The Church’s Special Funds

What special funds does your church have?  Some funds are needed, to save for certain future expenses. Building funds are needed when the church is growing and there are plans on the table for a new structure.  Temporary or revolving mission support funds to pay the expenses of church members going on mission is valuable to keep those funds from being comingled with regular giving, to honor the wishes of the donors.

But in my study of churches, I’ve seen the scholarship fund, the choir robe fund, the flower fund, benevolence fund, handbell fund, organ fund, and the someday future building fund.

The problem with special funds is that they get in the way of ministry.  If the church wants to set a benevolence fund, it should be budgeted, even if adminstered out of a petty cash drawer for ease of use.

For example,  the church I grew up in kept a small benevolence fund, and had meal vouchers at a nearby café. As a teenager, I remember an unkempt man showing up to the church one Sunday afternoon asking for a handout for a meal. The assistant pastor stepped into his office, wrote out a voucher to a diner 2 blocks awayfor the man for anything on the menu (“no beer, no cigs”), and asked him to come back to the service when he was done eating.  It was great that the church had budgeted for this, and had pre-arranged with the restaurant – in the spirit of the Good Samaritan – that they would honor any such bill presented.

But I’ve seen other churches ruin their budget with benevolence.  One church allocated all the loose cash (not checks or in envellopes) as the benevolence fund.  It became a problem when they had over three months’ estimated expenses in that fund and were struggling to make weekly bills.  A quick change to procedures put a limit on how much would be collected, but I would have rather had them allocate the funds as a budget amount and put the whole offering in the general fund.

And even more common (unfortunately) is the church that planned to build a new auditorium when they were maxing out sanctuary seating, but had an arguement and split in two, and never recovered from the trauma.  A decade or so later, struggling week to week with a membership one tenth the former size, they steadfastly refused to liquidate the building fund, even to do maintenance on the now outdated current building.

Special funds make sense when there’s a concern over comingling funds, or as a fundraising gimick to make a large capital purchase (new building, etc.), but there needs to be a sunset clause or escape provision built into every one.

The best approach is  to budget for the items and teach tithing and work everything through the general fund.

 

Coupons for Christians

I usually filter most of the comments, although I read them all.  And when someone leaves me a note about something they’re selling, I tend to delete mercilously.  But Fred Ruckett’s comment caught my eye, and I made an exception.

Fred responded to the main page of “Hope for Struggling Churches“.  His comment advised me and my readers about a new service called DivineCoupons.com.

According to Fred, “We started this site for the sole purpose of helping churches sow their seed. This coupon site encourages saving and giving more to the church. We ask that you pass this method on to your congregations.”

We believe that the role of the faith community is to let people know that there’s always hope, that adversity brings about opportunities, that we must not surrender to fear and panic, but continue to trust in God and believe that a better day will come.

We as a community of faith need to embrace the opportunity to do what we are called to do. If that action is printing grocery coupons or store coupons in order for saving money and giving a little extra to our church or non-proftit, we think its a small sacrifice to make.

I haven’t used the service, and can’t personally vouch for the service.  Nor do I know the impact it will or won’t have on your congregation.  But it’s a worthy project.  I commend him for out of the box thinking.

And I encourage you to continue to consider ways to help your congregants be wise in their use of God’s money (both in the church and the home) so there is more left over to do God’s work at home and abroad.

Go look at  DivineCoupons.com.  It might be right for you.

 

It’s not the money

Many small churches struggle with money. For some, there aren’t enough congregants with enough income to pay all the bills and the maintenance upgrades – even if everyone tithed the full 10%. For the rest, the members often struggle with finances at home and are limited in what they can contribute.  Studies show most want to give more, but can’t.

The challenge for leaders is to teach their congregation about the spiritual nature of giving, about getting their spirit in order first, then adjusting  their lifestyle to match the spirit, and finally finding the freedom to give from “enough” God has given them.

Steve Sappington was a college classmate of mine, and has used his farming background to come to grips with this problem.    He has written a new book, Today’s WORD on Money, to help people understand what the Bible says about their finances.  It’s a 40-day workbook, suitable for private or group study.

Alan Ross, CEO of Kingdom Companies says:

In the midst of tremendous financial uncertainty, the most certain thing we have is our faith that the Father is for us so who can be against us. The 40 day challenge that Steve has laid out for us may well be the best use of our time, our energy and our focus. These meditations will not change our circumstances, but they will change us; in a way that may well change the financial circumstances affecting our lives. Steve has presented us with the word of God in a powerful and challenging way. Read it for 40 days and be blessed.

