Effective Church Management: Best Practices for Modern Congregations

Modern congregations need effective and efficient church management tools and strategies to help them navigate headwinds to growth, both old and new. From managing stewardship, staff, community and spiritual issues, religious organizations large and small need church management solutions that will help them achieve church growth now and into the future. To address challenges to growth such as declining church membership and community members’ isolation and loneliness, churches can turn to a wide range of outreach strategies and internal operational processes that reflect both traditional church roles and cutting-edge technological church management programs and tools.

Table of Contents

• Key Components of Effective Church Management
• Financial Management
• Community Engagement and Outreach
• Enhancing Worship Experience
• Leadership Development
• Facilities Management
• Using Vanco Church for Streamlined Management
• FAQs
• Everything Church Leaders Must Know in One Free Guide

Key Components of Effective Church Management

Church Board Governance

According to Tony Morgan, a ministry leadership expert with a long history of experiences helping churches, major church decisions can get bogged down for weeks. In his research, he found that of the churches his group deems “stuck” in this way, 40% have larger boards and twice as many committees as others. 

If churches aren’t careful, they can be caught in a tailspin of arduous decision-making without unity, an issue he discusses at length in his podcast episode, Church Governance: Structuring for Unity.

Some of Tony’s tips can be a great start for improving your church board management. Another key tactic is to follow these do’s and don’ts.

Now that you understand a few key best practices, let’s look at the details. 

Strategic Planning

A strategic church plan is a roadmap that charts a church’s path to fulfilling its vision and mission. In completed written form, it focuses on the long-term goals for reaching the church’s future vision. 

When to Create a Strategic Plan

You can create or modify your strategic plan at any moment. However, the right time will vary for different church leaders. Here’s when three different types of pastors might address their churches’ strategic plans.  

• New pastor: Before opening the church doors
• Incoming pastor: Upon assuming leadership to address existing dynamics and introduce a new vision
• Current pastor: Regularly, to assess progress, adapt to changes and ensure alignment with the church's mission

How to Create a Strategic Plan for a Church

We created a detailed Church Strategic Plan Guide to help you work through this process, but here is a summary of the 10 key steps. 

1. Assemble a planning team: Include diverse perspectives from church administration, leadership, ministries and the community.

2. Assess your current situation:

• Conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.
• Consider a church survey for comprehensive feedback.

3. Determine desired outcomes:

• Identify specific goals like membership growth, cultural shifts or community impact.
• Use SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals.

4. Develop a business plan: Outline the church’s mission, executive summary, market research, marketing plan, management structure, operations and finances.

5. Craft a vision statement: Create a concise and memorable statement reflecting the church's core values and aspirations.

6. Define the church's current role: Analyze how the church adapts to evolving societal norms and addresses contemporary issues.

7. Outline a budget: Detail income sources (tithes, offerings, fundraising) and allocate funds strategically.

8. Define and expand stewardship efforts: Implement tools like online giving, mobile donations and text-to-give to enhance giving and resource management.

9. Set criteria for leadership roles: Establish clear guidelines for selection, responsibilities, term limits and compensation.

10. Define policies and procedures: Document protocols for new member integration, ministry creation and participation, outreach programs and legal considerations.

Goal Setting

The philosopher Seneca once said, “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.” Although he said this almost 2,000 years ago, it still holds true today. Churches must know where they are going if they intend to reach favorable outcomes, and one tool that can help is SMART goals.

What Are SMART Goals?

SMART is an acronym that stands for:

• Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve.
• Measurable: Set concrete criteria to track progress and success.
• Attainable: Ensure the goal is challenging yet achievable.
• Relevant: Align the goal with the church's overall mission and vision.
• Timely: Establish a clear time frame for achieving the goal.

What Do SMART Goals Accomplish? 

SMART goals are helpful in many ways, but they help achieve three key deliverables: 

• Provide a clear roadmap, enhancing focus and motivation.
• Facilitate effective communication and collaboration.
• Enable progress tracking and evaluation.

