Randi Meyer

Tuesday 1/20/09
2. Making a Budget

Crossroads FEC
Nate Hamblin – Monday 1/19/09

The church’s fiscal year runs from July 1-June 30, so here what happens step by step according to Nate:
1. In March staff & ministry leaders receive reports of their actual spending vs. budget from the previous 9 months and other years. Then they are asked to make a proposal for their area.
2. Beginning in April MGMT team takes these proposals along with the “hard numbers” from last year, like utility bills, salaries, etc and projects expenses & income. (based off of giving numbers from previous years.)
3. On the first go around our budget expenses far exceed the expected revenue, so the process of prioritizing and reducing begins. Priorities based on the overall vision/objectives/initiatives of the church, things that are pressing (example: a new AC unit if one is broke) vs. things that are desired (example: added speakers for the auditorium).
4. It takes about 3 months of work to land where the expenses are only a few percentages ahead of the projected income.
5. Once the Management Team has approved a budget, we communicate with the body, and try to explain any large differences.

A couple of added things—
· We look at the balance of the budget in terms of ministry areas.
· We are committed to increasing our missions line by a .5% point each year until we reach the point of giving 10% of our yearly budget toward missions. (missions not church outreach)
· On a typical year, staff is given anywhere between a 2-5% cost of living increase.