It almost seems wrong, on a certain level ... the idea of asking for money to be spent on production supplies during a season when income levels for many families (and churches) have taken a hit.
But the reality is that if our ministries are to be successful in reaching people, there has to be a financial investment in maintaining and improving our technical systems.
So, it’s less about not spending money, and more about spending money the right way.
Here in the early stages of fall, many organizations are in the planning mode for a 2021 budget. While there are various levels of uncertainty regarding expenses and projected income, as church techs, we need to do our part in helping our leaders make wise decisions about priorities.
We must steward the resources we’ve been blessed with and not make frivolous purchases (after all, people are willingly giving part of their income to the church, trusting that we’ll make wise decisions with it), but we must also spend money to ensure that our systems are taken care of and will continue to be functional.
So, it’s less about not spending money, and more about spending money the right way.
And knowing that our leaders are carrying plenty of weight during this season, given all of the decisions they have to make, we can help minimize that load by partnering with them during the decision-making process.
The first way to partner with them is to know their heart and vision for the church. If our leaders keep talking about certain initiatives that are important to them, like being able to do outdoor services in various parts of the community (as an example), yet we try to present a proposal for why we need to replace the sound system in the Underwater Basketweaving Classroom, we may rub our leaders the wrong way by appearing to be out of sync with their vision and only trying to push our own agendas.
Lock-step direction
We must ensure that everything we're trying to propose or suggest is in lock-step with the direction the church is currently moving. And as we propose these expenses, we need to make sure they are packaged in a way that our leaders can understand.
Administrators or committees may just see a dollar amount on a page; they don’t understand (and may not want to hear about) the technical specs of the widget we’d like to get. We must be able to explain how this particular expense is going to further the ministry impact of the church and help us do ministry better and more efficiently.
...expanding my own personal knowledge base is one of the best ways to help my ministry be more efficient with its expenses.
And when it comes to efficiency, we must be willing to proactively take a hard look at our expenses to see if there are things that we can trim back on before (or without) being asked. Not only does this show initiative on our parts, but it also helps engender a sense of trust in our leadership that we're trying to see things the right way and are concerned with making good financial decisions.
We don’t need to leave line items in the budget proposal just because “we’ve always done it that way.” This is a season to reexamine all expenses and determine if they are all truly necessary moving forward. This can even include things that seem like shoo-in expenses, such as consumable items like batteries and gaff tape. Are we using those things frivolously and wastefully, thinking they come from a bottomless barrel, or are we making good decisions in how we steward those seemingly simple items?
Long line of variables
Knowing that attendance, income, and programming have all been severely impacted during the COVID season, this is the perfect time to re-imagine what may truly be the best way to do ministry. After all, we should be committed to the ultimate vision of our ministry but be willing to change the processes involved as needed.
Along that front, this may be the perfect time to reassess whether we need to continue utilizing paid contractors in certain roles.
While there may often be incredibly valid reasons for paying people to fill service roles, this may be the season where we need to reconsider those expenses.
In some cases, churches feel the need to pay for labor simply because they don’t have an effective process in place to train and develop volunteers to do that same work. So, instead of continuing to pay contractors in perpetuity, perhaps we instead need to put effort into developing our own training process to help volunteers become capable of filling those same roles.
Likewise, we can reexamine areas where we have used outside labor to perform maintenance or help with project labor.
In many cases, manufacturers provide training tools and resources so that equipment maintenance can be done in the field by end users. And while some of those things may require an initial investment (to register for a training, for one), there can be a notable return on investment if I’m able to do more repair work in-house over time instead of having to pay to have gear shipped off and work done by the manufacturer.
The last line of decision-making during budgeting, and, honestly, one of the easiest, is simply to distinguish between a “need” and a “want.”
In the same way, there may be opportunities for our church team to begin doing some of our own install work, to save on contractor fees. Maybe I can ask volunteer team members if they want to help do wire pulls on a project instead of hiring outside labor, or I can learn from online videos, tutorials, or forums how to do a project on my own instead of feeling the need to outsource it.
In fact, expanding my own personal knowledge base is one of the best ways to help my ministry be more efficient with its expenses.
Sometimes we initially think we need to replace a certain piece of equipment because it doesn’t do what we want it to do, or we think it doesn’t work anymore. So, the first (faulty) line of thinking is to just ask for more money to solve the problem.
However, the best answer may be to just learn more about what we already have. I may think it “doesn’t work” or “doesn’t do what I need” simply because I’m not fully educated about all of its features and functions.
So before I rush into a budget proposal for a new gizmo, I need to ensure I really do fully understand the gear I already own. Because if I’m struggling to learn all of the features on my current gear, that problem is going to be even more greatly exacerbated when I buy something newer, bigger, and more complex.
I may think it “doesn’t work” or “doesn’t do what I need” simply because I’m not fully educated about all of its features and functions.
Having the initiative to expand my own knowledge base is one of the best ways I can be a good steward during the budgeting process.
The last line of decision-making during budgeting, and, honestly, one of the easiest, is simply to distinguish between a “need” and a “want.”
Yes, we all want new gadgets. It would be great to get a new hazer, or add a couple more lights, or improve our in-ear system.
But the hard line of evaluation during this season may really come down to, “Yeah, but is what we’re currently doing broken?”
If I have limited funds, should I spend them on a “want” to improve something that’s already functional (and add a level of improvement that the audience may not even notice), or would it be best to use those funds on something that isn’t working at all (or working efficiently) and get it to a place where it’s viable?
This has been a difficult season for all of us in ministry. But I can help make some of the process easier and lighter on my leadership by being a willing partner during the budget season. Showing that I’m able to support the church’s vision and make effective stewardship decisions is a critical way to earning trust and ultimately being able to help the ministry be as successful as possible.
