Financial Report
Five Year Financial Report 2010-2015
IV General Assembly – Salamanca
Introduction
There is a saying: clear accounts, long lasting friendships! I want to present to all of you a brief summary of the financial reality of the international VMY during the past five years. We know that in order to continue our mission of evangelization it is important to be aware of the means that are available to us as we plan for the future. I ask for your patience and understanding.
This presentation will be developed in three parts:
- The five year balance (a reflection with the participants)
- Results of the campaign
- Other information
Before going any further I want to highlight the following:
- Since the Secretariat is in Spain, the currency that we have used as our point of reference is the euro and it is the currency that we use in almost all of our transactions.
- This report takes into consideration the period of 2010-2014 (five years)
--- our accounts close in December of each year; --- depreciation and amortization is calculated at the end of the year ---the tax agency reviews our accounts during the period of January-December of each year ---the ending balance of some intervening month does not always present a clear picture .
The five year balance
I will speak about income and then I will refer to our expenses during this same time frame.
Income (show slide #2 and then #3) Our income is derived from:
Contributions from the member countries: up to the year 2011 the quotas were received as contributions but as of 2012 such quotas became part of our self-financing campaign and therefore, for those years we do not show contributions from the member countries in our financial statement.
Contributions from the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity: these entities continue to be our largest contributors.
Sale of material: apart from our international assemblies and encounters there is little sale of merchandise.
Subsidies: there have been none in recent years.
International Encounters: 2012 – World Youth Day; 2014 – International Encounter of Advisors.
The Secretariat Market: from 2013 to the present this income was included in the campaign.
Other financial income: this includes interest and the difference with regard to the exchange rate.
With regard to the 486.298€ ---The primary source of income is the contribution of the CM’s and DC’s (48%); ---120.115€ (interest etc.) + 34.838€ (difference in exchange rate) … these monies are added to the Patrimony Fund ---Income from encounters: 41.791 (General Assembly, Portugal) + 24.095 (Advisors, Paris) ---Contributions from member countries, sale of materials and the Secretariat Market.
48% of our income is derived from the General Curia of the Daughters and the Missionaries. We thank them for their generosity in supporting the ministry of the International Secretariat and Council, as well as the ministry of the Association which is taking place in so many different parts of the world.
Expenses (slide #4 and #5) I am not going to present detailed expenses for this five year period.
Expenses of the International Secretariat include utilities (electricity, telephone), office supplies (stamps, paper, copier, etc.), expenses of the International Council (visas, formation courses) and lodging during the various meetings.
International meetings – General Assembly (2010): the VMY accepted responsibility for expenses totaling 56.308€; European Encounter (2012): the VMY accepted responsibility for expenses totaling 14.559€; African Encounter: the VMY accepted responsibility for expenses totaling 13.702€; and First Encounter of Advisors (2014): the VMY accepted responsibility for expenses totaling 21.583€.
(Slide #6) Expenses of the volunteers (these are expenses that are incurred in order to maintain the volunteers who live in Madrid and generously serve the Association); these include food, formation, health insurance, travel expenses, utilities, etc which total 134.925€.
(Slide #7) The annual expenses of the office (Secretariat) and personnel (volunteers) total 65.000€ which will increase or decrease when an international encounter is organized and when the house of the volunteers is at full capacity. This is the amount that is needed for the VMY to function on the international level or, at the very least, we could say that this is what has been needed up to the present time.
(Slide #8) How are we doing in 2015? Here I present the expenses that we have incurred up to June 2015. As you can see the numbers do not reflect the real expenses for the year (thus the importance of viewing the year as a single entity).
(Slide #9, 10, 11)
Reflection with the participants
During the Assembly in Portugal the following question was posed: Do you believe that we need the international structures in order to maintain the vitality and the development of the VMY? If your response is “yes” and if we want to continue to function into the future then we ought to make every effort to maintain these structures or else, we ought to propose some alternative … this is a matter that concerns the whole Association. The international structures are a form of service, a manner in which we enable our mission to be fulfilled … without resources there is no mission. Can we do things better? Can we do things differently in order to fulfill our mission?
