From editorial director of news Kate Shellnutt: Is it better to start strong or to end strong?

Churches typically operate on a fiscal year that aligns with the calendar year. Because so much giving happens during the holidays, that leaves them to wait until the final months, weeks, and even days for major donations to come.

Big gifts from bonuses, stocks, or year-end profit-sharing can make a big difference in budgets. And for church finance teams trying to anticipate what level of giving they’ll end up with—it overlays even more anticipation over the Advent waiting period.

CPA Steve Chaney, who I spoke with for this week’s story on church giving, works exclusively with churches. He told me he’s been recommending that his clients adjust their fiscal year, moving it to October through September, so they have the momentum of beginning with holiday giving.

That way, he said, churches know what they have from the start, similar to Dave Ramsey’s envelope method, "rather than going through the year saying, ‘We’re praying to the Lord that we’re going to catch up.’"