Church Violence Website

Posted on October 23, 2011 Written by

I found a website that deals exclusively with church violence, Church Crime History. I do not know this person so I’m not endorsing it but he has a lot of information and statistics. I believe that his purpose (and mine, frankly) is to make people aware that churches can have violence. Information is always good – information can be used to help members be more aware of what is happening in other churches. Share this resource with whomever you feel it would help to know about this.

Let me encourage church leadership to take some pro-active steps for safety and security. The depth of those actions is dependent on the church’s budget and the perceived potential danger to the church and its people. Some actions won’t cost the church a dime (such as setting up a Safety Officer Team) while others are much more expensive (such as security cameras). It is true that many of the items listed in Church Crime History could never be prevented – no argument there – but some precautions are always a good step in the right direction.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: buildings, church safety, church security, facilities Tagged: , , ,

Church Insurance

Posted on August 28, 2011 Written by

On 9/11/2001, the insurance industry took the largest hit ever – over $40 billion dollars in claims – as a result of the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, the Pentagon and the planes. The insurance industry raised their premiums in an effort to recoup their vast losses – commercial insurance prices rose a lot in 2002 and then stabilized. In an effort to help the insurance industry, Congress also permitted the industry to levy a terrorism fee on new insurance policies (this authorization for this fee expires in 2014). As a result, church’s have been paying more for their commercial property insurance for ten years.

Actually, the price increases for churches are not entirely attributable to 9/11. There were two other series of incidents in the 1990s that exacerbated church insurance premium hikes. The Roman Catholic Church (and other church’s, too) had a series of well publicized pedophilia scandals which then tainted all faith institutions and raised premiums. There were also a number of church vans that tipped over and killed several people. 9/11 was the third of unrelated incidents which affected church insurance.

Since 9/11/2001, every commercial property insurance has carried a terrorism clause and premium. The dollar amount isn’t much and is rarely noted by the policy holder and not often mentioned by the insurance agent. This is a voluntary payment – churches can exempt themselves from paying this by simply stating they do not want this coverage. The coverage is automatic unless the church specifically states it doesn’t want the coverage. Please call your insurance agent and have that coverage removed. In my opinion, churches don’t need it because of the very limited coverage it offers: the terrorist attacks must be perpetrated by US citizens and acknowledged as terrorist acts by Congress are the only ones covered. Therefore, nothing on 9/11 would be covered but the Oklahoma City bombing would be covered.

In recent years I put my church’s insurance contract out to bid. Here’s what I learned. We paid over $42,000 for five consecutive years. In the year that the contract went to bid, the incumbent agent came back with a quote of just over $28,000 – a reduction of 35%. Two other bids came in at the same price so I knew that was a reasonable amount. In December 2010, a year after the initial bidding, I put the contract back out to bid and got back a quote of $24,500 – even more savings. We have shaved about 45% off our insurance contract.

With that savings I paid for a current valuation of the church’s property so that we have an accurate estimate of the worth of the church’s buildings and furnishings. I also got a video inventory of every room, cabinet, closet and office in the church. We made several copies of that video inventory and placed the copies with different people in their homes (away from the church), including our insurance agent. I’m in favor of inventories but not paper ones – when it says “10 chairs” there is no knowing the worth of those chairs. An image of those chairs allows for better accuracy in getting an insurance settlement.

So, please do the following

  1. Call your insurance agent today and delete the terrorism coverage on your church.
  2. Put your church’s insurance contract out to bid as soon as possible. Get at least three quotes and chose the low bidder.
  3. Get a current valuation of your church’s PP&E (property, plant & equipment)
  4. Make a video inventory of your tangible assets and have copies made for several people

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: budget, buildings, church finances, facilities Tagged: , , ,

Capital Budgeting

Posted on August 9, 2011 Written by

The List
Every church needs more money for it’s capital projects. Oh, I presume that you have a list of capital needs which means you’ve already done a study of them. If not, here’s what you need to do:

