It may be time to reevaluate the current budget and make some changes. That means you need to articulate the philosophy of financial management for both the youth ministry and the larger organization. Your budget should reflect the philosophies, not drive them.
Allocation of ministry money is directly linked to your values and goals. When you develop the budget, you and your team determine where to allocate money by answering questions like the following.
Hope I help!!
gw
1. What does the church value?
• Where does the church invest its resources? (Find out by browsing the last few annual reports.)
• What is the church’s spending philosophy? Do they buy the best of a particular item knowing that it will last a long time, or do they get the cheapest possible item that will do the job because they don’t have a lot of cash on hand? Is youth ministry spending in line with the philosophy of the larger organization?
• Is youth ministry a critical part of the church or is it a small part? (Find out by examining the percent of the total budget dedicated to youth ministry. If it’s less than the funeral flower fund, you’re likely to be in for a struggle if you wish to increase your budget.)
• What has the financial committee approved in the past for youth ministry programs and equipment? You’ll get an idea of how flexible they are—how open to ideas new to the church.
2. What does the youth ministry value?
• Of all the good things on which we can spend ministry money, which things, programs, and people do we value most? How will our spending reflect those values?
• How important is "atmosphere" to your ministry? Do you need to appropriate funds to make your ministry area more student-friendly and inviting?
• How important is staff and staff development?
• Do you have experienced staff, or do they need a lot of training and development?
• Do your staff members need a lot of encouragement? A lot of resources?
3. What is the financial history of the youth ministry?
• What was the annual budget last year?
• Where does that money come from?
• Where has the majority of money gone (outreach events, small group materials, van rentals, retreats, fun times, fundraising)?
•What brought in the most money (fundraisers, mission trips, service or work projects)?
• Are there any annual events you need to finance—denominational gatherings, the annual junior high/senior citizen putt-putt golf tournament?
4. What are the mechanics of the financial process?
• Does your church tell you to get what you need when you need it, or does it require you to work the purchase into next year’s budget and to make do with what you have for this year?
• Are there predetermined vendors for curriculum, sound equipment, retreat sites? Or do you determine from whom to purchase?
• Do you get parental financial support, or are you solely dependent on money allocated from the church general budget? What role do your ministry fundraisers play?
• When do you need to turn in your budget proposal to the administration?
5. When is the budget decided, and are midyear changes allowed? If so, what’s the procedure?
• Can you raise additional funds if needed? Do you need approval for that?
6. What financial standards are in harmony with your community?
• In what socioeconomic area is the church located and in what way is that population reflected in your group? (If your church is primarily populated by upper middle-class members, you can probably request a bigger budget. If your congregation is financially strapped, you will have less available financing resources. Study how your church’s socioeconomic makeup affects your ministry finances.)
• Do you have transportation available to you for ministry outings, or do you have to rent vehicles?
7. What needs upgrading over the course of the next year for student safety?
• What do you need to make the ministry student-friendly?
• What items need to be purchased in order for you to continue the development of your ministry? List in order of priority and find out the approximate cost of each item.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Symptoms of Disorganization
It’s easy to do, and it’s hard to get back in control of. The nature of demands you have on your life can so paralyze you that you literally do not know where to begin. Unfortunately, when you don’t know where to begin, it’s a challenge to start. I believe the key is not “getting” organized, but rather, STAYING organized. We all get off on the wrong tract from time to time, but that is no excuse for taking a different course or worse, hitting the “kill switch” on your leadership and coasting for a while. You have people counting on you knowing where THEY are supposed to be going. So, I believe your best bet is to cut away disorganization when you detect symptoms.
Here are 8 Symptoms; I see when I am getting disorganized
1- Cluttered desk
a. Say that you know where everything is if you want. But you know and I know when our work area is chaos, it usually means so are we.
2- Dirty Car – inside and out
a. If we don’t have time to clean, it usually means something of little importance is zapping our time. A car is your “mode of transportation.” When what’s taking you somewhere isn’t getting your attention then I wonder how important your destination is.
3- Insecurity – you worry about someone finding out who you truly are on the inside
a. The lack of confidence in who we are is a tremendous indicator we are are not comfortable with what we are doing.
