Is your church facility budget just a bunch of numbers to you? Or, are you using those numbers as data so you can make better decisions?
The nice thing about a budget is that it’s honest. It just tells the truth. Sometimes we might not want to hear that information, but it is what it is. Those numbers reflect something, and they can tell you a lot about what’s really happening in your facility.
Your spending can show you what you’re paying for, where you’re going over budget, where you’re coming in under budget, and which areas of your facility are costing more than they used to. The more you can break those numbers down, the more useful the information becomes.
Your Church Maintenance Budget Tells the Truth
One of the most important things to remember is that your budget is honest. Whether you like it or not, what those numbers are telling you is important when managing the maintenance of your facility.
You can dig deeper into your budget and see what you’re paying for different areas of the building. You can look at your utilities, maintenance staff, janitorial costs, vendors, preventive maintenance, reactive maintenance, and other facility expenses. The more information you’re able to capture, the more information you can get back from those numbers.
Over time, those numbers also give you something to compare against. You can begin to see what’s normal for your church and what’s not. That makes your budget more than just a record of what you spent. It becomes a tool you can use to better understand your facility.
Your Budget Can Be a Warning Sign
Another thing I like about budget is that they can be a warning sign. You can look at historical numbers for different seasons or break your spending down into different areas, such as HVAC, water, other utilities, vendors, staff, and reactive maintenance.
For example, maybe you look back over the last five years and see that you’ve spent about the same amount each year on reactive maintenance. Then this year, those expenses suddenly triple. That’s a red flag. Something is going on, and now you have a reason to dig deeper.
Maybe a large air handler in your HVAC system is requiring more repairs than it has in the past. That maintenance history might be showing you that the asset has already exceeded its expected lifecycle. Instead of doing okay by continuing to use an older asset, it may now be costing you more money to keep it running.
At that point, you need to start looking at replacement. Otherwise, that asset is going to continue to nickel and dime the church and cost you money.
If you don’t have historical information yet, it’s never too late to start. Begin tracking it now. The longer you track those expenses, the more valuable that information becomes.
Look for Seasonal Changes in Your Facility Costs
You can use the same approach when looking at seasonal expenses. Maybe you know approximately what your utility bills normally look like during the winter when your heating system is running more. Then, all of a sudden, that cost doubles.
What is the reason? Is it your HVAC equipment? Do the seals around your doors and windows need to be replaced? Are doors being left open?
Either way, your budget is telling you, “Hey, look into this.”
The more information you have, the easier it becomes to dig down, find the problem, and come up with a solution. Your budget can help you identify areas of your facility that are in trouble or need attention before those issues become even bigger.
Don’t Set a Number and Try to Fit All Your Maintenance Into It
A big mistake a lot of churches make is setting a budget and then trying to fit all of their maintenance into that number.
Sometimes, if you have no maintenance budget at all, that’s where you have to start because you have to start somewhere. But eventually, you want to see what you’re actually paying for and what you need to pay for.
- Are you paying maintenance staff?
- Does your maintenance budget include your janitorial staff?
- Are you contracting work out to vendors?
- What about your utilities?
- What about your capital replacement program?
All of that needs to be considered as part of your facility costs.
It can seem overwhelming at first, but it’s important to capture those numbers so you can start making more strategic decisions down the road. The further you can break your expenses down, the more accurate you can become in the future.
Your Maintenance Budget Will Be Different From Another Church’s
Remember, your maintenance budget is not going to match exactly what the church down the road is spending.
You have a different facility. It may be a different size, it was probably built in a different year, it has different systems and assets, and it probably has different usage. All of those factors affect what it costs to maintain your building.
That’s why simply comparing your maintenance budget to another church’s numbers doesn’t always tell you very much.
What matters more is learning your own building. If you consistently track your maintenance spending, over time you can begin to say, “I know this should cost me approximately this much each year.” Then, when something changes significantly, you notice it.
Why Do Churches Keep Busting Their Maintenance Budgets?
One of the most stressful and annoying situations is constantly busting your maintenance budget. Most of the time, that indicates one of two things.
The first possibility is that you don’t really have a maintenance budget in place. You’re putting a number out there and hoping that all of the maintenance can fit into it.
The second issue, and one I see often, is that you don’t have a capital replacement program for your building assets.
Your roof, HVAC system, plumbing equipment, and other building assets all have a lifecycle. Eventually, they’ll wear out. In the facility management industry, we know approximately how long many of those building components and systems should last.
You need to be planning in your budget for when those items will need to be replaced so you can prepare financially for those replacements.
If you don’t do that, eventually something happens. Your roof suddenly needs to be replaced, but you didn’t budget for a roof replacement this year. Now you’ve busted your maintenance budget.
That’s why you need a good capital replacement program. You should know what assets you have, approximately where they are in their lifecycle, and when you expect to replace them.
Your Budget Is More Than a Bunch of Numbers
All of this is to say that your maintenance budget is a lot more than just a bunch of numbers. Your budget can be one of your best tools for maintaining your building and knowing what’s going on inside your facility.
Use those numbers to make strategic decisions. Learn to break the information down into smaller areas, look for trends, and pay attention when something changes.
And remember, you don’t have to do all of this in one day. It can take some time. If you’re starting from scratch, begin tracking what you can now and build from there.
Sometimes you may look at your building and think, “Where do I even stand today?” You may not know whether your assets are in good shape or whether they need to be replaced tomorrow, next year, or ten years down the road. That can feel overwhelming.
In those situations, it can help to work with a facility management professional to establish where your facility stands today. Once you have that starting point, maintain the information and continue using it to make strategic plans down the road.
Your church maintenance budget shouldn’t just tell you how much you spent. It should help you understand what is happening in your facility and what you may need to prepare for next.
If you’re not sure how well your church is currently managing its facility, take our Church Facility Quiz. It only takes a few minutes and can help you identify areas where your church is doing well and where you may need to take a closer look.
