If you or your organization would like to consider a training seminar or a custom consultation, please contact me at jeff@unpackingideas.org.  Maybe a one-time conversation about your organization or your work or ministry would help. Let me know.  We might be able to accomplish a lot on the phone. 

Non-Profit Leadership (Volunteer Management) Seminar Series

One of my favorite training topics is leadership development for non-profit organizations (including churches).  Over the past fifteen years, I have developed a four-part workshop series for folks interested in improving non-profit leadership:

Workshop I — Leadership assumptions in a non-profit setting:  Analyzing our most valuable resource – people!  This workshop introduces the basic reason for focusing on volunteers.  We learn about “power dot theory” and how your organization’s mission becomes flesh through volunteer participation.    

Workshop II — Leadership principles, accountability, and recruiting.  This workshop introduces a few principles and skiils for effective leadership, committee management, and recruiting new volunteers.

Workshop III — Turning the mission into flesh.  This workshop introduces the leadership process that encourages volunteers to become the flesh of the mission.  This workshop explores the process within an organization that begins with the mission idea and is transformed into the activity of volunteers.  The connection between the mission to flesh progression and the counci/board to power dot progression is emphasized.    

Workshop IV — Evaluating effectiveness.  This workshop examines a variety of evaluative frameworks for non-profit organizations.  Emphasis is placed on reaching and measuring outcomes, including outcomes for the Church.  

Organizational Effectiveness Seminars (customized)

There are several theoretical and practical issues your organization might care about.  An important issue to consider is how your organization understands effectiveness.  In other words, “What does it mean for our organization to be effective?”  There is more than one way to measure an organization’s effectiveness.  I will design customized training seminars to help you identify your organization’s particular needs for assessing effectiveness, including tools for measuring effectiveness.

Transformational Leadership Seminars (customized)

My perspective about non-profit leadership is this: a) effective leadership is about an effective process and team not a charismatic person, and b) effective leadership happens in an organizational context.  For religious congregations, effective leadership requires a dynamic intersection between effective clergy persons (and staff) and effective lay persons (non-staff).  I will design customized training seminars to address your organization’s particular needs for effective transformational leadership.          

Organizational Development Consultation (customized)                      

Perhaps the most effective approach to organizational change is a consultative model.  Most  often, a particular non-profit organization requires a customized array of training initiatives.  I will guide your organization through a self-assessment and planning process to determine the best course for training.  Your organization’s readiness for change will be assessed as well.  This is an assessment of how much your organization’s members are ready to change their personal behaviors.  Once readiness for change is confirmed, your organization’s members are invited to develop a plan for change, including action steps and time lines, and an evaluation process to determine their success or failure with regard to reaching their stated outcomes for change.

To discuss any of the options above, or any other need of your organization, contact Jeff at jeff@unpackingideas.org.