Budgets. The very word evokes a headache. Church music budget. Even worse.
Budgets are necessary to any church ministry. How else can you know if you are being a good steward of the church’s (and God’s!) money? For me, figuring out the church music budget was never fun or easy, but it was always an important and rewarding way of getting ready for another year of ministering.
When I think about church music budgets, I always make it my goal to bathe the entire process in prayer. I find prayer a whole more enjoyable than budgets, so that’s not too hard for me to do. And I am certainly no expert in budgets, nor am I an expert in stewardship. I think I have more failures under my belt than successes. But I have done this more than a few times and this is how I work through the process to present the music ministry budget to the finance committee.
Some folks like to use a computer spreadsheet. I prefer writing everything down in a notebook in pencil and then type it into the computer later, when it is finished. The process of writing helps me think more clearly.
I start with a list of music and any other ministries for which I am responsible. Typically, this involved adult choir, children’s choir, handbell choir, worship team, special music, congregational worship music, and organ/piano music. Sound system and instrument maintenance and repair thankfully fell under the trustees’ fiscal care so I did not have to worry about that in music budget. I find that it helps to know how much the church has grown in the last year, and what the projected growth is for the coming year. Also, are budgets being cut or is there room for growth? I’ve worked in both situations and both present their own unique challenges.
I learned that every church’s budget is different, depending on size, philosophy, and the season of the church (growing, dying, young, old, etc). In one church, I was given a generous fund for the year and had to divide it up amongst the groups so I was sort of working backwards. I had a set amount of money to spend where I needed, and my job was to divvy it up fairly. If I used the money wisely, I could ask for more. In other churches, I had to start from scratch and create the budget based on the music ministry’s needs. I had to show how much was needed and why, but it was usually granted. At one point in time, the church where I served faced a serious financial crisis and all budgets were cut. I was given just enough to cover the cost of a CCLI license and no more. These things naturally add to the challenge of budgeting for music ministry
I go through each group and ask the following questions: how much growth is happening in this group? Is it keeping pace with the church growth? How much music did the group use? How much new music will this group need in the coming year (my rule of thumb is fifty percent new music, fifty percent from what’s already in the cabinet)? Does each person need a copy? (Handbell music is usually two people per copy, adult choir is usually one person per copy). Are there enough copies of music already in the cabinet or are there special pieces that need more copies? Does the group have any special needs for the coming year? Will there be any Christmas or Easter musicals or special events? Do I need to pay staff, consultants, or any other experts? Will I be supplying snacks or dinners?
For example, let’s look at the adult choir and pretend that there are twenty choir members. The choir sings from mid-September until the end of May. That’s thirty-eight Sundays, so they will need thirty-eight anthems, nineteen of which I would like to be new. To find out how much we will need to budget for choir anthems, we need to take the number of choir members plus a few extra for growth and to make up for lost anthem copies (we’ll plan on twenty-five copies) times the number of anthems (nineteen new anthems this year) times the cost per anthem (approximately $1.50). The total comes to $712.50. We also need about $10 worth of shiny new pencils and some new choir folders. I know I can find choir folders for about $2.00 a piece if I shop around, but and I need a couple extra, so that’s about $50.00 for folders. Our total budget for just the adult choir is now $772.50. That sounds like a lot, but I know that the adult choir makes up a large portion of the music budget.
After going through for each musical group, I like to make a list of any extra special needs for the coming year. Does the congregation need new hymnbooks? That is a large, added expense, but often it is covered by special donations. I also to take into consideration things like the church’s CCLI license, music preview clubs, any special services, etc. Can I supply music periodicals to my musicians (such as The Sacred Organ Journal). Can I take musicians to workshops? Will the church cover that expense or do they pay their own way? These are all important things to consider when working on the music ministry budget.
After I’ve thought of every possible expense and researched the costs, I add it all together. Is it more or less than what the music ministries spent last year? Is the church open to spending that amount of money or is cash flow tight at this time in the church life? Will I be able to ask for more money if I didn’t budget enough? Should I over-budget just a bit in case I missed something?
Finally, I type up my proposed budget and turn it in to the finance committee, hoping that they approve it. Most of the time, if it is reasonable, well-thought out, and clearly presented- they do, and my budget-making responsibilities are finished for another year.
