Apportionment is the process by which Monthly Meetings within Baltimore Yearly Meeting sustain the operation of their Yearly Meeting. The share of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s annual budget that is contributed by each of its member Monthly Meetings is commonly called “the apportionment”.

The total apportionment collected from Monthly Meetings is used to cover expenses associated with the daily operation of the organization, but amounts are not allocated to specific line items in the BYM budget. Typical categories of operating expenses include program costs, office equipment and supplies, utilities, and staff salaries. Apportionment monies are not directed to endowment or held in reserve; that is, the full amount is applied to operating expenses each year.

BYM’s Stewardship and Finance Committee (S&F) recommends an apportionment amount for each Monthly Meeting using a formula that takes into account such factors as the Monthly Meeting’s number of contributing households and its general financial condition. The formula was published by the Committee in 1998 as a means of applying an equitable basis for apportioning the operating needs of our Yearly Meeting among its member Monthly Meetings. The formula is applied to data collected from each Monthly Meeting once a year by the BYM office via a letter to the appropriate clerk.

Each spring, BYM’s Stewardship and Finance Committee holds an open meeting on the topic of apportionment to which members of Monthly Meetings' respective Finance Committees are invited. This is a time for the representatives of Monthly Meetings to raise questions and concerns. At this meeting, the preliminary apportionment figures may be modified if there are special circumstances that the Committee is asked to take into consideration. The amounts agreed upon are brought to Annual Session in August, where they are adopted as part of the BYM budget for the following year. The final figures are published in the BYM Yearbook (page 146 in 2008).

Smaller Meetings often pay their apportionment in one lump sum. Many larger Monthly Meetings opt to make their payments quarterly (January, April, July, October), which helps both these Monthly Meetings and the Yearly Meeting maintain a predictable cash flow. Beginning in 2009, the BYM office plans to send a mid-year statement/reminder to each Monthly Meeting.

Historically, nearly all of the BYM operating budget was comprised of apportionment contributions from member Meetings. As costs have risen, apportionment levels have not kept pace with the operating costs of the YM. Many individuals and households who affirm the value of BYM programs and projects now also choose to contribute to their Yearly Meeting.