Finance

By Michael Erwin How will a capital campaign affect your annual budget? What good will capital improvements be if you can’t keep the doors open and the lights on? Church leaders hesitate to run a capital campaign at the same time as the annual pledge drive. They wonder whether a capital campaign will hurt annual

By Matt Simon Churches or houses of worship are busy places, and Sunday isn’t the only day that visitors are in and out of your church. With Bible studies, prayer groups, daycare centers, preschools and community meetings, your church has a constant flow of people coming in and out. In fact, when you start looking

  This article originally appeared in the December 2006 issue. By Frances Putman Not long ago, parishioners at Our Lady of Calvary Catholic Church in Philadelphia celebrated the 50th anniversary of their church. While it was a time of celebration, it was also a time for reflection. As parishioners looked at their half-century-old church, they

By Ryan Nelson Many churches count on a strong fourth quarter to compensate for decreased giving throughout the year. That’s not a bad thing. But what if the stakes were lower, because giving was higher—and more consistent—all year? (It would definitely make it easier to create a church budget!) Sure, some variation in giving is

A church is a society of like-minded individuals and families who come together to worship, pray, and share their joys and sorrows in sacred community. But that’s not the whole story. An underpinning of businesslike activity makes it possible for a church to meet community expectations. In fact, a primary activity of the church is

By Nancy Master More than ever before, churches are under intense pressure to pursue their mission with maximum efficiency – all while providing complete financial transparency to members, donors, and leadership – and technology can play a key role. Whether the focus is accounting, reporting, planning, or transparency, church finance teams need a strong church

By Scott Noble What’s one challenge pastors and ministry leaders face that their education rarely prepares them for? It’s a topic that’s infrequently offered in Bible school or seminary. You don’t see this course title next to Theology I or Old Testament II or Introduction to Greek. Yet it’s an issue all leaders—and their churches—face.

By Chaeli Ackerman Church Management Software (ChMS) companies provide a lot of really great resources for churches, from managing volunteers and child check-ins to contribution reporting and tracking small groups. We rally behind any technology that furthers the Kingdom and makes life easier for administrators. Most ChMS also provide their churches with an online and

By Dick Raddatz So, you want a new church bus but don’t have the money to pay for it? No problem! Raising thousands of dollars is never easy, but it can be done efficiently if you follow four steps to success. 1. Organize, Organize, Organize! An active and motivated fundraising committee is critical to your

By Christian Valiulis Many religious organizations have difficulty understanding the relationship between human resources and finance. Some believe the two are unrelated, but the reality is you must have strong HR processes in place to be a good steward of your finances. Why? Because people are your biggest expense and greatest responsibility. So how can