New Season, New Needs

By Brian Thigpen

As Source of Light poises itself to expand into online discipleship as well as continuing to grow our reach with printed lessons, how is the Finance Department to absorb the additional accounting and processing to support a growing ministry?

Consider the fact that the vast majority of missions’ organizations take administrative fees to pay for finance staff. However, all our finance staff are primarily supported by individuals and churches, which allows us to avoid admin fees from donations, but makes it difficult to maintain a full staff.

These challenges are why we have spent the last year and a half researching and implementing new technologies and processes in the Finance Department. A few examples of improvements:

1. A New staff portal – Our local and global missionaries are now able to see their donations and current balances in real time from anywhere in the world. They can respond to financial partners quickly and know when funds are available. It also frees up our finance staff from regular requests for information from missionaries about their accounts.

2. Cloud-based donation entry software – Donation entry is more automated with default accounts for each donation. This reduces errors and the amount of time required to process donations.

3. Email receipting – We are also email receipt capable, giving the donor immediate confirmation and saving us time and money in the Finance Department.

Our financial team enjoys being able to get more done, in less time, with fewer errors.

With a total staff of four, and two of those being only part time, a global ministry spanning over 30 countries and thousands of donors is a challenge to maintain.

It was a steep learning curve for this 68-year-old mission agency, but we are now poised to move into the next season as Source of Light expands with our online lessons launch. New technology for a new season of opportunity with the same eternal Good News.