For other churches, the budget is funded by volunteers who buy their own supplies, curriculum, etc.
For para-church organizations, the budget is funded by donors or other fund-raising efforts.
For this article, let's focus on local church children's ministry budgets.
How much should the budget be?
Here is a simple way you can answer that question. This hack is going to make your budget planning a lot simpler.
- Research how much it costs per child to run the ministry each week. This includes curriculum, events, supplies, advertising, etc. An example would be a cost of $2.00 per child per week. Let's say you have 50 children in your ministry. 50 children x $2.00 per child equals an annual budget of $5,200.00.
- This is especially helpful if you are a multi-site church. You can use this formula to determine how much budget money each campus should receive.
- Using this formula helps with budget distribution throughout the year. If your ministry starts growing and you grow to 60 children per week, then you would multiply 60 x $2.00 per week. This would increase your annual budget to $6,240.00.
Share how God is using the budget to reach children and parents with the Gospel.
Did you know you can pay people who give money to the children's ministry budget? The way you pay them is to share with them how God is using their gifts to reach children and families with the Gospel.
Those who serve and give in children's ministry are not doing it for the income...they are serving and giving for the outcome.
Share the stories of children who come to Christ.
Share the stories of parents who come to Christ.
Share the stories of families that were reached and started attending the church.
Share the stories of marriages being restored.
Share the stories of how the kids are growing in their faith.
What about the staffing budget? How many staff members should we have?
I often get asked this question. For starters, your staffing budget should be a separate line item and not included in your operating budget that I described above.
The goal for staffing should be to have one full-time staff member for every 100-125 kids.
If you would like to have a copy of a complete staffing layout based on the number of kids, you can email me and I will send it to you.
I know you want to be wise with the budget money you have been entrusted with. You can use this strategy to effectively fund your ministry and staff your ministry.
