Income and Expenses for Retreats

Some of you love dealing with finances, spreadsheets and balances... and many more of you do not. (Including me!) However, a budget and proper handling of money is vital to the integrity of your retreat, so... it is an important part of planning.

First, I would recommend having someone on your planning team that is willing to be the "go-to girl" when it comes to money. Someone with a little accounting or financial experience or at least someone who regulary balances their checkbook! This person will oversee registration, track and record budget expenses and will be the contact person for finalizing the contract and payment with the retreat center.

The most effective way to deal with the budget is to deal with it right away. Make it the first project for your planning team. Once you have your finance person in place, sit down with your team and talk through what you want to do and what you need to do it.

EXPENSES

The first thing to do is to consider your retreat site cost because it will most likely be your largest expense.

Next, figure out the cost of the speaker fees and travel expenses, as well as the approximate costs of everything on your list. Do not forget items like: marketing materials, registration forms, pens, flip charts, postage, phone bills, handouts, gift bags, extra food, etc... When you have finished estimating costs, it is then time to plan how you will pay for everything.

INCOME

There are many ways to calculate income, but the most common way to estimate your potential income is to figure out all your costs and divide them by the projected number of attendees. If you expect 100 to 125 women, use the lower number to estimate your income. It is better to have extra funds come in, than to come up short.

Here is an example:

• Retreat Center - $70.00 per person ( Friday PM - Sunday Noon, 5 meals, lodging - women provide their own bedding.)
• Speaker Travel and Fee - $1100.00 ($330 flight, $700 speaking, $70 retreat cost)
• Publications/copies/handouts - $2.00 per person (copies made on church copier) or $5.00 per person (copies from a print shop)
• Participant favors - $1.00 per person (small corsage bag with bookmark, scented tea light, confetti, and tea bag)
• Misc. - $1.00 per person (boxes of tissues, extra food, unexpected items)

Using the above figures, if there were 100 women attending the retreat the costs would be:

• Retreat Center - $7,000.00
• Speaker - $1100.00
• Publications - $200.00
• Favors - $100.00
• Misc. - $100.00
• Total - $8500.00; cost per person if you evenly distribute all the costs - $85.00

In this model, the first 100 women will cover the cost of your speaker. If you have more women attend, you will still need to cover their retreat fee, publications, favor and misc. costs.

SCHOLARSHIPS

A quick word about scholarships. Not everyone will be able to afford to attend the retreat no matter how inexpensive you can make it. A great way to help increase attendance is to offer scholarships. There are women in your church who can probably afford to help in this area. Whether they put in an additional $5 or $100, every little bit helps someone else to make it to the retreat. Also, you can have an area on your registration form where people can indicate if they need a full or partial scholarship.

WRAP UP

Whatever the size of your church and your retreat budget, retreats are a great way to minister to women, to create unity in your women's ministry, and to knit women's hearts together!

In Him... Robyne Beaubien, Editor
If you have retreat questions or ideas email me!

A simple... and fun icebreaker!

Materials: Paper sacks, various fun items to wear. For example: a bright feather boa, a funny pair of glasses, a funny hat, etc. Put one item in each paper bag and seal it shut.

For each table or small group of ladies, start with one or more sealed paper sacks with one item in it. Start playing some music. During this time the ladies pass the bags around the table or their group. When the music stops, the person holding the bag has to open it and put on what is in the bag. All the ladies who end up with the bag have to put the item on, go to the stage to "model" it, and have a group picture taken.

Another variation is to seal a corsage in each bag, and announce from the stage that each bag contains "bloomers," and the one holding the bag when the music stops will be required to wear them for the rest of the evening. Many women will think there is a rather large pair of underwear in the bag and will do anything not to be holding it when the music stops. Very fun!

Submitted by: June Welch
 

Open the Door

Sometimes it can be hard to "get the ball rolling" in a small group at a retreat or event where women do not know each other well. This is a great way to encourage sharing.

With everyone sitting around a table or in a circle, pass a door knob around to each person giving them each a chance to answer a question. Begin with an opening question that invites people to share about themselves. Here are some ideas:

• I attend church at...
• My favorite color is...
• My favorite food is...
• My earliest childhood memory is...

Go around the group a couple of times with the general questions and then ask each woman to answer the question: "What doors has God opened for me?" (variation: What doors have I closed on God?, What doors has God reopened in my life?)

The movie based on Dan Brown's best selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" opens in theaters this weekend. There is a lot of buzz about the historical evidence presented by Mr. Brown and what it means to the church today.

We will not go into detail about the book, but would encourage you to educate yourself on the issues that surround the novel and how they line up with actual historical and Biblical facts. This week's resource is a curriculum discussion kit addressing the book and this week's featured website also addresses the book and its implications.

Be informed, and be ready to share your faith!

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