What an 8% increase looks like at different giving levels-
$250 Pledge- an annual increase of $20
$500 Pledge- an annual increase of $40
$1500 Pledge- an annual increase of $120
$3000 Pledge- an annual increase of $240
$5000 Pledge- an annual increase of $400
$10000 Pledge- an annual increase of $800
This is Our Table
We are setting the table in preparation for the journey to come. Our meeting with Stewardship for Us has given us much to consider. May we make the necessary preparation now to sustain us as we journey through and into what is yet to be for OBUUC. It is an exciting time!
This is Our Commitment to You
Our board and finance committee have been honoring a commitment to only ask once for our budget drive, rather than returning again and again. We encourage everyone to give as generously as you can.
Our Timeline-
We will kick off the budget drive on March 19.
Pledge forms will be online and available in the sanctuary.
Our Annual Budget Drive Team will begin follow up calls two weeks after launch.
We hope to have all pledges returned by APRIL 19
Thank you for all of the ways you make OBUUC Possible!
If you have any questions and would like to talk more about your pledge, please reach out to our Annual Budget Drive Team-
Linda Wetherbe
Anita Miller
Rev. Danielle
If you aren’t sure on where to get started, below is the suggested fair share giving guide provided by our Association.
(Click on chart to open/enlarge.)