Helping Churches With Declining Revenues

ATTN: Pastors, Board Members or Church Administrators - you need to read this.

The church I attend recently sent out an email describing how donations have dramatically dropped and the impact it's having on the church budget. The recession is taking a toll, and perhaps even more importantly the message coming from Washington is making things worse. Every day the new president talks about the "continuing disaster" and how "things will get worse before they get better", and the obvious effect on average citizens is a tightening of the purse strings. I'm becoming concerned that Washington is successfully scaring America from a recession into a depression.

Charitable organization, including churches, will get hit hard. After reading the email from my church I thought this would be a good time to remind church leaders of a free resource I created awhile back. I wrote a lengthy piece entitled "What Your Church Insurance Agent Doesn't Want You to Know", a piece designed to coach church leaders in how to purchase the insurance for their congregations. I've updated it a couple of times since it was originally written and it's a must read for anyone involved in managing the finances of a church.

Many people in church leadership think of their insurance as one of those expenses they can't do much about, like utility payments. Not so. I can tell you as a former insider who sold this stuff for nearly nine years that there is more wiggle room in church insurance rates then you could ever believe. I've seen amazing discounts come out of thin air just because a church asked the right questions.

It doesn't matter whether your current insurance carrier is a "specialist" in the church field, or just a big company that cobbled together a package for the church. There is significant room for negotiation, if not with them, with any of the many other companies that offer these products. I guarantee you that they are in the mood to work with you now more than ever because they can't afford to lose good customers in this economy.

If you're a church leader, please be sure to read the article. If you're a member of a church, send the article to your leadership. I'd be shocked if you couldn't knock 10% or more (maybe much more) off your rates the next time your policy comes due, and do it without sacrificing coverage.