IMPACT OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF

CHURCH FINANCIAL REPORTING ON THE INTEREST OF

MEMBERS’ CHURCH GIVING DONATIONS TO CHURCH

Mei Hotma Mariati Munte1, Debora Dongoran2

Economic Faculty, Nommensen HKBP University, Medan, Indonesia
[email protected], [email protected]

Keywords : Interest, Transparency, Accountability

Abstract : This research aims to determine the impact of transparency and accountability of the church's financial
reporting on the interest of the congregation to donate to the church. However, the transparency and
accountability of church finance reporting is something that absolutely must be done to keep the faith of the
congregation. Management of church finances that are not transparent and accountable will be able to cause
problems in the future between the congregation and the church administrators so that among the
congregation itself. The sample used is determined based on the criteria of ever donating more than the
amount set by the church and has been a member of the church for at least three years. So the sample is 150
people congregation spread in seven wik. Methods of data analysis used are the classical assumption test,
hypothesis test and multiple regression analysis with the help of computer program SPSS version 20.0. The
results show that partially transparency has a negative effect while accountability has a positive effect on the
interest of the congregation to donate to the church. And, after simultaneous testing, the results show that
both simultaneously affect the congregation's interest in donating to the church. Transparency is not an
element that can influence the interest of the congregation to donate to the church. Accountability of
financial reporting influences the interest of the congregation because this variable is still important for the
congregation to know the financial accountability of the church for the congregations’ donation.

1. INTRODUCTION at that time was far greater than the amount needed
now.
The amount of donations expected to be
1.1 Background Research collected by the church from congregations at the
time of the construction of the church building three
The Church is one of the nonprofit organizations
years ago is Rp 200,000,000 (Rp 500,000 / family).
that acquire the full resources from donation who are
But, beyond the estimates the figure can even be
members of the church or other parties. This
skipped because it can be triple more than targeted.
donation is used by church to finance church
This much money could have built a better church
activities. The donors who have donated, of course
than it had been designed in the beginning. But the
never expect to receive any form of reward on their
fact is not the case. Shortly after the construction
donation. But, the transparency of the financial
was completed the church ceiling had been damaged
statements of the church becomes an absolute thing
and even until this research was implemented, the
to do to maintain the trust of the church.
ceiling damage had not been fixed yet.
The financial management of the church that is
On the other hand it can also be stated that, with
not transparent and accountable will make a problem
the amount of money that has far exceeded the target
later in the day between the church and the
should all parts of the church have been built
congregation and among the congregations. In
including the bathroom and church office (meeting
compare to the interest of the congregation donating
room). Situation 3 years ago is inversely this year in
three years ago with this year in which the church
which the church plans to improve the bathroom and
has to repair the bathroom and church office, the
the room. Of course the targeted donation figure will
interest of the church was still higher donating to the
be smaller in number. But, based on the information
church three years ago although the amount needed

