[GNC] Further to restricted/unrestricted funds

Chris Green cl at isbd.net
Sun Aug 30 03:55:04 EDT 2020


On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 09:51:45PM +0100, Fred Bone wrote:
> On 29 August 2020 at 11:40, Chris Green said:
> 
> > I have been doing some reading around this restricted/unrestricted
> > funds issue.
> >
> > I think in reality we have *no* restricted funds in our PCC.  What I
> > *thought* were restricted funds are actually 'designated' funds.  I.e. we
> > (the PCC) have made a collection for example 'for repairs to the church
> > roof', this is (as I understand it anyway) designated and while it will
> > probably be used to mend the roof the PCC is quite at liberty to change
> > its mind and do something else with the money.
> >
> > A restricted fund is something where the *donor* has specified that
> > the money is to be used for a specific purpose and is often long term and
> > may actually (though not necessarily) be an endowment or some such.
> >
> > I don't think I need to manage 'restricted' funds as we don't have any in
> > our tiny little church.
> 
> You may be right, but if a collection has been made *for a specific
> purpose* (such as "repairs to the church roof") then the contributors are
> entitled to expect the proceeds to be spent on that specific purpose, and
> so you should be running a "restricted" fund. The fact that there are
> dozens of people rather than a single donor is beside the point.

Well, it is the point in a legal/tax/charity sense.  We (the PCC)
decided to make the collection so it's at our discretion what we use
it for,  As it's a 'designated' fund then it has to be used for the
designated purpose but it doesn't have all the legal and accounting
rules that a restricted one would.  Of course 99 times out of a 100
the fund will be used for its designated use but, with a formal
decision at a PCC meeting, its use can be changed.

-- 
Chris Green


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