First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington has established a Minister’s Discretionary Fund. Contributions to this fund may be made by individuals or by allocations from the Trustees or the Operating Budget. In order to ensure that contributions to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund are tax-deductible, no contribution may be designated for the benefit of any particular recipient.
Distributions from this fund may be made by the minister to provide confidential assistance to church or community members facing emergency financial need. No distribution may be made to the minister or to any member of his or her family at any time. Any distribution to a church employee must be paid through payroll so that payroll taxes and reporting are correctly calculated and reported.
The minister shall report to the Parish Committee annually all amounts paid out by the fund, listing dates and purposes of the payments (but not the names of recipients). The Treasurer shall review the cancelled checks to confirm adherence to the written policy. If, for any reason, cash or gift cards are disbursed, the recipient shall provide a signed acknowledgment of the receipt, including the date and amount of the gift. These receipts shall be kept on file by the church.
—Adopted by the Parish Committee, December 2012