Faith-based Nonprofits Research Articles

How faith-based nonprofit organizations define and measure organizational effectiveness

The results from this qualitative study suggest that CEOs of Faith-Based Nonprofit Organizations (FBNPOs) define and measure their organization's effectiveness primarily based on the outcomes achieved in meeting the immediate needs of their clients and in resolving root causes to those needs. Other indicators of organizational effectiveness- including financial reports, amount of services provided, client satisfaction, stake holder support and perceptions -were also used by the CEOs of FBNPOs to measure organizational effectiveness. The findings indicate that faith is the source of “why” and “how” these FBNPOs conduct their activities. Measuring the impact faith has on those whom they serve varies among the FBNPOs in this study along a continuum of not being measured to being intentionally measured.

Numbers and hearts: A case study in the development of metrics for transformational ministry outcomes

Faith-based nonprofit organizations often do not track the transformational outcomes of programs because these outcomes are considered intangible and difficult to quantify. Bible League International’s (BLI) Board of Directors commissioned the development of an instrument to assess the transformative impact of BLI’s programs. This was accomplished in collaboration with the Metadigm Group. From field interviews and from relevant literature, three measurement domains emerged: Program Participant Outcomes, Worker Capacity and Affiliation, and Program Function. In pilot tests, qualitative methods were used to refine the instrument. Due to time and budgetary restraints, the project ended prior to conducting reliability studies. This case study presents factors driving faithbased nonprofits to measure transformational outcomes, exposes some of the methodological challenges in accessing transformational outcomes, and provides an approach to developing an instrument to quantify transformational outcomes

Leadership in faith‐based nonprofits

AbstractThis case study illustrates the unique challenges of leading a faith‐based nonprofit organization within a multifaith constituency in Asia. The core themes of the case are based on research conducted with the staff, executive team, and board members of an international faith‐based nonprofit organization in Asia. Specifically, the case focuses on three identity‐based leadership dilemmas in relation to (1) creating a shared sense of organizational identity, (2) talent management, and (3) board governance. By describing the challenges faced by the CEO, the case shows how a strong faith‐based identification can positively bind an organization together, but also result in organizational blind spots with unintended consequences.

Helping the Homeless in Dallas: Lessons and Challenges from a Faith-Based Nonprofit

The Stewpot is an agency in downtown Dallas that has been serving the hungry and homeless for more than 30 years. Its founding story has become the stuff of legend: In the mid-1970s, First Presbyterian Church staff was approached more and more often by people living on the streets who needed something to eat. In response, the church started to keep on hand a supply of canned goods that could be handed out. At the time, the practice was that each person who asked would be given two cans of food, with the labels removed so that they could not be resold. But there came a day in 1975 when one of the associate pastors handed the last two cans to a man who needed them … and then helplessly watched him try to open one of the cans with the only tool available in his possession: a key. Before the end of the year First Presbyterian had given up on the notion of handing out cans of food, and had created the Stewpot, preparing and serving a noontime meal in the church's kitchen and fellowship hall. Within two weeks, there were more than 100 people coming for lunch every weekday (Adams 2006).

FOREIGN FIELDS: INTERNATIONAL AID AND FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

During the presidencies of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, involvement of faith-based non-profit organizations increased in the international arena. This increase challenged the traditional exclusion of faith-based organizations from U.S. government funding, and President Bush directed through executive order that federal agencies ensure equal access to funds for faith-based organizations. Concerns related to potential discrimination and sectarianism were raised, and guidelines were drawn up for separating inherently religious activities from development work. The difficult ambiguities that have emerged point to the delicate constitutionality involved, but also call all actors to balance and sensitivity when working in foreign fields.

Putting Flesh on the WORD

By specifically including religious-based nonprofits and congregations in Title 1, Section 104 of federal welfare legislation passed in 1996, policy makers signaled that they expected these organizations would play an increased role as providers of social services while also being on the frontlines of the development and implementation of anti-poverty and community development strategies. Churches, however, are primarily interested in the concept of welfare dependency and reform as it is relevant to the suffering poverty causes families and its impacts on the vitality of their communities. For this reason, churches argue that they “stand in the gap” between what the government provides and the needs of individuals requiring assistance. This paper presents an ethnographic study of two culturally dissimilar Protestant churches located in impoverished urban and rural communities: First African Methodist Episcopal in south-central Los Angeles and St. James, in the Appalachia region of eastern Kentucky. We suggest that documenting how congregations view issues central to welfare policy decision-making and service provision contributes to our knowledge of the role of faith-based non-profit organizations in social welfare.