Reporting Church activities

Presentation outline Why do we report? When do we report? Who reports? What do we report? How do we report? Report process Report format Common mistakes

Why do we report? To assess performance against set targets To facilitate monitoring and evaluation To provide information to church members and higher authorities in the church system To help in decision making and future planning To keep a record of events To contribute to conf,union and global reporting

When do we report? Treasury: Weekly on remittances Treasury : monthly to the Church Board Treasury : Quarterly to business meeting Other departments: Quarterly to Board and business meeting Special Assignments : As provided in terms of reference

Who reports? All departments to the Board Church Board to Business meeting Pastor to Central Zambia Conference Central Zambia conference to ZBUC Zambia Union Conference to SID Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division to General conference

What do we report? Activities done against planned work Statistics relating to departmental interests Activities not done and reasons for not doing them Plans for the next quarter Problems faced Recommendations

How do we report? Stage 1: Understand department’s purpose Stage 2: Study Church strategic plan Stage 3: Study 2010 activities and learn from mistakes. Be innovative. Stage 4: Draw up objectives and annual work plans indicating budget and time for events. (Use dept. Council or committee)

Conference reports CZC has own templates Departments required to report will be given the forms and must complete and submit four copies quarterly Copies must be obtained at the beginning of the quarter to facilitate data capturing Reports usually required in the last week of the quarter and so cut of date may have to be end of 12 th week

Illustration of reporting cut off dates First quarter submission date : 25 th March Report coverage 1 st January to 24 th March Second quarter Submission date: 24 June Report coverage 25 th March to 23 June Third quarter submission date 26 September Report coverage 24 June to 25 September Fourth Quarter submission date 27 Dec Report Coverage 26 Sept. To 26 Dec

Local University SDA Church report Name the department and reporting period State objectives Do table indicating quarterly plans and activities for each objective Do table showing what was actually achieved against what was planned Provide useful comments in the table that will help the reader understand the report

Local University Church report contd Do table on activities not done providing alternatives/explanations Indicate plans for next quarter Provide key statistics comparing the same with those of the previous quarter Give recommendations for the Board’s consideration( if you have any) Service calls will usually have been passed on to the Elders and may not be part of the report unless approval has been obtained

Process of reporting Report must be compiled by departmental secretary and checked by the leader Report must be endorsed by the departmental council or committee Report must be signed by both the departmental leader and the Elder-in- Charge of the Department Report must be submitted to the Church Clerk on the date announced by the church leadership Dept. Must keep copies of all reports submitted Electronic submissions sent via are very useful for clerks

Common errors No statistics False/ wrong statistics No data captured & no reference to previous report Failure to plan work Report not clear/ poor language/Spelling errors Using own template which differs from prescribed format Cut and paste errors (dates etc) No liaison between Elder-in Charge and dept leader