Faith in the Numbers
In Wednesday’s Washington Post I read that more than half of DC area charities were operating with dangerously low reserves even before the recession began and therefore since especially vulnerable to financial disaster. The Post article was based on a recent report by the Urban Institute which indicated the following:
In 2006, 57 percent of operating public charities in the Greater Washington area had operating reserves of less than three months in operating expenses—less than the minimum reserves recommended by nonprofit financial management experts. In this same year, 28 percent reported no operating reserves.
As I read the UI report it was unclear how many of the DC charities studied were religious organizations. Undoubtedly, with over 2,600 organizations in the study, a few religious charities were in the mix. The question of ministries having adequate reserves resonates with the idea of having faith in our financial situations. Finances may not be the usual place we go looking for God and yet in today’s uncertain times we can certainly expect God to show up here just as He does anywhere else.
The organization I serve has certainly been challenged with the question of faith in the numbers. We are being blessed with extraordinary gifts for a multi-million dollar capital project while watching our general operating slow its pace like everyone else. For me it’s the classic capital campaign versus operations conundrum. On any given day, we might receive an especially generous gift for the campaign and yet continue dread the decline in general giving which leaves us anxiously awaiting the next payroll. And echoing the concerns of the Washington Post and UI, we move closer and closer to needing to draw on the reserve funds I was so adamant about maintaining.
What is especially difficult is the balance between our faithful trust in His provision and our wise stewardship of the resources He has been so generous to provide. We have the responsibility to carry-out our mission today while ensuring that we able to carry-out that same mission in the weeks and months to come. I know that in order to find this balance we must seek God in the financial circumstances just as we would anywhere else. Here we are we able to discern were it is we are to serve and where He expects us to preserve. I know that we are not called to hoard monies and yet I am confident He expects us to wisely manage His resources in order to continue the work He has called us to.
His Mission, His Money.
