Winter 2012
The theme for Winter 2012 is “Emerging Trends.”
Evaluation is the key to excellence
To better monitor and create clearer metrics for its mission, American Bible Society in 2006 launched a pioneering research group called Global Scripture Impact. This team of international and domestic researchers - all with ministry experience - evaluate and report on American Bible Society partnership projects around the world. Knowing which initiatives are the most effective - and how to improve less-effective work - helps Amer...
Preparing the next generation to lead.
After 40 years in various leadership roles, I’ve come to appreciate the value of taking Timothy to work. I believe that the central truths from Paul’s letter to his protégé Timothy are at the heart of leadership.
Paul had known, worked with, trusted, suffered with, and deeply loved Timothy for over 15 years. It is interesting to note, then, that in two person...
Fundraising in a cause-crazy world.
Your donors and prospective donors are immersed in a busy, noisy, crowded, distracted, self-absorbed world. In that environment many leaders wrestle to keep their donors aware of their ministry’s needs.
Declining income is often an early warning of the failure to keep donors’ attention. One solution to the problem is to push harder, talk louder, mail more, blast thos...
I understand the struggle to balance ministry operations with ministry programs. Often the scale seems to be tipping to one side. Today, it often seems that operations outweigh programs. However, I propose that this uneven scale need not be a negative.
Perhaps a balanced scale isn’t the ideal, and ministry leaders shouldn’t fear the imbalance. Consider with me how a scale tipped towards operational efficiencies, regulatory compliance, and organizational accountabilit...
Outcomes editor-in-chief W. Scott Brown recently interviewed author Lee Ellis on his new book Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton (FreedomStar Media, 2012).
Ellis’ book was launched in Washington, D.C., where Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) introduced his friend and fellow former prisoner of war (POW) to an audience that included a number of other former POWs. In this insight-filled book, Ellis, retired Air For...
As you read this, two-thirds of the world’s population lives under governments that persecute individuals for their faith, with the situation worsening in many countries. Even the United States, long held as a bastion of religious freedom, was recently downgraded for having increased restrictions on religious freedom according to a September 2012 Pew Research Center study, "Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion.”
Through incremental steps, governments are intr...
Few things are more evident in today’s society than an absence of shalom. We see it in the lack of peace throughout the world; we see it in the failure of our marriages; and perhaps most importantly, we see it in a fallen world searching for something — anything — to fill the void inside the hearts of mankind. In our "Post-postmodern” world, the only thing certain is uncertainty. This lack of certainty and clarity can be...
Why your nonprofit needs a Plan A.
Leadership development has been on the front burner of our conversations with nonprofit leaders since at least 2006, when Thomas J. Tierney, co-founder of our organization, the Bridgespan Group, wrote a seminal white paper called "The Nonprofit Leadership Deficit.” The paper warned that the nonprofit sector would need to hire as many as 640,000 new senior managers within a decade...
Emerging trends in giving.
The number of words written since God first placed Adam on earth through 2003 is now re-created every two days. Yes, you read that correctly: every two days.
Today, technology advances provide Christian nonprofits with unprecedented ways to advocate for the causes God has given them. One such advance is in digital philanthropy. Given the integrati...
Dr. Jerry White is a busy man: In addition to his role as president emeritus and chairman emeritus of the U.S. board of directors of The Navigators; his 37-year active and reserve duty with the Air force; and his 11 years of service on the Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA) board of directors — six of which he spent as board chairman — White is also chair of CLA’s brand-new Advisory Council, which will advise CLA as it develops curriculum. Oh, and that’s not to men...