It’s my favorite time of year! No, not Fall Festival season. It’s planning season. I’ve written a lot about goals and calendars. But only one post on creating your budget. Since you need all three of those to have a great year, this is the perfect time to sit down and figure out what you’re going to do.
Now that I’m in the lead chair, I see budgets from a different perspective. When I was a kids’ pastor, submitting my budget was a chore I had to get done in November. I wrote down what I envisioned and sent it up the chain just to have many of the things get shot down. I’m still upset that I asked for a TV four years in a row and never got it, while the Main Auditorium got a third(!) screen. (I’m also working on forgiveness.)
Now that I’m on the other side of that equation, I see, as I wrote in this post, that there are so many more factors to consider before getting the large TV for your hallway.
But every church is different and how they budget is no exception. Throughout the years, I’ve observed three main ways churches budget for their departments. I’ll outline each one and how to budget in each one.
1. Spend it all or lose it
Thankfully I’ve never served in this environment, but I’ve seen many churches do it this way. So, take this advice from an outsider. This is my least favorite way because it puts undue pressure on the department to spend all their money. Some will absolutely spend and may even ask for more. But others will have finished up the year under budget and then be afraid of losing it. So, they wastefully spend it on “nice-to-have” things.
Spending money in ministry is different from spending money at a business. This isn’t revenue we’re investing to make new products. This is God’s money that your congregation trusted you with. We never want to waste it.
So, if you find yourself in this environment, plan as best you can and figure out exactly how much things will cost. Then you need to follow that plan as closely as possible. When things change, and they will, have an ongoing conversation with your finance leadership. Let them know how things changed for good or bad and how that will affect the bottom line.
Those in leadership are trying to make the best decisions possible to spend the Lord’s money. The more information they have, the better decisions they can make. So, if you’re not going to spend the money they set aside for you, talk with them about your new plan. You may turn out to need that TV you never thought about last November. Having that ongoing conversation will help them trust you more and they may be more willing to raise your budget mid-year if they can.
It’s hard to plan 12 months out, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. Make a plan, stick to it, and talk to your leadership when things change. It’s the best you can do.
2. Locked in regardless of need
The second way churches budget is they set aside a certain amount of money for you to spend however you want. I served at one church that used this model. I had total autonomy to buy whatever I wanted as long as I stayed within the annual allotment. I still needed to get permission if I was going to spend over a thousand dollars a month or over five hundred in a single purchase. But that was only because my church-issued credit card had a limit. Anything bigger went on the pastor’s card. It wasn’t about whether I could buy it.
But I know my situation was unique. I enjoyed the limit. It was way more than I could ever spend. I’ve seen other ministry leaders chafe against it because it’s not enough to do all they want to do. Now that I’m in the lead chair, I understand. I would love to give my leaders everything they want, but there are a lot of things pulling on the church funds. And your ministry may not be at the top of the priority list. That may be hard to hear, but it’s the truth.
So, if you find yourself in this system, make a plan as before within the limit they’ve given you. Scrimp, save, borrow, fundraise, get creative to make it all work. But also, don’t take the number they give you lying down either.
Part of the reason the Worship Department gets all the coolest stuff is because that’s where your pastor and financial leadership goes to church. They’re not seeing the chipped paint and bad carpet in your preschool rooms. They don’t see that the youth are still using NKJV Bibles from 1998. They never go into the kids’ sound booth and see that it’s held together with baling wire and duct tape.
So, make your issues known often. Don’t wait for budget season to start talking about all the things you want to do. Talk about them throughout the year. Give them ideas. Let them know the problems. Invite them to see the issues. I say all the time, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So, squeak until you get what you need. In the meantime, make what you have work within the limits you’re given.
3. Budget that follows your goals
My favorite way to budget is to set your funds after you’ve already set your goals. Instead of the number directing what gets done, you decide where to go and find the money to make it happen.
At two churches I served, this was their way of doing it. I’d dream, cast my vision, and then they’d decide if I could have the funds. Many times, I’d ask for the moon and be happy with orbit. My administrator wasn’t too happy when I told him that, but it was the truth. You have not because you ask not. And that’s why this method works so well. You’re only limited by what you can dream up.
So, with my own team, I gave them my budget planner and asked them to dream big. Then we sat together and planned out how we could make it all happen. I wasn’t able to say yes to everything, but several departments got more money than they’d ever had before, just because they had vision for reaching more for Jesus.
On both sides of the table, kids and lead, even though we had big plans, things did change. They always do. So, I keep an open line of dialogue with my leaders. We’re not really talking about money. We’re talking about what we’re doing, how it’s working or not, and the impact it’s having on people’s lives. The money undergirds the conversation. It doesn’t control it.
There have been a few times throughout this year I’ve had to come back and say we can’t do this thing we planned because something else came up. But those were easy conversations because we didn’t just talk about our plans in November. We had an ongoing conversation.
I encourage you to do the same. You never know what God might do.
Setting your budget doesn’t have to be painful. It can be an exciting time full of vision and dreams, even if you are limited by numbers you can’t control. Don’t think of the budget as a constraint. Think of it as a plan for how you will spend the money that’s been entrusted to you. Be faithful with it so you can be trusted with more. And rely on Jesus’ promise.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Luke 16:10
It’s my favorite time of year! No, not Fall Festival season. It’s planning season. I’ve written a lot about goals and calendars. But only one post on creating your budget. Since you need all three of those to have a great year, this is the perfect time to sit down and figure out what you’re going to do.