We at the Northern California Chapter want every council to achieve the Star Council Award every year. We think that while the Star award is not the only mark of success, it is a key indicator that your council is doing what it needs to do to remain vibrant and relevant. There are two keys to achieving Star. The first is to understand the requirements to achieve star. The second, which is the most important, know what forms are required to report your progress.
The resources below will help you achieve Star Council.
Download the Star Requirements Checklist Page – Form. This is a one page checklist that covers everything for achieving the Start Council Award. Print it out to track your progress. That page with the details contained on this web site will guarantee that you council will make star.
Good Standing: The council must be in good standing with Supreme which means that your account is paid in full.
Safe Environment Compliant: The 4 officers that must complete their safety training must have completed that training before the end of the year. See the section on the Service Program Personnel Report.
Forms
The Knights of Columbus are doing their part for the planet by eliminating paper and postal costs. All of the forms are available online and the preferred method of completing all forms is via the on line versions. While the PDF versions of the forms are available on the Supreme Web Site, using them could delay processing by as much as 60 days. Do your council and the planet a favor by only using the electronic forms.
- Your Financial Secretary needs to complete the Form 185 to officially notify Supreme of the local council’s newly elected officers. Elected officers include; the Grand Knight, Deputy Grand Knight, Chancellor, Recorder, Treasurer, Advocate, Warden, Inside Guard, Outside Guard and the 3 Trustees. This form is due before the Installation of Officers Ceremony (usually in July).
- The Financial Secretary also needs to complete the Service Program Personnel Report – Form 365 to unlock the Safe Environment Training for those officers that must complete the training. Those officers are: The Grand Knight, the Program Director (this role is often assigned to the Deputy Grand Knight), the Community Director and the Family Director. This form can be submitted more than once per year if the need arises, but should be completed for the first time by the end of the first month of the Columbian year. Safe Environment training is very important both for the protection of your council and for the Knights of Columbus as a ministry of the Catholic Church.
- New: The Annual Audit (Form 1295) of your Council must be completed by August 31. This used to be required twice each year but now is only required once. It is also a good idea to share this information with your council. The goal is to make sure that the Treasurer’s books and the Financial Secretary’s books are in agreement. It should take only an hour to complete this form. The audit must be witnessed by the 3 trustees, the Financial Secretary, the Treasurer and the Grand Knight.
- The Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity (Form 1728) can be completed by either the Grand Knight or the Financial Secretary. While this form seems complicated, it is actually a consolidation of multiple older forms, so it is an improvement. The goal is to get an overview of the council’s activity of the prior calendar year. If the council keeps an annual calendar of events and all of the 10784s of the prior year then this form will take less than an hour to complete. When the results of all of the councils in the US are rolled up, it produces an amazing story of the impact of the Knight of Columbus on the citizens of the USA. This form is due by January 31st each Columbian year.
McGivney Award
It is a goal to add to each council’s membership by at least 6% (down from 7%) each year. Supreme has learned over the years that 6% is a healthy average in order to maintain your council. This is not in addition to the members that transfer out or leave the Knights as Supreme has factored that into the equation. You can calculate your goal by multiplying your membership roster as of July 1 each Columbian year by 6% (minimum of 5/Maximum of 15). If you reach your goal by the end of the Columbian year, you earn the McGivney Award. This is one of the requirements of the Star Council Award.
Do not wait too long before working on recruiting. Early is Easy. The sooner you start the sooner you will achieve your goal. It is easier to make you goal early and relax than to scramble in Q4. The Chapter recommends that you divide your goal by 8 to establish a monthly goal and shoot for that goal in every month until you achieve your annual goal.
To get credit for new members they must apply online at KofC.org/Join Make sure that they include your council’s number when they apply and that your Financial Secretary accepts them into your council after their Exemplification. This is key, they must be exemplified before June 30th in order to be counted.
There is a program called Knights Sundays. Talk to your District Deputy to learn more about Knights Sundays.
Founders Award (all new rules)
No more Fraternal Benefit Events. For this requirement this year 10% of your associate members must meet with a field agent sometime within the year. The Knights were started to care for Catholic widows and orphans. Stay true to the vision of our founder by ensuring that 10% of your associate members meet with a field agent each year.
What is an associate member? An associate member is regular member that is not a gold member or an insurance only member.
What must happen in the meeting? The meeting is a personalize check-in to evaluate your current financial protection, identify gaps or changes in your needs and ensure your insurance and long-term financial strategies still align with your goals, family and future plans.
To report a meeting either the Grand Knight or the Financial Secretary must complete Form 11077. To complete the form you must include name of the associate member and the date of the meeting. Now the good news. It used to require the field agent to approve your 11077 submissions. Now you get the credit unless the field agent objects. I am sure that this will make many Grand Knights happy.
Your council must earn the Founders Award to earn the Start Council Award.
Columbian Award
This is the easiest of the three awards that are required for the Star Council Award. Each council must complete only 3 requirements. James 2:17 tells us that “Faith without works is dead.” The true measure of the faith that ensures salvation is that it motivates us to do the works that we were chosen to do. Ephesians 2:10 “which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Information on Faith in Action Programs can be found on the Supreme Web site and summarized on Form 11172.
- Councils MUST participate in one of the 4 flagship programs; ASAP, Food for Families, Coats for Kids or RSVP. If you participated in more than one of these programs, save the subsequent ones for requirement number 2.
- Councils must participate in one program in each of the 4 categories; Faith Family Community and Life. By now is should not be a surprise that each Faith in Action event must be followed by a report form. Report your Faith in Action Program Events using Form 10784.
- Either participate in COR or 3 unique Programs
- COR meeting must be monthly and must have begun by April 1st.
- Build Fraternity, Bring men Closer to Christ, Serve Parish Community. See Videos
The last form required for the Columbian award is that you summarize your 10784s on to one SP7 . The SP7 must be completed by June 30th of the Columbian year, but the Chapter recommends that as a bit of insurance you submit your SP7 in mid May. By submitting it early, it gives your DD and the rest of your supporting team time to review the documents for completeness while you still have time for correction. If Supreme finds an issue after June 30th, there will not be a chance to correct any anomalies.