Ministries' Need
Cornerstone Global Ministry Consulting (CGMC) and its consultants have come alongside non-profit ministries that have recognized and responded to the idea that there is much needed improvement in the majority of ministries for them to become a model of efficiency and effectiveness. The purpose of ministries is to carry out its mission. The people, foundations, and other entities that give money to the not-for-profit want as large of a percentage of the money that they give to go straight towards “the cause”, not towards administration or unintended purposes. The organization providing the help also wants as much of the money to go straight towards the cause as possible.
However, ministries are typically not staffed to recognize the opportunities for business and operations improvement. Ministries are most often led by ministry people that are not wired, or at least trained, for business. Even if they do recognize the opportunities, they are not staffed to pursue the best solutions. As a result, ministries are limited from fully achieving their responsibility of optimum stewardship. Most Christian NFPs fall in the category of not being run as effectively as they could be.
The answer to effectively using the money donated is not to simply cut the number of administrative personnel and costs. Every organization of any size needs to have structure. If that structure is not organized and optimized, then the organization will not run well. When that happens the mission is not executed on effectively and/or too large of a percentage of the donations go towards running the organization.
Most NFPs need help to improve their operations. Many organizations, including Corporate America, are run by leaders who have been working in the company for many years. Because of this they often have “blinders” on, no longer see or think outside the box, and if they were honest, they will tell you this. Most organizations know this, but NFP organizations often lack the funds to bring in outside help to infuse themselves with fresh ideas and structure that can also help hold them accountable for making the changes that they need.
As is the case with for-profit companies, by far most non-profits start small – one, two, or three people. Over time they may grow to a large size. Those people that helped start the organization, and most of the time even those that helped it grow along the way, are usually more ministry-focused and less organizationally-structured & business-focused. Because of this, there are many organizations of 200, 500, or even 1,000 people that are still structured the same as they were when they were at 100 people. These organizations are far from being optimally run and need an outside perspective and expertise to improve.