Indiana State Council Officers

Robert J. "Bob" Zielinski

State Secretary

Home Council : 1878 - MISHAWAKA MISHAWAKA, IN

Home Assembly : 242 - FATHER J.A. NIEUWLAND SOUTH BEND, IN 46634

My brother knights,

To say the past four years have been a challenge for our jurisdiction would be a gross understatement. A worldwide pandemic, inflation, global conflicts, along with numerous tech issues and platform challenges have slowed our transition progress. But we are making progress. I’ve been told, “slow progress is better than no progress”. We need to stop looking at the past…we’re not headed in that direction! Our sights need to be focused on the path going forward. Challenges with the Quick Books platform have hindered much of that progress. These issues have been addressed and we are now moving ahead. The state council is aware of your concerns and frustration and we are working diligently to remedy the situation. We appreciate your patience and support.

That being said please allow me to reiterate what is required of the local councils to assist us in processing financials in a more expedient manner on the state level. PLEASE READ!

When it comes to correspondence on all levels …please remember to include your first and last names in your email…we have a lot of brothers named Jim! Please include your Council number along with a phone number for follow-up purposes. Remember Council number and contact info!

Checks sent to the state council, be it to the Treasurer or Secretary, which do not include the correct forms severely impede our ability to process funds efficiently! The time spent hunting down missing information can add up quickly slowing the process significantly.

Moving onto Charity form and check submissions. First off…councils want their money in a timely manner. We want to get you your money in a timely manner. But in order to do that a few things need to happen….

Paperwork. Brothers, please make certain that the information you’ve included on your forms AND checks is legible! All documents need to be readable!

Checks need to be made out to the INDIANA STATE COUNCIL. Not the state treasurer. Not Gil. Not K of C. Not the Knights of Columbus. Not even to the fund for which the monies were raised.

Please make certain that the amount of the check provided on the written amount line matches the numerical amount written in the number amount line. If this info doesn’t match the bank will reject the check. This means more work for ALL parties involved.

Please remember all state issued checks, whether from the charity account or general account, require 3 signatures. That being said let’s look at how forms and checks get processed and how that particular timeline pans out.

Your council collects funds during your recent fundraiser. Your F.S. then sends off the relevant form(s), designating how the funds need to be distributed to the eligible charities, along with a check to the State Treasurer. The council does NOT issue a check directly to the charity (to do so means forfeiting receiving credit for that activity).

Now the process begins…

Once your activity form and checks are dropped in the mail, figure on at the very least 3 days for them to be received by the State Treasurer. And remember, forms and checks are being sent in from councils around the state!

Once they are received the forms and checks are scanned and entered into the appropriate accounting software, i.e. Quickbooks. Once all of the processing is finished, F.S. letters, checks and deposit summaries need to be printed, signed, and placed in envelopes.

BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE!!!

Finally, deposits and checks need to be packaged and dropped in the mail and sent to the State Advocate for his signature (another 3 to 5 days). The advocate then makes the necessary deposits, signs checks and mails them to the councils.

Barring any unseen complications, that’s the process in a nutshell.

So please take this into account when making promises to your charities about when a check might be delivered.

For those of you already following these guidelines we thank you! And as always for those of you with questions don’t hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to point you in the right direction. Gentlemen, I thank you for your patience.

Vivat Jesus,

Bob Zielinski
State Secretary
Indiana State Council
Knights of Columbus

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