  • Itemize
    • Make a list of every thing you need to do in the next ten years. 10? Yes, because I guarantee you do not have the money do it all this year so you need to have a plan of what you’re going to do over the next decade. Equipment will break down and need to be replaced. Keeping a list of your HVAC (heating, venting, and air conditioning) equipment and what needs to be replaced in the next few years will help you set money aside for those needs.
    • Also, there are things that you don’t see now that you will need in the future. In 1990, no one had any idea of the power of the internet – now it is an indispensable part of every office. Who knows what the next 10 years will bring – be prepared to control the future rather than having the future take control of you.
    • The list needs to items that you know about but also what others see. No one person knows all in a church, consult with others (both staff and lay members) about what should be on the capital needs list.
    • Most capital needs lists are physical plant items: air conditioning units, roofs, paint, furniture, buildings, etc. There is nothing keeping a church from establishing a capital needs list with items related to non-physical needs – items that will help others outside the four walls of the church and/or will enable members to go farther and do more. I wish more capital needs lists had other items such as
      • Endowment or foundation funds: this would be a pool of funds to meet present and future needs of the church whether it is a physical plant need or a ministry need.
      • Mission fund for a specific trip coming up or to take care of a ministry need somewhere else.
  • Prioritize
    • After you’ve got a list, put them in some type of order. The best order is one which indicates their priority for being accomplished – the priority of need. This order is very fluid – some things will drop in priority while others will rise according to the needs of the church at any given time. For instance, new interior signage may drop in priority when people realize that the condition of the children’s furniture warrants more attention and funding.
    • This does not mean that you’ll do the items on the list in that order. Several things may interrupt such as
      • A donor sees something on the list that tickles his or her fancy and the donor decides to take care of that item(s). There are donors like this in every church – let members know about the list and you may be surprised by how many items are “just taken care of.”
      • Some items are so big that you can’t do them in one year; instead, items are taken care of in phases over several years. I’m doing that right now with several items: installing electric shades in the dining room and gym; replacing all copper gutters and downspouts with aluminum ones with gutter guards (so I never have to pay for the gutters to be cleaned again); putting in new windows throughout the church; etc.
  • Monetize
    • Put a dollar figure beside each one. The dollar figure is very much a guess, but an educated one.  Do not spend the time now to get quotes for every item, just take a stab at how much each item will cost (aim a little high, too!). That way, when people see the list, they’ll understand the scope of the needs. Also, if someone wants to “own” one of the items, they’ll know how much to give to the church to cover that specific item.
  • Date-ize
    • Establish goals as to when items will be done.  These dates can be fluid, of course. But if you don’t put some type of date/goal, then it may never get done. Put it on the list with a desired “due by” time frame even it is done piece-meal over several years.
  • Publicize
    • Tell people what the list contains, why items are on the list, ask them for additional items for the capital needs list, be willing to alter the list as needed, and continue to tell people about the list. The more publicity you can create, the better. You’re not “poor-mouthing” the church, just making people aware of items that they may not know about or may have over-looked. Help people be aware of the needs – then they’ll support you in your efforts to meet these capital needs.
    • One of the ways that I make my list available is to put it in a rack just outside my office door. I totally believe in transparency so I make all financial info available to anyone who comes to my office (and a limited amount online at the church’s website). That rack contains four items:
      • The latest audit by the independent audit firm
      • The most recent monthly financial statement
      • The current capital needs list
      • Give away books on stewardship and generosity (The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn and Fields of Gold by Andy Stanley)
    • When a project is underway, let people know what is being done and why it is being done. AND, thank them for their financial gifts which made that work possible. Acknowledge their generosity every way you can whether it is in print or from the platform.
  • Review-ize
    • Every few months (definitely once a year), go over the list. Move things around in priority, re-value items as you have new info about their cost, change the “due by” dates as needed, move items to the bottom “already done” category, etc. The capital needs list is organic – don’t let it be static.

