When you’re drowning in admin work, you get stuck in survival mode. You can’t move your mission forward.

And the thought of trusting a total stranger as a virtual assistant? That feels risky—especially in a church setting.

But I’ve utilized VAs in the churches and nonprofits I’ve led for years. So let me share the reality—not just theory—of how it actually works.

Nonprofits often run lean. Every staff member—and sometimes every board member—wears multiple hats.

At some point, leaders find themselves asking: Should we bring in a virtual assistant?

It’s a smart question, but the answer isn’t always simple. A VA can be a powerful support—but only in the right circumstances. Let’s look at when it makes sense, and when it doesn’t.

What a Virtual Assistant Can Do

Most people think of VAs as remote administrative helpers—and they are—but their skills go further. A VA can:

• Manage calendars, scheduling, and travel
• Handle overflowing email inboxes
• Support donor communications, like thank-you notes
• Assist with data entry, research, or CRM cleanup
• Provide light social media or communications support

By outsourcing these time-consuming tasks, your leadership team can stay focused on what matters most: advancing your mission.

The Cost Factor

For many nonprofits, cost is the first question.

A VA is usually less expensive than hiring full-time staff because you only pay for the hours you need. No benefits, no overhead, and flexibility as your workload shifts.

But you can’t look at cost alone.

If a VA saves your executive director ten hours a week, what’s the value of the strategic work they can now do with that time?

As leadership author Michael Hyatt points out, the real cost of low-level work isn’t the task itself—it’s the opportunity cost of what leaders aren’t doing while they’re bogged down in tasks someone else could handle.

When a VA Works Well

VAs shine when:

• You need recurring but low-level admin tasks handled consistently
• You already have clear processes that can be delegated step by step
• You want specialized support for a defined project, like cleaning up a donor database

They’re also especially helpful in seasonal or high-pressure ministry cycles.

Think about fundraising events, retreats, and special services like Mother’s Day, Christmas, and Easter.

A VA can take the pressure off your staff by handling details like:

• Sending invitations and communications
• Coordinating travel and lodging
• Creating itineraries
• Making calls and confirming logistics
• Checking venue availability
• Maintaining guest lists
• Ordering food or supplies

When those details are offloaded, your team can stay focused on people and ministry impact—instead of being buried in logistics.

In Hyatt’s terms, these are tasks in the “drudgery zone”—the work leaders don’t enjoy and aren’t especially good at. Outsourcing the drudgery frees leaders to spend more time in their “desire zone”—where passion and proficiency overlap.

When a VA Is Not the Right Fit

Hiring a VA isn’t a cure-all.

A VA is usually not the right solution when:

• The role requires strategic decision-making or deep knowledge of your mission
• Your organization lacks basic systems for onboarding, delegation, and communication
• The work involves sensitive or regulated information, like payroll or handling donations

Hyatt reminds us that leaders burn out when they spend too much time outside their passion and proficiency.

But the reverse is also true: you can’t hand off everything. If the task requires vision, decision-making authority, or pastoral sensitivity, it still belongs in-house.

Systems Before Staffing

Here’s a common mistake: hiring a VA before putting systems in place.

Without policies, workflows, and accountability, you’ll spend more time training, correcting, and micromanaging than you save.

As Hyatt explains, there’s a short-term cost to delegation. It takes time to explain and train—but the payoff comes later, when the VA can do the task faster, cheaper, and more consistently.

That payoff only comes when you already have clarity about what success looks like.

For nonprofits, this means a VA can amplify existing systems. But they cannot create those systems for you.

If your financial policies, communication channels, or workflows aren’t yet clear—that’s your first step.

Our Take: A VA Can Be a Wise Tool

So, should you use a virtual assistant? The answer is: it depends.

If you’re drowning in repetitive admin tasks, and you have systems in place, a VA can be a game-changer—protecting leaders from burnout, lowering costs, and creating margin for the work only you can do.

For churches especially, a VA can be a pressure relief valve during peak seasons like Christmas, Easter, retreats, or fundraising campaigns—without requiring you to commit to a permanent staff position during slower times.

That flexibility allows you to scale support up or down while still stewarding your resources wisely.

But if your systems aren’t yet built, a VA will only highlight the gaps.

That’s where our Fractional CFO Services come in. We help nonprofits develop systems, establish internal controls, and implement financial policies that make delegation possible and sustainable.

Only then can tools like a VA truly serve your mission.

Moving Forward with Confidence

The best staffing decisions free your leaders to focus on what only they can do—casting vision, inspiring your team, and moving your mission forward.

Delegating wisely, whether to staff or to a VA, protects your nonprofit from burnout and builds capacity for growth.

If you’re weighing a decision like whether to contract a VA or hire a staff member, start by strengthening your foundation.

I want to invite you to download 5 Steps for Nonprofit Leaders to Thrive. It’s free, and it gives you practical tools to build clarity, protect your team, and lead with confidence. 

And if your church or nonprofit is facing a major financial decision—like whether to contract a VA, expand your staff, or restructure your budget—know that these are exactly the kinds of forward-looking decisions our team specializes in.

As Fractional CFOs, we help churches and nonprofits:

• Create more resources to do more good
• Translate vision into attainable financial reality
• Make strategic decisions based on actionable, real-time financial data

To share your mission with us and start the conversation, visit terisaclark.com/you