Quarterly Report months

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knealewj
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Quarterly Report months

#1

Post by knealewj »

Hi everyone

I was wondering what others thought of this? Currently the quarterly report months are March, June, September, December. However, these are the most inaccurate months to report on for our stake in Australia, as well as being some of the busiest times of year.

For example, many members go holidaying & travelling for school holidays. Others return to New Zealand and other locations for up to a month or more during holiday periods. December especially is a transient time of year.

In the USA and other locations, tithing settlement is also held in December, making the collection of quarterly reports even harder. In other locations (like Australia), this occurs in June.

My preference would be to make the quarterly reporting months February, May, August, November. This would be the most accurate reflection of who regularly attends meetings in each ward, as well as reducing the burden at other key times, such as tithing settlement, histories, Christmas & holidays, etc.

Is this something others agree with, and would it be appropriate to suggest to headquarters?

Warwick, Stake Clerk (Australia)
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johnshaw
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#2

Post by johnshaw »

It is an interesting observation and one I've made here in the states as well. For us, there effect is worsened by the fact that when our wards empty for vacations in December or the Summer, much of that is reflected as increases in Utah Wards or other areas with Higher populations of Mormons, while those of us in the 'mission field' are left with lower numbers.

We routinely have wards that are significantly impacted in December, particularly, but also in the Summer.

To me, the better option is to keep a running 12 month average to help offset the smaller numbers vacationing and snow days, etc... If you have a dramatically different number up or down you could throw it out, but I'd rather see it done that way...

If the quarterly reporting numbers are used for budgeting purposes, and the budget is meant to reflect the funding of the participating, functioning members, then it should accurately reflect the active/attending families. Counting sacrament is one way to do that, but a more lengthy distribution of the average, rather than using the quarterly method would produce a more accurate count in many cases where wards/branches suffer from holiday/vacation/school terms/semesters... etc...
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
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aebrown
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#3

Post by aebrown »

knealewj wrote:My preference would be to make the quarterly reporting months February, May, August, November. This would be the most accurate reflection of who regularly attends meetings in each ward, as well as reducing the burden at other key times, such as tithing settlement, histories, Christmas & holidays, etc.

Is this something others agree with, and would it be appropriate to suggest to headquarters?
I agree that those months would tend to be a bit more accurate, since December is an unusual month. Also, for YSA wards associated with colleges, attendance goes down dramatically in December. But if November is a reporting month, then the reports need to be compiled in December, which creates its own challenges. Nothing's perfect.

I really doubt that this longstanding procedure would be changed, but it never hurts to submit a suggestion.
russellhltn
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#4

Post by russellhltn »

aebrown wrote:I really doubt that this longstanding procedure would be changed, but it never hurts to submit a suggestion.
The question is how to submit it. The people who make that decision never visit the fourm. I'd suggest your stake president bring up the issue with the area athority.
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JamesAnderson
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#5

Post by JamesAnderson »

I see it here in Provo, where BYU seriously impacts everything, not just with the units associated with it, but many other wards nearby.

Typically, this hits December because Christmas break is in December, with a break at the end of Winter term in April, and at the end of Spring/Summer term in August although a bit less as the Spring/Summer term is not as heavy a term as Fall and Winter are.

Some stakes see a large number of members leave and go elsewhere. I've been in Christmas Eve Sacrament meetings where all three wards combine, and there's only enough to fill the chapel as if only one ward were meeting.

So a different scheme is needed to handle those statistics that are used to calculate LUBAs, to allow for things like this and to more correctly reflect average weekly attendance on most other weeks of the year.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#6

Post by sbradshaw »

Not just attendance, but also home teaching numbers. I'm in one of those YSA wards at BYU, and every time the semester changes, half of the ward moves out and different people move in. We mark people in MLS as "visited" in the first half of December, then everyone moves in and out in the last couple weeks of the month. By the time January rolls around, especially if we wait until the 15th, half of the people visited in December are gone and none of the people who moved in are marked as visited. The home teaching numbers are always skewed between semesters. Visiting teaching, too.
davesudweeks
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#7

Post by davesudweeks »

I'm sure this fact is not lost on the Brethren. They are obviously choosing to worry about other important matters. When I used to be a Clerk, I always tried to understand some of the oddities behind the numbers, in case it ever came up. It never did, except at a ward level.

Just my 2-cent's worth. Don't worry...
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johnshaw
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#8

Post by johnshaw »

I wasn't called to the position I'm called to 'Don't Worry' - I advocate for positions I believe can and ought to be changed as long as the Doctrine of the Church is not impacted. As far as I'm concerned, I see no scriptural, or generally accepted authoritative pronouncement regarding funding. It is the way hat was presented when the budgeting changed from member-funded to Church-tithing-funded, and has been tweaked a bit along the way. There is no real problem pointing out where there can be improvements. In fact, it is often the case that major improvemnets to Church programs start this way... Let's see... Relief Society, Primary, YW/YM, MIA, YSA, SA, Welfare - ALL available to us today because someone Worried...
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
davesudweeks
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#9

Post by davesudweeks »

JohnShaw wrote:I wasn't called to the position I'm called to 'Don't Worry' - I advocate for positions I believe can and ought to be changed as long as the Doctrine of the Church is not impacted. As far as I'm concerned, I see no scriptural, or generally accepted authoritative pronouncement regarding funding. It is the way hat was presented when the budgeting changed from member-funded to Church-tithing-funded, and has been tweaked a bit along the way. There is no real problem pointing out where there can be improvements. In fact, it is often the case that major improvemnets to Church programs start this way... Let's see... Relief Society, Primary, YW/YM, MIA, YSA, SA, Welfare - ALL available to us today because someone Worried...
JohnShaw, I was responding to the comment regarding inaccurate Home Teaching reported in Student wards as students move in/out. That has no bearing on unit funding.
genman
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Re: Quarterly Report months

#10

Post by genman »

knealewj wrote:My preference would be to make the quarterly reporting months February, May, August, November.
I love the idea. It would also resolve a bug in the December Quarterly Report where the count of Primary children is based on their ages in January instead of in December.
russellhltn wrote:I'd suggest your stake president bring up the issue with the area athority.
I second that suggestion. If your calling is a ward calling, I would make the case to your Bishop. If you can convince him, ask him to forward the request to the Stake President. If he feels strongly enough about it, he will bring it up to the Area Authority. With a Bishop and Stake President strongly behind the idea, the Area Authority may also raise it up further. That is probably the only way that is going to happen.
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