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obtained from one of the bathroom development impulse. The incidence of interest in the individual
committees and the room can be doubtful because comes from the individual, then the individual
the amount of donations received is not as expected interacts with his environment that gives rise to
by the church and the committee. social impulse and emotional impulse.
Of course, this raises the question of why the
amount of donations has decreased. In fact, the 2.2 Transparency
churches that are expected to contribute to the
development of the bathroom and the room are also Transparency is to prepare open and honest
who contributed to the building of the church 3 years financial information to the congregation based on
ago. In other words, the current contributing church the consideration that the congregation has the right
for the development of the room and the bathroom is to know openly and thoroughly the responsibility of
also a congregation that has contributed three years the church authorities in the management of the
ago. resources entrusted to it and its compliance with
This study is in line with the research that has laws and regulations.
been done by three previous researchers namely There are at least five reasons why the church
Charles Zech with the title research Why should be transparent when preparing financial
Catholicists Do not Give And What Can Be Done statements (1) Transparency can increase number of
About It. The results of this study are People who donations (2) Many churches more wishing
are members of the church as a congregation, transparency (3) Transparency Related to the bible
wanting them to be involved by asking for input in (4) Transparency able to reduce financial crime
decision making. Other research has also been (5) Christians need more information about their
conducted by Francischa Sukmawati, Sri money
Pujiningsih, Nujmatul Laily under the title Church
Accountability in Biblical Perspectives and 2.3 Accountability
Stewardship Theory (Study Case on Church X in
East Java) The result of this study shows that Financial accountability is the responsibility of
vertical accountability is based on stewardship resource management and implementation of
theory. Stewardship theory assumes that human policies entrusted to the provider of the mandate in
could be trusted. achieving the objectives that have been set
The difference of this study with previous periodically.
research are the location of the study and the Accountability consists of two kinds, vertical
variables studied. accountability and horizontal accountability
(Mardiasmo, 2009: 21). In a church organization,
vertical accountability is a form of accountability to
2. LITERATURE REVIEW the God. Horizontal accountability is a form of
accountability to the congregation, other church
administrators, and pastors of the church
2.1 Interest congregation.
Interest is a tendency in the individual to be
interested in something object or like something 2.4 Conceptual Framework
object. Interests are the motivators that cause a
person to pay attention to people, things, certain Based on the theoretical explanation above, the
activities. There are three factors that generate conceptual framework as the basis for determining
interest namely the encouragement of the individual the research model can be explained in the figure
self, social impulse and motive and emotional below:

H1; t= -0,535
Transparency (Xt)

The interest for

H3; F=0,002 donating to church(Ym)
Accountability (Xa) H2; t=0,012

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework

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2.5 Hypothesis 3.4 Data Collection Method
Based on the theoretical review, the formulation Methods of data collection in this study were
of the problem and previous research review which conducted in the following way:
has been put forward at the beginning, the a. The questionnaire is a technique of collecting
hypothesis of this study is as follows: data which is done by giving a number of questions
1. Transparency Financial Reporting positively to the congregation to be answered.
affects the interest of the congregation to contribute b. Documentation, the authors get data of the
to the church. amount of donations from the treasurer of the
2. Accountability Financial Reporting positively church.
affects the interest of the congregation to contribute c. Interviews conducted with the authorities to
to the church. provide information according to the required
3. Transparency and Accountability Financial researchers. This interview was conducted to the
reporting positively affects the interest of the Church Secretary and Treasurer.
congregation to contribute to the church.
3.5 Population and Sample

3. RESEARCH METHOD The population of this research is all members of the

church registered as a congregation at Bandar
Khalippah HKBP is 496 families.
3.1 Research Design The sample selection is done by purposive
sampling method. From the 496 families that will be
This research is designed using qualitative research
used to fill out the questionnaire is selected by
design, intends to understand the phenomenon about
considering the following criterias:
what is experienced by research subjects. The type
1. The congregation who has been a member of
of research is a case study that suits the purpose of
Bandar Khalippah HKBP church is at least three
research is to conduct in-depth investigation of
years (permanent). The duration of being a
certain research subjects to provide a complete
congregation for three years is determined based on
picture of a particular subject.
the results of comparison of the situation three years
ago with this year that will equally carry out the
3.2 Location and Time of Research development.
2. The congregation has ever made a donation a
This research was conducted at Bandar Khalippah
donation to the church more than the church
HKBP Church. The time of this research is done in
required for each family (each contribution must
the odd semester of 2017/2018.
amount to Rp 150,000 each family). The number of
Rp 150,000 is already set by the church to be a duty
3.3 Types and Data Sources for each congregation based on annual dues. In
Batak is called toktok ripe.
The type of data used in this study is primary data. The number obtained by using the above criteria
The primary data obtained through interviews is 150 families.
regarding the transparency and accountability of
financial reports with the board and treasurer of the
church HKBP Bandar Khalippah and questionnaires
by the congregation who ever make a donation to the 4. DATA AND DISCUSSION
church.
The church members of Bandar Khalippah 4.1 Data Description
HKBP divided into 7 wik. They are wik I, II, IIIA,
IIIB, IIIC, IVA, and IVB. Each wik has a different All respondents (150 families) are willing to fill out
number of congregations and carries out weekly questionnaires, but the respondents who returned the
prayer meetings at each congregation's house in turn. questionnaire were 138 respondents. Or there are 12
The number of the seventh is 496 Head of Family. questionnaires that do not return.
The congregation who becomes a respondent will From the two independent variables included in
fill out the questionnaires. We use two criterias to the regression model, the Transparency variable has
choose congregation to become a respondent. a negative but not significant effect while the
Accountability variable has positive and significant

