At some point, every church is held back by its budget. Each year you have to make tough choices about which ministries to hold off on (or make cuts to), which updates, remodels, and purchases to postpone. Even if your church is full of mature Christians with a healthy understanding of stewardship and generosity, regular giving rarely covers everything you’ve envisioned for your church.

But what if you could increase your church’s revenue without pressuring your congregation to give more? It might surprise you to learn that there are lots of ways churches today have created additional revenue streams. Not only does this free them up to fund more ministry, but it also models good stewardship to their congregations and creates unique ministry opportunities within the community.

Here are four ways your church could start generating additional revenue—without asking people to give more. 

1. Rent your facilities

If you own your facility, odds are there are several days of the week where most of that facility isn’t in use. Even with classes and ministry activities throughout the week, there are probably rooms that don’t get used or that are available for several hours during the day. So why not rent them out?

Local schools, businesses, and ministries often need separate spaces for graduations, meetings, conferences, and other special events. Some businesses or freelancers may even be interested in using your facility as a coworking space on a more regular basis. 

You’ll need to work out logistics, like how people will access your facility, and you should develop a facility use policy that outlines rental fees and guidelines for using your space. Since you aren’t using this space during the week anyway, renting it out will help maximize your church’s investment in your facility, as well as bring in some bonus funds.

2. Use your skills

Your church is full of people with unique, valuable knowledge and experience. You could use your team’s skills and expertise to facilitate courses, seminars, workshops, and other learning opportunities that people in the community would pay for. Maybe you could teach a class on financial wisdom, leadership, graphic design, music, creative writing, marketing, or cooking. You could also turn your skills into a product, such as a book, CD, or video series.

Finding creative ways to use your church’s skills can increase your income and open the door to building new relationships with members of your community.

3. Start a business

Believe it or not, your church could be in an excellent position to launch a new business. Your nursery or children’s ministry classrooms could be the perfect place to run a daycare or preschool. Your auditorium could potentially facilitate a dance studio. If you have a field or gym, you could consider creating a local sports league of some kind. With an industrial kitchen, you could launch a catering business.

This is obviously different than launching a ministry, but a business does create ministry opportunities as well. You could create employment opportunities for church members who need help getting back on their feet, and you could wind up connecting with people who wouldn’t otherwise show up at your church.

Find more “hidden money” in your church

Creating additional streams of income is a great opportunity for your church to boost your budget. But there are other areas where financial opportunities could be hiding in your church. Check out the free ebook, Hidden Money: 5 Insanely Practical Ways to Fund Your Church’s 2020 Vision to learn more.