Many people working in the church, ministry and nonprofit world do so because hey have a vision for a more just, equitable and peaceful world. It's written into many mission statements and longed for in many leadership meetings. While it may not seem the most important aspect of your mission, the way an organization handles money, hires people, makes decisions and implements accountability practices can further that vision for equity or hold it back. Living out values of justice and equity doesn't just happen in our outward-facing mission. It should also happen in our daily operations. Having done this work for some years, I offer these as the start of a thought process and conversation.
Here are some questions we can ask ourselves when it comes to our organization systems lining up with our values on justice:
How are financial decisions made? Are the voices that need to be at the table being listened to? It's common for small organizations that want to stay nimble and have a younger organizational culture to neglect listening to the real stakeholders in a lot of decisions. Or value a charismatic founder over a truly collaborative process.
Do your systems surrounding expenses and reimbursement protect both your resources from misconduct (because we are all vulnerable to temptation) and your employees and leaders from the appearance of the misuse of funds? It's not always fun to take the extra step of getting an expense approved or providing a receipt, but it leaves a paper trail that shows the organization's integrity.
Are you systems flexible enough to respond to the needs of the people you are serving? Sometimes budget and expense processes can be so burdensome as to get in the way of people doing their jobs.
Numbers tell a story. It's not the whole story but it is an important story. The way we use money is a concrete way to show what we value. Does your budget, which is where you plan to put limited resources, reflect the same values your organization? If you say you value vulnerable groups but aren't allocating resources there what story does that tell?
Funds in a ministry context offer a unique opportunity to steward well. In a church context, these funds represent an act of worship from your congregants and are a sacred practice. For nonprofits, funds given represent people believing in what we are doing enough to gift us money to pursue that vision. Small acts of honor build the integrity of the organization and further the values the organization professes. Acts of justice are not just reflected in our public mission but in our internal processes. Let your numbers and processes reflect that.
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