The Money
I tell my vendors that while I cannot afford a new piece of equipment this year, I can pay for it in five years by setting money aside. Where does this money come from? Lots of sources – and that is key: tap various areas of the church’s finances in order to pay for the various projects. Finding different pools of money to do things will let you do more. Here are some examples:

  • Use the church’s reserve funds for things that are needed. That’s what the reserve funds are there for. Don’t deplete the reserve funds, but also don’t let those funds just sit there when they can be used for immediate and/or pressing needs. If necessary for a big project, tap the entire reserve fund with the understanding that the money will be put back if the church ends the fiscal year in the black.
  • If the church ends the fiscal year in the black AND it has fully funded the reserve accounts it needs, then use the excess to pay for capital needs. Make sure that the governing body of the church authorizes this expenditure and as often as possible, let the congregants know about this project and how it was paid for out of their generous gifts to the budget.
  • The church’s foundation was asked for money for the renovation (complete gutting) of the oldest bathrooms in the church. The foundation was informed that the total need is $100,000 and they would be approached five years in a row for $20,000 each year to do this work. The foundation agreed to fund this.
  • The gym needed new equipment. The need was made known to parents during Upward Basketball games and over the course of about 9 months, over $12,000 was received for this need. This money came from people outside the church so these gifts didn’t affect the church’s budget receipts – this was “gravy money” which we would not have received otherwise.
  • Talk about specific needs with various members of the church who you know have the gift of generosity. Twenty years ago a family donated funds to enhance a room in memory of a loved one. The room is increasingly out of date and needs some re-touching. I approached the family and they are more than willing to underwrite the cost of renovations to this room. In fact, I gave the family a ballpark of how much this would cost and they said that money is not a hinderance. They are a wonderful family and example of generosity.

In summary, keep a list (with lots of input), check it twice and thrice, find the money from lots of different pockets, spend the money while you tell people what you’re doing and why, and say “thank you” lots of different ways.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: budget, buildings, church administration, church finances, church financial statements, facilities, leadership Tagged: , , , , , ,

Thermo-Wars

Posted on July 9, 2011 Written by
I maintain my HVAC (heating, venting, and air conditioning) equipment in as good an operating condition as I possibly can, but that doesn’t stop thermo-wars: people sitting next to each other where one is wrapped in a sweater and the other person is fanning himself because of the heat. I use a laser thermometer in these thermo-wars. Actually, my main weapon is education and the laser thermometer is a tool in the education process.
The laser thermometer looks like a small gun that shoots a laser beam. Within a few seconds after pulling the trigger,  the device displays the temperature of what the beam. The closer the laser thermometer is to the target, the more accurate the reading because longer “throws” allow for more dispersal of the feedback to the sensor. I use this device in several ways:
  • When staff or members tell me something is wrong, I get a laser thermometer reading and show it to the person.
    • If the temp is off, I thank the person and begin working on the problem. That lets the person know I’m not ignoring them. That makes for good public relations with parishioners.
    • If the temp is fine, I show the screen to the person. Sometimes people trust technology more than other people and the laser thermometer can help convince them that the temperature is “normal.”
  • I’ve also bought several laser thermometers for various staff persons. This empowers them to check the temp themselves. Then they can decide whether or not to call me. Giving laser thermometers to others has cut down on the number of “false alarm” calls to me.
  • When I do call my HVAC company to report a problem, I can tell them what the real temp is rather than give a vague response about what the temp is. It helps me to have better communications with the HVAC technician and so my relationship with him is improved.
As I said, it is a neat “toy” but it really does help members see what the real temp is and helps me respond to the members and to the HVAC company. The laser thermometer helps members know the real temp; but the real savings is in controlling the temperature in the building.
Lead On!
Steve
Filed Under: buildings, facilities Tagged: ,

HVAC

Posted on July 8, 2011 Written by

Heating and air conditioning are HUGE consumers of a church’s budget – somewhere in the 5% to 10% range depending on the energy efficiencies of the buildings. There are direct costs to buy and install the equipment, to pay the electric and gas bills, and to pay for ongoing maintenance of the equipment itself including regular PM (preventive maintenance). There are also indirect costs of taking staff time to oversee this equipment and to handle the distraction of members who become obsessed with the temperature.

