Childrens Ministry Online

Show me the registration forms!

Posted on 16. Feb, 2009 by Kenny.

Hey people! I need your help. Last Sunday I picked up and looked at our “registration card” that first time visitors fill out. Embarrassingly, it was the first time I looked at this. I’ve got several new volunteers who are doing our data entry and I was overseeing their training. I tried to enter one of these cards into the database and found myself guessing and making assumptions. Unfortunately, our registration card causes you to guess who the cell phone belongs to and who the email belongs to. There are other things as well, but I won’t get into them.

So, I plan to revamp this sucker in the next few weeks. Here’s where I could really use your help. I love to look at how other churches do their cards. What information do you ask for? How big is the card? What is they layout like?

If you would, send me your card. Take a picture of it, scan it or send me the original file. When I get it, I’ll create a new post and upload all your examples. Here’s a great opportunity to share and learn from each other… and it sure would help me out a lot!

UPDATE: I’m posting the cards you send me here.

This is the card Gateway has been using for at least the last several years. It’s 5.5 x 4.25.

Continue Reading

Budgets: Are you feeling a crunch this year?

Posted on 27. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.

I’m just curious and throwing this question out there. With the economy in the condition it is in at this time, is your church really feeling it? How has that affected your budget or your budget planning for next year?

I’m working on the 2009 budget this week and I think we’re anticipating things to get a little tight, but nothing to serious.

Anyone have to make budget cuts? What areas are seeing the cuts? What ways are you having to be creative to deal with shortfalls?

Continue Reading

Watching the numbers

Posted on 22. Sep, 2008 by Kenny.

Something I’ve found to be true is that our “feeling” often deceive us. Too many times we also make decisions without taking an honest look at the data. One of my biggest pet peeves is when church leadership makes big (sometimes life-altering) decisions before getting all the facts. Looking at the data, interpreting the data and then asking some questions will help any leader really understand what is going on.

Last Sunday was a pretty full house here at Gateway. We’ve instituted the off-site parking shuttles and all the other things you do to “make room.” One of the things I learned last Sunday is that things were not as I had assumed. I learned an important truth. Because our attendance surged so high this last weekend, I was able to see something I hadn’t seen before.

Since coming here I have been told that 11:00 is our biggest service. It’s pretty obvious on Sunday. The lot is more full and people are sitting against the walls in the auditorium at the 11:00 service. Even when I look at my overview of numbers, I do have more kids at 11:00 than at 9:30. It’s always that way. The last 3 or 4 weeks I’ve walked around the early childhood area at 9:30 and noticed that they were feeling fuller than normal. This was odd because elementary seemed about the same as always. It wasn’t until I looked at the report a few hours ago and noticed a trend that I hadn’t seen but makes perfect sense.

At 9:30 the nursery was almost twice as full as it was at 11:00. The preschool was only 5-10% bigger than at 11:00. Elementary? It was about 50% smaller at 9:30 than at 11:00. This was an unusual Sunday, but it caused me to go back and look at past weeks numbers. They all say the same story (although not as dramatic). Yes, 11:00 is a bigger service and we have more kids at that time. But unless you look at individual rooms or areas, you won’t see that the younger ages are busting at the seams at 9:30.

My assumption had been that 11:00 is bigger, so we should always staff that service bigger. Now our team knows that this is true (except for early childhood). My new assumption is that we have a lot of parents of young children getting church in before nap-time. I won’t know for sure until we start asking around. This week we’ll be able to communicate to our parents about ideal service times. We’ve come dangerously close to turning away some little kiddos simply because our facility was at capacity. We can communicate to our parents that if it isn’t a big deal for them to come to 11:00, it will make room for more babies at 9:30.

I love looking at numbers and trends. I’ve learned a lot from studying them. What have you learned from keeping an eye on your numbers?

Continue Reading

Submitting to leadership (Ministry Budgets Part Six)

Posted on 08. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

In all of the things I’ve discussed the past 5 days, there was one element that brings it all together. It’s about submitting to the leadership God placed above you. I agree that generally speaking, children’s ministry budgets are under funded. I do believe that children’s pastors should present the need, present a vision and ask for what is appropriate. However, what leadership decides as a ministry budget needs to be accepted. Again, it comes back to loaves and fishes.