Examples of Church SMART Goals

This table outlines the difference between standard, vague goals and SMART goals. To learn more about crafting objectives that can set you up for success, see our complete Church Smart Goal Guide to help you build them.

Financial Management

Budgeting Process

Sound financial management is essential for any church, regardless of size or denomination. A well-defined budget is the cornerstone of responsible church financial management.

• Budgeting models: Churches can explore different budgeting models, such as zero-based budgeting, to ensure every dollar aligns with the church's goals.
• Prioritization: Prioritizing spending based on the church's mission, vision and community needs is essential.
• Church management software (ChMS): Churches can realize the benefits of church management software in financial planning, budgeting, expense tracking and financial reporting.

For details on church budgeting, we built a complete guide with how-tos and a free downloadable budget template. 

Get the Free Church Budget Guide and Template 

Transparent Financial Reporting

Transparency in financial matters is crucial for building trust with the congregation. Financial transparency is not only an ethical obligation but a legal requirement.

• Regular communication: Regularly communicating financial information to the congregation in a clear and accessible manner builds trust and fosters a sense of shared ownership. It also helps members trust that their gifts are going to the causes they were intended for.
• Annual reviews and audits: Annual financial reviews or independent audits further strengthen accountability.
• Online giving and donation tracking: Churches can leverage church management online giving platforms and donation management tools to provide secure giving options and track contributions effectively.

Stewardship and Giving

Church stewardship is often overlooked because talking about money and handling money can feel like an earthly endeavor. However, it is necessary for the church to continue to grow and thrive. 

We’ve worked with tens of thousands of churches for decades, and the ones that have thriving congregations have embedded stewardship in their church cultures. Here are a few reasons for their success.

• Think beyond money: Stewardship is about actively using all available resources — time, talents and treasures — to further the church's mission and serve God.
• Engage in heart-driven giving: Encourage giving from a place of love and devotion, emphasizing the impact of contributions rather than focusing solely on amounts.
• Treat it as an ongoing commitment: Foster a continuous conversation rather than relying on sporadic campaigns.

Church Stewardship Best Practices

Here are a few best practices every church should follow when it comes to stewardship. 

Connect Giving to the Cause

Caused-based giving may be the most important practice. You need to clearly communicate how donations directly support the church's mission, outlining specific programs, initiatives and their impact. Members must know their resources are making an impact to encourage them to continue giving.

Make Stewardship Ongoing

We mentioned it earlier, but we’re mentioning it again. Many churches avoid the continuous conversation, relying on occasional fundraising drives. Unfortunately, this often leads to underfunded churches.

Adopt a Pragmatic Approach

Set realistic goals, establish timelines and break down objectives into manageable steps. Involve the right people with diverse skills and perspectives to lead and support stewardship initiatives.

Understand Giving Motivations

You can do this in a few ways: 

• Recognize that emotional connection, purpose and relationships drive giving.
• Communicate impact, share stories and demonstrate transparency in how you use resources.
• Embrace technology to facilitate convenient giving options and cater to diverse preferences.

Use Multimedia

Employ engaging videos and visuals to communicate stewardship messages effectively, reducing discomfort and inspiring generosity.

Prioritize Communication

Develop a comprehensive communication strategy using website updates, social media, emails and printed materials. Be transparent about financial goals, provide progress updates and express gratitude for contributions.

Leverage Templates

Finding the words to ask for gifts and thank members for giving them can be hard. That’s why we built 105 giving letters for just about every situation. Access them for free by clicking the image below.

Explore Creative Campaigns

Implement engaging initiatives like matching gifts, themed fundraisers or service projects to re-energize giving and attract new donors.

Hone Your Stewardship Skills

Mastering church stewardship can take time and plenty of study. To improve your stewardship skills, check out our free stewardship eBook, packed with strategies and details to help your church grow.

Community Engagement and Outreach

Volunteer Programs

There are simply too many church tasks and projects for you and your staff to handle on your own. Involving volunteers in church activities shares the workload and fosters a sense of ownership and community.

People come to church to be involved in something bigger than themselves. Let them take up the mantle and give you and your staff much-needed relief in the process. 