Read more about this resource at Steve’s website, www.TodaysWordOnMoney.com

 

Targeted Giving

I want you to think about how you ask for money for church events, and what you are teaching the people when you do ask.

Are you teaching giving to God out of gratitude for your salvation?  Are you teaching a model of sharing what you have for the common benefit of all?  Both of those come from a practice of regular tithing – a weekly or biweekly or monthly share of your income.

Or do you fund the church with bake sales and flea markets? 

 

The Upside of the Downturn

Not to rejoice in another’s misery, but the Center for Congregational Health reminds us that “this economy of shrinking budgets is also one of expanding ministry opportunities.”  The upside of the downturn – if there is one – is that people are hurting, and hurting people are more open to receiving ministry from the faith community.

The danger in the opportunity is that some regions may be so affected they overwhelm the availability.  Think of the first days after a major hurricane or blizzard.  The damage in those natural events is so widespread that relief has to come from a distance, but the infrastructure to get the relief there (roads, etc.) are themselves hindrances.  What is able to be mobilized quickly is woefully inadequate to meet the initial demand.  And then, if the disaster continues beyond what is normal, the reserves begin to wear out and those providers become hopeful recipients.

For example, the first days after the 9-11 attacks saw widespread confusion and a lack of services until response to overcome the inertia.  Then, as the relief continued over time, I’m told that the emergency feeding began to run out of supplies, that there were literally were no more institutional-sized #10 cans of food available on the east coast to ship to NYC.  The demand had overrun the supply.

Churches, in their desire to minister to their community, must look first to their capability to respond.

Prov 22:3 – A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

Luke 14:28-30 - Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’

CCH Consultant Beth Kennett says not to wait until your church is in decline to reorder your finances. Be aware of what’s happening in your community and in your congregation. Like Joseph preparing for a famine, if your congregation is small and the income potential is fragile, begin making adjustments early.

Look to the needs of your congregation. In your evaluation of their capabilities, you will likely discover one or more families whose financial future is more uncertain, or perhaps is already tenuous. We are to care for one another first – our own household. It will not be a good witness if you give away what you have to prospects while members are suffering.

Then you can take your informed understanding of your congregation and your community, you can begin to partner with other churches and social service agencies to provide support to those in need.

Kinnett reminds us, however, that not all ministry has financial costs. “As people become stressed and fearful, faith communities can offer peace and hope as well as practical support, like food pantries and clothing exchanges. During tough times, it is helpful for congregations to know that they offer a relevant ministry.”

She told the story of a church in a small town where a local plant closing devastated the community. The congregation offered support groups, stress management and financial management classes, and hosted networking opportunities for job seekers. “When individuals’ economic situations change down the road, a church that has embraced such outreach opportunities may be bigger and healthier than it was before the economic slump.”

Source:  HealthyChurch.org article library.

 

Believing your own analytics

In the mail this month came 4 requests for contributions from a particular charity I used to contribute to regularly.  They ought to be dominating their niche, but continue to struggle for funds.

When I worked with them a couple of years ago, they were struggling to pay each month’s basic bills, and had lost competent field workers for non-payment of support funds.  I provided them strategies that ought to have doubled their income by now.  And I suggested ways to increase their volunteer pool such that they should have needed to operate their own lodging at the charity site to handle the stream of volunteers.

They have a unique selling position in how they operate at the point of impact, but their headquarters back-office is getting in the way of resounding success.

The prevailing mindset of the charity leadership reflects the training of the Director, who had been a marketing manager in the 90s.  Even today, except for the logo, their marketing looks so dated and generic it would be hard to distinguish from the other end-of-year mailouts I got.

I’d guess they will miss-read why I gave this week, and why I picked the particular envelope to use.  There were the standard weepy-eyed children pics in one, an urgent appeal for cash to make budget, a cheery newsletter, and a matching grant offer.  I sorted through the list and gave to the one that seemed to provide the most benefit to the organization.

I know these people.  I’m guessing they’ll look at the response rates and assume that it took a matching grant letter to pull a donation out of me.  They’ll do the analysis of the results and repeat the one that garnered the most response, and will repeat it several times in the coming year.

Trouble is, I had already decided to be generous to half a dozen charities instead of spending lavishly on my family, and they were in the list.  (If there had been an offer to support a particular cause or volunteer, I might have chosen that one instead!)  They didn’t ask for my opinion of the organization, what mattered to me about what they do, about what I might support in the future.  They don’t know what it will take me to go from $50 a year to $500 a year, or what it would take for me to move from occasional donor to again be an active volunteer.

They will continue to assume they know what will work, and that they continue to struggle because the market is saturated and the economy is bad.  They will believe their own research that supports their assumptions.

And they will stay a small, struggling charity.

