Articles on Finance
Offerings. Tithes. Stewardship. Generosity. Giving. Sacrifice. Finance. There are many words that we use to describe the money that is received by the church for ministry use. There are also many facets to the Finance Department as they aid ministries by organizing the necessary funds.
Upcoming Webinar: Preventing Sexual Abuse in Your Church
Upcoming on September 4--Sex abuse claims remain the top reason churches go to court each year. Fletch interviews Matthew Branaugh, editor for Christianity Today’s ChurchLawAndTax.com, about this troubling ongoing trend in the church. What [...]
Top 10 Reasons Church Loans are Declined
Join Fletch and leaders from Thrivent for an insider’s look into church loans. Both Chris Lewis and Teresa Loker have extensive experience that can pull back the curtain on these issues. When your church is [...]
5 Building Blocks of Church Financial Integrity … with free ebook
Michael Martin and Fletch examine a vital topic of how to ensure your church has financial integrity. When you have a problem in this area, your donors get nervous and may stop giving. From his [...]
Digital Giving Trends
Fletch and Troy Pollock began an intriguing discussion at the 2019 XP-Seminar. Back by popular demand, this "state of digital giving" continues that discussion. From his vantage point of working with thousands of churches around [...]
Successful Church Project Planning
Getting a church loan is an area that most church leaders find murky and complicated. Chris Lewis from Thrivent has expertise from his years of helping churches with their borrowing capacity. The video ranges from [...]
First Person Report on an Internal Control Audit
This article is by a student in XPastor's Course MS-203, XP Boot Camp. To preserve confidentiality, the author will be listed as anonymous. One of the assignments for those taking the class for certification was: [...]
Borrowing Designated (Restricted) Gift Balances
Tuesday, May 14, 2019 Hey Fletch … Our finances have trended downward and we borrowed $20,000 from the unused balances of restricted funds. This caused some controversy on the church board. What is your counsel? [...]
Numbers Based on Operating Budget or Total Revenue
Tuesday, May 7, 2019 Hey Fletch … Do you have benchmark data that documents total compensation as a percent of total revenue (restricted and unrestricted), not just of the operating budget? I know over the [...]
Seven Common Mistakes Churches Make When Performing a Ratio Analysis
Church board members are eager to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility and watch over the long-term economic health of the church. However, most are not used to reading nonprofit financial statements. This can make it [...]
How Can We Do a ‘Love Offering’
Monday, May 6, 2019 Hey Fletch … We occasionally receive love offerings for our senior pastor and other staff members. How should we handle these gifts? DRF—There are so many questions floating out there about [...]
Building Campaign that Falls Short
Monday, April 29, 2019 Hey Fletch … Two years ago we launched a building campaign for our church, but we fell short of our goals. Now the board has decided not to expand the [...]
Supporting Missions Work
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 Hey Fletch … Our church provides direct support to several international missionaries. What are the issues we should look at to provide this support with the utmost integrity? DRF—There are so [...]
2019 Mileage Reimbursements
Wednesday, March 27, 2019 Hey Fletch … Some of my fellow XPs have a variety of polices regarding mileage reimbursement for staff. I am wondering about best practices regarding this issue. Any help? DRF—In [...]
Giving to a Short-Term Missions Team
Monday, March 25, 2019 Fletch is back from his research break, writing Predators in the Church Hey Fletch … I’ve been tracking with Dan Busby’s comments in the Hey Fletch column. I know gifts [...]
ASU 2016-14 and Churches: Four Key Questions Church Financial Leaders Should Ask to Understand the New Liquidity Disclosures
Recent nonprofit financial reporting standards updates will result in several changes to external financial statements that church financial leaders should understand. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-14 is intended to [...]
Gifts for a Needy Person
Tuesday, February 26, 2019 Hey Fletch… We have a widow in our church that is going through serious medical challenges. She has exhausted her financial resources. Several wealthy members of the congregation want to financially [...]
Can a Church Pay FICA for a Pastor?
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 Hey Fletch … It’s been one month after I got your answer to my question. I still don’t have my head wrapped around this issue of FICA vs. SECA and how [...]
Staff Budgets Are Cut
Monday, February 18, 2019 Hey Fletch … I’m been on staff at our megachurch for many years. Every year, I have to worry about the budget for my area being cut in the middle of [...]
Significant Impact of Recent Supreme Court Decision Continues to Evolve for Nonprofits That Sell Items to Buyers in States Where They (the Nonprofits) Do Not Have a Physical Presence
As we originally reported in our June 21, 2018 Special Alert℠, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., et al., that states can, in some circumstances, require a seller [...]
Is Pastoral Compensation over $500,000 Excessive?
Thursday, February 14, 2019 Hey Fletch … no names or cities on this one … Few in our church know this and it might be disturbing to many if it leaked out. I just learned [...]
Mileage Reimbursement for Missionaries
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 Hey Fletch! First off, thank you so much for bringing such an informative and fun workshop to Hawaii. It was such a pleasure to see you and we look forward to [...]
Giving Envelopes and Designated Giving
Tuesday, February 12, 2019 Hey Fletch…our church envelopes and website allow donors to make designations. There are words that say, “The board has complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds.” Can [...]