Staff Contact

Contact Barbara Brower, director of finance and administration, for information about the Minnesota Annual Conference budget.

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2016 Apportioned Budget

Members of the 2015 Annual Conference Session voted on May 29, 2015 to approve a 2016 apportioned budget totaling $6,120,770. That’s $120,762 more than the 2015 apportioned budget and $89,536 above the budget “ceiling,” the maximum allowed under conference standing rules. Members approved going above ceiling in order to continue two critical leadership development initiatives: Soul Leaders and The ELI Project.

With an “uncollectible contingency” of $605,000, the total apportioned amount for 2016 is $6,725,770. The uncollectible contingency accommodates anticipated shortfalls in some churches’ apportionment payments.

Apportionments are the share each annual conference or local church pays to support international, national, and local missions. Some of the funds remitted by Minnesota congregations stay within the state and help fund various Minnesota Conference programs and mission efforts, and about a quarter of the funds remitted by local churches go to the global United Methodist Church. Apportionments also pay for the internal support system that allows for 100 percent of “second-mile” giving (to Imagine No Malaria and other Advance Specials) to go to the intended mission or ministry.

Before approving the 2016 budget, members agreed (by a vote of more than two-thirds) to suspend the conference “ceiling” rule, which uses a formula to limit the growth of the budget from one year to the next. 

The 2016 budget is organized and aligned around our primary work expressed in the missional areas listed below. The expenditure of programmatic and administrative funds is tightly focused to address our strategic imperatives. Our administrative costs are low compared to benchmarks set by nonprofit monitoring groups.

The apportioned budget is only part of our financial picture. The total operations of the annual conference are estimated at $16 million in 2016. We have significant activities, such as the self-funded conference health insurance program, camping ministry, youth events, and voluntary group workers’ compensation policy, which are mainly funded by premiums and fees. None of these programs would be possible without the internal support system provided by staff, technology, stewardship and management processes funded by apportionments. In addition, the same internal support system allows 100 percent of donations for ministries such as Imagine No Malaria and Advance Specials to go to the specified cause with all accounting, processing, and handling paid for by apportionments. 

Download full 2016 budget report

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We train, coach, and support leaders as they increase in their skills and commitment to ensure our churches reach new people, grow in love of God and neighbor, and heal a broken world.

We resource congregations to catalyze innovation, encourage revitalization, generate multiplication, and support connections in communities here and around the world.

Extending Our Missional Impact

Our missional impact is local, national, and global. It is developed through relationships and resources. We engage in tangible actions to assist with human needs and address systemic issues.

We tell stories of lives changed, leverage apportioned dollars, and encourage cycles of generosity through resources for churches and individuals.

Aligning Our Work – Support of the Annual Conference

Provides an additional amount that is apportioned to cover underpayment by churches unable to pay 100 percent of their apportioned amount. This is necessary for us to fund our budget and address our strategic goals at the level approved by members of annual conference.

Apportioned: $605,000 / Other sources: $0 / Total: $605,000

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Budget and Ceiling History

Each year, there is a budget “ceiling,” or maximum allowed under conference standing rules. Here's a look at past budget and ceiling amounts (before adding the uncollectible contingency).

Year	Ceiling	Approved Budget	Budget Over/(Under) Ceiling
2016	$6,031,234	$6,120,770	$89,536
2015	$6,434,050	$6,000,008	$(434,042)
2014	$6,251,009	$6,247,960	$(3,049)
2013	$6,236,788	$6,236,788	$0
2012	$6,309,699	$6,367,332	$57,633
2011	$6,736,270	$6,542,436	$(193,834)
2010	$6,710,458	$6,690,241	$(20,217)
2009	$6,674,295	$6,518,550	$(155,745)
2008	$7,255,937	$6,498,600	$(757,337)
2007	$7,038,344	$7,027,040	$(11,304
2006	$6,881,630	$6,864,044	$(17,586)
Pre-2006	Average Ceiling	Average Budget	Average Over/(Under) Ceiling
2000-2005	$6,158,000	$6,088,000	$(70,000)