{"id":11608,"date":"2013-01-20T17:03:25","date_gmt":"2013-01-20T22:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"\/news_blogs\/john\/?p=11608"},"modified":"2023-06-09T09:51:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T13:51:00","slug":"value-propositions-for-ministries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2013\/01\/20\/value-propositions-for-ministries\/","title":{"rendered":"Value Propositions for Ministries"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 8 of 18 in the series Faithful Strategy Development<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Identity<\/strong> is an essential aspect of mission success. When you know who you are, what you stand for, and the way in which you will do your work, and then stay consistent with that identity in terms of hiring, program design, and service delivery, people will trust you, support you, and partner with you. It is crucial, therefore, that you carefully define what your ministry’s identity is. Whether you’ve consciously thought about it or not, your identity is normally defined by your strategic statements: vision\/mission\/End statements (whichever you use), corporate and team values, purpose or call statements, and other self-identification statements you may have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if what you actually do does not align with what you aspire to do, then your identity will be defined by what you really did. And people will remember what you did a lot longer than they will remember what you said!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I surveyed 350 pastors for my church-agency relationship research and was surprised that of the 46% of pastors who had had at least one bad experience with an agency, 84% were able to remember the name of the ministry and\/or person involved! (My book, The Church At Work<\/em><\/a>, uses this research to help churches and Christian agencies work better together.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But there is one other important, strategic statement you should have that tells donors and beneficiaries what they can expect from you. It also tells your staff and volunteers what you expect from them — a value proposition<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why a Value Proposition?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You may have heard of a value proposition under one of its other names: Unique Selling Proposition, Brand Promise, Customer Value Proposition and similar variants. I like value proposition<\/em> because it is modest. It doesn’t claim to be unique, so it doesn’t imply that you are better than anyone else. As you know from a previous post<\/a>, I don’t think Christian ministries should have a competitive stance towards each other. They should be devoted to their missions, doing the very best they can at program delivery and fundraising, and depending on God to provide the necessary resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A value proposition is simply a definition of the contribution your organization makes to Christian ministry that others value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It isn’t what you value, because that by itself will not help you achieve your mission. It’s about what your supporters and beneficiaries value.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When others value your contribution, then you are on your way to mission fulfillment! Of course, it greatly helps if you are passionate about the same value that others are, because it will become core to everything your ministry does, and you and your staff need to eat, sleep and breathe it so that everything you do is infused with that value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you know your value proposition, you will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n