5 Common Ways Budgets Get Off Track

By: John Gibson

Staffing and Hiring
Churches with a strong vision for the future have both capital and strategy behind future and existing hires. Take a look at your member to staffing ratio. There are a lot of recommended percentages out there, but keep in mind that they are all skewed in one way or another depending on who determined them and why. Growing churches and mega churches that budget for growth are not in the same position. Has your church been driving staff growth without congregational growth? Never hire just for friendship, family, pressure, or just “because.” At each staffing decision, ask yourself "Is this person currently indispensable, or is the ministry need critical at this time?"

Actual Budgets
Uploading numbers to Quickbooks or an accounting software is not the same as building a budget. That is just addition and subtraction. Building a budget is a process that is done as a church, with a fiscal course set by leadership and then by ministry, and is determined by specified needs and forecasted expenses. There should be a simple process for each staff member to understand their fiscal responsibility, and to plan for future ministry expenditures.

Credit Cards and Nonexistent Staff Budget Planning
Providing credit cards to staff is a risk. Something is always “burning” in the life of ministry. Production equipment will get aged or go on the fritz, choir robes will get worn, road flags will tatter in the weather, the parking team will need batteries in their batons, the list of what could come up is pretty limitless. Frankly, it takes money to do ministry and we need to understand that even people with the best intentions will always prioritize their ministry needs first if they can. Especially if you bless them with a credit card. Please see the next point...

Fiscal Awareness
Communicate your church’s financial situation weekly to your staff and lay-leadership. I am not talking about Giving Talks, although those have their time and place. What I’m referring to is when staff don’t know whether or not they are on budget, or if the church is nose diving financially. When your staff aren’t aware of the larger financial picture, it is challenging to pull out of peaks and valleys when they happen in your giving.

Distillation
God's purposes are not subject to our personal wants, needs, fears and giving trends set by season, holiday or who is president. The local church is God's plan for your community and the world. When money, through generosity, is given to the church and it is used only to sustain a staff or the people who attend, the church is not effectively a church. When money flows in and then never flows out to serve the poor, the less fortunate, the orphans and the widows that’s a problem. If your financial picture is all input and no output, it’s time to question the "why" behind the “what” you are accomplishing as a church. God’s provision and generosity is not for us to keep primarily focused on ourselves. Check out the history about the Salton Sea.