While enjoying a celebration lunch with a client recently, I heard some heartbreaking news. My client recently attended a workshop hosted by a secular organization in which she was one of the only representatives from the faith-based sector. During the workshop the presenter referred to the lack of professionalism and follow-through of faith-based organizations she had worked with in the past. She even went as far as to say the specific names of the ministries and recommended that attendees not work with these ministries. This weighed heavy on my heart and the heart of my client! What a tragedy it is to hear secular organizations speak so negatively about their faith-based counterparts. Even more tragic is the fact that her comments were likely well-founded.
My client, whose ministry recently completed capacity-building services with GrantPathways, continued to express her concern about how faith-based organizations are often not taken seriously in the community by stakeholders, donors and funders due to a lack of non-profit business development and professionalism. While their hearts and souls are devoted to their work, without this business foundation, many will fail to meet their goals. This not only affects the reputation of their ministry, but the reputation of other ministries, the Body of Christ and the church as a whole. While we continued to discuss the causes and solutions of this issue and many other political issues, some basic insights came to light:
GrantPathways’ staff strives to provide faith-based organizations with valuable knowledge to help them grow and sustain well into the future. We would love nothing more than to hear community leaders always speak of faith-based agencies as models of excellence! What a great day it will be to hear people in secular settings and workshops recommending attendees to work with faith-based organizations!
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