By Finance and Archives Committee

One of the items that held up our release of the March newsletter was the 2023 Ingathering totals. We are thrilled to announce that UTO will give away $1,003,283.78 in 2024. A big thank-you to the 66 dioceses that increased giving to UTO in 2023. You can read the full Ingathering report (including a list of all the dioceses that increased giving) here. 

A couple of things to note (and just a reminder, the Ingathering is made up of a variety of funds):

1. 62.4% of the total comes directly from thank offerings.
2. 11.35% comes from trust funds which were designated to give directly to the Ingathering each year.
3. 8.05% came from returned grant money, that we simply regrant as soon as we are able after it is returned.
4. 18.2% came from interest we earn on the UTO Ingathering account—which is why it is super important to send money to St. Louis as soon as your collection is over.

This total is a decrease in the amount we were able to award from last year; however, it is important to note that overall giving is up 18% over last year. The reason for the difference is that in 2022, the UTO Board utilized funds from the principal of the Ingathering Trust Fund (which we also did in 2021) to help make up for losses from the pandemic. The Board decided not to do this in 2023 as it was time to begin to live into our new reality after the pandemic. We are also very aware that this increase in giving is in no small part thanks to the generosity shown during our Jerusalem Challenge Grant, which raised over $90,000. You can read more about that here. This means we are especially grateful to everyone who gave to this special effort last year.

If you are a UTO leader in a diocese and would like the Ingathering report for your diocese (it only lists congregations; individual donor information is not shared), please email Heather to receive a copy.

Again, thank you all so much for participating in UTO. We couldn’t do this important work without you.