Tuesday, March 5, 2013

New Income and Revenue for Churches

A brief audit of a client's receipts over the past year revealed something interesting: 22% of their income came from sources other than the primary source. The organization has diversified their approach to receiving income so that more than one in five dollars comes from a non-traditional source. This means that if their primary revenue streams remain the same, this organization will have 20% more money to use - woohoo!

This is a good lesson for churches: are you dependent on your mainstay revenue source (tithes and offerings) or have you begun to look at other revenue streams? Churches must be creative in getting money in the door and then very transparent in how it is spent and used. Here are 21 different revenue streams (the first 10 come from a list prepared by George Bullard and the rest are from me):
  1. Tithes and Offerings
  2. Special offerings
  3. Designated gifts
  4. Fee for Services
  5. Capital Campaigns
  6. Foundations of the Organization
  7. In-kind resources and services from individuals and businesses
  8. Sale of Products
  9. Foundation grants
  10. Investment Income
  11. Rental Income
  12. Event Registration
  13. Cost Recovery
  14. Business Partnerships
  15. Offerings After Special Events
  16. Sponsorships and Scholarships
  17. Ownership of Facilities
  18. Memorials and Memorial Gifts
  19. Capital Investment Lists
  20. High Capacity Donors
  21. Gratitude Gifts
  22. Alumni Gifts
For a fuller description of these, visit Free Resources at www.financeforchurches.org
 
Lead On!
 
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