To save money in this area you need to know and control several things:

  • What the temperature is when it comes into the room
  • How long the conditioned air is on
  • Where conditioned air leaves the room
  1. To control the temperature for the air coming into a room, I set all the thermostats at
    1. Occupied Heat (people using the room during heating season), 68 Fahrenheit
    2. Unoccupied Heat (the room not used during the heating season), 60
    3. Occupied Air Conditioning, 74
    4. Unoccupied Air Conditioning, 80
    5. You don’t want to set the unoccupied temperature too high or low – that will cause the unit to have to work extra hard to get to the occupied temperature when it is called for. The occupied temps are just inside the “uncomfortable” zone – the temps are still comfortable but because they are at the limit, they save large amounts of money than if they were right in the middle of the comfort zone. Frankly, there is no comfort zone that meets everyone’s needs – I hit the edges of the range and then rely on people to dress accordingly, but they still complain. Keeping your building temps within these ranges will save your budget thousands of dollars – I highly encourage you to do this.
  2. To control how long the conditioned air comes into the room, there are several cool pieces of technology
    1. These are great because they can turn a unit on and off when the room is being used according to the program that is keyed into it. This ensures that the units are running only when someone has told the unit to run. Most programmable units have some sort of temporary override button or control. The override is to ensure that when there is an unscheduled meeting, the unit can be turned on in order to get the room to the occupied temp (whether heat or A/C).
    2. The bad news about programmable thermostats is that they rely on humans. Humans have a tendency to want to mess around with thermostats. I’ve found thermostats with the date and time changed (which plays havoc with the schedule that was originally programmed). I’ve also seen thermostats with the programmed temp and run times completely changed. And it doesn’t matter if the thermostat is behind a locked casing or a locked screen, that is just a challenge to some people to figure out how. The human factor is pretty frustrating.
    1. Programable thermostats – this technology has been around for quite a while
  3. The latest piece of technology which I plan to try in a few places pretty soon is a thermostat with a motion sensor. The idea is that when the motion sensor comes on due to movement, it turns on the thermostat which in turn may (or may not) call for the unit to bring the room to an occupied temp.
    1. There are several good things about this:
      1. You only need to program the thermostat (these motion sensor stats are also programmable) for the times of the week when people will definitely be in the room. The rest of the week the unit will turn itself on when it senses motion in the room.
      2. The thermostat will keep the unit on so long as movement is sensed and when it comes on, it will stay on for 15-20 minutes (whatever is programmed when it is setup).
      3. This device completely eliminates the human error element and that is a huge relief.
      4. You will see immediate savings because the unit is running only when it needs to run – not when the room is empty (even though a meeting was scheduled).
    2. There are several bad things (or perhaps I should say, “unknown things”):
      1. The unit will turn on whenever a custodian comes into the room to get one chair or when kids are playing “hide and seek” in the room.
      2. If the unit turns on and off several times a day, it can shorten the life of the unit by several months or even years. That can be mitigated by lengthening the “on” time for the unit to 20-30 minutes but that will also decrease the savings.
      3. These thermostats are not cheap. And, if the thermostat controls temps in several rooms, you’ll need to install a sensor in each major room controlled by the stat so that if someone enters a room, that sensor will “see” the person and turn on the unit (even though the actual motion sensor thermostat is a couple of rooms away). Installing the extra sensors is not cheap either.
  4. There are only just so many places conditioned air can leave a room
    1. That is a huge expense to most churches – let me suggest that you begin phasing in the windows over a 5 or 10 year time period. Divide the church up into 5 or 10 sections and begin replacing windows one section at at time. Doing it in phases will not consume your maintenance budget in one year but spread the cost over several years.
    2. The best time to do all energy efficiencies, is at the beginning of your budget year. If you don’t have a capital budget (and most churches don’t), then spend the money in the first month of your fiscal year. Charge some of the expense to your maintenance budget and the other part to your utility budget (because your utility budget will decrease that year due to energy savings).
    3. One way to fund capital needs, is to take any “leftover” budget money at the end of the fiscal year and put that money into a fund to pay for capital items. I’ll explain this concept in another post – it’s one of my favorite ways to get things paid for without hurting the budget.
    1. Ceiling – most commercial buildings have drop ceilings for the convenience of accessing equipment and running wires without destroying a hard ceiling. However, some amount of conditioned air is lost above the drop ceiling. The good news is that it is not that much and it is usually is a layer of hot air (because hot air rises)
    2. Doors – every time a door is opened, air rushes out (or in). If the room’s thermostat is in occupied mode, then it is a great idea to keep doors closed. Hallways may or may not have conditioned air but hallways, by definition, lead to doors that go to the outside.
    3. Walls – yes, walls leak air. If you can, insulate them in order to keep conditioned air inside the room. Insulating a wall after it is built is not cheap and it is very messy. But it can lead to energy savings.
    4. Windows – this is probably the place in a room where conditioned air is lost the fastest. Windows leak like a sieve. I highly encourage you to get double-paned, energy efficient windows in all your openings.
There are significant and real savings is in controlling the temperature in the building.

