MODULE 2 - Section 3

Team Finances

15 Minutes to complete section and related assignments

In this section you will learn about:

Creating a budget
Deposit, Advanced and Final Payments
Transferring team funds
Funds reconciliation

The Budgeting Process

The team’s budget should cover all of their expenses while in-community, including meals, lodging, transportation, project funds, and even a direct financial contribution to the work. The STT Dept has created a budget template that lists the categories of expenses teams typically incur. You will use this template to build your budget. Budget creation comes after the dates and number of team members are agreed, around six months before the travel. If the dates or number of team members changes in the months leading up to the team’s departure, you will revise the budget accordingly.

The STT Dept will share a new copy of the budget template with you. You will fill out the template and inform the STT Dept when the budget is complete. The STT Dept reviews the completed budget before sharing the per person and team total costs with the goer-group via the Team Registration Document.

As you budget, you will be thinking through a variety of layers including the selection of lodging, meal costs, transportation, project materials and more. You will also be leveraging your expertise about your community resources and local relationships, making decisions that will help the team make the most out of its investment. Keep in mind that the purpose of a budget is to ensure all expenses are covered from arrival to departure during a team's visit. A team’s presence is intended to support the community, not cost you money. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the budget template, which is linked below.

Highlighted Resource

Budget Template

Here you can view the budget template. Instructions on how to use the template are built in.

Featured

Short Term Team Budgeting Calculator

ADDITIONAL GuidancE

Only share your budget with the STT Department.

Budgets are for internal use only. Details should not be shared with the goer-group. Too often, sharing budget details actually creates more difficulty than it does clarity, sometimes even complicating the remainder of the short-term team process. The Team Registration Document will tell a team what is/is not included in the cost. If you have a goer-group pressing you for specifics, please reach out to the STT Department for guidance. We do not make our budgets secret. However, we can offer some coaching insights or, if preferred, be a communication pipeline between you and the goer-group to help explain things in a way that brings understanding.

Think about value, not just cost.

Frugality is a good virtue to use when creating a budget. However, be sure to consider value in your decisions as well. For example, it might be cheaper to put the team in a hotel on the other side of town, but it doesn’t offer breakfast options nearby for the team, the accommodations are a bit lacking, and it will require an extra 45 minute drive time back and forth every day. The better value may be to spend the extra few dollars a night for lodging closer to where the team will be engaging and afford them the ability to wake and eat close by. When you think through the budget, be sure to consider both value and cost.

Don’t sell your community short.

When creating your budget, it can be easy to feel like you don’t want to burden the short-term team financially. They are giving their time, energy and resources to come visit and that seems like a lot already. While that sentiment is understood and appreciated, remember you and the community are contributing time, energy, resources, etc. as well. If there are valid expenses related to the involvement of a team such as gasoline for your personal vehicle or if the services of a translator would help so you don’t have to be the only one translating the entire time, by all means factor those into the budget. While we don’t want to pad the budget, we certainly don’t want to undercut the community or create an equal-but-opposite burden on you or the community in trying to accommodate the team. The goal is for a team to support long-term transformation, not detract from it. In many cases, a few extra dollars can help release a great deal of potential. f you are unsure if an expense qualifies, please reach out to the STT Department.

Deposit, Advanced Payment & Final Payment

Deposit:

The majority of short-term teams will be required to submit a non-refundable deposit of $100 per person for their team. The deposit is deducted from the final team payment. The STT Department calculates when the deposit will be due. It is usually due about four months before departure.

Advanced Payment:

The advanced payment is funds that the community needs sooner than the final payment in order to pay earlier expenses in the preparation process, such as to secure lodging more than 30 days in advance. If your community needs an advanced payment, please communicate with the STT Dept.

Final Payment:

The final payment consists of the total cost of the team minus the deposit and advanced payment. The final payment is due 40 days prior to the team's departure. This allows the home office time process funds, which occurs only on Mondays, in enough time for the community to receive team funds.

Use of Funds & Funds Transfer Process

Generally, the host-coordinator is responsible for the use and tracking of team funds.

Team funds are typically transferred to the community around 30 days prior to the team’s arrival in order for the coordinator to begin making preparations. In order to transfer funds, the host-community team must decide which bank account is best for receiving team funds so they have access to them.

The Short-Term Teams Department will request that the coordinator complete a Short-Term Team Advance Request form for the funds transfer.

Funds Tracking and Reconciliation:

Once team funds have been transferred from the home office to the host-community, they will need to be tracked and reconciled for IRS purposes.

Team funds need to be accounted for within 60 days from the date of initial transfer to the host-community account. The host-coordinator will use a Rydoo account to reconcile the funds and upload expense receipts. A tutorial on how to submit short-term team expenses is available in the resource section.

You will need to account for all team funds. To help you with the funds reconciliation process, be sure to collect and save receipts for all purchases made in excess of $25 using team funds. Spending less than $25 does not require a receipt, but still needs to be accounted for.

If you do not receive a receipt, you will need to create one in order to account for those funds. When possible, if you have given funds to an individual who provided a service, have them sign the created receipt. Created receipts should record the date of service provided, name of business/individual who provided the service, amount paid, and purpose of the expense.

A helpful way to keep track of expenses is to have one location to save receipts and one location to document the expenses and required information. Staying organized with expenses is critical. It ensures that you are spending on par with the budget and are able to account for those expenditures accurately and quickly after the team arrives.

Tips:

When possible, pay in advance for expenses so you can account for them before the team arrives.
Since team funds typically arrive 30 days in advance and accounting is due 60 days after receipt, by the time a team departs you will only have a few weeks to account for the funds, depending on their length of stay.
Use the Team Expense Tracking Sheet to help you stay organized. You can print it out or use it digitally.