As an attorney representing many churches and not for profit ministries and sitting on some of their boards, I have the opportunity to see firsthand many of the successes, failures and challenges that commonly confront these ministries. One challenge that stands out over time is “Mission Drift.”
This is not my phrase, but one that I garnered from a book by the same name, Mission Drift, The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities and Churches, whichI have given to many of my clients. One of its authors, Peter Greer, is the President and CEO of Hope International. Under his leadership, Hope International has grown into a billion dollar + micro finance ministry to the poorest of the poor globally. As impressive as that is, its uniqueness lies in its mission to clearly proclaim the Gospel as a part of its service to the poor.
Hope International, as do all of my Christian ministry clients, face the threat of “mission drift” from both pressures outside the organization and from pressures from within. We all know of the sad legacies of such venerable institutions as Yale University or the YMCA, once founded on Christian mission. Given these pressures, “just a little pinch of incense to the Caesar” is a very real and often subtle temptation. Outside pressures may include a government regulation requiring the ministry to adjust its mission or core principles to get a grant, or to simply continue to operate. For instance, the Chicago Public Schools requiring a Christian College to change its hiring practices before it will allow students to intern at its schools.
More often, mission drift comes as a result of internal pressures including the perennial issue that directors face at every board meeting-development. Whether “development” means just keeping the door open, or growing to the next level of service, “mission drift” is always lurking in the background. It may come in the form of a promise of a big donation, attracting more donors, recruiting new members or directors, seeking to grow to the next level, but always the promise is accompanied with an “if only…”
So, Mr. Greer, writing from experience with Hope International, speaks not only about the inevitable drift that all Chirstian organizations face, but what can be done to prevent it. Though often overlooked, one obvious and simple step to remain true to mission is to read the mission statement of the organization at the beginning of every board meeting. A second step is to be very intentional and selective in who serves on the board of directors and in other areas of governance. A careful vetting process needs to be in place to select, not “yes” people, but capable people fully committed to the mission of the organization. “Committed” is necessary since the temptation often is to look for the wealthy or the connected as board candidates. I add “capable” here because nothing undermines the message of Christ more quickly than a poorly run organization with a poor service.
A third step Mr. Greer stresses is to measure what matters with metrics that are reflective of the ministry’s mission. This can be difficult but is needed because, as the well-worn business mantra states: “what gets measured gets done”. The purpose of these metrics is to help the ministry remain accountable for the work that God has placed in its hands. Mission true organizations are fixated on stewardship toward fulfillment of the mission. To that end, they ask: what’s our definition of success and how do we measure it? Since measuring the wrong things can just as easily lead an organization off mission, the board should be asking: are the things that we are measuring telling us whether we are solving the problem(s) that the organization exists to address? Mission true organizations find a way of measuring what they believe matters most and not just the ‘easy stuff.’
And this returns us to the perennial question at every board meeting – the question of development. Obviously, financial resources are essential for sustainability. Without them, the doors will close. However, we all need to be reminded that for faith based organizations, a preoccupation with financial growth metrics unintentionally sends a message that financial and numerical successes are preeminent. The problem with this is that what is not measured slowly becomes irrelevant. The more money raised, more families served, more people fed, … though important, are indicators that say little or nothing about the gospel impact on the people being served or how well the funds used accomplished the mission. Measuring just these indicators would be like a hospital measuring revenue, a few efficiency ratios and the total number of patients served. Important institutional indicators these are, but they say nothing about the objective of the hospital – are patients being cured or cared for? Staying on mission requires measuring and celebrating not only numerical milestones but what matters most- the accomplishment of the gospel mission of the organization.
So, as the year nears its end, the Board of your Christian ministry may want to ask the following questions, difficult as they may be:
- What is our number one goal as an organization serving Jesus Christ?
- How or what do we measure to see how we are doing to accomplish this goal?
- Do our measures of performance at the end of the year reflect the values we say we hold dear?
Written by Richard Baker
