It’s very unlikely that church leaders will never have to deal with this kind of dilemma at some point; having to make cutbacks in a budget. And it’s definitely not like cutting budgets in more commercial organisations; for reasons that are made clear in this section of the article:

Some, including me, argued that reducing staff would cause some members to leave (I had already been warned/threatened by a few members in this regard). Therefore, the net gain from salary reductions might well be offset by the lost pledge revenue from members who left the church.

There was an equally heated discussion about the benevolence budget. Someelders viewed it as discretionary spending. Others saw it as money that had to be spent. They also argued we would lose members who were proud of and committed to our mission efforts.

I suppose that the closest in a more commercial enterprise would be the dilemma that cutting the budget might reduce quality and so lose custom. Perhaps.

Anyhow; it’s worth noting the process they undertook to deal with the matter. It seems to me that buying time to consult, reflect and pray together is a vital value to have embodied in the process. Check out, towards the end of the piece, the reflections on what they learnt. A lot of transferable stuff that needs to be ‘in play’ in general church life.

via The Alban Institute – 2010-09-06 What to Keep, What to Cut.