Feast of Sharaf/Honour - December 30, 2024
“ALL MUST SURGE, BUT THE YOUTH MUST SOAR"
The Universal House of Justice, Ridván 2024
Bahá’í National Fund Update
As of December 25th, $26.1M has been contributed towards the
Bahá’í National Fund goal of $50M (For fiscal year 2024-25).
Unrestricted (not earmarked) contributions towards the National Fund goal allow for flexibility in supporting the many activities of the Faith. Universal Participation will be the key to achieving this victory.
*Please note: For online contributions made through OCS to be included in the 2024 calendar year, they must be entered by December 31, 2024, at 11:59 pm Central time. If mailing a check through the U.S. Postal Service, the envelope must be postmarked by December 31st.
Town Hall Webinars
On December 5th, the Office of the Treasurer hosted a Town Hall webinar during which the Treasurer and the Assistant Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly addressed the Friends on the progress of the Nine-Year Plan. They shared examples of the response to the September 30th Letter in the City of the Covenant. Several communities gathered together to participate as a community. We estimate that over 1,400 Friends from all around the country participated in the December 5th webinar and a replay that was hosted on December 15th.
We continue to receive great feedback regarding the webinars, including:
“The town hall meetings are absolutely fabulous. They are so informative and interesting and so educational and I look forward to them.”
“It is so important to be part of a whole… I was not feeling well today but definitely wanted to go to the meeting today. I found it so convenient and available to be able to attend the town hall meeting and get these updates… it is just wonderful”
If you missed the December 5 Town Hall Webinar, for a limited time, please find a copy of the recording at: https://www.bahai.us/community/resources/fund.
We hope you can join us for the next quarterly Town Hall meeting. Please look for the invitation here and also via email.
YOUTH CORNER
Youth and Junior Youth were very excited for the opportunity to gather with the Treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly during their last Friday Youth Night. (pictured above) They gained great insight from what he shared with them, and they were able to ask questions about living a coherent life, how the National Treasury works, and how to approach the upcoming youth conferences. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and the young people were so grateful to have had this opportunity to connect with the National Treasurer. They shared that they felt closer to the National Spiritual Assembly and to the Institution of the Fund.
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We are looking for submissions from YOUth! Please send us your reflections and stories about the Institution of the Fund. Stories, pictures, and or videos can be sent to bahaitreasurersoffice@usbnc.org.
Planned Giving
Leaving a Legacy to the Faith
Did you know you can leave a material legacy to the Faith beyond your lifetime? Here are two ways:
Bequest: Designate a gift of love to the National Spiritual Assembly through a will or trust.
Beneficiary Designation: Name the National Spiritual Assembly as a sole, partial, or contingent beneficiary of financial accounts such as savings accounts, CDs, IRAs, or 401(k)s.
For more information or to arrange a presentation through your Local Spiritual Assembly, visit bahaitreasurer.us/planned-giving, email plannedgiving@usbnc.org, or call 847-733-3569.Make it stand out
For Local Spiritual Assemblies
Annual Liability Insurance
The Office of the Treasurer would like to share with you the news of the renewal of the annual insurance policy. Every year, the National Spiritual Assembly purchases liability insurance coverage for Assembly sponsored events in communities that do not have Bahá’í Centers. We kindly ask each Local Spiritual Assembly to help defray this cost by contributing a minimum of $225 for this coverage for the policy year. Our insurance carrier has estimated this amount to be the cost of coverage for each of the nearly 1,000 Local Spiritual Assemblies under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly.
For additional details regarding insurance, we refer you to the insurance section found on our website by visiting: https://bahaitreasurer.us/insurance
New Document Repository Feature for the Online Audit System
Assemblies can now save documents on the Online Audit System (OAS) throughout the year. Learn more about the benefits of this new feature and how to use it by viewing the video below.
Or please visit https://bahaitreasurer.us/videos/v/online-audit-system-tutorial-for-the-new-document-repository