Each Spring, the Finance Council, working with the Pastor and Pastoral Council, develops a budget based on prior year expenses for certain fixed operating needs, and based on requests from the various program areas …outreach, religious education, liturgy, as well as projected long term maintenance and facility needs. From this we decide what we will be able to do with the resources we expect to receive.

As is the case in our families, our plans and expenditures are limited by the resources we have available. As we all know, this requires establishing priorities and making hard decisions.

Our continued growth is both a blessing and a challenge. New activities have struggled to keep up with size and diversity of our members. In response to our growth we added two wings to the existing church; one in 1996 which included an office wing and multi-purpose room, and a second in 1999 which included a pre-school and a second multi-purpose room. In the fall of 2000 we completed construction of our $4.8 million Parish Education Center, built to answer the need for additional space for our education programs and parish functions. We continue to pay on the $2.8 million loan from the Diocese which provided financing for this project. Due to the faithful generosity of parishioners, our balance due as of June 2009 is 559,000. We rely on the Debt Collection on the first Sunday of the month as our primary source to pay down our building debt.

Only you know the individual circumstances of your finances. We make every effort to ensure that pleas from the altar for money are kept to the absolute minimum. But that requires that each of us understands our responsibility to participate in the stewardship of parish finances. Please prayerfully consider Your role in supporting Your community here at St. Francis.

Our daily operating expenses are financed from the Sunday and Holy Day collections. If for some reason we have bad weather, or a holiday such as Christmas, falls on a Sunday, and our collections are down, it is much like our families trying to make ends meet with one less pay check. This is why we encourage the use of Electronic Church Giving (ECG).

There are many ways to provide financial support to the parish. Here are the most common:

Sunday and Holy Day Offertory: In addition to the envelopes mailed to parishioners each month, we also have an electronic funds transfer program that makes regular giving as easy as possible for our parishioners: Electronic Church Giving Program (ECG). You can have your weekly contribution transferred directly from your checking or savings account or debited to your Visa or MasterCard on a monthly or bimonthly basis. Enrollment forms are provided in welcome packets and are available in the back of church, from the Parish office, or by clicking here: ECG. With ECG you can increase, decrease, or stop your transfers at any time with an email or note to the parish office.

General and Specified Donations: Donations, other than those received in a designated collection envelope, are applied to the purpose specified by the donor. If you would like to discuss a possible donation you are considering, please contact Fr. Charley or Mr. Ed Knapp at the church Office at (703) 221-4044.

United Way (UW) / Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) / Combined Virginia Campaign (Virginia State Govt. Employees): St Francis School and Francis House qualify as a non-profit under UW and CFC criteria, do. Please keep our school and our community social outreach program in mind when you designate the purpose(s) for your UW, CFC, or CVC donation!

SCHOOL United Way Code: 8744 Combined Federal Campaign Code: 37164 Combined Virginia Campaign Code (State Gov Employees): 8475

FRANCIS HOUSE United Way Code: 9343 Combined Federal Campaign Code: 37164 Combined Virginia Campaign Code (State Gov Employees): 8474

Legacy Giving: Legacy Giving is financial planning that allows individuals to make a charitable gift of estate assets which helps ensure St. Francis of Assisi’s long-term future. With such gifts, donors can make a satisfying and, usually, substantial contribution while meeting their own personal and financial objectives. With a legacy gift from your estate, you make a promise to future generations that St. Francis of Assisi Parish will always be there for them. For more information on Legacy Giving, click here: Legacy Giving Brochure. If you would like to discuss Legacy Giving further, please call Fr. Charley or Mr. Ed Knapp at the church Office at (703) 221-4044. You may also complete the Legacy Giving Information Request Card and mail it to the parish.

If you have any questions about financial stewardship or concerns regarding the finances of the parish, please feel free to contact the Business Manager, Mr. Ed Knapp at (703) 221-4044, or the Finance Council chair, Terry Danner at (703) 680-0860.