The GOAL of Annual Program Fund (APF) formula is to request all congregations contribute 6.75% of operating expenditures in support of both the UUA and their Region

To provide congregations with resources to understand WHAT will be expected in the next fiscal year, we use the figures that were reported during the certification cycle in the prior calendar year. This means that the FY2025 APF ASK was calculated using figures reported during the certification cycle that closed February 1, 2023.

The request is subject to the following modifications

• Adjustments to reported Operating Expenditures may be made if your congregation has a Geo Index Listing of 4 or higher, OR, is in the top 20th percentile of spending per member. Only one of these adjustments may be applied (the adjustment that reduces the request by the greatest amount is automatically selected).

  • Geo-Index adjustments are based on the Geo Index Listing as determined by the UUA Office of Church Staff Finance (PDF).

    Geo Index Listing	Reduction in Operating Expenditures
    1-3	No Reduction
    4	6%
    5	12%
    6	18%
    7	24%
    8	30%

  • High Expense Ratio Adjustments:
    • Congregations who are in the top 20th percentile of spending per member. Each year, we determine what the spending per member was for congregations at the 80th percentile (this figure does vary from year to year). For our current year (Fiscal Year 2025), congregations who spent at least $2,156 per member on operating expenditures are considered High Expense Ratio congregations. To determine operating expenditures, we take the figure of $2,156 and multiply it by the number of reported members (as reported in the prior year). The resulting figure is then used as the operating expenditures.
  • A 10% collar is placed on all requests, limiting changes to the amount asked of a congregation over the prior fiscal year of no more than 10%, and conversely, no less than 10%.

Certified Operating Expenditures

If you do not know your certified operating expenditures we have a guide to help you. You can also contact the APF Team for help: apf@uua.org.

Certification Information

Per UUA Bylaws all member congregations MUST participate in the annual certification. However, if we do not have a current figure from your congregation, we will use the most recent data available to us.