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effect. This can be seen from the probability Based on the results of the study also can be
significance for Transparency 0.535 and for explained that, the amount of donation is not at all
Accountability 0.012. Thus H1 is rejected, H2 is determined by the transparent attitude of the
accepted. financial board of the church in terms of finance to
From the ANOVA or F test, we get the F value the congregation but because of encouragement
of 6,532 with the significance value 0,002. Since the from self, social encouragement and emotional
probability is less than 0.05, the regression model impulse. Information on donations is not openly
can be used to predict Interest or it can be said that expected because the congregation Bandar
Transparency and Accountability together influence Khalippah HKBP still has a different concept of
the Interests. Based on the Hypothesis that has been transparency in general. There is an expression that
proposed before it can be said that H3 accepted. says "if the right hand gives, don’t let the left hand
knows". So, to expect transparent information about
4.2 Discussion donation that has been given is forbidden and is
worried about being seen by other congregations.
4.2.1 The Impact of Transparency in This phrase has been misunderstood by the
Increasing the Interest of the Church congregation so they prefer not to include the name
Donations to the Church or "NN" so that other congregations do not know the
identity of her/him
Transparency is literally openness. The principle of Theoretically, there are five reasons why the
transparency requires the existence of an open church should be transparent when presenting its
information regarding the financial condition and financial statements (1) Transparency can increase
management of organizational activities. number of donations (2) Many churches more
Transparency will encourage the disclosure of actual wishing transparency (3) Transparency Related to
conditions so that each stakeholder can measure and the bible (4) Transparency able to reduce financial
anticipate everything that concerns the organization. crime (5) Christians need more information about
It’s not at Bandar Khalippah HKBP church. their money. For these five reasons, the congregation
The congregation's interest in making a donation assumes that the information submitted by the
is not determined by the transparency or openness of administrators of the church through the Sunday
church officials about the donations they provide. prayer sheet is incomplete because not all
It’s mean, even though the church through its board information is included. For example, the
is not transparent about donations received from the congregational donation information provided
congregation, it is not a problem. For the through cash auction activities was not informed.
congregation will still have an interest in Similarly, the donations collected by the
contributing to the congregation. On the other hand congregation from outside donors of the church, not
it may be said that the congregation may have a presented in the information sheet but presented by a
higher interest if the church is willing to notice posted on the church wall. This media may be
transparently pass on the church's financial regarded by the congregation as inappropriate
information to the congregation. because not all congregations know it. The
Transparency means every congregation has a congregation may assume the church board didn’t let
right to get an open and honest church financial them to involve in meetings and got information
information. Transparent is built on the basis of about church finances.
freedom of obtaining information needed by the Implementation of financial transparency
congregation. As it is written in 1 Timothy 6:10 that principles requires church officials to be always
the root of all evil is the love of money. When the open and prevent efforts to conceal financial and
Bible opens this veil we must really understand. Of treasures information by preparing accurate and
course the devil will use this means to bring down timely financial statements. In applying this
many people. Although this is often mentioned in principle, it needs to equate be a perception of what
the life of the church of God, but in reality many financial statements and how much financial data to
Christians are still caught in this sin. Loving money inform, what standard is used as a reference in the
here is the same as being friends with money or preparation of financial statements, how to publish
wealth. This attitude is the same as what James says and what media is used. Matthew 5:37 states: If so,
"loving the world". To love money is also parallel to you should say yes, otherwise you should say no.
what John wrote as "loving the world" (1 John 2: 15- What is more than that comes from the evil one.
17). (compare with Acts 5: 1-11).

