How to Use a Cab – for the Ride of Your Life (part 2 of 3)

Posted on July 28, 2015 Written by

Some cabs are going in the same direction as you

The sign of a good leader is when some people are following you and some are chasing you. Know the difference and know the motivation behind how each person is acting – motives reveal all.

Just because someone is going the same direction as you doesn’t mean they agree with everything you say and do and just because someone is going the other way doesn’t mean they wish you ill. But the same is true for you, too. You don’t have to agree with everyone going in your direction or loathe people going the opposite direction. Observe what others are doing and attempt to learn from them – that is wisdom, a hallmark of a great leader.

Know if you want to go with others or take a ride solo

Life’s ride is short and long. Sometimes you want to go alone through some passages while other times the ride is better together. You have to know both your own personality and the passage you’re going through to decide if you want to go through that time alone or not. Making the wrong decision can be painful, but it is never fatal.

You may need to rest a while between rides. Take time. Think about whether you want or need to go solo or with friends. Sometimes it is good to process the knowledge and info you’ve received. Be intentional about setting aside time to think.

Don’t ride with all your baggage; put it in the trunk, out of sight

Some bags are bulkier than others. Learn to empty your bags of garbage so that you don’t carry your trash around. It won’t help anyone and just stinks up the place. Some luggage needs to be left behind once and for all. Some bags need to be given to others through talking with a counselor who can ride with you for a few minutes. Never be encumbered by your last few rides – always build one experience on another for a richer life.

Talk to the cabbie and/or anyone else in the cab

Introverts and extroverts will view this differently. I’m an introvert. I do fine sitting in silence for long periods. But sometimes I just want to ask a question or share an experience with someone. And I’ve learned that getting (well-reasoned) opinions of others can make the ride more fun. Of course, I’ve also had to listen to a few crackpots – just enjoy them for their idiosyncrasies!

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: planning, wisdom, young adults Tagged: , ,

Using Ushers in Emergencies (part 1 of 2)

Posted on May 19, 2015 Written by

There are a dozen emergencies that can happen in a church but there are three “big” ones: fire, weather, and active shooter. In every case, people should act differently. In fire, people in the church building need to get out; in violent weather, they need to hide in a low place; and with an active shooter, they need to get out of the building or hide behind closed doors.

 

It is not possible to train every member what to do in each distinct situation and expect them to remember. It is even hard to train staff members what to do. Most churches use ushers to welcome people into the building so use ushers to lead people to a safe place. Ushers are highly visible, they know the buildings and the people, and are usually trained in how to speak to and guide people. Use them in emergencies when you need to move people quickly.

 

This requires you to do some intensive and on-going training with your ushers. They need to know who will give them instructions to act and to stop. They need to know what kind of situation they are dealing with. They need to know where to tell people to go and who will sound the all-clear signal. They need to know how to handle panic-stricken parents or people with mobility issues. They need to know the names and faces of church members who are medical, fire, and police experts.

 

Please develop a well-thought out emergency preparedness plan in conjunction with local first responders (fire and police personnel). There are some guidelines available from your local emergency responders. Work with them to tailor a plan for your facility and your people. Use your ushers for more than just “ushing.”

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: buildings, church staff, facilities, leadership, planning, strategy Tagged: , , , , ,

Church Business Meetings (part 3 of 3)

Posted on October 14, 2014 Written by

This the third part on church business meetings. In the first section I talked about how to make the membership reports more engaging; the second post was about church programs and reporting how they use their resources, both financial and people, to carry out the church’s vision. This post will be on church decision-making and voting.

Decisions: most decisions should be made at committee levels, since they have more time and information to get into the nuts and bolts of why a decision is necessary. For instance, financial decisions are the realm of the Finance Committee, decisions affecting the church’s staff are the responsibility of the Personnel Committee, etc. It is the duty of each committee to bring to the church a report (see part 2 in this blog series) detailing the actions and reasons. The committee can be asked questions, but the responsibility lies with the committee. If the church body at large disagrees with the committee, then the church body can vote to either replace the committee and/or overturn the committee’s action.

Decisions which affect the entire church body are the ones that should be intentionally brought before the entire church. This requires a lot of education of church members ahead of time. It usually means that information is shared at one meeting, time is built in for members to think about the decision and gain more knowledge, and then everyone comes back to a subsequent meeting for a vote. Asking members to show up at a meeting, get up to speed in 15 to 20 minutes and then vote is not reasonable. If a decision is important enough to be brought before the congregation, then it should be a deliberate decision and not a hasty one. Give people time and you’ll see the “wisdom of the crowds.”

