:: AIP#21 - The Financial Side of Starting a Church ::

As you might guess, starting a new church is no small endeavor! As we ask for partnership and commitment from friends, family, and others with a passion for seeing Christ’s name spread across Fort Worth, below is our three-year budget (2009-2012) as well as an overview of our need for outside funding. At the bottom of this post, you'll find options for giving, including our new "give online" option. We'd be happy to share with you a more detailed budget; please contact us if you're interested.


OUR THREE-YEAR BUDGET
This is a breakdown of our planned expenses for the first three years. Below it you'll find a brief explanation of some of the unique goals of our budget.

Pre-Launch Budget (Sept-Dec 2009):

• Personnel: $23,450
• Communication: $1,400
• Training/equipping: $2,000
• Vision casting/events: $800
• Start-up expenses: $9,450
• Logistics/unexpected: $2,600
• TOTAL: $40,000

Year One Expenses (2010):

• Personnel: $70,200
• Worship: $3,400
• Communication: $4,600
• Training/equipping: $9,600
• Missions/church planting: $16,800
• Community/events: $8,400
• Kids and Students: $7,200
• Start-up expenses: $8,000
• Logistics/unexpected: $23,800
• TOTAL: $152,000

Year Two Expenses (2011):

• Personnel: $120,400
• Worship: $6,000
• Communication: $3,600
• Training/equipping: $13,200
• Missions/church planting: $27,000
• Community/events: $26,400
• Kids and Students: $15,600
• Logistics/unexpected: $46,200
• TOTAL: $252,400

Year Three Expenses (2012):

• Personnel: $150,600
• Worship: $7,200
• Communication: $3,600
• Training/equipping: $14,400
• Missions/church planting: $36,000
• Community/events: $37,600
• Kids and Students: $21,000
• Logistics/unexpected: $58,200
• TOTAL: $324,600

A few notes on the budget: We want to keep our money focused on building God's kingdom and on impacting/engaging people. Most church staffing/church structure resource indicate that staff is 50-60% of any church budget, and we're trying to stay on the low end of that, if not come in under 50%. We're committing over 10% of our annual budget to local and global missions and church planting. And while we'll explain this more in coming months, renting space in downtown Fort Worth for all-church gatherings, combined with utilizing homes and public space for "offices" and other gatherings keeps our "logistics" budget in the 10-15% range and our overall budget lower, which frees up funds to pour into more hands-on ministry!


A NEED FOR OUTSIDE FUNDING
The City Church's total expenses for the first three years (detailed above) are about $770,000. Of that, our aim is to raise $364,000 (47%) over the course of 2009-2012. Our goal is that reliance on outside funding will decrease in percentage annually, and will be completely gone by the beginning of 2013, through the faithfulness of our people giving generously toward our work together. Here’s a breakdown of how this will look over the next few years (conservative projection of giving per person based on Texas average, vs. needed funding, per year):

• 2009 (total budget: $40,000 - why raise money before we launch?): projected giving (0 people as we start): $0 in giving, leaving a need of $40,000 from outside funding (100%)
• 2010 (total budget: $152,000): projected giving (40 people involved by January): $41,600 in giving, leaving a need of $110,400 from outside funding (77%)
• 2011 (total budget: $252,400): projected giving (120 people involved by January): $124,800 in giving, leaving a need of $127,600 from outside funding (51%)
• 2012 (total budget: $324,600): projected giving (230 people involved by January): $239,200 in giving, leaving a need of $85,400 from outside funding (26%)
• 2013 (total budget: $353,600): projected giving (340 people involved by January): $353,600 in giving, leaving a need of $0 from outside funding (0%)
  

We are seeking this support in four phases, following each upcoming calendar year, and the first phase is to raise $40,000 by Sept 1, 2009. Through the grace of God and the generosity of individuals and organizations, we have already received nearly $29,000 in actual funds or in commitments over the next three years, with over $8,000 of that toward our initial goal of $40,000!


WILL YOU COMMIT TO FINANCIALLY SUPPORTING THE CITY CHURCH?
If so, there are two ways you can give:

• Mail: Send a check to P.O. Box 470919 - Fort Worth, TX - 76147
• Online (*NEW!*): As of yesterday, our secure online giving site is now set-up and ready to go; click here to give to The City Church online.

Additionally, we have three giving options:

• One-time gift: A single contribution toward The City Church start-up costs.
• Monthly giving: While each transaction (via mail or online) is independent, you can choose to give a recurring donation in the amount of your choice, for as long as God leads.
• Annual giving: Until we reach our goal of being fully financially independent by 2013, you can make annual contributions toward each year's budget.

**All contributions to The City Church are fully tax-deductible; non-profit status pending.**

If you have questions, comments, etc. please email Ben or check the appropriate box at www.fwcitychurch.org. Thank you for your consideration, and financial or otherwise, thank you for your support of The City Church!