We have to remember that God will bless us when we make the best use of what he’s given us. He’s honored when we creatively expand the resources we’ve given. When we are faithful in these things, he will entrust us with more.

Sometimes fundraiser’s are not an option. I worked at a church where fundraiser’s were not allowed and I absolutely agree with their point. Whether we like it or not, many people walk into church with a certain amount they’re going to give. If they get nickle’d and dime’d in the lobby they’re only going to give to the offering what they have left of what they were planning on giving. I know that’s a vague generalization, but it is how many people think. They don’t understand the difference between the youth groups camp fundraiser, the singles group mission trip and the offering passed during the service. In their mind, they gave to the church. Understandably, many pastors don’t like fundraiser’s. So if your pastor won’t allow them, don’t do them.

It’s easy to get your feathers ruffled when you don’t think your ministry isn’t getting the funds it deserves. It’s especially hard when you see other ministries with all the shiny new stuff and you’re duct taping the sound booth together. I’ve been there… many times. Don’t stay there. I remember going over budget a little one year and the way I rationalized that this was okay was because we didn’t get what we needed. Fair or not fair, this attitude was dangerous and wrong.

So, if this is an issue for you, here is what needs to happen.

Communicate with your leadership. Let them know where you are coming from. Vent if you have to, but then try to come to closure. There are only two acceptable outcomes. Either they’ll make changes and try to give you area more funds or they won’t and you’ll have to submit to that decision. Those are the only two acceptable outcomes. Getting frustrated or venting to others are not acceptable. It would be better for you, leadership and the church in general if you stepped down if either of the acceptable options are not possible. Honestly I think these cases are rare and most of the time your pastor truly wants you to have all the funds and resources you need to be effective.

Well, that’s it. I’ve enjoyed this series of posts on budgeting. Let me know what you think and feel free to comment. On to whatever is next

Continue Reading

When you don’t have enough (Ministry Budgets Part Five)

Posted on 07. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

There are times when there just isn’t enough money to do what you need to do. I’m going to make several suggestions, several things I’ve done at various churches I’ve been a part of. However, there is one major thing to consider that I will write about tomorrow. So, enjoy the ideas and dream about what options you have but let it be tempered by the information I’ll present tomorrow.

However, there may be times where you have to be creative and come up with new ways to fund your projects. These may be simple fundraiser’s to special partnerships with the business community. Here are some of the things I’ve done:

Fundraiser’s

I hate these things, but they’ve often allowed me to have some non-budgeted items over the years. Back in 2000 I had kids sell frozen cookie dough. We got a special deal through Wal-Mart and they matched what the kids raised (I don’t think they were supposed to do this, but I think the manager just made it happen for us). We raised enough to get a computer (it was still used) and the equipment necessary to have Power Point in our Kids Worship area. A few years later at another church we found out about a shaved ice business that did profit sharing. Our church hosted a huge church-wide picnic and the Children’s Ministry sold shaved ice. We ended up making $700 – $800 in just three hours. We used this to buy some tech equipment for one of our kids rooms. We also set up present wrapping stations outside of Wal-Mart near Christmas, sold concessions at family events, held an ice cream social after VBS and did parent-night-out events where we took care of the kids while the parents went out for the night. Like I said, I hate these things… but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Pick your poison.

Connect a person with your need

Sometimes there is someone attending your church who would be more than willing to financially meet your current need. I’ll leave you with one example. I was working at a church where we were pretty strapped. My wife found out that a co-worker was selling a gumball machine. I totally wanted it! I was teaching a series on missions and I had the perfect idea. I wanted to find an easy and fun way for kids to give toward missions on a regular basis. Although we would do a special offering at VBS and make pushes at other times, I had a great idea. I wanted to put a gumball machine in the hallway and tell kids and parents that every time they bought some gum, they were changing the word as I would donate all the money toward international missions. You’d be amazed at how quickly those things fill up with quarters. I talked to my pastor and he recommended a member who had a big heart for missions. He told me, “Go tell Bill to buy it, he’s got a heart for missions.” So, I pulled Bill aside one Sunday and told him what I wanted to do. He loved it. I told him I didn’t have the money and it would cost $600. He wrote the check right there. Mission accomplished!

