Discussing a balanced scorecard for one local independent New Zealand church

Abstract

This article explores internal discussions of a performance measurement tool called the balanced scorecard (BSC) for potential application in a suburban church. Interviews were conducted with church leaders exploring issues they face if a BSC was adopted to assess church performance. A significant finding was the difficulty church leaders had incorporating a finance perspective into their organizational thinking as a performance measurement factor because of the church’s primary focus and function as not-for-profit orientation to spiritual mission. This article argues churches like other organizations need a performance measurement tool, such as a BSC, to regularly monitor their organizational well-being, if they are to survive in a highly competitive and complex environment, even as non-commercial institutions with transcendent goals. The findings suggest the value for churches incorporating a finance perspective in measuring performance since finance sets the possibilities for the sustainability of the organization, even though religious or faith-based objectives are themselves not financial.