Below is a list of cut back tips to help your church survive in these tough economic times. A lot of churches are learning to get by with less and proving how resilient they are. Learn what you can do to accomplish this.
The topic on everyone’s mind lately has been the economy.
Added to the concerns of how the state of the economy will affect our own personal finances,
we, as financial administrators, are watchful as to how it will affect our church also.
With a smaller church, when just a few of your church members are affected by the economy, you are going to feel the sting.
This How To Book for Churches is packed full of tips for:
Prayer:
As church administrators, we personally know of the challenges that our
churches are facing, so, who better to pray those needs. After all, our
church belongs to the Lord and He will take care of His own.
Fundraisers: Let the youth director organize some bake sales and car washes to help with the youth ministry expenditures. Call a meeting with the ladies of the church and see who could help organize a Fundraising committee if you don't already have one.
Most people would be glad to help in
any way they can. They just need to be asked. I will make a quick
suggestion here: Don't let just one or two people handle all your
fundraisers. Main reason...you'll burn them out quickly by dumping all
the responsibility on them.
Offerings: If giving is down,
you should give people a chance to give at every service or event. Some
churches only take up offerings once a week; however, not everyone may
be in that service, so always give people an opportunity to be blessed.
Also, encourage your church members to continue giving their faithful offerings. This can be done through the preaching and also by letting your members know that their church is feeling the squeeze of the economy also.
Some people do not think when they let their
offerings go for awhile that it will affect the church very much, but
what they may not realize is if several people at the same time cut
back on their giving is can really hurt the church. Let them feel a
part of keeping the Word of God going forth. Let them help. It is their
church too
Cut back on spending: Little things can really
add up, like asking the ladies of the church to donate the snacks for
your church meetings or events, making sure all the lights are turned
off when not in use, adjusting the thermostat, and asking members to
donate their unused nursery, kitchen, and office supplies.
Cut back on purchases also:
Reevaluate your purchases. Is there something you could do without? Do
we really need the expensive Dixie plates in the church kitchen, or
could we make do with the cheaper generic paper plates?
How about the liquid soap in the bathroom? Maybe we don't absolutely have to have the SoftSoap and could make do with refilling that pretty SoftSoap container with a cheaper brand and while we are at it, we might have to forgo the nice hand lotion in the ladies bathroom too.
Remember, a few cents here and a few cents there will eventually add up to some nice savings.
Save on office supplies. 7 ways to cut cost on your
church's office supplies.
This is just a few of the ways you can save and raise money to keep the Light on in your community.
If you want to DIY your payroll, I highly recommend you look at using Gusto! It is very user friendly and their support is awesome! Plus they know how to set up and maintain payrolls for churches and nonprofit organizations.
Note: I am a "partner" of Gusto, but as I have told you before ... I never recommend anything that we or our clients have not tried and love =)