ECCU Blog

As the final quarter of the fiscal year for many ministries rolls around, a recent post by church planter/professor/blogger Tim Spivey on his New Vintage Leadership blog is well worth reading.

Two Things You Must Have Before Asking People to Give offers a simple formula that Spivey learned early in his ministry. He says this formula “keeps me from asking for money to meet budget. Of course we have to meet it, but the budget is an inanimate object. Pull it apart. Personify it. Show them how life change happens through the budget. If you can’t, your budget needs to be overhauled.”

On the heels of two recent ECCU budgeting webinars (now available as free recordings), I resonate with Spivey’s words. He’s advocating that we align money with mission and monitor to be sure our ministries stay on mission.

Check out Spivey’s blog post to learn his formula, then come back here and leave a comment letting me know what you think.

In a study by Grey Matter Research, 43% of those who visit a church’s website do so to find the times of the services. Other common reasons include what activities are offered (29%), map or directions to the church (28%), watch a streaming video (26%), and listen to a streaming audio (26%).

This is the second in our series of email interviews with presenters for the upcoming 2012 Financial Forum for Ministries.

John Butler is an attorney and tax counsel for CapinCrouse LLP. He will speak at each of the three 2012 California forums about recent Internal Revenue Service, congressional, and court benefits; ministers’ payroll and unrelated business income; as well as health care compliance issues. Here are John’s responses to my questions.

MBG: How will your presentation help attendees better serve their ministries?

John: We live and our ministries serve in a dynamic environment where tax laws can have a major impact on operations. At least some of yesterday’s solutions won’t work tomorrow. This session will help attendees identify the areas they must examine to assess where in their organizations they need to make changes.

MBG: What are three important takeaways attendees will learn during your presentation?

John: The changing tax laws affecting health care issues are critical for all ministries. One takeaway will be that attendees can identify key elements affecting their ministries. A second takeaway will be information that’s helpful when developing a compliance strategy for their ministries related to the health care law changes. The third takeaway will be more general. As critical and recent issues are addressed, attendees will be able to assess which ones apply to their organizations.                                         

MBG: How will the format of the forum make it an even more valuable learning experience?

John: This session is content oriented, so a formal presentation and the detailed outline will contribute substantially to the experience. The opportunity to ask questions will help attendees firmly grasp the concepts presented.

Next up will be David Lee, ministry development officer with ECCU, who will be presenting on how to evaluate your ministry’s mission/money alignment and adjust spending to improve it.

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

During a recent ECCU budgeting webinar for ministries with up to $2 million in revenues, we asked attendees which accounting package they used. Two thirds said QuickBooks.                                                                                            

It has been my experience that many QuickBooks users don’t fully utilize its functionality. If this is true of you, here are several tips that may prove helpful as you go through the budgeting process.

First, make sure you have a good chart of accounts. Keep it simple and relevant. Use categories that can be applied across ministry and operational areas. Also, create a structure that allows you to condense various line items into a summary category when reporting to your leadership or board. An example of this would be the summary category called “program expense,” which would contain a number of lower-level line items, as shown in the lower left of this screen shot.

Next, identify the distinct ministry and operational areas that will constitute your classes. You will use these classes to structure your budget and prepare budget-to-actual reports each month. Don’t go overboard here, but create enough classes so you can produce meaningful reports for each area, like this:

Finally, create your budget using the set up budgets feature. Now you can begin using your chart of accounts and class structure to document the budget. After you’ve completed all the ministry areas, you can run an organizational report that presents the budget based on your chart of accounts and areas (classes) with totals for the entire ministry. You can also run budget-to-actual reports for specific ministries.

If you’d like more budgeting guidance, check out our Budgeting 101  webinar recording and additional resources, including additional tips for QuickBooks users.

When people ask me, “What leaders have made the biggest impact in your life?” ECCU’s founding director, Dr. George Vouga, is always at the top of my list. His friendship, constant encouragement, mentoring, and life example of vision and faithfulness have inspired and challenged me over my entire career. His deep love for his wife Agnes was a powerful example of what it means to “love your wife even as Christ loves the church.”

Dr. Vouga entered into eternity with our Lord on Saturday, September 15, after 102 short years on this earth. George shared with me on more than one occasion the almost comical way ECCU came into existence: Back in 1964, when George was general director of the Conservative Baptist Association of Southern California, he was initially opposed to starting a credit union. He told his close friend, Dr. I. Cedric Peterson (pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Whittier and fellow Dallas Seminary classmate) that the Association had too many obligations on its plate and there wasn’t room for another major initiative. So Dr. Peterson proceeded to tell George that he would be at his office every week to pray that the Lord would change his mind. After some time, and week after week of Dr. Peterson praying earnestly on his knees in Dr.Vouga’s office, George freely admitted that the Lord did indeed change his mind—and heart. ECCU was launched in October of 1964—48 years ago. George became a champion for the credit union and his passionate support never waivered. I thank the Lord for George’s obedience and humble leadership at a time his rational mind was telling him “no way.”

I was privileged to meet George in 1975, the year I started with the credit union, then known as Conservative Baptist Credit Union. George retired the following year, but our relationship grew as George became a close friend and mentor, even while serving many years on the board of directors. From those modest beginnings when a few pastors and friends made their first $25 deposits, the credit union grew and prospered. Today ECCU serves more than 2,000 ministries across the country and about 3,500 missionaries in 100 countries around the world. The credit union stewards over $1 billion in core assets and nearly $3 billion in assets under management.

My wife Cindy and I shared the joy of hosting Dr. Vouga (we still called him “Dr.”) along with his two sons and their wives in our home for dinner just a few months ago. It wasn’t long before he asked, “So, what are our assets?” Even at 102, the credit union and its well-being were still top of mind. We enjoyed a wonderful evening together and will cherish that last time of earthly fellowship with him.

The Bible Dr. Vouga used in his first pastorate in the Chicago area (around 1932) is secured in our ECCU auditorium podium. Every time I stand before our staff during our weekly chapels, I think of George’s Bible, his constant encouragement, and enduring legacy for our Lord. 1 Peter 5 tells us that those who faithfully shepherd the flock of God will receive the “unfading crown of glory” directly from the Chief Shepherd. That must have been a beautiful Heavenly ceremony when Dr. Vouga finally arrived home!

Do you have any “Dr. Vougas” in your life? We’d love to hear about who has significantly impacted your life and ministry.