 

Lead On!
Steve
Filed Under: budget, buildings, facilities Tagged: , ,

Copper Gutters

Posted on December 21, 2009 Written by

Years ago there were only two kinds of gutters: steel and copper. Because steel rusts, everyone used copper. Copper does not rust – it gets a nice green patina (remember the Statue of Liberty – she’s made out of copper).

My church has about 1540 linear feet of copper gutters plus another 1000 linear feet of copper downspouts installed over a fifty-year span. A few months ago I got the idea of saving money in the long run by installing a gutter helmet so that I don’t have to pay for gutter cleaning. So I priced a copper gutter helmet – total cost for a copper helmet: $80,000! By the way, you can’t install an aluminum helmet on a copper gutter because copper and aluminum have some sort of chemical reaction to each other.

After picking me off the floor, the sales rep said that he could install “lifetime warranty” aluminum gutters, downspouts, and helmets for the entire church for $55,000. So, for $25,000 less, I can get brand new stuff plus a warranty. I don’t have $55,000 to install new gutters. I do have about $5,ooo to $10,000 each year that I can apply to the new gutter system. That’s what I’m doing – over the course of about 5-7 years, I’m going to install new aluminum gutters starting with the areas that are in most need of the gutters due to the amount of leaves they collect.

We’re off to a good start, too. I’ve already done one critical area and as soon as possible into my new budget year I’ll do another critical part. The first part that is already done cost $6,000 but I got $612 dollars back when I sold the copper gutters and downspouts to a scrap metal dealer. I’ve got one more area that is critical to do and then the rest will be done as I am able – they are not critical but necessary. Here are several benefits to replacing the gutters:

  • We save on the cost of gutter cleaning
  • We get a new product with a lifetime warranty
  • We get a better product because of the helmet
  • We get rid of a theft hazard – eventually someone would steal our copper gutters
  • We get money back from the sale of the copper
Lead On!
Steve
Filed Under: buildings, church administration, facilities Tagged: , ,

First Impressions – part one

Posted on November 28, 2009 Written by

Years ago a survey said the number one thing church guests remember about their first visit was (drum roll, please), the landscaping. That’s right – the church lawn. Not the sermon or the greeters but something most members take for granted (until the weeds take over). Guests speculate that if a church takes care of its grass, it is probably doing a good job on other things such as worship, childcare, etc. So, use this list to help ensure you are giving a good first impression.