Recruiting 

Once you decide to delegate work, you need to recruit volunteers to your cause. There are a lot of techniques you can use to recruit. A while back, we looked at how the 25,000 churches using Vanco’s giving software captured volunteers. We outlined the 23 volunteer recruitment strategies we found.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. If you need a certain skill for a specialized task but don’t have someone in your congregation with the expertise, look outside your church for assistance. Catchafire can be a great resource to connect nonprofits like your church with individuals with specialized skills seeking to make a difference. 

Follow Up with Volunteers

To ensure volunteers feel appreciated and keep volunteering, make sure you address their concerns in the future.  One way to capture their sentiments around their volunteer service is to use anonymous surveys. We developed one volunteer questionnaire to help you understand the attitudes of those who generously donate their time. Use it to learn how you can make the volunteer experience better and then enact changes.

Small Groups and Fellowship

Why should church management be concerned with small groups and fellowship? There are two key reasons: loneliness and declining church membership.

1. Loneliness

You’ve probably seen it in your day-to-day lives as church leaders. People are having a harder time connecting and finding community. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), 30% of adults report feeling loneliness at least once a week over the past year. 

As church leaders, you have an opportunity to help create connections by organizing small groups. These small groups are vital for all sorts of people and offer an intimate setting for new friendships offering much-needed support. 

Today, savvy churches use an endless array of digital outreach tactics and platforms to connect with members and reach the greater community. Here are a couple of key areas to consider.

• Social media: Whether you’re looking to expand your presence on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook or create a church podcast to share on your profiles, social media is a low-cost, effective way to reach a large audience. The intricacies of church social media strategy are vast, and  too detailed to cover here; however, to learn more and access tools to help with your church’s social media strategy, we built a free, comprehensive kit that includes:
• 250 social media post templates
• A strategy guide for mastering social media
• Captioned social posts for all major church holidays
• A free AI social media post generator
• A free YouTube description, title and tag generator 

Click the Image to Access the Kit Now!

• Additional outreach channels: Churches can do a lot more than social media to reach folks digitally, such as:
  • Search engine optimization
  • Local marketing techniques
  • Google Ad grants for churches
  • YouTube Ad grants for churches
  • And much more

For a complete resource on all the modern, often low-cost or free techniques, we’ve built a free church marketing guide to help.

2. Declining Church Membership

It is essential for churches to grow, but it’s no secret that church membership is declining. Less than half of all U.S. adults now belong to a congregation. For most of Gallup’s 80+ years of polling, that number hovered around 70%. 

At Vanco, we work with tens of thousands of churches and noticed that those with the most outreach tend to have more success in capturing new church visitors. 

Expanding Small Groups

Small groups are the backbone of a thriving church community. They provide a space for deeper connections, shared faith journeys, and mutual support. To make the most of small groups:

• Offer diverse small group options: Churches can offer diverse small group options, from Bible study and prayer groups to service-oriented and social groups that cater to different interests and demographics.
• Promote participation: Promoting small group participation through announcements, testimonials and church events can encourage involvement.
• Communicate and coordinate: Using church apps and dedicated communication tools and channels for small groups can streamline communication and coordination.

Effective Communication Strategies

“In the course of a day, the average person in a Western city is said to be exposed to as much data as someone in the 15th century would encounter in their entire life.” Source: BBC “Cities: How crowded life is changing us”

Talk about information overload! With all the noise an individual congregant faces in one day, what time is there for the spiritual? For faith? Because we live in a world crowded with information, it’s critical that churches effectively engage their congregations through various communication channels. By doing so, they can break through the clutter of information. 

Here are a few tips to get started.

Use Various Channels

Use a mix of email newsletters, social media platforms and dedicated church apps to reach a wider audience.

Build Engaging Content

Creating engaging content that resonates with the congregation, such as event updates, inspirational messages and volunteer opportunities, is crucial.  Churches should also share videos of their sermons so members can watch them on demand.

For help creating engaging content for your members or community quickly, Vanco has built several free bots to help. You can access each of these bots with a free account.