Implementing all or parts of these recommendations will make church business meetings flow more smoothly, be more enjoyable, and lead to better actions by the church. Try to do one of these at a time and incorporate these ideas over a period of months, if not years, and then gauge the attitude toward business meetings.

 

Lead On!

Steve

 

 

Filed Under: church administration, future, leadership, planning, strategy Tagged: , , , ,

Last Will & Testament of Churches

Posted on May 7, 2013 Written by

Does your church have a will? What will happen to the church when the time comes to close the doors? No one wants to think about that; it’s too emotional. After all, this is the building where you were married, your children were baptized, your dad’s funeral was held, and your children ran down the halls despite your threats. This is a building full of emotion. So how do you make a rational decision about an emotional subject? The answer is, you don’t at the time. You make those decisions before it becomes overwhelmingly emotional.

Every church will close, and every church building will crumble. That’s a fact. Yes, there are some churches that are over a thousand years old, but most of those are historical structures (think cathedrals in Europe) that are tourist sites and thus get a lot of their funding from visitors (FYI, it costs money to get into St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London but St. Peter’s in Rome is still free though donations are encouraged).

First Church, Jerusalem was pastored by James, the brother of Jesus. This guy, not one of the disciples, was so revered that he was elevated to be the leader of the most important church in the new group called The Way (aka, Christianity). To see how important James was, just read about the very first business meeting of the church (Acts 15) and that when James spoke, everyone listened and followed what he said. First Church, Jerusalem probably met in a home, albeit a house big enough to handle over 100 people. At some point the Jesus Movement became institutionalized with buildings and structures but early on, it probably met in a house. Here’s the kicker, we don’t know where that house is today – it’s somewhere under all the buildings currently in Jerusalem. Surely God would have saved the meeting place of First Jerusalem just to show everyone how important church buildings are, but God didn’t. That building is now rubble, somewhere.

If God didn’t save First Church, Jerusalem, He won’t keep your building and your church around till Jesus comes. So, what is your plan when the time comes? I urge you to think about it – and I mean “think.” When the time comes the decision will be so overwhelmingly emotional that most people will not be able to deal with the subject in a calm manner. That is expected, this is an emotional subject.

Put together a plan now to answer questions related to closing the church

  • How small will the congregation have to be so that the doors are closed?
  • How small will the budget have to be?
  • What options will be pursued prior to closing the church? Options include merging with another church; becoming a mission point of another church.
  • What will happen to the assets of the church?
  • Will you sell the building and grounds to a developer or donate the property to the local denominational governing body?
  • Will you take action before the buildings begin to deteriorate such that their upkeep means they are the single largest expense?
  • Who will originate the discussion?
  • Who will make these decisions? The trustees? The deacons? The church members themselves?

There are a dozen other questions to be asked of any congregation and a dozen other questions which are congregation-specific. I encourage every church’s leadership to have a well-thought-out and well-documented conversation now, while your church is in good shape. Then, when the time comes to begin a painful conversation, you’ll be ready to address this subject.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: future, leadership, planning, strategy Tagged: , , ,

New Income and Revenue for Churches

Posted on March 5, 2013 Written by

A brief audit of a client’s receipts over the past year revealed something interesting: 22% of their income came from sources other than the primary source. The organization has diversified their approach to receiving income so that more than one in five dollars comes from a non-traditional source. This means that if their primary revenue streams remain the same, this organization will have 20% more money to use – woohoo!

This is a good lesson for churches: are you dependent on your mainstay revenue source (tithes and offerings) or have you begun to look at other revenue streams? Churches must be creative in getting money in the door and then very transparent in how it is spent and used. Here are 21 different revenue streams (the first 10 come from a list prepared by George Bullard and the rest are from me):

  1. Special offerings
  2. Tithes and Offerings
  3. Designated gifts
  4. Fee for Services
  5. Capital Campaigns
  6. Foundations of the Organization
  7. In-kind resources and services from individuals and businesses
  8. Sale of Products
  9. Foundation grants
  10. Investment Income
  11. Rental Income
  12. Event Registration
  13. Cost Recovery
  14. Business Partnerships
  15. Offerings After Special Events
  16. Sponsorships and Scholarships
  17. Ownership of Facilities
  18. Memorials and Memorial Gifts
  19. Capital Investment Lists
  20. High Capacity Donors
  21. Gratitude Gifts
  22. Alumni Gifts
For a fuller description of these, visit Free Resources at www.financeforchurches.org
Lead On!
churchfinancialleadership.blogspot.com
Filed Under: budget, church administration, church finances, planning, strategy Tagged: , , , ,