I would also like to highlight an important aspect of our international encounters. As you can see we are investing large sums of money in these encounters and therefore we have to ask the responsible individuals in the various countries: ARE WE CAREFUL IN SELECTING THE PARTICIPANTS? ARE THE PERSONS WE SELECT THE MOST APPROPRIATE ONES WHO WILL CONTINUE AS LEADERS IN THEIR COUNTRY? WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE PARTICIPANTS WHEN SAID ENCOUNTER IS CONCLUDED? In financial terms, the money that is invested in these travels and meetings ought to produce, in the long term, fruits for the individual countries.
The Patrimonial Fund and the Campaign “Something more from you!”
(chart #15) It should be pointed out that with regard to the creation and the maintaining of the Patrimony Fund of our Association the primary donors have been the Daughters of Charity and the Missionaries. Again we want to thank them for their invaluable collaboration and assistance in fostering the development of this Association. We recall here the fact that the Patrimony Fund was created with the idea of generating income that would maintain (financially) the functioning of the international VMY and all of its activities.
(chart #16) Our Patrimony Fund generates interest but that money is not sufficient to maintain the functioning of the Secretariat, therefore the capital has to be increased in order to be able to live on the interest produced by this fund. As a result of the worldwide financial crisis, the interest on these funds has decreased, but we continue to maintain its primary objective.
As we previously saw, the cost of maintaining the Secretariat on an annual basis is about 65.000€. From the time of the 2010 Assembly to the present, thanks to the Patrimony Fund, the interest and other financial movements, we have been able to move forward (and this has been possible as a result of the contributions of the Daughters of Charity and the Missionaries). This is the time when each country should ask: Have I fulfilled my commitment? What has happened in this regard?
Some have fulfilled their commitment, that is, some from their poverty have contributed and have been very creative in being able to give “something more of themselves”. During these days we will have the opportunity to review the commitments that we have made with the hope that we will continue to contribute to our Association so that our objective might be achieved.
Here I invite you to reflect: What efforts have been made in order to fulfill the commitment that was made? Do I see this as something that is necessary? At this time, in order to confront the debt that your country has acquired (President’s Letter), can we continue forward or do we have to review this commitment? We should not judge one another … each individual must look at their present situation. We also should not reproach those individuals who have not fulfilled their commitment. We have gathered here as responsible people, people who are concerned about our Association. My purpose here is to encourage you to continue to share with people from many different parts of the world. Your contribution is significant, and it is even more significant for those who find it difficult to make such a contribution and yet have done so.
We are grateful to those countries that have been constant in their contributions!
What have we done with this money?
Charts: Income + money from the campaign = 620.000.00
We have created a portfolio
- With an initial amount of 300.000 (2014)
- As a result of interest and further contributions the portfolio contains 620.000.00
- Interest produced (2014)
- Interest produced up to June 2015
- We have, 653.918.88€
- We have available to us 27.848.61
The most profitable is to use the interest that was generated, that is, use 10% of the 100%. The rest should be left in the portfolio so that it continues as part of the investment. In that way the patrimony continues to grow and to produce
- For the future
- It continues to be a legacy for the VMY in the years to come
- The international VMY becomes self-sufficient
- We are able to support projects in countries where the VMY is established.
We have not achieved the proposed goal but we are well on the way to achieving it. I want to encourage you to continue to exert the effort that you have made because as I stated, even though we have not achieved our goal we have every reason to believe that if we continue to struggle together, that goal will be achieved. We must think positively. We must recall to mind the fact that we are an association of young men and women and as we look around this room we see that there is much energy and enthusiasm, much hope and a great desire to project ourselves into the future. With the help of each and every one of you we can continue to move forward with our continental and international plans.
Translated: Charles T. Plock, CM
