Your church has a finite pool of resources to use toward accomplishing your mission. Typically, you won’t have an excess of funds to allocate for every project, ministry, or idea you are passionate about. Just like with a personal budget, you know that directing money toward one area means there is less money to put somewhere else. As a result, you are thoughtful and intentional when you put together your church budget.
Every church has a unique financial situation, and that affects how easy it is to move funds around. A mature, debt-free church, for example, probably has more flexibility in their budget than a church plant that just purchased their first facility.
Regardless of where your church is at financially, there are always healthy ways to “trim the fat” in your budget. When you evaluate your church finances each year, take time to see where resources are going. Identify if there are areas where you need to reduce or stop committing resources so you can use more of what God has given you on the things He has called you to be and do.
Here are some tips on how to decide where to move money away from.
Where are we wasting money?
Wasteful spending is the easiest and first place to look. No one wants to see their funds go toward unused resources or supplies. Some items are more obvious, like subscriptions to services or software you rarely (or never) use, or supplies that are not necessary.
There are, however, a lot of gray areas too. Some wasteful spending is harder to detect and requires more conversation.
Plan time for your ministry leaders and anyone who spends money on behalf of your church to talk about areas where money is being spent. Have everyone come prepared to talk about what regular purchases are necessary and what things they could live without. This isn’t a competition where individuals need to validate their spending or earn praise for coming up with the most cuts. Instead, this is a discussion for leaders who trust each other and who are aiming to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to them.
If there are specific areas of spending you are curious about, ask thoughtful questions like:
- How does this spending impact this ministry or team?
- What would we do without this spending?
- What other options could we try? Would these other options increase time costs?
- If we had to cut $___ from the budget, what would we cut?
Involving more people in this process will give everyone a more informed perspective, help you keep from stepping on people’s toes, and hopefully create a collaborative effort to reduce waste.
Where are we ineffective?
While wasteful spending often stands out, it is typically much harder to identify where your church might be ineffective. A budget requires that you honestly assess where your money is being inefficient. This means taking time to critically assess the value, impact, and purpose of your ministries and staff positions.
It is especially important to look at the value your paid staff are bringing to your team. Sometimes churches harbor noncontributing staff members for years. You need to have explicit expectations and measurements for people on the payroll. Poor workers can eat up church finances without bringing meaningful value to the team or the congregation.
In ministry, value is not always tangible, especially with new ministries, as they can take a while to get going. That is OK if you give everyone clear, personalized success metrics. Every staff person and every ministry should know exactly what they need to do to contribute value to your team and your church.
If a paid staff person is not contributing the value you need from them, or if a ministry is falling short of your agreed upon expectations, this could be an area where, in order to be a good steward, you need to let them go.
This does not necessarily mean the person, role, or ministry is to blame. It just means, currently, this is not the best use of your church’s resources. When making these types of hard decisions and cuts, always aim to prioritize the well-being of the affected individuals and ministries. Even if the cuts are necessary to keep a balanced budget, focus on how you can practice relational, spiritual, and financial generosity toward those who are impacted.
What ministries are not facilitating our vision?
Your budget should serve your church’s mission, so this is a perfect opportunity to scrutinize whether you are using resources in a way that moves you closer to your mission or further away. Cut peripheral expenses.
Even if something does not fall under “wasteful spending” or an “ineffective use of resources,” if it is not serving a larger purpose within your mission, it is a distraction from that mission. This is most apparent when there are mission-oriented goals that you do not have the resources to reach this year.
Need help with your church budget?
Creating a church budget is a lot of work. And even if you do not have much experience with finances, it is essential that church leaders lead the process. This is likely the most important document your church creates every year, and it has a huge impact on your ability to fulfill your mission.
We want churches to be financially healthy so they can continue to grow and serve the purpose God has called them to. If you’d like counsel on evaluating your church budget, email us at contactcenter@cdfcapital.org or call us at 888-540-7112. We would be glad to listen, answer questions, and help you turn your budget season into a time of reflection, refinement, and renewed focus on your mission.
