Every ministry encounters handling money at some point throughout the year. Whether it is church offerings, Pathfinder club dues, fundraisers, or special programs, each instance requires ministry leaders to handle the money entrusted to them. Financial oversight is a considerable responsibility and should not be taken lightly.
You may have a plan set for your ministry in the case of different emergencies. But do you have a plan in place to protect the money and offerings that are received?Protecting Ministry Finances
Keeping monetary gifts safe starts with church leadership. Specific controls should be put in place to prevent the opportunity for fraud or embezzlement to occur within the church. Adventist Risk Management, Inc. (ARM) recommends eight different controls to help your church minimize these incidents. A few of these include:- Timely financial reports
- Investigating questionable transactions
- Verifying cash received
Specific controls should be put in place to prevent the opportunity for fraud or embezzlement to occur within the church.
Minimized Theft of Monetary Gifts
Unfortunately, theft is a real threat that can happen in any place and at any time. This includes your ministry. With specific controls established, it is time to move towards security methods to prevent theft of those offerings from an outside threat.When collecting offerings or dues, make sure the money is safely sealed in a money bag and taken to a secure office for counting and documentation. The collection should be counted with two or more people present, and then stored in a safe with a working lock. The location of the safe and the lock combination should only be known to a limited amount of people on a need-to-know basis.
Keep the monies in a safe until taken to the bank for deposit. When transporting the funds to the bank, secure the money bag and keep it out of sight. You may even go a step further and use a different person, different route, and different time and day for bank deposits. While these safety methods may seem minor, they can go a long way towards securing the monetary gifts your ministry receives.
For more church safety resources, visit ARM’s Church Safety page.
