Financial Issues

Financial issues

Banking and handling of financial matters

If a group or council organises events or activities it is likely to have income and expenditure to manage. It is helpful to have an honorary treasurer. Unless the organisation deals only with very small amounts of money, it should open its own bank or building society account. The committee should agree:

	what sort of account is most appropriate for the organisation and acceptable to members and where it should be held
	appropriate rules for recording income and expenditure, in particular showing that grants or donations received for a specific purpose are used for that purpose
	who may sign cheques and how many signatures are needed
	what expenses will be reimbursed and what procedure must be followed for claims
	where any remaining funds or other assets will go in the event of the group being dissolved

For further information on financial issues see The Local Inter Faith Guide and the publications related to running small voluntary organisations listed under "Resources: Publications" at the end of the Guide.

Sources of support

Membership fees: Most inter faith groups and councils have annual membership fees. Individual membership fees are generally between £5 and £10 a year. Where bodies have organisational members, such as places of worship, they often have a higher annual membership fee for these (£20 or above). Bodies which do not have any annual subscription fees often levy a small charge for meetings or ask for occasional donations.

Trusts: Some trusts are prepared to consider applications from inter faith bodies – although the number of such trusts remains relatively small. The various guides to trusts listed under Resources at the end of The Local Inter Faith Guide are important reference sources.

Local authorities and other bodies: In some areas, local authorities or other bodies such as CVSs are supporting local inter faith initiatives through grants or through making premises available or through ‘in kind’ support with their staff helping service meetings or events or mailings being done for the local inter faith body.

Central government: Grant programmes such as the recent Home Office Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund programme (administered by the Community Development Foundation) are possible sources of support for appropriate projects.

Lottery funding: Lottery money has become a source of funding for many charities. However, if your body is considering applying for support from lottery sources, it is important to discuss the matter with members to ensure that they are content with this and that there is consensus about any such application. The reason for this is that some faith traditions, notably Islam and some strands of the Christian tradition, do not approve of gambling and may not wish funds to come from this source.

In 1986, members of different faith communities in Leicester met at the town hall at the initiative of the Lord Mayor and went on to form themselves into a council of faiths. Leicester Council of Faith's members represent, on a faith community basis, the eight principal faiths in the City: Baha'is, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs.

The Leicester Council of Faiths has retained a strong link with Leicester City Council. It is consulted by the Council on a range of issues from education to neighbourhood renewal and community strategy. The Council provides funding, via the Education Department, towards the rent of LCF's Welcome Centre, some running costs, and the salary of a part-time coordinator.

This is one of the sources which enables LCF to carry out a wide programme of work to promote good inter faith relations in Leicester, including events, publications (such as the directory of places of worship in Leicester), diversity training, and assistance to a wide range of bodies such as the Police, schools, universities, hospitals and the Fire and Rescue Service.

In this section

Find a local inter faith body
Getting started
    Checklist
    Aims and names
    Venues for meetings
Practical matters
   Membership patterns
   Groundrules
   Constitutions
   Calendar matters
   Catering for events
   Times for meetings
   Media
   Statements
   Web sites
   Financial issues
   Charitable status
   Volunteers and staff
   Premises
   Local Authorities
   Local Strategic Partnerships
Activities
   Awareness raising
   Charity fundraising
   Discussion meetings
   Diversity training
   Environmental projects
   Health and emergency services
   Joint events
   Special events
   Multi faith civic ceremonies
   Pilgrimages
   Prayer and worship
   Responding to tensions
   Social gatherings
   Trips and exchanges
   Visiting places of worship
   Women
   Working with schools
   Young people
Local Inter Faith Survey