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You are here: Home / Archives for ministry

Momentum Missteps and Mishaps

by Zach Clark

The human brain likes to group. It generalizes. It categorizes. It organizes. The first time you saw an Archie comic at the grocery store checkout line, I doubt the decorative cardstock indicating the cost also defined the comic book for you. My guess is the more you encountered books with recurring characters comprised of drawings […]

Filed Under: Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: donors, fund, indicators, leadership, ministry, mishaps, missteps, momentum, plan

Grow Better to Escape Trending Troubles

by Zach Clark

It’s time to walk through your talking points, your ministry’s prospect plans, and how to integrate both with the donor journey. What hurdles are your ministry facing that impact giving behaviors? Despite historic success and growth among organizations, asset holders, and generous people, are there ongoing, unusual losses and failures? Is it the continued, far-reaching […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: giving, grow, intentional, leader, leadership, ministry, questions, vision

Ripple Effect

by Zach Clark

Ever watch the joy and imagination of a young child playing pretend? The promise of potential they feel is palpable.  No matter the chosen storyline, I’m willing to bet one undeniable truth lies underneath it all: I want to change lives.  I would encourage you to get very clear on your vision for a single […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: development, ministry, organization, profile, ripple, vision

Reinvention IS Innovation

by Zach Clark

The start of the calendar year is an excellent time to take a step back and look at the big picture. To look at what you’re working on within your organization. To look at who you’re working with at your ministry.  At Development and Leadership Coaching, we hear weekly from one organization or another that […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: capacity, effectiveness, efficiency, innovation, intentionality, leadership, ministry, potential, process, reinvention, results

Approval or Affirmation?

by Zach Clark

There’s an old saying: ask for forgiveness rather than permission. If you’ve been in advancement for more than two minutes, you’ve been tempted to take this same approach with your board of directors more than once! How can people who don’t see the ins and outs of how you and your team are killing themselves, […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: affirmation, board, Christian leaders, development, dialogue, feedback, leadership, leadership skills, ministry, support

Unplugged or Unglued?

by Zach Clark

Many are still reeling and suffering from the past two years due to a once-in-a-generation health crisis among other challenges . All are still facing the daily working definition of returning to ‘normal’ and what that looks like in ministries.  Reality is a significant challenge that we continue to lead through, and it will continue […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Christian leaders, developmentandeadership, grace, leadership, leadership skills, ministry, organization, unplugged

Inform to Impact

by Zach Clark

Development is a journey of moving from treating everyone equally to treating everyone individually.  You’re never going to do that perfectly. You’re never going to be able to treat all people individually ideally, but you always want to be moving toward that.  One step in the right direction would be to use input and feedback […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: ask, Christian leaders, development and leadership, followup, ministry, reports, thanks

Facing the New Year

by Zach Clark

As we embark on our next year together, it’s important to point out the value of the face-to-face meeting. In our world, there are countless ways to communicate without actually connecting. At DLC, we’re focused on building and growing relationships.  Guess what? So are your donors! Efficient communication has its time and place.  Effective communication […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: communication, development, development and leadership, facetoface, leadership, leadership skills, ministry, stewardship

Mission or Movement?

by Zach Clark

What came first? The mission statement or the movement? Like the age-old chicken or the egg, there isn’t a definitive starting point that always hits the mark. If you’re in development, you may find organizations and ministries for which you could ask – and never answer – this very question.  Sometimes, organizations hit the ground […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: @zachclark, development, developmentandleadership, leadership, ministry, ministry leaders, mission, prospect planning, strategy, vision

What’s the Plan?

by Zach Clark

Resting in peace, not dead.  Between jobs, not unemployed. Thrifty, not cheap. Unique, not odd. Golden years, not old age. Euphemisms are proof of just how much the English language loves to spin.  It’s time for a spin in development. It’s time to present the possibility of Planned Giving. Organizations faced with the stress of […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: development, donor development, generosity, giving, leadership, ministry, nonprofits, Planning, prospect planning, relationships, strategy, vision

