The Surprising Truth Behind How Much Church Budgets Actually Go To Ministries

How would you like to have more financial resources available for your church’s outreach and missions? If you are like most pastors, you would love to spend more on the ministries of your church that are meeting the needs of people. Even though the ministries of a church are why it exists, a surprisingly low percentage of most churches' budgets goes to this end.

According to the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, only 11% of the average church budget goes to spreading the church’s message, and just 10% goes to doing the work of ministry through a church’s programs. These stats beg the question, where does the rest of the money go?

The typical U.S. church devotes 72% of its budget to salaries and building. In 2018 49% of U.S. church spending went to wages, and 23% went to expenses related to facilities. With three-quarters of your budget tied up before you even begin to minister to people, little remains for outreach, missions, and church programs. 

Knowing this, how can you free up your budget so you can spend more on taking care of the people in your church?

One of the greatest needs churches currently have is an online presence through social media. Each year the amount of time people spend using social media goes up (1).  Since 2012 that number has increased from 90 minutes a day to 145 minutes a day in 2020. Some churches have approached this situation by adding a staff person to manage their church’s digital marketing efforts. However, there is another way that will free up more money to spend on ministry instead of increasing the already surprisingly high percentage of church giving that is going to salaries.

Deka.Social provides all of your social media needs in one place at a fraction of the cost of a part-time or full-time employee. Not only will this allow you to increase the portion of your budget going to caring for people in need, but you will be expert help in an area that is growing in importance to your church every day.

According to Nasdaq.com we are in a freelance revolution (2). Services like Fiverr have seen their stocks skyrocket as businesses have begun flocking to freelancers to reduce their costs and increase efficiency and effectiveness. Economics 101 shows us that specialization, and not mastering a broad range of skills is how individuals and economies thrive. You can apply the same financial benefits to your church by outsourcing key areas, like social media marketing, while at the same time focusing on what you are called to do and best at doing: taking care of people. After all, churches need key staff people, but wouldn’t you like the available positions in your church to cover areas of pastoral care that directly impact people as a first priority? 

To help you take the first step in exploring what this can look like for you, we are offering a free 30-minute consultation call. Our goal on this call is to help you better understand where your ministry compares to what we see across the country. In today’s society, an online presence is vital for reaching new people and keeping your members engaged. We are dedicated to making your social media accounts stand out among the millions of accounts out there! It’s time you take your Social Media accounts to the next level. All you need to do is schedule a time! 

Click here to schedule a call today!

1. https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/ 

2. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/fiverr-shares-are-ready-to-rise-as-businesses-hire-more-freelancers-2021-07-26