Finance Friday: 10 practical tips about ministry funding for church planters

An article by Ben

Matt Note: The more I speak with Ben Stroup the more impressed with him that I become. Ben is a consultant with Generis and helps churches across the country develop the concept of generosity within their congregations. If you are not reading his blog, Church Giving Matters, you are doing yourself a great disservice.

Earlier this week, I posted about the role of faith in ministry funding. In that post, I promised to provide some practice tips for church planters when it comes to ministry funding.

Here are 10 tips for you to consider:

1. Whatever you think it’s going to cost to plant the church…double it.

2. However long you think it’s going to take to achieve consistency in your congregation’s giving habits…triple it.

3. Develop three financial plans. One is consistent with your current cash flow and expenses. The other plan is be your “dream plan.” The third and final is a master plan that outlines how to get from where you are today to your dream plan.

4. Evaluate and adjust your budget every 90 days based on your actual giving and expenses.

5. Find a way to relieve the income pressure at home. It may make sense to have some source of personal income outside the church itself until the giving history produces a level of confidence that you can consistently meet payroll.

6. Read every book, article, etc. you can about fund-raising. It is most likely an unfamiliar concept to you but is also the very function that will make or break your ability to survive long enough to achieve any measurable impact.

7. Find people in your core launch group or in the community who have experience with growing businesses, raising capital, etc. This will probably never be your strong suit and offers the perfect opportunity for another to offer their time and talent in a unique and substantive way.

8. (This is more personal than organizational.) Find a CPA who will help you navigate personal tax issues. You don’t want to waste your time in court, pay obscene penalties, or demonstrate a lack of integrity or intentionality when it comes to personal money management.

9. Your core leadership team should be giving generously. If they aren’t, find some new leaders.

10. Pastors who are generous can and do lead their churches to be generous. It never works the other way around.

What practical tips would you offer church planters related to ministry funding?

Ben Stroup is a writer, consultant, and blogger on the subjects of church funding, stewardship, and generosity. He maintains an ongoing dialogue with church leaders through his blog (Church Giving Matters), Twitter, and Facebook, and LinkedIn. Ben specializes in helping churches leverage technology to drive funding, understand the changing rules of church giving, effectively communicate money matters, and establish sustainable funding models for ministry.