Guidestar.org

Posted on January 29, 2013 Written by
  • Guidestar is an online non-profit company with one purpose. It publishes the Form 990 that most non-profits are required to submit to the IRS each year.
  • A 990 is a legal doc which states the total expenses and income for a non-profit. It breaks the expenses down into sub-categories and even lists the salaries of the five highest paid employees and their benefits. The 990 also shows the various sources of revenue for a non-profit from programming receipts to investment income. Finally, a 990 lists all recipients for organizations who grants from the non-profit whether these were small gifts or very, very large ones. All 990s on Guidestar are in PDF format so they can be downloaded and/or printed for further analysis.
  • Guidestar has a cool tool which enables people to search the hundreds of thousands of non-profits for any category which interests you. This makes finding your specific field of interest that much easier.
    • For example: your church is working with nearby elementary schools and wants to find money to expand a literacy program. A Guidestar search on “children’s literacy foundation” shows over 150 non-profits which have literacy as one of their interests. Not all of them write grants so further research is required. This is time-consuming but eventually you’ll find a dozen or so foundations to which you will write a compelling grant proposal/request. You may not get much or as much money you want/need the first time you ask, but be persistent and over time you’ll develop relationships with the foundations that will open some doors.
  • Use Guidestar as a research tool to find local and national foundations which can provide additional resources for your efforts.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: church finances, planning, strategy Tagged: , ,

Roadblocks to Strategy Implementation

Posted on July 5, 2012 Written by

Below is the outline of materials presented by Susan Beaumont, a consultant with the Alban Institute. She is very effective and what she has to say (and how she says it) is excellent. Think about each of these 10 items – flesh them out in your own mind and reflect on which one(s) are the roadblocks to the success of your vision and your church.

Top 10 List of What Gets in the Way of Executing Strategy

  1. Too many strategic priorities (should be no more than 2-3 priorities)
  2. Senior clergy losing strategic focus
  3. Board fails to provide oversight
  4. Rogue committees that over-function
  5. Board micromanages the staff team
  6. Staffing structures that don’t support the strategy
  7. No performance management system
  8. Absence of program evaluation
  9. Lack of meaningful measures of success
  10. Operating budget not aligned with strategies

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: leadership, planning, strategy, wisdom Tagged: , , ,

Leap of Faith

Posted on October 15, 2011 Written by

 

For several years I have felt that my gifts and experience in church and non-profit finance could be used to help numerous churches and other organizations. In the 6 ½ years I’ve been at my current church, I’ve accomplished a lot in getting the church’s finances and facilities where they need to be. I’ve helped the church operate more efficiently, effectively, and use technology better; I want other churches to use their resources in the best ways possible. I want to be able to offer my “services” to other places, so I need to make myself available. I believe this will free up some of the church’s resources in order to hire a facilities manager and/or executive pastor–two positions which the church needs but doesn’t currently have.
Because of this, I am resigning my position as Church Administrator of my church effective January 2, 2012. From now on, I am actively seeking a different challenge–and we (my wife and I) hope that will be as a self-employed consultant where I can work with multiple churches and non-profit organizations.
One of the joys I’ve had in the past few years is authoring this blog on church finances, which has had over 2,000 hits (not bad for a site focused only on church finances). I know there is a need for my services, but it will be up to God and prayers for churches to be willing to accept some outside help with their internal finances.
So, in January 2012 I’m launching a career in financial coaching/counseling for churches who need sound financial advice (how to save money, how to bring in more money, how to make the finances and offices more streamlined, efficient, and effective). I don’t know of anyone else doing this (maybe there’s a reason for that!) but it is a passion of mine. In today’s economic strain, churches must become even better managers of the resources they have.

As you can imagine, this is a huge step of faith for us as a family and for me as a professional. We ask for your prayers as we go through this change and for your creative ideas about places that might be able to use my expertise. Please contact me (steveplaw@gmail.com) to discuss financial coaching/counseling for your church or organization.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: future, leadership, planning, strategy Tagged: , , ,
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