Many congregations supply a credit card to more easily segregate work-related expenses. Staff members would only use the card for professional or church expenses.

Employees and volunteers should be reimbursed for approved church related expenses upon submission of receipts and accurate expense reports that conform to the annual budget and IRS requirements. Such expenses may include: Travel – transportation, lodging, meals, incidentals and other associated...

US tax law provides that staff may consider certain items as usual business expenses that are reimbursed beyond the compensation paid to individuals as a necessary expense that is not reported for income tax purposes.

When making sure that your bills are being paid efficiently, accurately and on time, your congregation also needs safeguards to make sure no one has the opportunity to use your system to embezzle funds.

In setting up church financial management software, it’s important to provide safeguards to prevent tampering with the electronic records

All financial best practices depend on reducing the risk of embezzlement or theft by increasing transparency and detection by creating systems and roles that segregate key duties.

Any petty cash kept in the building should be in a locked file cabinet or safe and should be disbursed only upon submission of a written request.

The Sunday offering is fairly vulnerable to theft or embezzlement unless good checks and balances are in place.

Money – acquiring it, managing it, protecting it, and using it in service of your mission: all of these are vital to the work of your congregation. Having a healthy culture around money – talking about it, understanding its meaning and influence in our lives, seeing it as a tool rather than an...

Living in a committed, covenantal community is a great way to avoid destructive conflict.

Avoiding triangulation will not eliminate conflict in a congregation but it will help keep it in the constructive and creative zone.

Systems theory is extremely helpful in understanding how people work in groups and why change is sometimes so difficult.

Hackers are getting more sophisticated every day. The best defense is to encourage your employees, volunteers and congregation members to pause and look for warning signs before responding to any unsolicited email.

Congregational growth is about many things—not just numbers.

What can the congregation do in a crisis to avoid a crash during conflict? The solution mostly falls to the work of the driver of the car or the congregational leaders.

Unity offers deep questions and commitments for governance within a progressive religious, covenantal context: Whose Are We? What Do We Value? What Are Our Commitments?

Covenant is the silk that joins Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations, communities, and individuals together in a web of interconnection. The practice of promising to walk together is the precious core of our creedless faith. “Covenant” is both a noun and a verb. It can be a written...

Small congregations need a governance system that is "right sized" for the unique needs and challenges generated by their size. Boards Much of the decision-making in small congregations happens at the board level. Emerging Best Practices Create and live by a board covenant. Have a clear...

Nurturing the relationship between a congregation and its governing body.

Leadership is an important, yet elusive concept. It takes on different forms in different settings. The intent of Policy Governance® is to give operational definition to "leadership" as it applies in the specific context of a governing Board.