Church operations often require the use of outside vendors for specialized services, including HVAC maintenance, roofing, electrical work, plumbing, information technology, landscaping, security systems, and other facility-related needs.

In smaller Churches, these needs may sometimes be handled through informal relationships. A Trustee or Church member may know a qualified individual or business that is willing to provide labor, materials, or services at a reduced cost or as an in-kind contribution. While these arrangements can be beneficial, larger Churches generally require a more formal vendor-management process. When the Church is entering into contractual obligations or paying invoices from Church funds, appropriate oversight, documentation, and accountability become increasingly important.

Vendor Selection

The Board of Trustees should maintain oversight of vendors providing ongoing facility and operational services. Because local businesses, pricing, capabilities, and service levels change over time, the Church should periodically review the available vendor market rather than assuming that an existing provider remains the best option.

When selecting a new vendor, the Trustees should first define the Church’s service requirements and then solicit proposals or quotations from qualified providers. As a general best practice, the Church should obtain at least three written quotes for significant purchases or service agreements whenever practical.

The evaluation should consider more than price alone. Relevant factors may include:

• Scope of services provided
• Total cost and contract terms
• Experience and technical qualifications
• Insurance and licensing requirements
• Responsiveness and service availability
• References and reputation
• Emergency-service capabilities
• Warranty provisions
• Familiarity with commercial or institutional facilities
• Ability to meet the operational requirements of the church

The objective should be to select the vendor that provides the best overall value and lowest reasonable operational risk, rather than automatically selecting the lowest bidder.

Vendor Onboarding

Once a vendor has been selected, the Church should complete a consistent onboarding process. Depending upon the nature of the service, this may include executing a contract or service agreement, obtaining insurance documentation, establishing billing procedures, identifying authorized Church contacts, and documenting the vendor’s primary and emergency contact information.

Payment arrangements should also be established before any invoices begin arriving. The Church’s financial staff should know who is authorized to request services, who approves invoices, and which budget or account will be charged.

For mission-critical services, contracts should clearly address after-hours and emergency support. HVAC, electrical, security, plumbing, and information-technology systems are examples of services where failures can directly affect worship services, programs, or facility operations.

The Trustees should therefore maintain current contact information for all vendors during both normal business hours and emergency service hours. Staff should know whom they are authorized to contact when an operational problem occurs outside normal business hours—including situations arising on Sunday mornings. In one case, the lighting control system for the sanctuary was down on Sunday morning, so the only light was that coming through the stained glass windows!

Vendor Performance Management

Vendor relationships should be reviewed periodically rather than treated as permanent arrangements. Trustees should consider service quality, responsiveness, pricing, contract compliance, reliability, and the vendor’s ability to continue meeting the Church’s operational requirements.

Significant or recurring performance issues should be documented and addressed with the vendor. Where appropriate, the vendor should be given an opportunity to correct the problem before the relationship is terminated.

Maintaining more than one qualified vendor in certain service categories can also reduce operational risk. For critical functions, the Church may benefit from having an approved secondary provider available if the primary vendor cannot respond.

Vendor Offboarding

When a vendor is no longer able to provide acceptable service, goes out of business, becomes uncompetitive, or otherwise no longer meets the church’s needs, the Trustees should oversee an orderly offboarding process.

This should include, as applicable:

• Reviewing termination provisions in the contract
• Providing required notice
• Cancelling recurring services or automatic payments
• Paying legitimate outstanding invoices
• Recovering church keys, access cards, passwords, or equipment
• Removing access to Church facilities and information systems
• Retaining appropriate contractual and financial records
• Updating the Church’s approved-vendor list

The Trustees should then determine whether an existing approved vendor can assume the responsibility or whether a new competitive vendor-selection process should begin.

Maintaining an Approved Vendor Portfolio

The Church’s vendor list should be treated as a managed portfolio rather than a static directory. Businesses change ownership, personnel change, pricing changes, service quality changes, and new providers enter the market.

The Trustees should therefore maintain a current list of approved vendors showing the services provided, primary contacts, emergency contacts, contract status, renewal dates, and other relevant information.

A disciplined vendor-management process provides the Church with stronger financial stewardship, clearer accountability, improved service continuity, and reduced operational risk. It also allows staff to respond quickly when problems occur while preserving appropriate Trustee oversight of the Church’s property, contracts, and financial commitments.

Large Churches have a need for Inventory Management. They may need to keep track of class room items, such as video monitors and DVD players. Or they may need to assign whiteboards. They may even just need a list of valuations for property insurance purposes. Whatever the use, the Inventory Management system should be kept on a computer, with off site copies printed and updated on a regular basis.

A Church Management system (ChMS) will help your Church with Inventory Management. If your Church already has a ChMS, then this is likely already provided. Or you may need to purchase it as an additional module. Or you could just use a spreadsheet file for this purpose. To get started, first decide how you want to organize the Church Inventory:

• By Ministry: Worship, Music, Children, Youth, Adult
• By Building: Sanctuary, Gym, Administrative
• By Category: Video, Audio, Lighting, Tables, Chairs

However you organize the Inventory Management system, you will need some help in getting the initial lists together. Ask for volunteers to help you, and assign them to specific areas. Give them clipboards and pencils to write down the items they find. If you have asset tags, then this needs to be recorded as well. If not, then identifiable names and descriptions will do. After the lists are generated, enter the data and generate a full list. Look for any duplications or errors and correct them.

Once the Inventory is complete, print out a complete list and send it offsite on a regular basis. That way, if there is a fire, you don’t lose the list in the event. Perhaps you have a board of trustees; send the list to the chairman. Or perhaps you have a safety deposit box at your bank; place the copy in there. (If it is a small box, then a flash drive will work.) Whatever the method, add a calendar item to update the list and send it offsite. That way, there is always an updated list available for a backup.

Inventory Management is an administrative function that Churches need to. It can be done on an informal basis, but it will help you keep track of equipment and furniture. Although these items tend to get moved around a lot, they should stay on the list while they are useful. When they are sold or break, you can drop them off the list. The important thing is to have a list, so that you can support any claims made to property insurance companies in the future. Otherwise, the property insurance is going to come up short when rebuilding after an event.