wfn.org | World Council of Churches to Streamline

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17-September-1997 
97360 
 
    World Council of Churches to Streamline 
    Its Financial Management 
 
    by Stephen Brown 
    Ecumenical News International 
 
GENEVA--The World Council of Churches, which has been facing severe 
financial problems, is to streamline its financial management, according to 
the organization's new executive director of finance and administration. 
 
    "Every dollar or cent spent on administration is a dollar or cent that 
does not go to our beneficiaries," Robert Christeler, a Swiss businessman 
and professor, told a hearing at the weekend held as part of the WCC's 
Central Committee. Christeler takes up his new post on October 1. 
 
    There would be "stricter and more real-time budgeting procedures," he 
said. Until now, there had been too many people involved in financial 
management, and financial responsibility had been "too widely dispersed," 
he added. 
 
    According to a paper distributed by the WCC to Central Committee 
members, in 1996 there was an "operating shortfall" of 2.4 million Swiss 
francs (about $1.65 million) in the Council's accounts. However, 
"unexpectedly good investment results last year of over SFr 10 million 
[$6.84 million]" had enabled the WCC to write off not only the 1996 
shortfall, but also the 1995 shortfall (SFr 4.4 million, or $3 million) and 
to absorb the costs of staff redundancies last year of SFr 2 million ($1.37 
million). 
 
    The first half of 1997 had also been an "excellent" investment year, 
but there was no way of predicting how the stock market would perform in 
the second half of the year, Christeler said. He also warned that although 
WCC expenditure in the first half of 1997 had been below budget, only 38 
percent of the annual income budgeted for WCC program activities had been 
received by the halfway mark. 
 
    He pointed out that it was usual that a number of donors made their 
contributions toward the end of the year, but added that the WCC still had 
to "exercise caution as there was no way of predicting with accuracy" how 
much of the outstanding amount would actually be received. 
 
    Describing his attitude as one of "prudent pessimism," Christeler said 
that the WCC's management would continue to enforce a very rigorous 
"expenditure containment program." 
 
    In the longer term, Christeler said, there would be three major 
developments in the WCC's finance administration: 
 
    *   to increase the resources allocated to fund-raising 
    *   to increase income from the WCC's "internal" sources, such as 
        investment revenues, production income and from property management 
    *   to streamline general and financial management systems that were 
        "perhaps slightly outdated." 
 
    The moderator of the WCC's Finance Committee, Birgitta Rantakari, from 
Finland, told the Central Committee last week that the "WCC must adjust its 
life and work to new financial realities." 
 
    After the WCC's Assembly in Harare at the end of 1998, "`business as 
usual' will not be an option," she said. "We must use the next 15 months to 
prepare ourselves for these changes." 
 
    Explaining the changes, she said, "Predictability has gone. Traditional 
funding partners alone can no longer provide all the resources required. 
 
    "Monitoring and evaluation must be regular and accurate. The structure 
and working style must be accompanied by the motivation and the flexibility 
to adjust and respond quickly, both to alarming signals and to 
opportunities." 

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