4- Series of forgotten appointments or deadlines – we become liars to save face
a. You can’t remember every appointment detail. This is why you have to make sure to pre-plan for the meeting, have the meeting, and then debrief yourself of the meeting. Once those are done, you will know how to proceed. BTW, if a meeting is not worth planning for or debriefing after, I recommend not having that meeting ever again. It’s a waste of time and there is no value for your organization. In other words, it’s called fellowship!!
5- Invest a lot more time and energy into unimportant tasks
a. If Facebook is your vice, if you are a master solitaire player, or an incredible golfer, you may not be the BEST leader you can be. Do an inventory of how you spend your day. We all have “down moments” to catch our breath. But your day should be filled with exciting visioneering where you know you are creating your student ministry’s future!!
6- Feel poor about the tasks you are completing
a. If you don’t have Godly Pride in what you’re about to do, you haven’t completely prepared.
7- Rarely enjoy intimacy with God
a. Don’t be so busy doing the “work of the Lord” that you neglect the Lord working in you!!
8- Quality of my personal relationships reveal weaknesses
a. Frustration spills over to close relationships. I have a “fussing bush” in my yard. I go there and get out everything; I refuse to take in my home. If you come in and “Veg” more than you contribute to the family relationships you have, you are all out of wack.
If you find yourself trending towards one or more of these often, I recommend you stop, drop, and roll!!
1. STOP – take an inventory of what it is that’s throwing you off track
2. DROP – eliminate time wasters and remove the “busy work” that’s killing your drive.
3. ROLL – get back on track and create a future that generations will love you for!!
Hope I helped!!
pg
Here are 8 Symptoms; I see when I am getting disorganized
1- Cluttered desk
a. Say that you know where everything is if you want. But you know and I know when our work area is chaos, it usually means so are we.
2- Dirty Car – inside and out
a. If we don’t have time to clean, it usually means something of little importance is zapping our time. A car is your “mode of transportation.” When what’s taking you somewhere isn’t getting your attention then I wonder how important your destination is.
3- Insecurity – you worry about someone finding out who you truly are on the inside
a. The lack of confidence in who we are is a tremendous indicator we are are not comfortable with what we are doing.
4- Series of forgotten appointments or deadlines – we become liars to save face
a. You can’t remember every appointment detail. This is why you have to make sure to pre-plan for the meeting, have the meeting, and then debrief yourself of the meeting. Once those are done, you will know how to proceed. BTW, if a meeting is not worth planning for or debriefing after, I recommend not having that meeting ever again. It’s a waste of time and there is no value for your organization. In other words, it’s called fellowship!!
5- Invest a lot more time and energy into unimportant tasks
a. If Facebook is your vice, if you are a master solitaire player, or an incredible golfer, you may not be the BEST leader you can be. Do an inventory of how you spend your day. We all have “down moments” to catch our breath. But your day should be filled with exciting visioneering where you know you are creating your student ministry’s future!!
6- Feel poor about the tasks you are completing
a. If you don’t have Godly Pride in what you’re about to do, you haven’t completely prepared.
7- Rarely enjoy intimacy with God
a. Don’t be so busy doing the “work of the Lord” that you neglect the Lord working in you!!
8- Quality of my personal relationships reveal weaknesses
a. Frustration spills over to close relationships. I have a “fussing bush” in my yard. I go there and get out everything; I refuse to take in my home. If you come in and “Veg” more than you contribute to the family relationships you have, you are all out of wack.
If you find yourself trending towards one or more of these often, I recommend you stop, drop, and roll!!
1. STOP – take an inventory of what it is that’s throwing you off track
2. DROP – eliminate time wasters and remove the “busy work” that’s killing your drive.
3. ROLL – get back on track and create a future that generations will love you for!!
Hope I helped!!
pg
Monday, February 1, 2010
Leaders MUST BE "Led"
How many times have you wondered how effective you are as a leader? There may be no "I" in TEAM, but there are 2 "I"s in WINNING!! Below are my notes from a recent leadership workshop i did. Enjoy.
Hope this helps!! gw
------------------------------
Leaders must be “Led”
The Principle: To continually experience the ecstasy of effective leadership you must experience consistently the stabilizing of selfless servant hood.
Keys to Effective Leadership
Key #1: Growth Is Demanded
Personal Motto: “If you do not “grow”, you will not “go.”
Illustration: Baby stages of development
Application: Develop a Personal Growth Discipline that challenges who you are and where you are verses who and where you want to be.
