So many lead pastors that I connect with throughout the year loathe budgeting.
They hate it!
Call me sick in the head…but I think budgeting is fun and attractive.
What? Attractive?
Yes…and here’s why.
1. Budgeting creates confidence with leaders in the church…especially the lead/senior pastor.
With a solid understanding of knowing where the money is (and isn’t), you can preach and cast vision with greater confidence. Show me a pastor up against the ropes, and I’ll show you a pastor who doesn’t know where the money is.
2. Budgeting teaches you what you didn’t learn in seminary (Cash Flow)
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You can’t conquer your budget by pinching pennies. You conquer your budget by doing the tough work of cutting and killing areas in the church that are not working. You must be brutal, and other leaders must agree.
You must also raise greater levels of income, and there is a strategy for doing this. Several of my friends can help you do this like GivingRocket.com and Generis and others.
3. Budgeting should force you to be consistent with your personal income and expenses (and your staff, too).
Yes! That’s right…how can someone trust you with their hard-earned cash if they think you are awful with your own personal expenses?
4. Budgeting is the foundation for organizational development.
Budgeting enables you to drive to an end-goal. Budgeting says did we maintain our numbers month to month? Are we on track with our income? Budgeting is the bedrock of good, healthy financial decisions with your staff.
5. Budgeting should be an all-skate.
Why does the youth pastor get a pass on his area’s budget? Hold their feet to the fire with reports called “Budget vs. Actual” and teach them how to really understand the knowledge behind the report.
Budgeting can be sexy. You just have to look at it in the right light.
