wfn.org | Presbyterian Foundation Struggles with Growing Pains

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

Reply-To: wfn-news list <wfn-news@wfn.org>
5-November-1998 
98364 
 
    Presbyterian Foundation Struggles with Growing Pains 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-An air of mild uneasiness hung over the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) Foundation's board of directors here Oct. 29-31 as nagging budget 
and technological problems threatened to overshadow continued 
record-breaking fund-raising. 
 
    And while Foundation president Larry Carr was honored and praised for 
his five years as CEO, he was also handed the difficult assignment of 
submitting to the board at its next meeting, in April 1999, "a statement, 
not to exceed 20 words, responding to the questions `What is the business 
of the Foundation?' and `Who are the Foundation's customers?'" 
 
    In many ways, the Foundation is a victim of its own success at quickly 
adapting to dramatic changes in the field of planned giving.  The PC(USA) 
Foundation is indisputably far more innovative and effective than any other 
church-based foundation in the country, according to the "Journal of 
American Philanthropy." 
 
    Dorothy MacConkey of Fairfax Station, Va., chair of the Development 
Committee, reported that at the end of September the Foundation had 
received more irrevocable gifts from living donors so far in 1998 than it 
has ever received in the same period of any year.  The year-to-date total 
of more than $33 million in new gifts is 18 percent ahead of 1997 figures 
and 77 percent ahead of 1996 giving. 
 
    At the same time, the rapid expansion of the Foundation's activities, 
such as the establishment of subsidiary corporations such as the New 
Covenant Trust Company to enable the Foundation to do its own banking 
services, has put enormous pressure on its operating budget. 
 
    A $400,000 planned deficit due to expansion investments in 1997, a 
"modest" deficit for 1998 resulting from the mid-summer stock market drop 
and a preliminary budget for 1999 that is yet another $400,000 out of 
balance prompted the board to take the unusual step of asking staff to 
present a plan for balancing next year's budget to the January meeting of 
its Executive Committee rather than to the full board in April. 
 
    Carr said the budget that was submitted to the board "didn't take into 
account all the handles on potential sources of revenue that will be 
available in 1999."  He said he welcomed the January budget conference, 
adding that staff "is actively engaged in identifying those additional 
sources" so the board can do "realistic" budgeting. 
 
    Computer glitches related to the start-up of the trust company, which 
was established last January, have prevented the Foundation from providing 
the kind of financial reports to its primary client - the General Assembly 
Council (GAC) - that the Council needs in order to prepare its year-end 
reports for external auditors. 
 
    GAC chair the Rev. Cathy Chisholm shared the GAC's concern about the 
lack of auditable financial statements from the Foundation.  Carr referred 
to it as a "computer conversion problem" with the software New Covenant 
Trust Company installed when it assumed banking services formerly handled 
for the Foundation by Wachovia Bank.  Carr said he believes "we nearly have 
it solved." 
 
    But the Rev. Philip Young, executive of the Synod of the Pacific and 
the Foundation board's liaison to the GAC, promised the Council on Sept. 26 
that the problem would be fixed "within a week" - a commitment Carr said he 
was unwilling to make at the time.  A clearly chagrined Ronald W. Roe, 
chair of the board's Finance and Audit Committee, said he had assured 
Chisholm "that this is our number one priority" and that his committee will 
have conference calls with staff every other week until the reports start 
flowing. 
 
    The problem, Carr added, is not with individual accounts or financial 
controls - clients are receiving their monthly statements - but with the 
compilation of individual account balances into comprehensive financial 
reports that two complicated computer systems (the Foundation's and the 
GAC's) can both read.  He told the Presbyterian News Service that fixing 
the problem is a "trial and error" process.  "We keep thinking we have it 
solved and then one more glitch pops up." 
 
    Karen C. Anderson of Salem, Ore., wondered if some outside assistance 
would produce a faster resolution.  "I'm fully aware of our budget 
concerns," she said, "but if there's someone out there who can help us get 
this fixed, it's time to get this fixed now." 
 
    On other technological fronts, the Foundation is making dramatic 
strides forward.  James P. Ohlmann, assistant vice president for planned 
giving, and Dan C. Mohn, assistant vice president for institutional 
relations, demonstrated new software that offers unprecedented means for 
tracking current and potential donors. 
 
    The board-approved assignment to Carr to develop a statement of 20 
words or less on who the Foundation is and what it does came from its 
Marketing Committee.  It grew out of a sense that "it is not widely 
understood who we are and what we do," said committee chair the Rev. Eugene 
Bay of Bryn Mawr, Pa."  These questions are critical, Bay added, "because 
those who function best are those who are clearest about who they are and 
what they do." 
 
    Marketing Committee member Jack Kraushaar, noting that in addition to 
the trust company subsidiary the Foundation is adding mutual fund and 
annuity subsidiaries in the near future, said "no more important discussion 
will happen than those leading to answers to these questions - we don't 
have the resources to be all things to all people, and if we try, we won't 
do a very good job." 
 
    The board reviewed and discussed two new documents: "Color Us 
Presbyterian: The Challenge of Anti-Racism and Diversity in the Future of 
the PC(USA) with Special Consideration of the Role of the Foundation" by 
the Rev. Gayraud S. Wilmore and a strategic planning guide for the future 
development of the Foundation. 
 
    Wilmore was present to introduce and respond to questions and comments 
about his paper, which was commissioned by the board's Human Resources and 
Racial Ethnic committees. 
 
    The strategic planning document was introduced by Georgette Huie of San 
Francisco.  It primarily addressed three immediate concerns of the 
Foundation: 
 
    *  overcrowded facilities in Jeffersonville, Ind., where the 
Foundation's offices are located.  A two-year lease has been taken on a 
nearby building to ease the overcrowding while a comprehensive look is 
taken at future space needs. 
    *  the lack of "a one-stop shopping place in the PC(USA) for resources 
on stewardship education, interpretation and support."  The plan calls for 
the Foundation "to initiate" conversations with other PC(USA) entities to 
create such a service. 
    *  ecumenical cooperation. (The Foundation's successes have led other 
denominations to seek assistance and services from it.)  "To be 
Presbyterian is to be ecumenical," Huie said, "but first and foremost we 
are Presbyterian, and the issue is how to stay focused while being as 
responsive as we can." 
 
    The rapid growth - and growing pains - of the Presbyterian Foundation 
come at a time when preparations are in full swing for a celebration of the 
Foundation's 200th anniversary next April in Philadelphia.  Preparations 
for the celebration, with the theme "200 Years: A Foundation with a 
Future," include production of a new video on the Foundation; publication 
of a new resource on stewardship written by the Rev. William R. Phillippe 
and funded by former Foundation chair Helen Walton; and other interpretive 
resources for congregations and church-related institutions. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This note sent by PCUSA NEWS
  to the wfn-news list <wfn-news@wfn.org>.
  Send unsubscribe requests to wfn-news-request@wfn.org