[amc] Flagging economy hits MCC - Exchange rates and donations are down

From: "Ray Gingerich" <rjgingerich@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Austin Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Milwaukee Mennonite Church" <milwaukee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 19:51:41 -0800
Friends,

See below.

A donation of $15 or more to MCC or to Trinity Child Development Center at
Austin Mennonite Church will get you either of the Gingerich Family CDs. A
donation of $25 or more gets you both.

Keep the amount anonymous and just let me know and I will send the CDs.
Ray
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nathan Penner, Columbus, Ohio <
Nathan.Penner.guest.462087@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 9:04 AM
Subject: *Flagging economy hits MCC* - Exchange rates and donations are down
To: menno.org.peace.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


This article might interest some of you who care about MCC.

http://eedition.lancasteronline.com/pages/news/edition/IJAM/20081208/B/1/2102939

Intelligencer Journal

Flagging economy hits MCC
Exchange rates and donations are down

BY LORI VAN INGEN, Intelligencer Journal Staff

Being an international nonprofit organization has its good and bad sides as
Mennonite Central Committee has recently discovered.

MCC -- which has board and staff members in both the United States and
Canada -- will need to drop new initiatives in the coming year because of
the current economic recession, according to Arli Klassen, executive
director of Mennonite Central Committee.

Exchange rates between the U.S. and Canada are a key component of MCC's
budget. A drop in the value of the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar
has been substantial. It recently saw a 28 percent drop in just one month,
Klassen said.

MCC budgeted for the Canadian dollar exchange rate as 95 cents on the U.S.
dollar. It peaked at $1.10 on the U.S. dollar in the spring, but has since
dropped significantly to the current 79 cents on the U.S. dollar.

This drop is significant for MCC because Canadian donations are just under
half of its total income, and MCC works in U.S. dollars.

"It started to hit us in October," Klassen said.

For every one cent the value of the Candian dollar goes down, MCC will lose
$130,000 in programming for the year.

"It makes a huge difference," Klassen said.

At the same time MCC is looking to donors to cover the drop in exchange
rate, the nonprofit is estimating that it will have a 5 percent drop in
donations in the United States because the recession is hitting U.S.
residents harder than Canadian residents, Klassen said.

To make up for these downturns, MCC is now dipping into its reserves from
investment income that is normally used for cash flow purposes.

"We're hoping that's not going to go into negative numbers," she said.

As a charity, MCC has to have diverse income streams, Klassen said. But now
all of these diversified income streams are being affected at the same time.

"We have no control over the exchange rate and investment income, that
leaves us asking for donors to make up the difference," Klassen said.

Lancaster County donors have been MCC's "most solid supporters for decades.
"We're not assuming they need to make up for others' losses. But we have
been and continue to be appreciative of them. These people can be counted on
no matter what," Klassen said.

Grant Rissler, regional financial resource development coordinator for
MCC-East Coast, said he, too, is grateful for the strong support MCC has in
Lancaster County.

"I'm personally heartened in these challenging times for the contributions
coming in. We've seen in recent weeks that people are stepping up their
giving. Giving (in the county) has been similar to previous years in
November. We're very grateful for that because of the increasing needs here
in the U.S. and in the world."

Rissler would like to remind local residents that if they are unable to give
financially, MCC always needs volunteer help at its seven thrift shops in
the county. They are located in Strasburg, New Holland, Mount Joy,
Morgantown, Gap, Ephrata and Columbia.

"We're grateful for the many people who donate their time through the thrift
shops," he said. "Sales have increased in this period for quality secondhand
or gently used clothing at a reasonable price."

Klassen said she learned two things when she lived in Africa at the start of
her work with MCC:

First, the best way to provide security from harm is to have good relations
with neighbors, and second, when you have very little financial security,
you need to share what you have so that when you have nothing, people will
help you.

Budgeting for next year will be harder than normal, she said. She has asked
her staff to prepare two budgets: one with a 1 percent cut -- that's the
optimistic one -- and one with a 5 percent cut, which is middle-of-the-road.

"We'll make a decision in January whether we'll have to live in the minus 1
percent or the minus 5 percent range," Klassen said.

Either way, MCC will have to cut new initiatives and just hold on to the
long-term projects.
"That's cutting off our future, but we can do that on a short-term basis,"
Klassen said. "We can sustain what we're doing for a time, but it's not a
wise way to build the future. What would hurt is if we have to go to our
partners and say we can't do what we promised to do with food prices up 25
percent to 30 percent around the world and fertilizer prices up. These are
pretty basic needs, no extras. If we can't give that it will be pretty
hard."

Anyone wishing to donate can mail a check to: Mennonite Central Committee,
21 S. 12th St., Akron, PA. Contributors also can go to a secure site online
at www.mcc.org to donate with a credit card.

Grocery bag donations also are accepted at Ephrata Material Resources
Center. Call 733-2847.

Groceries needed include: cereal, pasta, kidney beans, canned vegetables,
canned fruit, tomato sauce, canned meat such as tuna, peanut butter,
raisins, rice and vegetable oil.

E-mail: lvaningen@xxxxxxxxxxx

Exchange rates between the U.S. and Canada are a key component of MCC's
budget.



-- 
Center for Strength-based Strategies
Ray Gingerich, Associate
5631 Bentwood Lane
Greendale (Milwaukee), WI  53129
phone (414) 331-5957
email rjgingerich@xxxxxxxxx
fax (815) 371-2292
website: www.buildmotivation.com

"Change is possible when I stop trying to become that which I am not and
become that which I am." Frederick Perls
[amc] Flagging economy hits MCC - Exchange rates and donations are down

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