In the gospel of Luke, Jesus shares wisdom about the importance of planning ahead before a project begins to ensure that the appropriate resources have been allocated. In Luke 14:28 (NIV), he says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”
While the idea of budgeting and advance planning may not be the most exciting thing on a church tech’s to-do list, it can definitely be one of the most impactful. Read on as Church Production gathers helpful planning insights from church leaders Brett Mayes of Mount Paran North; Chris Thomas of Cherry Hills Community Church; Matt Kotthof of Sun Valley Community Church; and Rick Moore of Destiny Worship Center.
Not all churches’ fiscal year aligns with the calendar year, but for those that do, this is the ideal time of year to be walking thru budgeting and financial planning for 2024. It’s certainly a season in which to show one’s prudence and foresight, but it’s also an ideal time to reassess vision to ensure that tech teams are aligned with the ministries they support.
Regarding technology improvements, “The investment needs to serve or undergird the vision of the church,” says Brett Mayes, the administrative pastor at Mount Paran North, a congregation in the northern suburbs of Atlanta.
There is sort of a line of demarcation between items that are “vision maintainers” and “vision accelerators” …
“If it helps us advance the vision, if the capital is in place, and if it meets present timing and budget parameters, then I am more likely to perceive that decision as one that makes good sense regarding stewardship,” he continues. Another factor in stewardship is “if we can increase efficiency and engagement in staff or volunteer processes.”
While it’s easy to want to spend money on the latest and greatest technology fad, or to want to buy an item that other churches have shown off on their social media pages, it’s critical to always consider how any proposed items will support or advance vision for the overall organization or for a specific team.
There is sort of a line of demarcation between items that are “vision maintainers” and “vision accelerators”: what are the things that we need to invest in so we can continue the vision we already have, and what are the steps we should take so that we can expand or grow our vision into the next phase.
So where do you start?
Destiny Worship Center, a multisite church based in the Florida panhandle, has an easy process to use to categorize how items could be listed in their budgets.
“Usually during the fall months, we look at the previous year’s budget as a starting point to prepare for the next year,” explains Destiny’s pastor of communication Rick Moore. “We then apply the ‘Three S’ process to determine what we want to Start, what we should Stop, and what we need to Strengthen.”
Being able to identify items or projects in this way can help further define what needs to be included as part of an actual operating budget, and which items may need to be part of larger projects that rely on capital funding for completion.
“Your volunteers are much more important than your tools. Don’t forget to budget for special ways to say thank you to them.”
—Rick Moore, Destiny Worship Center
Additionally, since many technology purchases are investments that may need to last many years as part of a church’s infrastructure, it can also help administrative teams plan for the future if techs can compile three- or five-year (or longer) replacement plans for high-dollar items. Having multiple years to plan for capital investments not only makes it easier and more palatable for those administrators to manage financial resources, but it can also earn additional latitude in purchasing flexibility for tech leaders who are able to set their church’s leadership teams up for success in this way.
Chris Thomas has been the creative and technical arts pastor at Denver-area megachurch Cherry Hills Community Church for the last four years. As a member of the church’s executive team, he also carries extra responsibility in ensuring that his teams are providing the right information to the church’s leaders so they can effectively plan for larger expenses.
“We have a running spreadsheet that includes all capital expenses that have a monetary value and an importance level,” Thomas notes. “At the beginning of the fiscal year, the senior pastor and chief financial officer determine how much we will spend on capital improvements, whether it be a single purchase or a project. From there, we, as an executive team, discuss what things from the spreadsheet we are going to move forward on and at what point in time during the fiscal year.”
He continues, “Whenever we make a capital purchase, I don’t remove the item from the spreadsheet. I forecast the replacement date and update the spreadsheet line item. So, if I purchase a new audio system for our auditorium in 2024, the line item of the audio system remains on the spreadsheet, I update the date to 2039, basing its next replacement date 15 years later. When we get to the year 2039, it may not get replaced that year, but at least it never falls off the radar.”
Other churches may use project management tools like Asana, Wrike, Basecamp, or Monday to track budgets or proposed items, but simple systems like Google sheets and Excel spreadsheets can be equally effective. Regardless of the system, the underlying idea is that there needs to be something in place to track proposed expenses, costs, forecasts and other details.
Since churches rely on tithe dollars to function and make purchases, there’s a high level of responsibility in ensuring they are making wise financial decisions. Those decisions can’t be made in a vacuum and often require high level of details for need, function, cost of ownership and return on investment (“Required maintenance and service contracts are always part of our considerations,” says Mount Paran North’s Mayes).
Yes, it costs a lot of money, but how will an organization best measure whether that expense was worthwhile and created the necessary return to define it as a “win”? This is an area where a church tech must be able to balance the tension of communicating the technology’s function and purpose, but perhaps not doing it in so tech-y of a way that it’s confusing or difficult to grasp by other teams.
“We need stable systems which are staff/volunteer-friendly and relatively easy to repair when needed.”
—Matt Kotthof, Sun Valley Community Church
“For the most part, when I speak to the executive team or any ministry department, I always give the ‘thirty-thousand-foot overview’,” says Matt Kotthof, the technical integration director at Arizona megachurch Sun Valley Community Church. “If they want to continue to dive into the technical side, I encourage them to ask and I try to bring analogies and stories to help them relate. We discuss the ‘why’ and how this project/gear would better support the weekend experience. It is never about upgrading gear to the newest version, but to support their ministry department to the best of my ability and by helping them create a distraction-free experience.”