Shaken, Not Stirred

by Zach Clark

“For behold, I am commanding, and I will shake the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is shaken in a sieve, but not a kernel will fall to the ground.” These words from Amos 9:9 are resonating with me and I feel called to share them with you during the latter part of […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: believe, Bible, faith, God, Jesus, leadership, ministry, ministry leaders, self-leadership

Shaped by Sway

by Zach Clark

As humans, we cling to what is tangible when defining our success.  In the world of advancement, it’s tempting to measure success by funds raised and the number of zeros before the decimal point. But, to get to the top, we look at the bottom line.  Development is the work of raising money.  We must […]

Filed Under: Articles, Uncategorized Tagged With: belief, development, faith, focus, fundraising, God, leadership, ministry, ministry leaders, mission, relationship building, success, vision

Playing the Long Game

by Zach Clark

Think back to when you were a senior in high school. Try to place yourself back into the mentality of the world being your oyster. The future was wide open, and yours for the taking! Or was it? Did your parents help guide you through it? Perhaps you found an out-of-state school with all the […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: faith, God, grief, Jesus, leadership, ministry, ministry leaders, parenting, purpose, self-leadership, suffering

What’s Your Type?

by Zach Clark

Years ago I adopted a strategy when addressing board members in a way that’s direct but gentle, effective but compassionate. When working with board members who serve at schools, a colleague of mine likes to ask new board members how many children they have attending the school. As most parents do, a smile will spread […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: boards, christian schools, development, development and leadership, encouragement, faith, inspiration, leadership skills, ministry

Virtual Vision

by Zach Clark

Have you ever purchased a lawnmower and then decided you’d rather use it as a shower curtain? Probably not. Form follows function – in more ways than one. You’ve heard us advocate for hiring better rather than hiring often. What does that mean when you hire an individual for an office position and they’re now […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: calendaring, development, hiring, leadership, ministry, strategy, team building, virtual, vision

Ordinary for the Extraordinary

by Zach Clark

Missionary and evangelist Jim Elliot once wrote, “Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so extraordinary a God.” Elliot had a heart for unreached people and a passion for sharing the Gospel. For more than three years, Elliot worked with four other missionaries to orchestrate Operation Auca. The Huaorani people were an […]

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: christianschools, development, faith, followup, generosity, giving, God, leadership, ministry, mission, missionary, vision

Growing Pains

by Zach Clark

Growing Pains

May I be blunt? I don’t really have any interest in you learning for the sake of learning, though I’m the first to admit I have a teacher’s heart. I’m more interested in what you and your team are going to do with the skills, tactics, and tools we discuss. Keeping this in mind, let’s […]

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: @effective, @giving, challenges, Christian leaders, christian leadership, development, development and leadership, developmentandleadership, leadership, leadership skills, management, ministry, mission, motivation, relationships, self-leadership, vision

Building the 200

by Zach Clark

As we grow increasingly intentional in 2020, I want everyone to call to mind those on your list of people you’re shepherding. Ideally, you call to mind your master list of the 100 to 200 people you’ve focused on relationally this year. As development directors, the most we can interact with yet still create and […]

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: @giving, @zachclark, challenges, Christian leaders, christian leadership, development, development and leadership, leader, leadership, leadership skills, ministry, motivation, success

Going Virtual in a Viral World

by Zach Clark

We are living day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute, or so it seems, when it comes to event planning in our current pandemic circumstances.  It’s springtime and for many leaders this season is synonymous with the big event. The large gathering. The fundraising mothership.  But, we can’t. So what can we do?  […]

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: @giving, @zachclark, challenges, Christian leaders, christian leadership, development, development and leadership, developmentandleadership, donors, fundraising, leader, leadership, leadership skills, ministry, motivation, success, technology, virtual

Redefining Success | Navigating COVID-19

by Zach Clark

Many of you have reached out with the same basic, but ever so complicated, question: What do we do now? Although many things remain to be sorted out, we have three important steps for you and your organizations to take today for a stronger tomorrow.  Update Timelines At this point we have no way of […]

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: @zachclark, believe, challenges, Christian leaders, Covid-19, development, development and leadership, donors, faith, focus, fundraising, goals, leadership, leadership skills, ministry, mission, nonprofits, Planning, prioritize, success, team building, vision

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