Last week the question was: How can churches apply? That was my first thought as I heard stories of churches struggling with the restriction about meeting together as a result of COVID-19. Three days later I started getting the question: Should my church apply for government relief? That’s a good question, and probably a question…
Category: 10-Minute Treasurer
How churches can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program
The Paycheck Protection Program and is run through the Small Business Administration (SBA). All the guidance I have at this point makes me believe this applies to churches…many of whom are struggling financially because of the pandemic. There seem to be very few strings attached…you just need to be struggling financially because of the pandemic.…
How do I setup my church to receive Facebook Donations?
The first concern of our churches during the Coronavirus Pandemic was: How do we connect with people now that we can’t worship in person? In the first two weeks, most of our churches quickly adopted Facebook Live or YouTube if they didn’t have anything before. Many of them greatly beefed up their online offering. It…
Donated Services and the Church
A number of years ago, I received a call from a pastor who just had someone volunteer to do some painting for the church. After the job was done, the volunteer asked for a gift receipt because they actually ran a painting business. The gift of service is so priceless that the IRS won’t let…
Does the Church need a Car?
About a decade ago, Elmer Brinkman basically donated his 1998 Toyota Corolla to the Conference. That was our first fleet vehicle. I knew it would save us a ton of money. Before this, we reimbursed mileage at the IRS rate whenever someone had to travel for work. I was so proud of it, I actually…
The Why’s and How’s of Electronic Giving
Electronic giving isn’t going away yet some churches are still resistant to allowing people to give electronically. I wonder if there was a time when checks were knew and churches only accepted cash, livestock or grain. In this webinar, I try to make the case for why churches should make the switch. Long story short,…
Donating Farmland to the Church
In the Dakotas, many of our churches are connected to agriculture. We have members that our farmers, retired farmers, and/or children who inherited farmland from their folks. The scary thing about farmland transactions is the tax basis. Most farmland has been held for decades so the tax basis could easily be $100/acre or less. If…