Partner with businesses

Over the years I’ve gotten some good experience at corporate fund raising for the Children’s Ministry. I got my first start at it when I was asked to revamp our Fall Festival. It was an event that attracted about 2000 people and I had exactly $2000 to work with. I wanted the event not be a Halloween alternative to a great community wide event. But I knew I needed more money. My initial idea to raise a few extra thousand dollars were to sell off sponsorships of booths and activities. I figured that I could get banners for about $35 a piece. If I sold sponsorships, I could buy the banner (have their corporate name/logo put on the banner) and have the extra $65 to spend. In addition we figure we could sell sponsorships to go on the pack of staff t-shirts for $200 to $300 each. This was the years that 9/11 happened so a ton of things impacted this event. In the end, we had between 6,000 to 7,000 people attend and we raised an additional $10,000 to $12,000. I had a woman working with me that was absolutely amazing at selling vision and raising money. She took the event from there and took it to the next level every year.

I used this same method for both VBS and Daddy Daughter Dances. We’d let businesses and individual’s buy sponsorships on the back of T-shirts, sponsor tables and even sponsor our post-VBS pool party. For both of these events I’d send a packet home with all the kids. The packet contained information about our church as well as information about our sponsors. I feel there are pros and cons to this method. The con is that you end up spending a bunch of time raising money in addition to planning the event. I think it also can send a confusing message. Parents may ask about why this “ministry event” is sponsored like crazy. The pro is that you do involved the community and it often opens more doors to people participating in the ministry. Another pro is that you might actually have the funds to pull off the event you envisioned.

Special Note: Like I said before, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. All of these things take a lot of work. There were so many times where I just wished I didn’t have do all the extra stuff to raise the money and I could just do ministry. I’ve been fortunate enough to work at churches that just made sure the money was there to do it and that was a blessing. However, too many out there just don’t have enough. Take heart though, I’m sure Paul may have said the same things while he was sewing tents together. Be sure to read my post tomorrow as I address this specifically.

Continue Reading

When over spending is okay (Ministry Budgets Part Four)

Posted on 06. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

You have your budget. It’s your responsibility to stay on track and steward it well. However there are times when it’s okay to over spend. Huh? Yep, here’s when it’s okay.

• When your bottom line doesn’t change. Yeah, this one was kind of a trick. Typically the people you report to are going to be concerned that you stayed within your annual budget. The fact that you spent $100 more on cookies and $100 less on paper clips is something the finance department isn’t going to care about. If they do… I’d suggest a good hard look at where you’re at. To be honest, I like to spend what I need. If I didn’t budget enough for background checks this year, I don’t want to pay for the difference out of my curriculum account. Then when it come time to budget next year, I, nor will my leadership know that I simply didn’t have enough money to run background checks. So, on essential accounts, I try to spend exactly what it costs to do ministry. If I’m over, then that’s okay. It helps me see what I need to increase for next year. However (and this is a big however), you have to make sure you still stay under your bottom line. So if you went over in curriculum, craft supplies and background checks, you need to come in under the same amount in other areas.
• When you get permission. I know it sounds like a no-brainer but it’s true. Although budgets were set back in October, you never know where things are now. Talk to your pastor about getting some more money. Don’t communicate need, communicate vision. Tell him what the payoff is for getting that little bit extra. You never know, but the pastor could have an extra $5000 sitting in an account he originally planned to use but is no longer going to use it. Who knows, you may be able to convince him that the money is better spent on your area. (Or there could be a giving surplus that the leadership hasn’t yet decided how to spend it). In this case, spend over your budget with this extra money. It gives you a better picture of what it actually costs to do ministry which will help you plan for next year. If you show that you have a need, stay under what you have been allocated and knock it out of the park… you’ll get the attention (and possibly the funds) your ministry deserves.