• Kids Bible Quiz Generator

• Church Social Media Post Generator

• Church Web Page Content Builder

• Daily Devotional Builder

• Church Newsletter Builder

• Church Blog Outliner
• Church Blog Builder 

We also built 50+ advanced AI prompts and bots you can use for free. Simply follow the instructions for each to get professionally built content at no cost. 

Regular and Consistent Communication

Maintaining regular and consistent communication ensures that members feel informed and connected. That’s why it’s important to connect with folks in a variety of different ways throughout the week. Churches that engage members and newcomers connect with them beyond Sundays. 

Enhanced Worship Experience

Technology Integration

Technology can play a powerful role in enhancing the worship experience, making it more accessible and engaging for a wider audience.

• Multimedia integration: Incorporating multimedia elements like videos, presentations and live music into services can create a more immersive and impactful experience.
• Livestreaming: Livestreaming services can cater to those who are unable to attend in person, expanding the reach of the church.
• Seamless integration: Choosing the right technology and ensuring seamless integration is crucial, requiring careful planning and potentially technical support. For example, your giving platform should integrate seamlessly with your church management platform. 
• Church management platforms: Church management platforms often offer integrated solutions for managing online services, streaming content, giving and creating online communities.

Service Planning

A well-planned worship service can be a deeply moving and spiritually enriching experience. Intentional and thoughtful worship services are crucial for creating a meaningful and spiritually enriching experience.

Thoughtful Consideration

Each element of the service, from music and sermons to prayers and communion, should be considered carefully. However, time is always limited for pastors and leaders. That’s why it is important to avail yourself of all the latest tools. 

As we mentioned earlier, AI can help churches, especially when you don’t have the staff or volunteers available to you that a mega church might have. If you’re looking for help creating worship materials for your members faster, we built a few bots to help you with a few key aspects. Use these free bots  to generate compelling content.

• Church Bulletin Builder: Create church bulletin copy by filling out a few details
• Kids Bible Quiz Generator: For Sunday school or church services
• Kids Ministry Lesson Plan Generator: Quickly build lesson plans for kids
• Sermon Outliner: Write a blurb or enter in a topic to get a complete outline
• Sermon Generator: Designed to work with the sermon outliner; simply enter the sermon outline generated from your ideas, and it will create a transcript for a full-length sermon 

These bots don’t do all the work for you, and most church leaders wouldn’t want to skip this work. However, they can help you create materials faster and better. According to a study managed by MIT and published in Science, writing tasks were performed 40% faster and with 18% better quality using ChatGPT. 

Church Management Software 

It’s important that churches automate as many tasks as they can. Fortunately, there is software specifically built to minimize tedious administrative tasks. ChMS, like ACS, helps schedule volunteers, manage resources and streamline the planning process. This allows you, as a church leader, to focus on your services and ministries.

Leadership Development

Training Programs

Investing in leadership development is a key factor in the long-term health and growth of any church. Here are three ways you can build continual learning into your church’s leadership training program.

• Provide ongoing training: Providing ongoing training opportunities for church leaders, volunteers and staff members equips them with skills and knowledge to serve effectively.
• Offer diverse church leadership resources: Churches can explore workshops, online courses, mentorship programs and church leadership retreats to cater to different learning styles and needs.
• Build a culture of learning: Fostering a culture of learning and growth within the church encourages continuous improvement and empowers individuals to reach their full potential.

Succession Planning

There are several vital church leadership roles and responsibilities that must continue regardless of who is fulfilling them. A well-defined succession plan is essential for ensuring a smooth transition of leadership and preserving the church's vision for the future. Here are a few tips to follow when creating a succession plan.

• Ensure smooth transitions: A well-defined succession plan ensures a smooth transition of leadership roles, minimizing disruption and preserving the church's vision.
• Identify future leaders: Identifying and developing future leaders within the congregation is crucial.
• Provide development and mentorship: Providing mentorship opportunities, leadership training and gradually increasing responsibilities helps to “build your bench.”
• Partake in proactive planning: By proactively preparing for leadership transitions, churches can ensure continuity and a strong foundation for future growth.

