Tell the story of your church’s ministry

Put YOUR Pictures in it!
Picture Budgets

We all know a picture is worth a thousand words, so follow these guidelines to create your own picture budget instead of the usual (See samples by clicking on links below):

Open with a friendly, personal letter from the pastor — don’t forget the pastor’s picture!  Keep your stories brief and joyful.  Include scripture that captures your church’s vision.  Use the words “we” and “our.”  Group church spending into categories, like “Worship,” “Community,” “Outreach.”  Use active photos that show people’s faces. Close-ups are good!  Avoid pictures of people at meetings!  Invite your congregation to prayerfully consider their pledge and to grow their giving each year.

Full-color, multi-page narrative budgets

United Church of Chapel Hill — Chapel Hill NC (929KB)
A PDF of the church’s PowerPoint narrative budget, with photos, pie charts, ministry lists, critical notes and more in one-page highlights of each mission/ministry category.

Bethany UCC — Cuyahoga Falls OH (968KB)
Designed to print on both sides of four legal pages, this budget uses numbers sparingly but is still effective.

Christ Church UCC — Orrville OH (538KB)
An 11-page budget with percentages, pie charts, ministry lists and photos in one-page summaries of each budget area.

Church of the Redeemer UCC — Westlake OH (1.2 MB)
A more elaborate, 17-page booklet with narrative, pie charts and lots of color photographs.

Hillsborough UCC — Hillsborough NC (396 KB)
Designed in Word to print on legal pages, this budget includes a number of categories with explanatory text.

The UCC of New Smyrna Beach FL (384 KB)
Ten pages with narrative, photographs, pie charts and percentages.

Pilgrim Congregational UCC — Cleveland OH (2 MB)
Lots of photographs, a little bit of narrative, and no numbers!

Holy Covenant UCC (816 KB)
Designed to print on three legal pages on the church’s color printer, this budget incorporates a range of ways for readers to engage budget information.

Penn West Conference (357 KB)
A 16-page booklet with narrative and photos.

One-page, double-sided, color budgets

Connecticut Conference (704 KB)
A double-sided page with narrative, numbers and pie charts.

Indiana-Kentucky Conference (576 KB)
A legal-sized page, printed both sides offers a simple but effective narrative budget style.

Central Atlantic Conference (88 KB)
A Word document without photos, but with narrative that highlights both the income and expense sides of the budget.

One-page, one-sided, black-and-white budgets

Plymouth UCC (129 KB)
A one-page, one-side, one-color narrative budget with narrative, numbers, and some fun clip art.