Trends That Will Impact You and Your Ministry

From Financial Development to People Management, Today’s Trends Will Influence Tomorrow’s Decisions

Lucinda Armas

Nobel Peace Laureate, Emily G. Balch, said: "The future will be determined in part by happenings that it is impossible to foresee; it will also be influenced by trends that are now existent and observable."

It's tough, though, to net out what's viable. We've highlighted a few trends in areas we know are of concern to you, our members:

Financial Development and Management
Communications and Marketing
People Management and Care
Your Spiritual and Professional Life.

A.Financial Development and Management … and Communications and Marketing.

Online communications and online giving go hand in hand, and they impact an organization's fundraising and communications strategies.

Trend: Online donations are increasing

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project:

The number of Americans, since the beginning of 2005, who say they have made a gift online has increased by 53 percent.
That's an increase from an estimated 11 million donors in 2004 to 26 million online donors.

Trend: Constituents are accessing the Internet more for news and involvement

In a study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, researchers found that in response to the Katrina and Rita hurricanes:

50 percent of all Internet users got online news about the hurricanes
5 percent of all Internet users created their own relief efforts

Online donations should be one metric of a successful Internet strategy, but should not the only one. According to Vinay Bhagat, "The true value of the Internet is in creating and sustaining relationships with constituents and is achieved by implementing an online Constituent Relationship Management (eCRM) strategy. Using an eCRM approach, a nonprofit can maximize the value of its constituents by involving them, especially donors, in more than one activity so they can provide support for the mission in multiple ways at different times." (source: www.ephilanthropy.org, "Measuring Online Success," 3/22/06).

Bhagat says an effective eCRM strategy goes beyond raising money. It also:

Helps drives online and offline giving
Increases donor lifetime value
Reduces communication and fundraising costs
Supports major giving
Contributes to the success of other activities, e.g., advocacy, volunteering and outreach to new constituents and donors.

Qs and Cues for Managers:

Does your organization have an eCRM strategy?  
Are you tracking and measuring how your website is helping organizational effectiveness (cutting costs, increasing communication with constituents, acquiring donors and volunteers, etc.)? 
At your next management or team meeting, brainstorm how you can maximize the use of your website to achieve your organization's mission, vision and goals. 
Check out the following sites for more information:

B.People Management and Care.

CPS Human Resources Services sponsored a roundtable discussion of human resource executives in the California public sector. Their insights, also noted by other sources, apply as well to the nonprofit and private sectors:

The labor supply will increasingly tighten, especially in technical areas.
Responsibility for educating and training workers will continue to shift from schools to employers.
Organization dynamics will change (thus, impacting people management and care).
The ethos of workplaces is changing, including a more transient and diverse workforce.
Interest in measuring "soft skills" will increase (skills such as attitudes, ethics, motivation, energy and interpersonal skills).
Pressure will increase to link pay and performance.
The importance of managing use and abuse of information systems will increase.

Qs and Cues for Managers:

Does your organization have a succession plan for the retiring baby boomers? This will be key as valuable knowledge workers leave and it becomes harder to find equally skilled and knowledgeable replacements.
As you enter budget planning, look at new pay practices. If you're unable to compete with salaries in the private sector, consider other bonuses or perks (e.g., recruitment bonuses, payment of relocation expenses, etc.).
If you're unable to staff core employee positions, consider hiring temporary staff, including retirees, for projects.
How willing are you to hire someone and train him or her? The need to train someone new in specialized software may be expected, but will you take on training of the most basic skills (math, writing, phone etiquette)?
How proactive is your organization in addressing culture and language differences? How prepared are your managers to be attuned to the challenges and opportunities diversity brings?
Recruitment difficulties will require employers to be more flexible in granting flexible work weeks and telecommuting.
How reliable are your techniques for measuring soft skills of potential employees?
If you don't have a written policy regarding access and use of technology, get one.
Check out the following sites for more information:

C.Your Spiritual and Professional Life.

We've touched on trends of technology, fundraising, communications and human resources. Now, we're going to get even more personal, examining some trends of the heart and spirit. Premier researcher George Barna released his list of most noteworthy results of 2006. We believe they're worth noting, because his observations will most likely apply to you, the teams you manage, or the constituents you serve. Here are four of Barna's 12 significant findings of 2006:

God's not in first place. According to Barna's research, 15 percent of regular Christian church attendees said their relationship with God is their top priority. Yet, on average, pastors believed that 70 percent of the adults in their congregation gave their relationship with God as their highest priority in life.
The Revolutionaries are here. There's a growing "brand' of Christians who are distinguishing themselves from born-again Christians. According to the Barna study, these "Revolutionaries demonstrated substantially higher levels of community service, financial contributions, daily Bible study, personal quiet times each day, family Bible studies, daily worship experiences, engagement in spiritual mentoring, and evangelistic efforts."
Going home for church. Interestingly, the house church movement is growing rapidly. But four out of every five participants in a house church keep some connection to a conventional church.
Missing the 20-somethings. Many Americans were actively involved in a church youth group while in their teens. But as Barna tracked this group, most of them were not engaged in organized religion during their twenties.

Qs and Cues for Managers:

Don't assume God is the top priority of your staff, constituents or donors. Take time to listen and observe. What seems to be motivating them? How do they spend their time? As manager (and possibly mentor and coach), what can you do to help people put God in first place? And, how about you? Do you know when God has slipped out of first place in your own life?
There'll be more ways in which people meet together as faith communities. Future generations give more attention to relationships and experiences and less to doctrine. Consider how this impacts your ministry.
If you were to segment your constituents by "brand" of Christians, how many revolutionaries would you have? Can you identify them? Do your communications address their concerns and passions? How do you address the growing gap forming between those who are involved casually in faith matters and the "intensely" committed?
How do house church members hear about your ministry? How about engaging teens in your ministry and continuing to engage them beyond the teen years?
Resource: see www.barna.org for the complete list of his most significant findings for 2006 and the research methodology.

We'd like to hear from you. E-mail us at: CMA@CMAonline.org and tell us how you see these trends, and other trends, impacting your organization, and you as a manager. We'll be using your insights in future publications and resources.

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