Continue Reading

Financial stewardship (Ministry Budgets Part Three)

Posted on 05. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

Fishes and loaves. It’s all about the fishes and loaves. Yon can only spend what you have available. From here you have to trust God to maximize your resources.

Ultimately, you are responsible to stay on budget. It’s a matter of integrity. I’ve managed budgets ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than a hundred thousand dollars. Regardless of size, it’s still our duty to keep our spending below the budget. Here are a few things to consider though (this may depend on how your church budgets).

• Just because you have a budget of X doesn’t mean you have X to spend. Many churches set a budget at the beginning of the year based on the previous year and growth trends. The budget you have been given is an estimate, not a guarantee. So, even though you have have X allocated to spend this month, church families may not have given enough to cover your accounts.
• Just because you have a budget of X doesn’t mean you have X to spend. Giving may be on budget but the youth pastor may have gone way over budget last month (Yeah, I did just pick on the youth pastor). Actually it could be many factors. An air conditioning unit could have blown up and had to be fixed… and that wasn’t in the budget. So, your money may have been spent by someone else. This is where things aren’t really fair, but it’s a part of life. Let’s say the YP did overspend. Sure, he’ll have to answer to his over spending, but the fact hasn’t changed that the money in your budget is not there. Remember, it is the church’s money, not ours and if there isn’t money to spend, we have no right to spend.
• Just because you have an annual budget of X doesn’t mean you can spend Y in February. You need to see how your budgeted has been allocated. Is X divided evenly by 12 and allocated as that much every month. If this is the case, and you know you have some big expenses during the summer, you may need to under spend in the months leading up to summer so that you have the room to over spend in the summer. I’ve found that I’ve usually spent 80-90% of my budget by September, so it helps for me to front load a lot of my expenses thorough out the year. That way I’m don’t have to worry about over spending at certain times of the year.

These are all primarily related to cash flow. If a certain money is coming in, then you only have that much to go out. Too many times we take the finance department or the staff person keeping the books for granted. We all get very focused on our ministries and doing what we need to do to make them happen, and the accountant is in his tiny basement office sweating like a pig trying to figure out how to make it all work. Cash flow is one of the biggest killers of businesses, the same is true for churches. So, due what you’re called to do and spend what you’ve been given to spend, but do keep your eye on these other factors… its about being a part of a team.

Special Note:

I certainly don’t want this to all come across negative. I just think its an important thing to consider. It’s your reputation on the line. It doesn’t matter how great a CP you are, but if the finance team is cussing you in the basement… you have something to work on (apparently the finance team has something to work on too… and why are they always in the basement?).

Continue Reading

Sample budgets and event planing forms (Ministry Budgets Part Two)

Posted on 04. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

I thought I’d share some examples. I could talk all about budgeting and how I’ve done it, but let’s face it… you want to see some examples.

[...]

Continue Reading

Developing your annual ministry budget (Ministry Budgets Part One)

Posted on 03. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

Ministry budgets come in all sorts and sizes. In fact, many churches approach the budget concept from different angles. I’ve been at a church where there wasn’t a budget… just a big pot that all the money was in. If I needed money for something, I just asked the Senior Pastor if there was any money for it. I’ve been at churches where we had budgets, but I never saw it and just spent money within reason. I’ve also been at the church where the budget was an inflexible law where every pen I took from the supply cabinet and every copy from the copier was charged to my meager account. Some churches plan out a budget at the beginning of the year where others allocate percentages of the giving each weekend to the individual ministries. There are many flavors. Hopefully in this little series I’m putting together there will be some good information that is useful to your situation.

[...]

Continue Reading

I heart my new web apps (part 2)

Posted on 16. Sep, 2007 by Kenny.

Okay, here is my favorite web app of all time right now. It it literally changing the way I prepare for church and even has some great application for personally use. The program is called Folder Share and it free. I think it used to be called file taxi or something, but Microsoft bought them out and they seem to be running the show (don’t let that scare you off yet, the application is really cool).

[...]

Continue Reading