Discovering the Other Side of the Budget

Earlier this month I was talking with a colleague from my first real leadership assignment. We were on staff together at a church in Omaha, running the student ministry department. We got to laughing about how we operated back then.

We joked that we were like the defense department. Every budget season we marched to the elder board, made our case for resources, and walked away with what we needed to blow things up. We were excellent at inspiring the board to allocate resources. We were also excellent at spending it. Passionate about it, even. However, what we never thought about was where the money was coming from.

Then I became the lead pastor of a new church plant in Arizona. Time to build my first budget and present it to the elder board. No problem. I had done this many times and was basically an expert by now. I did what any resourceful leader does. I found the old budget templates from my previous church, changed the name at the top, and got to work.

That is when I noticed something.

Fundraising Is Partnership, Not Begging

Recently I was talking with a friend who works in the corporate world. He had just finished his annual review and asked how things were wrapping up for us at The Hope Effect.

We eventually started talking about next year and what we were looking forward to in our careers. Then he asked me a really honest question. "Do you ever get weary having to raise money all the time?" Without hesitation I said, "No."