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Financial Summary

 

 

Our church has come a long way from its fledgling membership challenges of 20 years ago. Despite being in a small town with limited reserves, we chose to shift from part-time to full-time ministry to help grow and sustain membership. The approach worked, and we now enjoy relatively sustainable financials. However, we are still in a small town, a self-funded congregation, and have relatively small reserves. Thanks to our congregation's continuous volunteer hours, funding, equipment, and supplies, we have kept expenses in check and received adequate income with minimal use of our reserves.

 

Our core membership has dropped slightly over the past four years, affecting our financials. However, as we move past the impact of COVID and together face a change in minister, we are starting to see an increase, again in both membership and financial contributions. At the same time, our fundraising efforts continue to rebound now that the most severe COVID limitations are behind us.

 

During COVID, our Building, which we own outright, sat empty for an unprecedented amount of time. The congregation was fortunate to receive a $50,000 restricted gift meant only for use on the building at the start of COVID. The congregation contributed another $20,000 to help us not only take advantage of completing long overdue renovation projects while the building was idle. We also ensured the building fund would have $20,000 left over after renovations as we advanced. Over the course of 15 months, with the help of various church-friendly, affordable contractors and a handful of skilled members of the congregation, we achieved the following:

 

• Removal of the asbestos floor (100% asbestos-free building now)

• The kitchen plumbing is now up to code.

• Mold removal and improved building envelope to prevent moisture damage.

• Sanctuary window replacement for promoting energy efficiency.

• Installation of new Hall doors and front doors to promote energy efficiency.

• Installation of a centralized COVID filtration system.

• ADA-compliant entryway to Hall installed along with repaved accessway outside.

• LED lighting in the sanctuary that replaced no longer made 300 W incandescent bulbs

 

These projects have lowered our overall building operating costs in terms of utility use and reduced repair and maintenance expense.

 

Also, the refreshed appearance and feel of the church Hall has inspired an additional fund-raising channel with donation-only “coffee house” style performances (e.g., Open Mic, local musicians, etc.)

 

The charts and tables that follow show our income, expenses, and reserves by fiscal year (Sep-Aug) going back to 2015. Some comments:

 

• A decrease in congregation contributions over the past three years. This is partly due to the recent decline in membership and perhaps also because the $20,000 raised during COVID for building improvements may have temporarily impacted regular contributions.

• A decrease in building costs of ownership. This is in part to the positive impact of the renovations but also the generosity of a congregant donating their solar energy credits to the church.

• An increase in administrative costs in recent years. This is mostly because of three factors:

  1. Cost to switch to QB online accounting software as opposed to the desktop version. As of this writing, this cost will be reduced by 2/3 pending the approval of a subsidy for non—profits. This will reduce annual expenses by $600 during the current fiscal year and beyond.

  2. Recently added website and online-based membership management software. This has greatly improved our online presence, donation ease, email communications, and member directory management. We expect this to positively impact staff administration costs, contributions, member communications, event and fundraiser promotion, and overall congregational connectedness.

  3. Increased internet costs to ensure bandwidth was sufficient to provide a Zoom option for folks wanting to continue to attend church from home. We have had great success with offering this option and have been able to reduce bandwidth back to its prior level since we discovered that the boost was not needed after all. This will reduce annual expenses by $1,500 during the current fiscal year and beyond.