Key #2: Be a “Timothy” and a “Paul”
Timothy
Poor Leaders are people who are not “poured” into.
“Always sit at the feet of great men.” DLK
Applications:
1. Find someone who is where you want to be.
2. To be an effective leader, you must be a constant reader
Paul
Adequate leaders are people who do not add to others what they’ve learned, themselves.
Let others learn from the price you paid for your education.
Key #3: The Two I’s
“There may not be an I in TEAM, but there are 2 I’s in WINNING.” gw
A. I = Initiative
The secret to success: to tend unflinchingly towards a goal.
Notice I did not say unfailingly!
“To fail is not to lose, but rather, its research for your next win” Chris Hill
“Before I found the 1 way to create the light bulb, I first found one million ways not too.” Thomas Edison
Trust me: You will always pay for your education, but you will never learn from that teaching moment without a passion/drive to do so.
Crucial Point:
You can be taught how to “take” initiative.
You can not be taught how to “have” initiative.
As a leader with initiative, you must initiate.
Defined: To begin or originate.
To introduce a new field, skill, activity, or interest.
Iows: “if it is to be, it’s up to me.”
Applications for the “Leader”:
#1: You have to decide what it is God wants you to want.
#2: You have to live moving towards it.
#3: You have to see it and define what it looks like.
#4: You have to a cast vision so compelling that others want it with you and for you.
A Favorite quote of mine:
“Greatness is not where we stand, but in what direction we’re moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it- But sail we must, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” Oliver Wendell Holmes
B. I = Instinct - Initiative cannot be utilized without instinct to do so.
Defined: An inner pattern of behavior that is not leaned.
A powerful motivation or impulse.
A natural capability or aptitude
You are always searching for what can work better, even in the moment.
“You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away……” the gambler
A Great Leader’s plan is always negotiable in the moment.
“You have to make room to adlib, because some ideas sound good but are just stupid.”
Hope this helps!! gw
------------------------------
Leaders must be “Led”
The Principle: To continually experience the ecstasy of effective leadership you must experience consistently the stabilizing of selfless servant hood.
Keys to Effective Leadership
Key #1: Growth Is Demanded
Personal Motto: “If you do not “grow”, you will not “go.”
Illustration: Baby stages of development
Application: Develop a Personal Growth Discipline that challenges who you are and where you are verses who and where you want to be.
Key #2: Be a “Timothy” and a “Paul”
Timothy
Poor Leaders are people who are not “poured” into.
“Always sit at the feet of great men.” DLK
Applications:
1. Find someone who is where you want to be.
2. To be an effective leader, you must be a constant reader
Paul
Adequate leaders are people who do not add to others what they’ve learned, themselves.
Let others learn from the price you paid for your education.
Key #3: The Two I’s
“There may not be an I in TEAM, but there are 2 I’s in WINNING.” gw
A. I = Initiative
The secret to success: to tend unflinchingly towards a goal.
Notice I did not say unfailingly!
“To fail is not to lose, but rather, its research for your next win” Chris Hill
“Before I found the 1 way to create the light bulb, I first found one million ways not too.” Thomas Edison
Trust me: You will always pay for your education, but you will never learn from that teaching moment without a passion/drive to do so.
Crucial Point:
You can be taught how to “take” initiative.
You can not be taught how to “have” initiative.
As a leader with initiative, you must initiate.
Defined: To begin or originate.
To introduce a new field, skill, activity, or interest.
Iows: “if it is to be, it’s up to me.”
Applications for the “Leader”:
#1: You have to decide what it is God wants you to want.
#2: You have to live moving towards it.
#3: You have to see it and define what it looks like.
#4: You have to a cast vision so compelling that others want it with you and for you.
A Favorite quote of mine:
“Greatness is not where we stand, but in what direction we’re moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it- But sail we must, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” Oliver Wendell Holmes
B. I = Instinct - Initiative cannot be utilized without instinct to do so.
Defined: An inner pattern of behavior that is not leaned.
A powerful motivation or impulse.
A natural capability or aptitude
You are always searching for what can work better, even in the moment.
“You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away……” the gambler
A Great Leader’s plan is always negotiable in the moment.
“You have to make room to adlib, because some ideas sound good but are just stupid.”
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