Lovett Weems, a senior consultant at the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, shared some good questions in a recent post from the Lewis Center.  I thought they would be helpful as churches begin to craft budgets for the coming year.

The first question is what percentage of your budget is supported by predictable sources of income? In other words, how much of your annual budget is funded by regular sources such as offerings, endowment income and fees?

Another excellent question is how much of giving comes from people over 70 years of age?  Statistics show that this is the group that is most generous, but it is a group with a limited number of years left to give. We want everyone to live forever, but that is not how it works in this life.  So how much of your budget is given by age groups? What does this trend say about your future?

Weems also asks, “Are you deferring maintenance?” I see many churches that are balancing budgets by deferring needed maintenance to facilities. This may work in the short term, but sooner or later the capital needs will come calling. Now is the time to set a realistic amount in the budget for keeping the facilities in repair and upgrading such things as nurseries and bathrooms to 21st Century standards.

If want to read the full article go to: www.churchleadership.com and click on Leading Ideas.