Five New Year's Resolutions For Your Nonprofit In 2020

Lots of people make New Year's resolutions and pretty much everyone makes the same resolutions and they make the same resolutions every year.

But how can we apply these same resolutions to our ministry so that 2011 is better than 2010? Let's take a look at 5 resolutions that are listed in almost every top ten list and see how we can apply the same principles to ministry.

1. Spend more time with Loved Ones Starting and running a nonprofit ministry can be consuming to say the least. Compound this fact with taking on too much of the administrative and direct ministry and you are heading for burn-out quickly. How much more time could you spend with loved ones doing ministry if you could get some of the administrative functions out of the way. Happy New Year WISHES

I know of no one who came into ministry so they could be an administrator, a grant writer, a fundraiser, or to otherwise manage the tasks of running a nonprofit. People start ministries to help, to serve, to comfort, and to spend time with others and bring them closer to God.

One effective way of lessening your administrative burden is to contract out some of these responsibilities. Accounting and bookkeeping can often be performed more efficiently and effectively by an outside firm. Likewise, grant writing and funding development can often be contracted for much less than what it would cost to accomplish the same tasks internally.

2. Help others Frankly, this is why you exist in the first place so you may feel you got this one covered. But, could you be doing more if you were able to better leverage your resources?

What if you were able to lessen the administrative burdens as discussed above? I would suggest that this would enable you to help others more.

What if you could secure a few grants to help fund your organization? Or better yet, what if you could double your budget in five years by securing a steady stream of grant funding? I am confident that you already know what you would do to help others with an extra $100,000 or $500,000 or $5 million.

3. Get organized This resolution is a perennial favorite. "This is the year I get organized!" You can probably hear your own voice speaking these words.

Let's face it, the reason you are not more organized is because this because the level of organization you are currently experiencing is the level of organization of which you are capable. I say this not to be mean but as a reality check that is critical to moving forward.

If you are to get more organized in 2011 you are going to need help. This help could be an outside consultant, an employee with gifting in administration, or even a spouse or child that has been gently (or not so gently) nudging you for years to let them help you. Often this initial help is all that is needed to develop better systems and procedures that can then be maintained by you or other staff.

4. Learn something new One of my favorite sayings are "If nothing changes, nothing changes." Seems like a no brainer but are we not often guilty of expecting things to change all by themselves. Maybe we are waiting for God to move... when He is waiting for us to move. Another of my favorite sayings is "The definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results." Doing the same thing year after year even though these things do not work well for us is crazy!

Where are you stuck? Maybe it is with a tired and old logo and website that needs to be revised. Maybe it is with funding and with implementing that grant writing strategy you have talked about for years.

Last quote: "If you always do, what you have always done... you will get what you have always gotten."

5. Enjoy life more Sounds simple enough... so what is holding you back? Chances are it is the other areas listed here. Are you stuck buried under too much administrative tasks to perform ministry? Are you stuck in neutral waiting for the Lord when He is waiting on you? Is your disorganization making it too hard to function effectively? Do you feel like you are falling short of doing all you can for others? Is funding holding you back from doing more?

Start today to do what needs to be done so that you can enjoy more of what life has to offer.

Honestly, I have never been much of a fan of New Year's Resolutions. They are often a blunt tool to actually influence any real change. But they are also a commitment. Make this a commitment you make to yourself, to your ministry, to the people you serve, to God!

Happy New Year and may God bless you richly in the coming year.

Jeffrey J. Rodman is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and a Certified Grants Specialist (CGS). He is an experienced grantwriter, fundraiser, and nonprofit executive, who operates Here-4-You Christian Grant Consulting and Church Grant Writing providing consultation for grant writing to Christian ministries and Churches worldwide. Jeffrey received his BS and his M.Ed. from George Mason University.