 

Will Buildings Reach the World?

Adequate, appropriate space is important. but ministry should be more about  relationships than having the right facility.

I saw a church fundraising brochure that just sounded strange. It asked “How will building help us reach our community for Christ?”

Good question.

Unfortunately, the answer didn’t make sense.

God has called [this church] to be a lighthouse on the East Coast. Our buildings are used by God to reach more people with the gospel and to train up followers to grow and to go out into the mission field. Our new facilities will provide more space for worship, preschool, children, student, and adult classrooms, fellowship, and choir activities. All of our ministries will benefit from having additional room for growth. In addition, the new Worship Center will allow us to attract and minister to more families from our community.

The goal of our stewardship campaign is to provide for the construction costs of a new 3000-seat Worship Center, a new student center, additional space for childcare, additional adult education space, and other support facilities. These new facilities are being uniquely designed to allow for future growth for many years to come. The buildings will be multigenerational-friendly and will provide a welcoming environment with state-of-the-art technology to help us connect with many different age groups throughout the week. We can successfully accomplish this goal and see lives changed forever through our GREATERTHINGS campaign.

As our family of faith seeks the Lord for His provision in this effort, may we remember the testimony of those members who have gone before us… “What God asks us to do, He will certainly enable us to do!”

Buildings don’t save people. Buildings, at most, provide space where the Bible can be taught, where believers can fellowship together, where people can meet for corporate worship, and where members can be trained in missions and Christian disciplines.  However, this particular church has bought into the concept that buildings are what matter, and virtual connections are good enough.  (“a welcoming environment with state-of-the-art technology to help us connect”)

It is clear the brochure is about money

Q – How will we pay for this?

A – We believe wholeheartedly that God has given us a vision to reach this community for Christ. We have faith that [this church] will rise to the challenge He has set for us. With God’s help and our sacrificial giving, we will reach our goals and build a facility that will help us reach GREATERTHINGS.

In your drive to reach your community, be sure you are people-focused.  Everything this church does for the next 3-5 years will be centered around the $20M building campaign.  Already, facility issues are getting in the way of ministry.  (One ministry was told they could only use the church facilities once a month.)  Either the current building isn’t adequate (it services 2700 attenders now), or the church is facility focused in its orientation.

Adequate, appropriate space is important.  But if your ministry is all about having the right facility to attract people, then your interpersonal witnessing needs a tune-up.

 

Thank Before You Bank

I was reminded of a mantra I used with a charity a couple of years ago – to be prompt in thanking them for their help.  The phrase I used was to “thank before you bank.”  They were to send the acknowledgment of the gift before the check was even presented to the bank for deposit.  It affected cash flow, but it taught a valuable lesson.

Before I urged them to this action, thank you letters went out months afterward, if at all.  One local corporation provided a truckload of gently-used computers for the organization’s school, but three months later had yet to receive acknowledgment that the donation was received and shipped to the overseas location.  The company’s generosity was stifled for lack of ten minutes to write a note and the cost of a postage stamp.

 

Baptizing Everything but the Wallet

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1748

In reply, Tim posted words of wisdom on November 19, 2008

Even the institutional system considers it holy that 75 – 85% of the giving is devoted to buy hired help and buildings that benefit mostly the givers themselves. That’s pooling, not giving.

That’ll preach.

 

What’s God Doing in Utica?

Some years ago, a co-worker and I were on a business trip to the same location. I suggested she join us for dinner that Wednesday night, but she declined, saying she always goes to church whenever she can, even while travelling. Caught me up short. It’s now my habit, too.

Trouble is, a lot of churches have abandoned midweek services. In some cities, I have to hunt to find a place to worship on Wednesday evening. In Utica, NY, I’ve found a great midweek service.

Lighthouse Baptist Church is Independent, fundamentalist, and only uses King James. Not my style, but the pastor is a great preacher. Tells it straight, holds his people accountable, and preaches with conviction.

They meet in an old store in an older neighborhood, supporting posts obscuring the view of the pulpit, suspended tile ceilings and long flourescent tube lighting. But it’s functional.

Tonite I learned they have been offered a 100-year-old Catholic church (seats 700), with rectory, convent dorms and a school, at an unheard-of $400k. It’s more than they can afford, but they’re stepping out in faith, excited about what God could do.

I want to challenge you to pray with me, and give with me. Their doctrine isn’t 100% what my doctrine is, but they are reaching people for the kingdom, and that’s what counts.

Please pray, and please give.   With your help, they can move in right away.

The church’s address is 115 South Street, Utica, NY 13501.

p.s. – If you are in Utica, go visit. I think you’ll be blessed, as I was.