President’s Column July 2026

A wise woman once told me never doubt a UUA with a dream, a committee, and a lot of determination!

Today, we kicked off our initial planning session for a radical new idea: Abundance

Budgeting. We had an enthusiastic group of more than 20 individuals who participated in pre-work and today’s sprint—who wanted to understand what this meant and how it could benefit our beloved community. I walked away with a whole new understanding—this really isn’t Abundance Budgeting as much as it is Abundance Planning.

To give a bit of a background: many of us have held Corporate, Government, or Non-Profit jobs in our lives, and we have all done what is typically known as “Incremental

Budgeting." In an Incremental Budget Process, you typically take the historical budget

from the last fiscal year, tack on a bit “extra” to account for inflation and cost-of-living

and present this for approval. Once the final numbers roll in, it’s time to do the

“haircuts” to cut the numbers back to what the organization feels it can afford. What

is wrong with this situation in a “growth-minded” organization? While it can be the

lowest risk option for budgets, it’s historical, stability-based, and discourages change.

Consider this from a personal finance perspective: you want to buy a house and have

been saving $200/a month for 5 years. You decide that this is a very slow process for

you to achieve your objective, so you wisely decide to increase your savings to $225/a

month.

So, let’s turn to a bit of a background on what ABUNDANCE Budgeting or Planning

means. In Abundance budgeting, you start with Priorities and Plans, and determine what resources are required to achieve your goals. Abundance budgets are based on a growth mindset, it’s opportunity-based, and supports entrepreneurial thinking and

strategic planning. The Personal Finance example would be that if you are determined to buy a house, you plan on what is needed to meet your goal, and this plan determines your savings plan and timeline.

So, our Sprint on Saturday focused on the bottom line “fixed and variable” costs that we need to keep our lights on, our current AND future personnel needs, and what we could focus on if we were truly dreaming of a “growth” future. We looked at options to grow, not cut back resources: what gains could support expanded programming and engagement, and to make our Meetinghouse a vibrant, dynamic home both now and in the future. I want to emphasize, this isn’t a change for tomorrow, but a thoughtful process. It goes hand-in-glove with our Strategic Planning initiative. I look forward to sharing more of our insights and to fostering discussion and debates for our congregation's future. If this appeals to you, we are always happy to have new people join our adventure!

~Trisha Corey-Lisle, President

#JulyNewsletter