ECCU Blog

Budgeting is often seen as a necessary evil. It should never be. One big lesson from the Great Recession is that bad budgeting can lead your ministry to the brink of failure.

Conversely, the process of building a good budget is essential for ministry success. Without a good budget to guide the use of limited financial resources, too many “good” opportunities can distract you from your ministry’s mission.

Here are three key principles that can help you budget better: 

1. Align your budget to your mission and vision. Your ministry’s strategy should clearly outline key objectives and outcomes you intend to accomplish in the next year. With this clear strategy, you can invest your resources to accomplish these objectives and outcomes.
2. Good budgeting requires extensive collaboration. Putting a budget together is not just for the finance team or senior leadership. It requires that leaders grapple together with how to achieve their ministry’s key objectives and outcomes. This will often require some give and take and may even prompt revision of the key objectives and outcomes to make them more realistic.
3. Once your budget is approved, monitor it regularly, report to your leaders at least monthly, and hold them accountable. If revenue or expenses have changed significantly, you may need to make adjustments.

Need some budgeting help? One resource we made available to those who attended our recent Budgeting 101 webinar is a budgeting checklist that can help guide you through the budgeting process.

What have been some success factors for your ministry as you’ve gone through the budgeting process?

Have you attended a Financial Forum for Ministries in the past? If so, you’ve experienced the benefits of this unique event. With the 2012 forums fast approaching, I asked Jeremy Moser, who has attended the past couple of years, a few questions about why it’s a good investment of time. Jeremy is the CFO at Mariners Church in Irvine, California. Here’s what he had to say.

Jeremy, you’ve signed up again for this year’s forum. Why?

It’s because the information that’s presented helps me do my job better at Mariners. I’m a learner and am always looking to improve how we do things. So the information provided at the forum tends to add value to my church. 

Talk about the format of the forums. How does it add value to this particular learning opportunity?

The forums cover several topics each year. The diversity of information has been great.  It is also great to network with other ministry leaders during the event.

What’s one reason you’d recommend that others attend the Financial Forum for Ministries?

I recommend this forum to other ministry leaders because just picking up one idea can make their ministries more effective. That means the time spent is well worth it.

How can someone who attends make the most of the experience?

Come expecting to learn. It is a lot of information to absorb, so take notes and review the information at least one time (within a week) after the event. Make action items for yourself so you know what to implement when you go back to the office. Another thing I recommend is making at least one new contact at the event. I frequently contact other ministries throughout the year, asking for advice on topics I think they may have expertise in.

Have you attended past financial forums? What was your experience?

Follow this link to learn more and sign up for the financial forum in your area.

The conference title tells you that those planning Catalyst Atlanta 2012 are serious when they say it will be “a revolution of ideas where you’ll challenge the process and think unconventionally.” They’ve even produced a video to illustrate the point. The conference title—Make—is shorthand for The Making of a Leader.

Leadership development is the theme for the three-day (October 3–5, 2012) gathering of 13,000 ministry leaders in Atlanta, who are invited to “expect a fully immersive learning, worship and creative experience, where timely inspiration can come from the thought leaders who grace our stage, or the person sitting in the seat right next to you.”

The list of Catalyst speakers reads like a who’s who of relevant ministry leaders and influencers (more than 50 in all), including Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Francis Chan, and Matt Chandler. It’s no wonder they summarize the conference’s focus in three words: Pure leadership adrenaline!                                                            

ECCU Regional DirectorJeremy Mooreand Ministry Development Officer Dennis Park will host an Executive Pastors Suite at the conference (October 4–5, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.) to meet with ministry leaders and give them an opportunity to network with their peers.

To learn more about the Catalyst conference, or to register, visit www.catalystconference.com/information. If you’d like to find out what’s happening in the ECCU Executive Pastors Suite, feel free to connect with Jeremy on Twitter (twitter.com/jeremymoore).

I wonder how many ministries had to replace their air conditioning systems during this summer of record-breaking heat. Maybe yours is one of them. 

Did you have enough liquid funds to cover that expense, or did you have to come up with those funds another way? Maybe a special fundraising effort, a loan from your financial institution, or “borrowing” funds from another area of ministry?                                 

Even if we do all the scheduled maintenance, things like AC systems and roofs and parking lots and carpeting eventually need to be repaired or replaced. Unfortunately, these expenses create an emergency for many ministry organizations because they don’t have funds set aside for them. 

This is why you need a replacement reserve fund. It’s simply good stewardship of capital assets to have an account that’s specifically earmarked for the upkeep of your property, building, and contents. 

Are you unsure how to calculate the appropriate replacement reserves? Here’s a good starting point: 

1. List all the items your ministry must maintain or eventually replace.
2. Identify how long each item was expected to last when it was new (useful life in years).
3. Determine the remaining life of each item (again in years).
4. Determine how much it would cost to replace each item today.

By conducting this type of inventory, you can calculate how much should be in your replacement reserve fund today and how much to add to it each year. Better yet, you’ll avoid jeopardizing important ministry to pay for unexpected facilities expenses. 

Need some help? We created a replacement reserves calculator tool that performs these calculations for you. (There’s no charge to use it.) 

Have unexpected facilities expenses negatively impacted your ministry? Or have you been able to avoid situations like that because you have had a replacement reserve fund? Post a comment and tell us your story.

Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. 

So how can you effectively disciple people who have significant financial resources in matters of generosity and stewardship? How can you engage their hearts and help them catch a vision for your church’s mission? 

ECCU is hosting a Generis luncheon seminar, How to Disciple, Encourage, and Engage the Wealthy People in Your Church, on Thursday, October 18 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Those who attend will learn from experts like Richard Watts, author of Fables of Fortune: What Rich People Have That You Don’t Want, and Generis Vice President Gerald Farley. They will discuss: 

• Who the wealthy are in your congregation.
• Why they often stay hidden.
• What they need that they don’t already have.
• How to encourage wealthy people to invest more of their financial resources in ministry. 

ECCU will host this free event for senior pastors and executive staff, which includes lunch, at its headquarters in Brea, California. To register, contact Sheri Kohlmann at 714.420.5092 or sherik@generis.com.