BWA reduces budget in light of investment loss, but contributions hold steady

The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is to reduce its 2009 budget by 29 percent.

The decision was taken by the Executive Committee of the BWA on Wednesday, March 4, in response to the decline in investments held by the world Baptist body. The Budget and Finance Committee (B&F), in its report, indicated that the value of BWA investments fell by 36 percent over the past year, which prompted both the staff and the B&F Committee to take actions to reduce the budget.

The net effect of the loss in value of investments is the reduction of the funds that the BWA holds in reserve, which were built up over the previous five years. The B&F Committee took the measure of removing all BWA funds from equities, which had suffered the worst losses, and placed these in fixed income funds, in an attempt to stanch the loss.

Despite the reduction in reserves, overall contributions by individual donors, conventions, unions, and churches to the international organization fell by less than five percent during the past year, while contributions to restricted funds had an overall increase. Restricted funds are designated for particular purposes, such as aid, development, mission, evangelism, and training.

A report from Promotion and Development (P&D), which does fundraising for the BWA, stated that giving to the General Fund fell slightly, while “designated giving was up over 2007, which meant we actually received more funds total in 2008 than in 2007.” The P&D report stated that “Latin America and Europe increased donations over last year,” and that “104 individuals gave to the BWA for the very first time” during 2008. The P&D report indicated that 400 churches gave to the BWA in 2008, 369 within the United States alone.

The level of contribution was regarded by the Executive Committee as outstanding, in light of the experiences of other nonprofit bodies that had seen reductions of between 15 and 43 percent from contributors. This, it was felt, testifies to the commitment by Baptists toward the BWA and the ministries in which it is engaged.