Here is your Bonus Friday post, this time, especially for churches and other religious organizations.

How many times have you seen a church budget on a spreadsheet where it is as clear as crystal that most of your donations are supporting salary and other personnel expenses? If you’re in a small congregation, that usually translates into “more than half of our budget is going to pay the pastor.” Or even 75%!

Here’s a great article about so-called “overhead” or “administrative costs” being considered “ministry.”

https://baptistnews.com/article/a-new-framework-for-thinking-about-church-budgets/

Thanks to Wendy McCormick at the southwest office of The Center for Congregations for sharing this article.

A narrative budget format can help your constituents go beyond the overhead/ministry dichotomy. Consider developing a missional budget, perhaps to go alongside your traditional “spreadsheet” budget this fall. Call or email me if you need help with that.