Let’s make reporting easier!

Most  people who volunteer or do charity work don’t want to beat their own drum. Their reward is the smile on the face of those they serve. However, it is important to keep track of what we do for other reasons.

Let’s say that someone challenges an organization’s efforts. “What do you do? How much have your contributed to others from what you have raised?” they might ask. These are valid questions and we do a good job of record keeping and reporting. Many things, however, get overlooked or missed.

For example, many knights drop off a bag of canned goods each week in the Narthex and think nothing of it. However, 52 bags, with a value of just $5 each, quickly adds up to nearly $300. Now, combine that effort with the many others who do the same thing.  It is these and other acts of charity that go unrecorded and reported.

We bring this up at council meeting and there has not been an easy way for our Knights to provide the information.  Until now, that is.

The council has started on-line reporting for some of our programs and projects. We are starting off slow with just one new report. It is the Knights’ Food For Families Report. You can access it from our council website under Programs and then Family.  This one form covers food drives, soup kitchen work, pig roast fundraisers for the poor, and more.

On-line reports are compiled and are then available to the Grand Knight and Financial Secretary.  The information is then used to provide updates to the members and council leadership on what we are doing.

What’s next?  We will add other reports on LAMB, our annual raffle, and programs as they are identified.  We will also use the same method to collect information for LAMB, Free Throw, and other council projects where we need to know who can help and when they can serve.  On-line reporting is our way of putting the “fun” back into fundraising.  No one likes to write reports, including this reporter.