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A Unique Way To Increase Your Tech Budget

“How do I get more budget for technology we need?” is a question I get from church tech arts leaders. My answer includes ways to budget but also shines a light onto an area most haven’t considered as being part of the budgeting equation: cleanliness.

Maybe this scenario will hit close to home:

White sugar donut powder coats EQ knobs. Coffee cup rings leave sticky circles next to equipment. Cables are left strewn on any nearby horizontal surface. Labels are mysteriously missing from most connectors. Dust is layered on top of equipment and clogs the filters and fans of electronics. In short: it’s a mess.

Maybe it’s because media people would rather plug in cables than label them, or maybe it’s that we have a tendency to do things quickly to “make it work” but don’t take the time to “make it right”. I’m not sure there’s a singular reason, but many churches tech areas are very messy.

I can tell you what not to do because I, too, have been guilty of letting the tyranny of the urgent keep me from taking the time to organize and clean. I also want to share what has worked and how you can learn from those experiences as well.

You have not because you clean not

OK, that’s not exactly what John 16:24 says, but I’m convinced that tech arts sometimes don’t get new equipment because the leadership doesn’t see them taking care of what they currently own.

When I first started at my third church staff position, I inherited a young assistant named Daniel. This quiet young man and I had spent less than a week together before I had to leave and teach at a conference. Before departing, I had toured the entire campus and looked at everything (Audio/Video/Lighting) that we were responsible for and had made the announcement that we were going to clean up and organize those areas. My rationale was for three reasons:

1) I was new to the church and wanted to have a complete inventory list of every piece of equipment;
2) I wanted each tech area to be organized so we could easily operate and repair the equipment;
3) I knew that the business administrator and executive pastor would appreciate our new list for both insurance purposes and for a fresh start towards excellence in our ministry.

Daniel took the lead and pulled together staff and volunteers to do some major cleaning, organization and labeling. When I returned four days later, he and his team had it completed!

Now beyond the moral of the story (get it done and do it right) is a great ending: when I was able to show the church leadership what equipment we could re-use and what needed replacing (instead of expensive repair for outdated items), getting a P.O. signed for needed upgrades was a piece of cake!

Your leadership wants you to have the right tools

I know some of you wont believe that statement, but I submit that if you show that you’re using what you have to the best of your ability and you research and document the cost for replacement vs. repair, the money will show up.

People don’t give money to need – they give money to vision.

When you show that you’re taking responsibility for what you do have and you create a vision for what should be, people and resources will show up. Every time.

Get it right. Keep it right.

There are plenty of reasons to not spend time cleaning, organizing and documenting:

  • It’s a daunting task to chase cables (hundreds of them), test them and label them. All of them.
  • It’s not quick or easy to create start-up and shutdown checklists for every position in every venue.
  • It’s hard to change sloppy habits.
  • It’s hard to take time to do the detail work when “urgent” things are keeping you busy.
  • It’s not fun (at least to me) to clean.

However, we’re not being honest with our leadership when we ask for upgrades or new equipment if we’re not being good stewards of what we currently oversee.

There is a Biblical principle behind this helpful admonishment:

Luke 16:10Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

I hope you are encouraged to look at all of the technical systems you oversee. Will you be trustworthy with what you have so you can be trusted with more?

For further encouragement, check out the before and after pictures from Mike Sessler and read his blog post about this project.

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anthonycoppedge@churchleaders.com'
Anthony has worked in the secular world of A/V, the ministry world of church staff and the para-church ministry of three companies that serve the church space (Auxano, Fellowship Technologies and Worlds of Wow!). Today, his consultancy focuses on helping churches and para-church ministries leverage appropriate systems, processes and technologies for more effective ministry. Anthony leads out of his strengths of effectively caring for people, efficiently managing resources and enabling scalable growth. He has been consulting, teaching, writing and speaking to church and business leaders for nearly 20 years.