Leading with Purpose: Navigating Church and Nonprofit Management
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
In this 4-session, you’ll learn what it means to manage in a Not-For-Profit (NFP) organization. Whether you’re wondering about making a career change to do such meaningful work, how it differs from church management and leadership, or wanting to be a better church manager (e.g., parish administrator or clergy leader) or lay leader (e.g., senior warden), this training is a great opportunity to enhance your skills. You’ll get an inside look at how “the sausage is made,” both in terms of structure and detail, as well as an opportunity for discerning your call for Not-for-Profit management. It is inspiring work, but NFP management isn’t for the faint of heart!
COURSE OUTLINE:
Session I: What are our Professional and Community Contexts, and the Contexts of our Program Participants? We’ll share why we’re here, and why we’re interested in NFP/church management, and what YOU want to cover in this course, time-permitting! We’ll share our individual contexts as leaders, the NFPs we have experienced and know, and the community “participants” (clients) served and the populations represented. Finally, we’ll look at what a faith-based NFP looks like and what the differences are from a “secular” NFP and, culturally speaking, how a faith-based NFP differs from a church.
Session II: Presenting TWO NFP Models: What does NFP Management look like in terms of structure, staffing, geography, and the role of volunteers? We’ll discuss what church management look like, what the differences are with NFP’s, both faith-based and secular. We’ll discuss various NFP types, missions, staffing, and staffing configurations. We’ll also examine the challenges of hiring in NFPs particularly the challenge of matching position descriptions with skill sets, defining what you need, but looking for what you want.
Session III: Management Roles and Responsibilities in an NFP. We’ll look at how roles and responsibilities differ in the two models, in this case a faith-based model and a secular model. We’ll also talk about the oversight bodies and how they function or are supposed to function – not just the Board, but the Management Team, Committee Chairs and, in one model, a Partner Council – and how that is integrated structurally with a Board. Finally, we’ll discuss the budget process, including what a budget really is, and how it’s understood by different management players in an NFP, e.g., Finance v. Development.
Session IV: Organizational Oversight & Strategic Visioning/Planning in an NFP. We’ll draw distinctions between the visioning, the planning, and the implementation of the Plan. We’ll also go into some detail discussing process, players, roles, and the nature of the Plan’s content, e.g., how detailed or general should it be? We’ll even discuss the debate about whether making a Strategic Plan even makes sense! This is the debate about annual strategic goals vs. a longer plan, which came back to life in the Pandemic. Finally, we’ll try to wrap it up, discussing the view from the top (e.g. CEO and COO).
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
-Clergy and Lay Leaders seeking to enhance their understanding of nonprofit and church management and refine their leadership and organizational skills.
-Faith-Based Nonprofit Professionals navigating the complexities of mission-driven work.
Individuals Considering a Career Change into nonprofit management or exploring a vocational calling.
-Anyone Interested in Strategic Leadership within the context of nonprofits and faith communities.