Reflections on nearly twenty years of generosity, stewardship, and building the community we dream of
By Rev. Dr. Joseph Santos-Lyons, DRUUMM Community Minister
When DRUUMM began in 2007, we had no budget. Not a small budget. Zero dollars.
We gathered in Los Gatos, California, as the UU Religious Professionals Network, with a vision of building a stronger community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color within Unitarian Universalism. We had the support of UUA staff in the Faith in Action Department, the generosity of religious professionals and lay leaders, and a great deal of volunteer energy. What we lacked in financial resources, we made up for in relationships, commitment, and a shared belief that our community needed and deserved a space of its own.
Nearly twenty years later, DRUUMM has grown into a national community ministry with hundreds of members, year-round programming, part-time staff, but still operates on a modest annual budget averaging approximately $140,000 over the past three years.
That growth didn’t happen overnight. It has been a long journey of cobbling together resources, navigating setbacks, building relationships, and learning how to steward what our community entrusts to us.
I want to share a little of that story, and offer some transparency about how we sustain this ministry today.
From Almost Nothing to Something Sustainable
In our earliest years, we relied on small contributions from ministers, religious educators, and lay leaders, alongside substantial pro bono support. By 2010, we had established a modest membership program that generated less than $10,000 annually. A UUA grant helped our leadership gather in person and organize programs at General Assembly and in several districts.
But our financial footing remained fragile. By the early 2009, UUA funding had ended, we had less than $10,000 in the bank, and our membership numbered around 80 people, many of whom were not contributing dues regularly. We continued because people believed in the importance of this ministry, even when there was very little money to support it.
A turning point came in 2019, when DRUUMM and the UUA recovenanted our relationship. We again received limited, pro bono administrative support, which made a meaningful difference. In 2020, the DRUUMM Steering Committee sought and received a small grant of $20,000 that allowed us to hire temporary, part-time staff to do deeper community organizing. Our annual budget grew to approximately $40,000, including grant funding.
We reinvested in membership, strengthened our organizational systems, and in 2021 launched our annual Public Worship, which became both a beloved spiritual gathering and an important fundraising opportunity. Congregations and partner organizations began offering sponsorships, helping us build a broader base of financial support.
Today, our funding comes from three roughly equal sources: a modest UUA grant, membership dues & donations, and contributions associated with our annual Public Worship which reached over 50 sponsors this year.
We are also deeply grateful for individual donations, occasional Share the Plate offerings, and gifts celebrating BIPOC ordinations and ministerial installations. These contributions are especially meaningful because they connect important moments in our wider faith community with the ongoing work of sustaining BIPOC leadership and belonging.
Our financial growth has been significant, but we remain a small organization. Every dollar matters.
Where Our Money Goes
Our largest ongoing expense is people. We have two part-time staff members whose work supports our membership, communications, programs, administration, and organizational continuity. We strive to compensate them as fairly as our resources allow, using UUA compensation guidance, even as our current budget places us at the margins of those recommendations.
Other major expenses include the digital platforms that make our national community possible, programming throughout the year, and gatherings such as General Assembly and our national conferences.
Over the past few years, we have also expanded our offerings in response to the needs of our community. This includes antiracism education, restorative justice training, spiritual development, and opportunities for deeper connection.
Our goal is to offer workshops, seminars, and community programs free or at substantially reduced cost for DRUUMM members, with modest fees for BIPOC friends who are not yet members. We fundraise to subsidize these programs and are fortunate to occasionally receive generous in-kind support from trainers, facilitators, and community partners.
We believe that access to meaningful spiritual community, leadership development, and healing should not depend on someone’s ability to pay.
Of course, this is not always easy to accomplish. Every new program involves choices about staffing, affordability, fundraising, and organizational capacity. We are constantly balancing what our community needs with what we can responsibly sustain.
Making Beloved Gathering Affordable
Our recent Beloved Gathering in September is a wonderful example of these values in practice.
We wanted to create a national retreat where BIPOC Unitarian Universalists could rest, reconnect, worship, learn, and experience the rare joy of being together in community. We also knew that the costs of travel, lodging, and registration could prevent many people from attending.
Through disciplined fundraising, careful planning, and frugal spending, we were able to reduce the registration cost by approximately 75%.
We chose Unity Village in Missouri in part because it offered an accessible and comparatively affordable setting for a beautiful retreat.
