Stewardship

Good news reporting of finances to your parish

We are a Gospel people. We have "good news" to tell the world. However, some treasurers and/or wardens often tell a story that is not "good news". They stand before the congregation and present a monthly financial position statement indicating where the parish's income is in relation to the budget, a "Doom and Gloom" report. The parish glass is not only half empty, the D&G report says, it has large cracks and its contents are leaking fast.

Here's a "good news" way of looking at parish finances, putting them in a more positive light and injecting even more good news into the life of your congregation. It might even put smiles on the faces of the treasurer and wardens. Thanks to Dr. Kennon Callahan for suggesting this alternative view.

By this time, your highly successful continuous annual year-round stewardship program, which uses the narrative budget and promotes PAP, is getting your parish finances to at least the break-even stage, if not to the surplus position.

Knowing that expenses are usually spread out fairly evenly over the fiscal year, financial people often gloss over the fact that income varies wildly from month to month over the fiscal year. Income can vary so much that some parishes may receive as much as 25% of their yearly income in the last one or two months of the year.

Now, the usual D&G report would be that January income (unlikely to be 1/12th of the total year's income), was behind the January expenses (usually about 1/12th of the year's expenses). However, we know that the budget will be made by the end of the year, because of your highly successful continuous annual year-round stewardship program, which uses a narrative budget and promotes PAP. We know that most church corporations are not profligate in their spending. At least, we certainly hope so. So, instead of dividing income expectations by 12 (or worse, by 52 and doing a weekly D&G report) and comparing that distorted income figure to expected expenses, why not compare apples to apples, income to income?

Calculate the average income of each month over the last three years. You end up with 12 different figures, one average for the last three Januaries, and one average for the last three Februaries and so on. When you enter these 12 average figures on a spreadsheet and chart them, they will create the usual zigzag, up and down pattern for the whole year and give you a basis for comparison to the current year's income (you will probably have to note the date of Easter in March and April). We will be putting up a downloadable worksheet on the Stewardship web page (www.niagara.anglican.ca/synodsteward.cfm) for you to fill in your three year figures and help you create your charts.

You already know from the good, solid results of your highly successful continuous annual year-round stewardship program, using the narrative budget and PAP, that individual parishioners believe in the mission that their parish has planned for the upcoming year and that there will be a modest increase in givings. At the beginning of February, this good news report might be: Compared with the last three Januaries, envelope givings are ahead, and we truly thank you for your support of the work and mission of your church.

In March, the continuing good news report might be this: In spite of the coldest February on record and a slightly lower attendance due to the record breaking snowfall in the middle of the month, our givings were only slightly behind the last three years' average, but we are still ahead on the year to date and we thank you for your support. Did you realize that if you use the Pre-Authorized Payment option for your regular giving, you needn't worry about making up for the Sundays you couldn't get to church because of the weather? Again, we thank you for your continuing support.

Providing such positively reinforcing reports is just one part of a highly successful continuous annual year-round stewardship program, which also uses a narrative budget and promotes PAP. Positive reinforcement helps change the attitude of a parish. Good news is infectious and our supporters ought to be told that their contributions really are going to the work and mission of the parish and are making a positive difference for people. This also lays the groundwork for the good news report that soon the treasurer will have to get a new, larger, glass, because the leaks have stopped, the cracks have been repaired and the glass is now often overflowing.

by Carl Sneyd