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REACHRIGHT

Free church budget calculator

Where Should Your Church Budget Go?

Enter your annual church income and see how a healthy church budget splits across staffing, ministry, facilities, and missions. Then get a free 3-page board report.

SampleSample · Fictional church
Sample page 1 of the 3-page board report for a made-up church, Grace Hill Community Church, with $1,180,000 in annual income and 340 in weekly attendance. Staffing & Compensation 46% ($542,800), healthy range 40 to 55%; Facilities & Operations 20% ($236,000), healthy range 15 to 30%; Ministry Programs 15% ($177,000), healthy range 10 to 20%; Missions & Outreach 9.5% ($112,100), healthy range 5 to 15%; Administration 5% ($59,000), healthy range 5 to 10%; Reserves & Contingency 4.5% ($53,100), healthy range 3 to 5%. Key insight: Your staffing budget ($542,800) covers about 7.5 full-time staff at $72,000 each, fully loaded. At one staff member per 75 weekly attendees, plan for about 4.5.

Budget factors

Start with your annual income. The other three questions open as you go.

Your split appears here as soon as you enter your annual income.

Budget breakdown

$0 TOTAL

Category details

Staffing & Compensation
$0 0%

Healthy range 40–55%

Facilities & Operations
$0 0%

Healthy range 15–30%

Ministry Programs
$0 0%

Healthy range 10–20%

Missions & Outreach
$0 0%

Healthy range 5–15%

Administration
$0 0%

Healthy range 5–10%

Reserves & Contingency
$0 0%

Healthy range 3–5%

Staff recommendation

Recommended FTE 0.0
Staffing budget $0
Avg. salary (fully loaded) $0/yr

Salary, benefits, and payroll taxes for your church size, capped at one full-time staff member per 75 weekly attendees.

Key insights

Enter your annual income above to see insights from your numbers.

How this was calculated
FactorSelectionEffect

Base split by church size, adjusted for facility and setting, then scaled to 100%. Any category outside its healthy range moves to the nearest edge, and the difference spreads across the others, so every number stays in range.

Where the numbers come from
  • Healthy ranges and base splits: REACHRIGHT's guidelines from church budgets we've seen. Use them as guidance, not rules.
  • Average salary by church size: a blended, fully loaded cost across staff roles, drawn from church compensation surveys including Vanderbloemen's 2025 report. For role-by-role pay, use the church salary calculator.
  • Staffing cap: one full-time staff member per 75 weekly attendees.

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Free download

Download Your Board-Ready Budget Report

Get a custom PDF with your full budget breakdown, ready to present at your next board meeting. Three pages, built from your numbers.

  • All six categories with the percentage, healthy range, and dollar amount
  • A staffing estimate from your income and attendance
  • Key insights computed from your numbers
  • How every number was calculated, on one page

Get your 3-page report

Your report downloads as soon as you submit.

How it works

Your healthy split in about 30 seconds.

  1. 30 seconds

    Step 1: Enter your annual income

    Plus attendance, facility, and setting if you know them.

  2. Right away

    Step 2: See your healthy split

    Staffing, ministry, facilities, missions, and reserves, with healthy ranges.

  3. Right away

    Step 3: Get the board report

    A free 3-page PDF you can hand to your board.

Why it matters

Your budget is a ministry document.

Most church budgets get copied from last year with a few tweaks. The building fund stays the same, staff get a modest raise, and whatever's left goes to "ministry programs," which usually means the youth pastor's pizza budget and VBS supplies.

Your budget tells a story about what your church values. If missions gets 2 cents of every dollar, that's a statement, whether you meant it or not. When a young family wonders whether your church cares about the community, your budget has already answered.

Healthy churches plan on purpose. They decide what share goes to staff and what share goes to ministry. They build reserves so one bad month doesn't turn into a crisis, and they fund outreach because the Great Commission isn't optional.

This calculator starts from a base split for churches your size, adjusts it for your facility and your setting, and keeps every category inside its healthy range. It won't pick your worship team's new monitors. It gives your board a sound plan to start from, and if you enter what you spend today, it shows where you're over or under.

Want more financial guidance? Our giving and finance articles cover church budgeting, stewardship, and compensation.

Who built this

Built by people who only work with churches.

This calculator comes from the team that runs websites, Google Ads, and social media for 800+ churches, led by a pastor of 20+ years. If you want a second set of eyes on your church's online presence, we offer a free marketing review.

Founded in 2016 by Thomas Costello, a pastor for 20+ years.

Google Grants managed
$14.24M
in Google Grants managed
Client retention
89%
client retention
Ian Hyatt, Co-founder at REACHRIGHT

Ian Hyatt

Co-founder. Pastoral background. The person most churches talk to first.

Luvé Meyer, Church consultant at REACHRIGHT

Luvé Meyer

Church consultant. Helps pastors sort out what to fix first. No pressure, just an honest conversation.

Jovan Fick, Church consultant at REACHRIGHT

Jovan Fick

Church consultant. Walks pastors through where they stand online and what would move the needle. Straight answers, no pressure.

Common questions

Church Budget FAQ

Is it really free?
Yes. You see your split without giving us anything. The 3-page report asks for your name, email, and church name, and it downloads the moment you submit. There is nothing to buy. We may follow up by email about how REACHRIGHT helps churches get found online.
Where do the healthy ranges come from?
They're REACHRIGHT's guidelines from church budgets we've seen, and they are guidance, not rules. The calculator starts from a base split for your attendance size, adjusts it for your facility and setting, and then keeps every category inside its range with the total at exactly 100%. The staffing estimate divides your staffing budget by an average fully loaded salary for your church size and caps it at one full-time staff member per 75 weekly attendees.
Does it handle multisite or large churches?
Large churches, yes. The size brackets run up to 2,000+ weekly attendees, and bigger churches start with a larger staffing share (52% at 2,000+ before adjustments). Multisite churches get one combined budget: enter total income and total weekly attendance across every campus. The calculator doesn't split the budget by campus.
What's in the 3-page report?
Page 1 is your budget: all six categories with the percentage, its healthy range, and the dollar amount, plus your inputs, a staffing estimate, and key insights. Page 2 explains how the numbers were calculated and lists every healthy range. Page 3 is about REACHRIGHT and the work we do for churches.

Walk into your next budget meeting with a plan.

See your healthy split in 30 seconds, then take a free 3-page report to your board.

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