Facilities Management

Maintenance Programs

A well-maintained facility reflects the church's commitment to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all. Components include:

• Preventative maintenance: Implementing a preventative maintenance schedule for essential systems like HVAC, plumbing and electrical can prevent costly repairs and ensure a comfortable environment. Also, having a system for managing maintenance requests, tracking repairs and communicating with contractors is crucial.
• Church building funds: Once you identify maintenance updates or a sudden issue, you may need additional funds to finance the update. For help raising funds, we built a free comprehensive Church Building Fundraising Guide to help. 

Safety and Compliance

Churches have a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of their congregation and visitors. Here are a few things to take a closer look at.

• Safety protocols: Churches should have comprehensive safety protocols in place, including child protection policies, emergency procedures and security measures.
• Legal compliance: Staying informed about relevant legal requirements and compliance standards, such as fire codes and accessibility regulations, is essential.
• Background checks and training: Conducting regular safety training for staff and volunteers and implementing background checks for those working with vulnerable populations demonstrates a commitment to safety.

Using Vanco Church for Streamlined Management

Vanco’s giving suite offers a variety of tools to help manage a church. In fact, 25,000 churches currently use them for these key functions.

Online Giving

We benchmarked the giving data of our churches over the past five years and found an average growth in online giving of 159%. With tools like text giving, in-livestream giving, storytelling online giving pages and a mobile church app, we make giving easy. In fact, giving becomes automatic with our recurring giving options that allow members to pay extra to offset transaction fees and make their gifts continual. This helps churches maintain healthy budgets because donors who set up recurring gifts donate twice as much in a year as those who do not. 

Event Management

With Vanco’s event ticketing, you can set up fundraisers or gatherings in a few minutes in just five easy steps. It’s entirely free to use for all no-charge events. 

Communications

Aside from being an excellent tool to help grow giving, Vanco’s mobile app can also help churches manage small groups and engage in private and group chats. 

FAQs

What are the primary goals of church management?

The primary goals of church management are:

• Support the church's mission and vision.
• Steward resources effectively.
• Foster a sense of community.
• Facilitate spiritual growth among its members.

How can churches improve financial transparency?

Church finances and the transparency of funds is critical. You can improve financial transparency by:

• Implementing clear and accessible financial reporting practices
• Conducting regular audits
• Communicating financial information openly to the congregation

What strategies can increase church attendance?

Strategies to increase church attendance include:

• Creating welcoming and engaging worship services
• Offering relevant programs for all ages
• Actively engaging with the community
• Fostering a strong sense of belonging among members

Get 14 more tips in this membership growth guide.

How do you create a culture of giving in a church?

Creating a culture of giving involves:

• Communicating the importance of giving as an act of worship
• Highlighting the impact of donations
• Providing various giving options
• Expressing thanks for contributions

What role does technology play in modern church management?

Technology plays a significant role in modern church management by: 

• Streamlining administrative tasks
• Enhancing communication
• Expanding outreach through websites and social media
• Facilitating online giving and event registration

How can small groups enhance community engagement?

Small groups enhance community engagement by:

• Providing a space for members to connect on a personal level
• Building relationships
• Sharing their faith journey and support one another
• Creating a sense of belonging and encouraging active participation in the church community

Sources

The Unstuck Group. (n.d.). Church Governance: Structuring for Unity (Episode 269). The Unstuck Church Podcast. Retrieved from https://theunstuckgroup.com/church-governance-structuring-for-unity-episode-269-the-unstuck-church-podcast/

American Psychiatric Association. (n.d.). New APA Poll: One in Three Americans Feels Lonely. Retrieved from https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/new-apa-poll-one-in-three-americans-feels-lonely-e

Gallup. (2021, March 29). U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx

BBC Future. (2013, May 16). How City Life Is Changing Us. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130516-how-city-life-is-changing-us

De Lange, T. A. G., & Beukeboom, C. J. (2023). Consequences of Urban Living on Mental Health: A Longitudinal Analysis. Science, 380(6668), 282–285. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2586

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