A Proposed Tool for Non-Profit Portfolio Strategy

Abstract

The growth-share matrix was created by Bruce D. Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group in 1970 to help corporations analyze their business units and inform investment decisions. Strategic planning is generally considered vital to business success, and the BCG matrix is only one of a number of models used by corporations for strategic planning. Non-profit organizations also rely on strategic planning but, by contrast, they have very few portfolio modeling tools to assist them. Christian ministries, in particular, are called to operate diligently and efficiently in Scriptures such as the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 but can struggle due to the lack of strategic planning tools available to them. This article attempts a measured step into that space by proposing a model that non-profit organizations might use for strategic planning. Instead of the growth-share axes utilized by the BCG matrix, this article proposes a Profit-Impact (PI) matrix. As an explanatory test for the proposed model, the authors will apply it to the multi-line ministry organization, Mission of Hope. After introducing the ministry and its Haitian context, the authors will use the ministry’s multiple ventures to demonstrate the utility of the PI matrix and make recommendations concerning how it could strategically spread its resources among its different ventures to best pursue its goals. The authors will conclude with a review of the model’s contribution to non-profit strategy and suggest additional research to further these efforts.