Board & Finance 

Finance Committee Corner

Linda Allan, Treasurer

Introduction - Each month we will provide information to our members pertinent to the financial operations and maintenance of UUCGN. Please do not hesitate to contact Linda Allan, Susan Musick, or Michael Kurko if you have any questions on the graphic display of data included in this message.  We hope to provide all members with full transparency of UUCGN financial operations to ensure members are aware of what their annual pledges to UUCGN support.  In addition, we will endeavor to provide a brief topic of information each month for our members.  If members have specific topic items of interest, please let us know by emailing treasurer@uunaples.org or office@uunaples.org.

Topic for October - The Tax Man Cometh

Did you know that you can support UUCGN with a tax-savvy pledge?  If you are 70.5 years or older, you can make a Qualified Charitable Deduction (QCD) directly from your IRA to UUCGN.  A QCD counts toward your required minimum distribution (RMD) but it is not taxed as income to you if the IRA custodian sends your gift as a QCD directly to UUCGN.  This method of charitable giving reduces your taxable income in the year it is made while supporting UUCGN's mission by funding your annual pledge.  For more details,  consult your tax advisor or contact Linda Allan or Anna for instructions.

Board Bits

September 23, 2025 Board of Trustees Meeting

• We were pleased to learn that Betsy Cole and Susan Dunn have signed the membership book to join UUCGN.  We unanimously approved their membership and warmly welcome them to join our journey for building a more peaceful, just, and loving community!

• We appreciated the good work of the Social Justice Committee (SJC) as they look for ways to provide UUCGN support for a variety of missions aligned with our UU values in the greater community.  It is good see the SJC working with  GLSEN, the LBGTQ youth support program, the Naples Jewish Congregation’s Backpack for Kids with UUCGN in-kind donations to foster care children, the NAACP of Collier County, and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee supporting human rights causes globally.  Additionally, the SJC is exploring ways for us to support immigrant farmworker families through Mision Peniel.

• We support the SJC organizing a trip for UUCGN members to visit the Guadalupe Center programs in Immokalee, FL.  We recognize meeting the needs of immigrant farm workers are especially challenging and complex in the current political environment. 

• We are pleased to learn from Linda Allan, our VP of Finance, that the Stewardship Committee has been organized and Steve Espinosa has stepped forward to serve as the chairperson for this year’s Stewardship Campaign.  We wholeheartedly endorse the efforts of this Generosity Campaign to fund the operation of UUCGN including our dedicated staff, facilities upkeep and capital investments, supporting our beloved community and its efforts to encourage spiritual and intellectual growth, and funding our mission for working in the greater community.  Thank you to Steve and the Stewardship Committee for your work on this vital effort!

• We were glad to have Cliff Welles provide an update from the Strategic Planning Task Force on the focus groups research and early steps for the development of the congregation’s 3 Year Strategic Plan.  We are looking forward to the Task Force’s continuing research and reporting to the congregation in advance of the Congregation-wide  meeting on Saturday December 6th.  The Dec. 6 workshop is open to all UUCGN members and looks to be an engaging opportunity for members to determine our Congregation’s priorities and actions for the future. More details to come from the Task Force !

• We appreciate the work of the UUCGN 50th Anniversary Committee presented by co-chair Steve Espinosa (and Cheryl Nunes and Ann Fullarton in absentia) as the committee prioritized the events and celebrations for this milestone achievement.  In collaboration with the Endowment Board, the Board of Trustees approved the committee’s prioritized list in order to see if some proposed activities might be eligible for funding within the Endowment Board’s spending guidelines.  (The Endowment Board subsequently approved a community wide UUCGN Open House on March 28th and the commissioning of a 50th Anniversary choral work by the Allisons, our co-directors of the music program.  Thank you to the Endowment Board!) 

• We also appreciate the willingness of Jack Gorski to step forward to develop the Forum program for the coming season.  Thank you, Jack, for leading the program and we encourage members to participate in bringing future speakers and programs to UUCGN’s Forum.

• We approved establishing a sub-committee of the Board to form a Communications Committee to bring greater visibility of UUCGN and our UU values to the broader community as we head into Season during the coming months.  The charter for this new committee is being developed and members interested in serving on the committee are encouraged to contact Chris Cowan.

• We also approved the development of a new, more user-friendly UUCGN website to help attract visitors to UUCGN and to make it easier for members and others to keep up with all that is going on at UUCGN.  Anna Riazi, Rudy Wedenoja (new member, from our sister UU congregation in Grosse Pointe MI), and Chris Cowan will begin the development of the new site.

• We deeply appreciate the dedicated work of Mike Kurko who has single handedly managed the Facilities Committee’s care and support of UUCGN’s facility for the past few years.  Mike has submitted his resignation from this committee (he will continue on the Finance Committee) coincident with the end of our annual fiscal year in March, 2026.  We are indebted to Mike for his many years of service on the Facilities Committee and his advocacy and work in caring for our beautiful building and grounds.  We encourage members to show their appreciation to Mike for his dedication as we search for another member to take on this important role.

• We determined the Board of Trustees will hold a workshop on Saturday October 25th to consider the Strategic Planning work, the 50th Anniversary Committee’s plans, and review the newly revised Employee Handbook developed by the Personnel Committee.  This will be a Board-only workshop.