For many participants, the average costs were:
- $100 for registration and programming
- $150 for shared lodging in a spacious double-queen room
- $300 for travel
- $550 total for a long weekend of community, spiritual renewal, and excellent programming
These were illustrative average expenses, and individual costs varied. Even at this reduced rate, we recognized that attending would remain out of reach for some. Through additional financial assistance, we were able to support more than 40% of our participants.
That is something worth celebrating.
We may not always be able to offer a national in-person gathering at such a low cost. But we will always strive to make our gatherings as financially accessible as possible. Affordability is not an afterthought for us. It is part of our ministry.
Stewardship Is a Spiritual Practice
One of the less visible parts of DRUUMM’s work is the care that goes into managing our finances.
Over the past five years, we have developed a strong financial infrastructure. Our Finance Team, led by our Treasurer, provides regular oversight of our income and expenses. We have professional bookkeeping support, established financial policies, and systems for responsible accounting, reimbursement, and financial accountability.
Our Steering Committee regularly reviews our financial position and adopts our annual budget, ensuring that our spending reflects our priorities and responsibilities.
These systems may not be the most exciting part of community ministry, but they are essential. They help us honor the trust of our members, donors, congregational partners, and the wider Unitarian Universalist community.
For me, good financial stewardship is an expression of our covenant. It means being transparent, making thoughtful decisions, caring for the people who do the work, and ensuring that today’s generosity can continue to support tomorrow’s ministry.
We also know that financial sustainability cannot rest indefinitely on unpaid labor. We are deeply volunteer-led, and that is a source of strength. At the same time, we want to continue building the resources to support our leaders and staff without relying on exhaustion or personal sacrifice.
This is part of the longer work of building an institution that can endure.
The Extraordinary Gift of Shared Leadership
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about DRUUMM is how much we accomplish with relatively few financial resources.
Our Steering Committee, chaplains, program leaders, facilitators, worship participants, and countless volunteers contribute extraordinary amounts of time, wisdom, creativity, and care. Many of our most meaningful gatherings happen because someone offers to lead a conversation, mentor an emerging leader, organize an event, share a spiritual practice, or simply help another member feel welcome.
There is no financial statement that can adequately capture the value of these contributions.
This shared leadership is one of DRUUMM’s greatest blessings. It reflects our belief that ministry belongs to the community, not only to paid professionals or elected leaders.
And it means that every contribution matters. A membership renewal, a $25 donation, a congregational sponsorship (contact us if you’re interested!), an hour of volunteer time, or an offer to facilitate a workshop can all make a real difference.
We are not trying to build a large institution for its own sake. We are trying to build the relationships, resources, and structures that allow our people to flourish.
Building the World We Dream Of
As we look toward DRUUMM’s twentieth anniversary in 2027, I am struck by how far we have come.
From a gathering with no budget in Los Gatos to a national community with hundreds of members, an annual Public Worship, educational programs, pastoral connections, and gatherings like Beloved Gathering, our story is one of persistence, generosity, and collective imagination.
We have grown through difficult periods, changing relationships, limited resources, and the many demands placed on BIPOC leaders in our faith. We have also experienced extraordinary generosity from members, congregations, UUA partners, and friends who believe in our mission.
Our aspirations continue to exceed our financial resources. In many ways, I hope that will always be true. There is so much more we can do to nurture BIPOC leadership, strengthen spiritual community, support our religious professionals, and help build a more just and liberating Unitarian Universalism.
But we also want to grow thoughtfully, with care for our people and attention to what is sustainable.
To everyone who has contributed to DRUUMM over these nearly twenty years, whether through financial gifts, volunteer service, leadership, or simply showing up for one another: thank you.
You have helped build something beautiful, resilient, and deeply needed.
If you have questions about DRUUMM’s finances, ideas about how we might strengthen our sustainability, or feedback about our priorities, please reach out to us at info@druumm.org. We welcome those conversations.
And if you are able to make a contribution this year, please know that your generosity goes a long way. We are grateful for every gift, large or small, and for the many ways you help sustain this community.
Together, we are not simply funding programs or maintaining an organization.
We are investing in one another, in the generations who will follow us, and in the world we dream of building together.
With gratitude and love,
Rev. Dr. Joseph Santos-Lyons
DRUUMM Community Minister
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