  • Street signs o Make sure there are street signs on the corner(s) nearest your building. If not, ask the city or county to install signs on your corner (not one of the other three). Make sure people can clearly see your church is at the corner of Elm and Main St. and not the other church at Elm and Second St.
  • Exterior church signs
    o Ensure that the road-side signs with the church’s name are uniform. Some churches have signs of different architectural styles (Gothic, Baroque, Mission) reflecting the committee in charge at the time. Nice lighting is critical.
    o “Keep it simple, stupid” works for church signs, too. The signs should have “just the facts” – after all, there’s only so much fine print you can read at 35 mph. Somewhere the church’s website should be on the sign.
    o Signs with changeable lettering are not bulletin boards but are marketing tools – the messages must be a positive reflection on God and your church. Pithy messages are cute but what are you communicating?
  • Parking lot entrance signs
    o Can drivers see quickly (at 35 mph) where and how to get into your driveway?
    o What about coming in at night, in snow, or rain – is the driveway marked with reflectors, poles, or other visual aids?
  • Parking lot maintenanceo Every other year get your parking lot re-striped. Well-marked lines help people park cars properly. It also cuts down on “creative parking.”
    o “Creative parking” can lead to fewer actual parking spaces and to a bad impression to guests. It is also a hazard if it blocks access to emergency vehicles.
    o Some first-timers come to an evening performance. Light the parking lot so they can see how to get back to their car and continue their positive experience after the special event. Of course, residential churches need to consider the impact of lighting on neighboring houses and turn off parking lots at a reasonable hour.
  • Guest parking
    o Ensure your guest parking (not “visitor parking”) is near the main entrance doors. Label these clearly so members don’t park there.
    o Some churches replaced “handicap parking” with “Special Needs/Sr. Adult Parking” so police cannot ticket non-handicap vehicles. It serves the same function but gives more flexibility.
Lead On!
Steve
Filed Under: buildings, facilities, leadership Tagged: , ,

First Impressions – part three (and last)

Posted on November 28, 2009 Written by

This is a list of physical first impressions. There are whole books devoted to the Sunday morning volunteers. Let me give a brief list of these “personal” first impressions:

  • Your website was created by people for people. Make sure it is saying the right things about your church. Most visits to church websites are by church members seeking information about church programs. But does your site give non-members what they need (including a positive first contact)?
  • You may have police directing traffic in the street near your main parking lot. Are they courteous or surly? Make sure they understand they, too, are part of the image of the church.
  • Some churches have greeters in parking lots helping drivers find spots and directing them to a door. That is an excellent way to impress people – especially if those greeters accompany young families all the way to the welcome desk.
  • The front door greeters should have assigned doors – they’ll get to know the people coming in their door and vice versa. Make sure the greeters have the latest church directory so they can call people by name – it will really impress guests who see people greeted by name.
  • The Welcome/Information Desk volunteers should be extroverts off the scale: warm, friendly, and anxious to go out of their way to help people. Don’t let these critical volunteers burn out. Heap praise on them but also let them know how much is riding on their actions.
  • Parents want to know their children are safe – volunteers need to explain the safety (a better word than “security”) measures in place. Print up a card explaining the details – what to do when you drop off your child and how to retrieve your child. The Welcome Desk volunteers can explain these details en route to the classroom.
  • The Welcome Desk volunteers also need to walk with guests to their Bible study (Sunday School) room or the worship center. But the volunteer also needs to explain to the guest how to find their way out of the building after worship (many church buildings resemble rat mazes) or perhaps the Welcome Desk volunteer can ask a member sitting nearby to “host” the guests.
  • Names are powerful – guests will notice as they walk with their Welcome Desk volunteer when she greets passing members by name. It says a lot that these volunteers learned members’ names and greets each one by name.

You get the idea. If you don’t, then ask a fellow administrator to visit your church as if for the first time and give you a report with this checklist. Don’t shoot the messenger – she’s trying to do your church a favor by giving guests a great first impression of your church. After all, you only get one chance to make a first impression – make it count.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: buildings, facilities Tagged: ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »