2010 Large Church Finances and Staffing Report Comparing Church Finances by Geography and Gender By Warren Bird
2010 Large Church Finances and Staffing Report Comparing Church Finances by Geography and Gender
Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Introduction How Does Geography Affect Salaries? How Does Gender Affect Church Staffing? Other Comparisons Finances and Generosity
3 3 7 8 9
Article Summary Drawing from a survey of 253 large churches, this report drills down on several financial particulars such as changes by geography and gender.
Also in This Series: This report is the third in a series of three, each accessed by free download at www.leadnet.org/salary. t The first is titled “2010 Large Church Salary and Benefits Report.” It covers a wide range of church roles, looking at both salary and benefits. t The second is titled “2010 Large Church Economic Outlook Report.” It covers such issues as whether church leaders think they’ll meet budget and what level of staff raises churches give each year.
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1. Introduction Church leaders, especially those serving larger churches, tend to focus on the ways their ministry is unique. They’re attentive to how God is working through their church at this moment. They’re alert to the specific needs and niches that their people are distinctively addressing. And they’re aware of ways their church’s vision is different from other churches. Protestant churches As a result, church leaders sometimes don’t realize how much their church might have in common with other churches. They might acknowledge in theory that Protestant churches have more in common by size (attendance) than by any other factor, but they still raise a questioning eyebrow as they read generalizations about churches their size.
have more in common by size (attendance) than by any other factor.
This report addresses some of the issues voiced to us. Most questions are along the lines of “yes, but isn’t our situation different?” Such comments often relate to geography. Sometimes the answer is “yes, your church is different,” sometimes “no” – and sometimes “sorry, we don’t know.” Hopefully the following material, drawn from an extensive survey of large churches that Leadership Network conducted during 20101, will provide additional clarity and insight.
2. How Does Geography Affect Church Salaries? The Great Recession of 2007-2009 may technically have ended, but pastors and leaders continue to report negative ways the soft economy is impacting their churches. Leadership Network’s report on large church economic outlook found that in general larger churches are cautiously but safely weathering the economic turmoil of the last two years, many of them helped by numerical growth that tends to increase overall church income.2 A late 2010 LifeWay Research project, reporting on Protestant churches of all sizes, was not as optimistic. It found that 79% of pastors say the economy is impacting their church negatively, the highest level of negativity expressed during the four occasions in 2009 and 2010 that LifeWay Research asked pastors about the issue. The LifeWay report also said that 2010 seems to be the third straight year with an increased number of churches receiving lower offerings than the prior year.3
Regions The above-mentioned findings represent national averages, but what about different sections of the United States? How did large churches on the West Coast fare compared to those on the East Coast or in the South or Midwest? Short answer: a minimal difference. One of our questions asked, “Please give your best estimate of the following: ‘For the rest of 2010, we expect our church income to...’.” Grouping the responses by the four U.S. regions (using Census definitions4, the average answer for each regional group was “increase 1%-10%.” Within that range, the Northeastern states anticipated the highest increase, followed by the Southern states, the Midwestern states, and finally the Western states. We also asked, “How did staff salaries change (average increase or decrease) from the most recent budget year to 2010 (or current fiscal year)?” Again, all regions were close, each answering 2%. Before rounding, Northeast and South are slightly above 2%, and the Midwest and West slightly below 2%. We also looked at senior pastor salaries by comparing the four census regions. There was no significant difference for senior pastor salary between regions, taking size into consideration. What about the hardest-hit states? We looked at the top five states with the most foreclosure activity for 2010 in terms of raw numbers. Three are sand states (California, Florida and Arizona) and two are rust belt states (Illinois and Michigan). We then compared six of the highest-level church salaries for those states against all other states. The following table shows that the salary differences have no discernable trend. Some salaries are higher in high-foreclose states and others are lower.
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Large Church Salaries Show No Pattern Between “Tough Economy” States and Others Source: Campus Report 2010
CHURCH ROLE
SALARY: High foreclosure States (in thousands)
SALARY: All Other States (in thousands)
DIFFERENCE
Senior Pastor
$131
$131
0%
Executive Pastor
$87
$93
+9%
Associate Pastor
$86
$75
-15%
Business Administrator
$72
$74
+2%
Campus Pastor
$62
$62
+1%*
Worship Pastor
$72
$68
-5%
Salaries are midpoints (medians). Numbers represent churches with attendances of 1,000 to 15,000. *Actual salaries for campus pastor: $61,907 for high-foreclosure states vs. $62,362 for all other states.
TABLE 1
Density What about population density – does that factor affect church salaries and other economics? As Figure 1 demonstrates, the U.S. population is not distributed evenly. According to U.S. Census tables that track some 300 metropolitan areas5, areas with the very low population density per square mile of land area can be as low as 5 people per square mile (Flagstaff, AZ), 13 (Casper, WY), and 27 (Bismark, ND). By contrast the most dense metropolitan areas are 13,044 people per square mile (Jersey City, NJ), 8,159 (New York, NY), and 3,606 (Orange County, CA). The national average is the 87 people per square mile. We plotted the senior pastor salary for churches in our survey against the population density of the main campus city and found that the more dense the population, the higher the salary, though slightly so. This calculation did take size of church into consideration.6
Art used from www.census.gov, using most recent data available.
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FIGURE 1 4
Urban What about the difference between suburban and urban churches? (We had too few churches that describe themselves as “rural” to include them in the comparison.) Averaging together six different higher-level roles, we found no significant difference in salaries, when taking size into consideration. However, when specific individual salaries are compared, there are often noticeable differences – sometimes the urban church being higher, and sometimes the suburban counterpart being higher, as the shaded areas toward the top of Table 2 illustrate.
Comparing Salaries in Urban and Suburban Churches, Neither Has a Clear Edge Executive Pastor
Suburban
$159 $137
$102 $96
$75 $80
$78 $75
$63 $67
$75 $72
10,000–14,999 Urban Suburban
$180 $160
$150 $152
$126 $118
— —
$64 $65
— $75
6,000–9,999 Urban Suburban
$162 $186
$120 $108
— —
— $111
$69 $70
$75 $80
4,000–5,999 Urban Suburban
$160 $145
$113 $95
$69 $79
$75 $73
— $75
$70 $71
3,000–3,999 Urban Suburban
$141 $130
$82 $100
— $82
$76 $73
— $51
$75 $75
2,000–2,999 Urban Suburban
$136 $122
$77 $83
$76 $72
$88 $68
$43 $59
$75 $67
1,000–1,999 Urban Suburban
$100 $105
$78 $84
$70 $70
$70 $71
$49 $65
$68 $59
All churches 2,000+ Urban
Associate Pastor
Business Administrator
Source: Campus Report 2010
Senior Pastor
Campus Pastor
Worship Pastor
Salary numbers are in 1,000s. Amounts are midpoints (medians). Some cells were left blank due to insufficient data.
TABLE 2
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Generosity Does any one corner of the country rise above others as more likely to be generous? No. Financial generosity can be found in all areas of the country, as a study drawn from Foundation Center data (www.FDNcenter.org) demonstrates in Table 3.7
Ranking of Most Charitable U.S. Cities Affirms Generosity in All Sections of the Country CITY
Percent of Earnings Average Household Giving per Foundation Annual Volunteers (in thousands) (in thousands) Donated Income (in thousands)
1. Seattle
3.2%
$109
$2,630
2. San Francisco
3.0%
$189
3. Kansas City
3.5%
4. Atlanta
Population that Volunteers
Source: Campus Report 2010 943
28%
$1,360
1,000
23%
$85
$87
471
23%
4.5%
$86
$706
1,100
20%
5. Dallas
4.4%
$106
$625
1,400
22%
6. Minneapolis –St Paul
2.9%
$98
$703
905
28%
7. Portland
3.3%
$95
$556
627
28%
8. Washington D.C.
3.3%
$117
$583
1,300
23%
9. Houston
4.1%
$108
$639
935
16%
10. Denver
2.8%
$100
$611
587
23%
11. Los Angeles
3.4%
$136
$708
2,100
16%
12. Philadelphia
3.0%
$110
$689
1,100
18%
13. Detroit
3.0%
$94
$569
930
21%
14. New York City
3.4%
$134
$833
2,400
13%
15. St. Louis
3.3%
$88
$416
692
25%
16. Pittsburgh
2.9%
$100
$473
525
22%
17. Chicago
2.9%
$103
$514
1,700
18%
18. Cinninnati
3.1%
$87
$378
464
21%
19. Boston
2.6%
$131
$438
917
20%
20. San Diego
3.1%
$126
$383
601
20%
21. Cleveland
2.8%
$96
$354
459
22%
22. Phoenix
3.3%
$94
$355
778
18%
23. Miami
3.4%
$129
$422
671
12%
24. Milwaukee
2.9%
$117
$279
345
22%
25. Tampa-St. Petersburg
3.4%
$96
$244
597
22%
TABLE 3 Leadership Network t 2010 Large Church Finances and Staffing Report
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3. How Does Gender Affect Church Staffing? Women are an increasing percentage of the U.S. workforce, and churches are no exception. Our survey asked churches to identify the three most visible roles filled by female staff. The intent of the question is not to challenge any church’s theology but to offer helpful comparison for those positions that a church does feel are biblically appropriate to open to both men and women. First we identified and ranked the areas where our surveys said women were most visible in church. Those are depicted in Figure 2. The rank of these categories changed a bit with size of church. Larger churches cited “worship” and “communications” more frequently than did other churches. Then we examined specific leadership roles where our survey information told us the gender of the person in the role. The easiest comparison involved churches that had a full-time staff person over men’s ministry and another over women’s ministry. In 19% of such churches, the pay was identical for both roles, in 51% the head of the men’s ministry was paid more, and in 30% the head of the women’s ministry was paid more We don’t know the size of each ministry, which might affect salary dynamics. For example Church ABC might have a 900-participant women’s ministry and only a 300-participant men’s ministry, so perhaps the women’s ministry has a larger staff team and greater responsibilities. That said, the averages are $56,623 for men’s directors and $45,142 for women’s directors in those churches where both roles are present. (The 2010 Large Church Salary and Women Give More Benefits Report lists salary averages for to Charity all churches with either of those roles, grouping them by church attendance Female-headed households ranges. 8) are more likely to give to charity than male-headed However for other roles women were households, according to sometimes paid more than their male a major study of singlecounterparts in similar-size churches headed households. This is – but sometimes not. We compared true for incomes from low male and female salaries for director of (less than $25,000 annually) communications or equivalent, finding to high (over $100,000 that median salary was $56,000 for annually). Also in every females and $64,000 for males; for income group except for director of pastoral care or equivalent the one, women gave more than men – almost twice as much median salary was $58,000 for females on average. Women are also and $57,000 for males; and for director 42% more likely than men to of small groups or equivalent the median give to religious institutions.9 salary was $61,000 for females and $59,000 for males. Actual question: Of the most visible roles in your church, which are the top three filled by female staff? Tally above is based on number of times an area was named by the 253 participating churches.
FIGURE 2 Leadership Network t 2010 Large Church Finances and Staffing Report
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4. Other Comparisons Multisite Being multisite does not favorably increase salaries. In general salaries in multisite churches are lower than those in single-site churches.
Being multisite does not favorably increase salaries.
Budget Predictably, budget and size often go hand in hand. As we noted in the first installment of this series titled 2010 Large Church Salary and Benefits Report, salaries increase as the church budget increases.10
Staffing Likewise an economy of scale occurs with staffing as churches grow larger. As Figure 3 affirms, larger churches tend to use fewer paid staff as the staff-to-attender ratio changes with increased size. This difference shows up most dramatically after a church passes 10,000 in attendance.11 The average (median) for larger churches is one staff per 80 attenders for 1,000 to 9,999 (staying fairly consistent in all those sizes), and then one staff per 131 attenders for 10,000 and higher. In early 2010 we did a separate study titled “Lean Staffing� that provides information on churches that are trying to keep their staff costs down.12
Averages are based on the ratio (median) of paid full-time equivalent staff to average weekend attendance, adults and children.
FIGURE 3
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5. Finances and Generosity The lion’s share of income in the vast majority of U.S. churches comes from individual donations. A very small percent comes from endowment incomes, facility rental from weddings and other events, or commercial enterprises like leasing steeple space as a cell tower. This donor income comes from an uneven base. At least one out of five American Christians gives literally nothing to church, parachurch, or nonreligious charities, according to several national studies reported in the book Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money by Christian Smith and Michael Emerson.13 The rest average about 3% of pre-tax household income as annual donations to all religious and charitable causes (and by comparison, nonreligious Americans give less than 1% of their income on average).14 The more frequently a person attends church, the higher the income percentage given to charity, including one’s church. But despite a massive growth of real per capita income over the twentieth century, the average percentage share of income given by American Christians not only did not grow in proportion but actually declined slightly during this period.15
The more frequently a person attends church, the higher the income percentage given to charity, including one’s church.
What do all these numbers and trends mean? According to Jim Sheppard, founder of Generis, a church-focused financial consulting group, “At least one conclusion we should draw from Leadership Network’s series of three reports is that the economy is a factor but not the factor. Rather, it reveals the problem. The Bible describes generosity as a spiritual matter. Nothing more. Nothing less. Acts of charity and compassion mark the life of the mature disciple. Our giving reflects our faith. We are invited to become God’s partner in the grace of giving. Not that He needs our money, but we need to give it. It is not about what the church needs, it is about the giver’s needs.”
The Bible describes generosity as a spiritual matter.
In this era of a struggling economy, givers want demonstrable impact from the places where they allocate their charitable dollars. They are asking themselves, “Why should I give to my church?” In this day and age, it is not enough to just say, “We’re the church,” or even “The Scriptures remind us that God loves us to give sacrificially and cheerfully.” As Jim Sheppard says, “When faced with choices to allocate their resources, givers will almost always choose the place where they can see the highest impact. Churches generally experience great stories of impact, but they often do not get told in a way that helps donors understand the impact of the ministry. It is important to focus on these stories so givers see the impact of their gift on their peers, as well as on the helpless, the hopeless, and other people who are hurting.”
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About Leadership Network
About The Author Warren Bird, Ph.D., directs the research division of Leadership Network, drawing from a background of pastoral ministry, seminary teaching, and congregational studies. He has co-authored 23 books on various issues of church vitality and health. His bio is at www.leadnet.org/warrenbird
Leadership Network’s mission is to accelerate the impact of 100X leaders. These high-capacity leaders are like the hundredfold crop that comes from seed planted in good soil as Jesus described in Matthew 13:8. Leadership Network… - explores the “what’s next?” of what could be. - creates “aha!” environments for collaborative discovery. - works with exceptional “positive deviants.” - invests in the success of others through generous relationships. - pursues big impact through measurable kingdom results. - strives to model Jesus through all we do.
Endnotes 1.
Unless stated otherwise, all findings in this paper come from a Leadership Network survey of 253 churches with attendances of 1,000 and higher. The survey was fielded in April-May 2010 and contained 201 different data points. Usable responses came from 253 Protestant churches: 242 in the United States and 11 in Canada. The survey was offered online only. Participants were recruited by individual emails and by announcements in online publications, including blogs and tweets.
2.
See Leadership Network’s 2010 Large Church Economic Outlook Report by Warren Bird, available as a free download at www.leadnet.org/salary.
3.
See Brooklyn Lowery, “LifeWay Research Finds Recession Catches up to America’s Churches,” http://www.lifeway.com/article/170600/.
4.
For a visual map of the four census regions, see http://www.census.gov/geo/ www/us_regdiv.pdf.
5.
See http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/density.html, and then select “Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density for Metropolitan Areas: 2000”
6.
For a state-by-state comparison of population density, see http://2010.census.gov /2010census/data/, and select the “population density” tab.
7.
Leadership Network is a division of OneHundredX, a global ministry with initiatives around the world.
The list was calculated with 2006 to 2008 data from The Foundation Center to determine which city’s foundations donate the most dollars per year on average. Tax data from 2004 to 2006 compiled by the National Center for Charitable Statistics was also taken into consideration to determine where households donate the most per year, based on cents-per-dollar earned of adjusted gross income. Lastly, the creators interpreted which cities have the most yearly volunteers per capita with 2007 to 2009 data provided by VolunteeringInAmerica.gov. The sponsor, a publication known The Daily Beast (www.thedailybeast.com), believes this three-prong approach provides an equitable view of how the rich, the middle class and volunteers impact charity. The report was released in December 2010 (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-08/25-most-charitablecities-from-seattle-to-san-francisco/)
8.
See Leadership Network’s 2010 Large Church Salary and Benefits Report, pages 12-19, Tables 5-11. The document is available as a free download at www.leadnet.org/salary.
9.
These findings come from The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, released October 2010 available at http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/womengive.
To learn more about Leadership Network go to www.leadnet.org
10. See Leadership Network’s 2010 Large Church Salary and Benefits Report, pages 21-22,
Believing that meaningful conversations and strategic connections can change the world, we seek to help leaders navigate the future by exploring new ideas and finding application for each unique context. Through collaborative meetings and processes, leaders map future possibilities and challenge one another to action that accelerates fruitfulness and effectiveness. Leadership Network shares the learnings and inspiration with others through our books, concept papers, research reports, e-newsletters, podcasts, videos, and online experiences. This in turn generates a ripple effect of new conversations and further influence.
Table 13. The document is available as a free download at www.leadnet.org/salary.
11. For a breakdown by church sizes, see 2010 Large Church Salary and Benefits Report, page 23, Table 14, titled “Worshipper-to-Staff Ratios Hold Even Until Attendance Reaches 10,000.” The document is available as a free download at www.leadnet.org/salary.
12. Bird, Warren, “Lean Staffing: Churches That Handle Staff Costs in Under 35% of Budget,” available for free download at www.leadnet.org.
13. Smith, Christian and Michael Emerson. Passing the Plate: Why American
Christians Don’t Give Away More Money. Oxford University Press, 2008, page 29.
14. Passing the Plate, page 24. 15. Passing the Plate, page 48. See also http://www.emptytomb.org/research.html.
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