Church financial leaders are encouraged to set one or two focused goals to strengthen mission and financial health. From creating narrative budgets to teaching year-round stewardship, Ken Sloane offers 12 practical ideas promote transparency, trust, and generosity—empowering churches to better align finances with ministry and disciple-making.
As we prepare to begin a new year, many of us will set resolutions for ways to steer our lives in the months ahead: eat healthier, exercise more, quit smoking, save money, and spend more time with family (these are some of the most popular). To avoid making and breaking one of those reasonable goals, I thought, “What goal could church financial leaders make for stronger mission empowerment in the congregation and a financially healthier church?”
Before you look at my list, please read the following statement: No church needs 12 goals! Picking one goal and accomplishing it could give your church’s ministry a big boost! Too many goals will divide your attention and focus. I encourage you to pick one, two if you are ambitious, or three (but no more) if your team is made up of a bunch of zealots who can’t be challenged enough. Setting and achieving one new goal is a reason to be righteously proud! So, here are twelve goals from which you can choose:
1. Develop a better budget that’s transparent and tells a story.
Create a budget that reflects your church’s mission and ministry goals. Share it with the congregation through meetings, newsletters, or worship moments so everyone understands how their giving supports ministry work and operations. Transparency builds trust and inspires faithful generosity. Create a Narrative Budget to explain the impact of giving better.
2. Improve online giving options.
Upgrade online giving platforms to ensure they are mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, and secure. Promote these tools during worship, on the church website, and in newsletters. Highlight recurring giving options to help members plan their generosity and provide consistent financial support for the church. Create a short video for your website to show folks how easy it is to set up their online giving.
3. Build a stronger finance team.
Recruit diverse individuals with skills in finance, administration, or stewardship. Provide training to ensure everyone understands their roles and church financial policies. Hold regular meetings to foster teamwork, accountability, and shared ownership of financial health while maintaining a spirit of discipleship and service. When projects or events are planned by others in the church, attend as a team to see what your work is empowering.
4. Strengthen financial reporting.
Develop user-friendly financial reports that clearly show income, expenses, and progress toward budget goals. Share updates regularly with church leaders and the congregation to build trust. Reports should focus on ministry impact, not just numbers, so giving feels connected to meaningful outcomes.
5. Teach stewardship throughout the year.
Integrate messages about giving and gratitude into the life of the church all year. Use sermons, newsletters, and small groups to explore stewardship as a spiritual practice. Show how generosity impacts the church’s work and helps members grow in their faith and trust in God.
6. Set up or grow an emergency fund.
Create or strengthen a church savings plan to cover three to six months of expenses for emergencies. Start small, celebrate progress, and remind members how a safety net ensures financial stability in unexpected times—allowing the church to focus on ministry, not crisis management.
7. Focus on reducing debt.
Prioritize paying down church loans or other debts to free funds for ministry. Share debt-reduction goals and celebrate milestones with the congregation. Demonstrate how eliminating debt helps redirect resources toward outreach, missions, and new initiatives that support the church’s mission.
8. Conduct an annual giving campaign with a mission focus.
Plan an annual stewardship campaign that highlights how giving changes lives. Share stories of the church’s impact in worship, newsletters, and social media. Help members connect their generosity to God’s work in the community and beyond, inspiring joyful, faith-driven giving.
9. Assess property and facility costs.
Evaluate the church’s property-related expenses, such as insurance, maintenance, and energy use. Identify areas to reduce costs without sacrificing care for your space. Small upgrades such as energy-efficient lighting or negotiated service contracts can save money while showing responsible stewardship of God’s house.
10. Offer education in financial well-being to church members and the community.
Provide workshops, small groups, or classes to help members manage their finances wisely. Topics such as budgeting, debt reduction, and planned giving equip individuals to align their financial lives with their faith and inspire generosity as a natural response to God’s provision.
11. Grow mission giving.
Prioritize fully funding denominational mission shares (UMC apportionments) and celebrate the ministries they support. Highlight how mission giving impacts the world, from local outreach to global projects. Connect members’ giving to tangible outcomes, such as feeding families, disaster relief, and equipping new leaders through sponsorship of a student at Africa University or one of our historically Black colleges.
12. Plan for legacy and endowment giving.
Launch a planned giving initiative encouraging members to include the church in their wills or create legacy gifts. Share stories of individuals whose generosity made a lasting difference. Legacy giving ensures future generations benefit from the church’s continued mission and ministry.
These goals combine practicality with mission focus and encourage financial leaders to build systems and practices that nurture trust, inspire giving, and grow discipleship. Maybe reading this has helped you discern a goal that is not on this list.
This article was originally published through Discipleship Ministries. Used by permission.
Related Resources
- Toward a Year-Round Stewardship Ministry by Ann Michel
- From Fundraising to Stewardship by Janet T. Jamieson and Philip D. Jamieson
- 9 Questions to Assess Your Church’s Financial Health by Lovett Weems
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