The annual update from the Chief Executive of Christian Savings, Dan Mazengarb, for 2024.
The financial theme for the FY 2024 story can be summed up with one word, “patience”. We broke into the new financial year with a strong capacity to lend and were looking forward to getting behind some very exciting projects. We had a large church build in Mangawhai, a multi-unit housing development in Christchurch, and the establishment of a new Christian school in Wellington. It was to be a year of healthy growth spread across a diverse range of projects. Little did we know that the year would test our patience. The church in Mangawahi pushed back their settlement after a successful fundraising drive, the Christchurch housing charity actually repaid part of its loan before drawing much later in the year, and the school purchase was held up for months whilst an insurance impasse prevented settlement. The delay of these projects and many others meant that we had no effective lending growth during the year. Through a last-minute surge in lending, we stumbled over the finish line at our budgeted number of loans and deposits, but we were sorely below our budgeted surplus.
While we always strive to meet our shareholders’ financial expectations, being a ‘for-purpose’ means keeping a much bigger picture in mind. In 2024, we delivered on our core purpose of enabling churches and charities to thrive in a variety of ways. One example is the workshops we’ve held this year. These included a workshop on risk for a shareholder, financial management for ministers, and property development for a parish in Christchurch. We also landed our first two loans to ministers, enabling families to achieve homeownership for the first time. Lastly, we’ve been busy with the Governance Conference, which has seen many people engage in governance education, and we’re already receiving positive feedback from the events.
Arguably, the greatest progress has been the developments unseen to most people. These are the investments we’re currently making into better internal systems, smarter marketing strategies and a modern user experience. The fruit of these efforts will only begin to show in Q2 of 2024 and, like all good things, will require a long lead time to get right. Along with some key new staff members recruited in 2024, we’re on track to making Christian Savings a much more stable, productive and effective organisation.
Thanks for the partnership shown by our Baptist family; we wouldn’t be here without you.
This update is from the 2024 Annual Report of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand, which you can view here.
Photo: Dan Mazengarb