“Descriptive words such as consumer, prosumer, professional and broadcast are very helpful when communicating with leadership,” explains Destiny’s Moore. “If your pastor likes sports, you may use descriptive terms such as a professional level, college level or high school level when describing equipment,” he adds.
As far as communication style goes, Mayes may be an exception to the rule as an administrative leader who is comfortable diving into technical talk to better understand the need and value of a proposed expense.
“I like to hear the tech jargon to educate myself and stay current,” he says. “As long as team members are willing to educate me on new terms, new software or new equipment, I'm up for learning.”
However, he still concurs that there has to be a clear tie-in to how that need will advance the church’s vision.
“I'm listening for our leaders to connect the investment of resources (people, finances and space) to the church vision. If it doesn't serve to advance the vision or at least undergird it, I question the necessity of the request,” he states.
… effective stewardship doesn’t always equate to simply buying whatever is cheapest.
But stewardship is a multifaceted approach for spending. Yes, purchases must tie in with overall ministry vision and direction and have a clear path for creating impact. Yes, there should be wisdom and restraint used when utilizing tithe dollars for purchases. However, effective stewardship doesn’t always equate to simply buying whatever is cheapest.
“The greatest cost is often the soft cost of systems going down,” says Moore. “A projector going down during a service costs a lot more than a bulb. A sound system turning off in the middle of a sermon costs much more than the battery backup someone should have bought. If we receive dozens of emails Sunday asking why our stream went down, we can’t respond, ‘We know, but we saved hundreds of dollars a month by switching our internet service provider!’”
“We understand we won’t always have state-of-the-art gear or systems,” Sun Valley’s Kotthof shares. “On the contrary, if we can’t create consistency and aren’t able to maintain that gear across multiple campuses, it is not worth it. We need stable systems which are staff/volunteer-friendly and relatively easy to repair when needed. I would argue that the most important factor is consistency, as having the same experience across our campuses for staff and volunteers is our highest priority.”
Cherry Hills’ Thomas concurs that there’s more to understanding stewardship that just looking at the sticker cost of a purchase.
“Knowing I’m spending the dollars of others, I must remember how to make the money go as far as possible,” he states. “I probably don’t need the most expensive camera on the market, but at the same time, I don’t want the cheapest because it probably won’t last long. I also must consider the cost of personnel to operate and maintain that item” he adds. “The cheapest video camera might be a constant source of headache or troubleshooting when that time spent by my team could be used on other things. My goal is to invest in technology that doesn’t cause distractions Sunday morning and throughout the week.”
Budgeting, then, is a coin with multiple sides: tying expenses to the ability to maintain or implement overall ministry vision; communicating impact and return on investment in vision-related terms, not just financial ones; considering the risk-reward ratio of a purchase by factoring stewardship, value, longevity and usability; and also having enough foresight to plan for the future, both with planned purchases and margin to allow for unexpected issues.
“Operating with margin is also part of the strategic plan to account for unforeseen crises like failed equipment and the ability to respond to new ministry opportunities,” Mayes explains. “We plan for things to come up that are unplanned.”
However, there is a difference in being prepared for unplanned crises, versus having to make an expense request for a simple expense that was simply overlooked or forgotten about.
…budgets can’t exclusively focus on high-dollar items or equipment purchases. They must also factor in the mundane…
So, budgets can’t exclusively focus on high-dollar items or equipment purchases. They must also factor in the mundane: freight and shipping costs; rental expenses, either for one-off usage or as a stopgap while a regular item is being fixed or replaced; maintenance and repair costs; consumable expenses like gaff tape, batteries, haze fluid, pre-made cables, connectors, power cords, converters and power supplies, computer dongles and even drum heads; travel costs; vehicle rentals like box trucks or trailers to haul supplies; and tools like drills/drivers, crimping tools, decibel meters, light meters and a soldering iron.
Budgets should also include allowances for personnel-related expenses like team shirts, travel to conferences, and fees for online training materials or other industry resources.
But arguably as important as anything else, there should always be some sort of allotment for volunteers.
“I think every church should have dollars for volunteer appreciation and food,” Thomas proclaims. “Culture and environment can be improved so easily when you can always provide something other than pizza.”
“I think every church should have dollars for volunteer appreciation and food.”
—Chris Thomas, Cherry Hills Community Church
Moore agrees with this sentiment. “Your volunteers are much more important than your tools. Don’t forget to budget for special ways to say thank you to them.”
Ultimately, budgeting goes just beyond equipment and even volunteers. It’s about a way to develop a strategic plan for kingdom impact by allowing multiple departments to come together to create that influence.
“Take the attitude that the team they're on (the church) is more important than the team they lead (their department),” says Mount Paran’s Mayes, sharing advice with techs at churches of any size. “Keep the church's vision at the forefront of departmental goals and resource requests. Have a strategic plan including costs for ongoing maintenance and work to set their short and long-term priorities for capital investment. When administrators see that level of teamwork and planning, they will see the tech leaders as partners in ministry.”
