Rocky,
“I know of several shuls (outside of SI) which host a weekly kiddush using shul funds. If they have a sponsor, fine, but if not, they pay for it with communal funds. Although the officers of the shul are doing this to promote social interaction among members, I find it to be a wasteful use of communal funds.”
Why stop there? Do they have a Thursday night cholent? Chas veshalom is there coffee, drinks or snacks at the shiurim? Should we count how many siddurs and chumashim they have on the shelf and run a comparison to the typical crowd size? Do the sifrei Torah really need silver crowns? Maybe they should just have one sefer Torah and roll it on Rosh Chodesh, etc. Do they put tablecloths on the tables on Shabbos? Are the bookshelves higher quality than the cheapest you can find at Ikea? A silver menorah for Chanukah?
1. Reb Eliezer was quite clear on what the funds would be used for, so I don’t think you have to worry that your donation will go towards a piece of kugel a kid accidentally drops on the floor
2. A small weekly kiddush is not the elephant in a shul’s budget, especially if the kiddushes are frequently sponsored
3. A kiddush may draw more people to daven at the shul, and these people get aliyos and make pledges and pay membership dues