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 The congregation should not have an opinion, it receipts and expenditures of the church serve as a
depends on church board how to use their money monitoring tool and evaluation of the congregation
after giving to the church. This awareness must not for the performance of the church treasurer in
afraid the church leader to involve their God-fearing managing church finances.
staff in managing church finances transparently. Responsible for financial management of the
We must seriously ask the Lord's money entrusted to church is a form of compliance. Where compliance
us. Remember we are God's cashier. This protective ensures that church officials who have been given
attitude will prevent church leaders and their the trust by the congregation to manage money can
families from stealing God's property. The results of certainly be held accountable for their duties. Aside
this study are not in line with research conducted by from being a tool of certainty, accountability is also
Charles Zech that transparency affects the church's an evaluation for the HKBP congregation of Bandar
finances in which people who belong to the church Khalipah to oversee and evaluate the performance of
as congregations want them to be involved by asking church treasurers and other church administrators.
for input in decision-making. The congregation believes church administrators are
responsible for the money they donated after
4.2.2 The Impact of Accountability in following the church building in the last ten years.
Increasing the Interest of the Church Not only the church building that has changed in
Donation to the Church size to be bigger and better, boardroom meeting has
been better, and able to buy a piece of land to serve
Based on the results of statistical tests that have been as a parking lot for the congregation who drive the
done, it is known that the results are not the same as vehicle.
the transparency variable. The variable of The HKBP congregation of Bandar Khalipah
accountability has a significant influence in raising considers that the church officials in this case
the interest of the congregation to make a donation especially the treasurer of the church has been able
to the church. to carry out his duties properly and responsibly.
Financial reporting accountability is a Thus, it is a motivation for the congregation to
manifestation of church administrators' donate to the church more than the church has
accountability to the congregation on the financial specified in the term. The results of this study are in
management of the church. The accountability of the line with the research of Francischa Sukmawati, Sri
financial management of the church includes the Pujiningsih, and Nujmatul Laily which show vertical
preparation of financial information to the HKBP accountability is based on stewardship theory.
congregation of Bandar Khalipah so that the Stewardship theory assumes that human beings are
congregation can assess the accountability of the trustworthy.
church administrators for all their activities
undertaken. 4.2.3 The Impact of Transparency and
The financial statements become one of the tools of Accountability in Increasing the
the church treasurer's accountability of the church's Interest of the Church Donation to the
finances. The interest of the HKBP congregation of Church
Bandar Khalipah to donate to the church is
motivated by the good accountability of financial Although partially these two variables are not
reporting by the treasurer of the church. The purpose impacted and has impact, but simultaneously both
of the first financial report is an indicator of the influence the interest of the congregation in donating
compliance of duties implementation. Based on the to the church. Theoretically, normally if
compliance function, the financial statements ensure transparency has a positive influence then it is the
that a public sector agency performs the tasks or same in accountability. But as explained before, for
activities that the organization responsibility the HKBP congregation of Bandar Khalipah the
through the availability of eco-resources. The donation they provide is not so necessary to be
compliance function ensures the church treasurer publicly informed to other congregations as it may
manages the church's finances responsibly. Second, still hold the expression "the right hand gives, the
the purpose of financial statements is as a report of left hand does not need to know". However, with
accountability and evaluation. Financial reports are regard to accountability, it is still considered an
useful for monitoring and evaluating the absolute necessity for the congregation to be assured
performance of treasurers of the church. The that their donation is not abused by the
financial statements that recording the financial

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