Module OutcomesAs a result of completing this module you will be able to:

• Articulate the four Essential Steps in ministry planning

• Differentiate between General and Specific Goals• Identify the five key questions associated with specific goals

• Complete a project analysis• Design a programme calendar for your ministry year

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Essential Steps in your Ministry Planning Process:

• Clarify your goals • Specify your goals• Prepare a Project Analysis• Prepare a Schedule for your project(s)

Clarify Your Ministry Goals Whether you are planning for a single project

or a yearly schedule you will need to decide who is to be involved in the goals clarification. It is recommended you have a team member from all key ministry areas and ministry stakeholders including a representative from finances, board leadership, administration and alumni. Some programs find it beneficial to involve key Church representatives if they are planning a nationally focused outreach.

If your planning is to be less expansive, then select those stakeholders for whom the project is a key element in their ministry.

Be sure to delegate someone to record the minutes and all decisions made in planning meetings including those responsible for the

action and the time frames. A template similar to the one below is handy to have attached to the minutes.

Attempt to set your ministry goals within a two to three year framework. Some programs will work on a five year or ten year plan and this is good to keep in mind. However, since YFC ministry is very fluid do not lock your program’s direction into an inflexible agenda. Keep the YFCI mission and vision statements in mind as you work out the immediate goals that will move your nation toward accomplishing them.

Remember to use the SMART outline when selecting your goals:

SpecificMeasurableAchievableRealisticTimely

You may want to set general goals centred upon the opportunities afforded by:

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Action Needed Persons Responsible

Due Date Date Achieved

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• The specific populations within your ministry boundaries

• The national event calendar• The schools calendar• The seasonal changes that dictate your

society’s life cycle• The availability of volunteer staff• Etc

Whatever is going to assist your programme connect to the national ethos will be beneficial.

Smaller national programmes generally have fewer resources and one of their goals needs to focus on their expansion. Larger programs should consider setting a goal to assist smaller National Programs expand their resources.

Specific GoalsOnce your planning team has decided on

the general goals that will set the direction for the national programme over the next determined period you will need to brainstorm the best ways to develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to achieve them.

At this point a review of past program achievements may inform you as to whether or not similar goals have been successfully met. If so, how; if not, why? Resist re-inventing the wheel if there is one you can recycle or retune.

When you come to a point of narrowing your general goals to specific ones your planning team needs to answer the five "W" questions:

• What: Identify the specific goal you want to accomplish?

• Why: Identify the purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

• Who: Identify who needs to be involved. • Where: Identify a location.• When: Identify when the goal will be

accomplished

Example:  A general goal would be, "Reach out to high schools in key towns" But a specific goal would say:

"Create ministry teams to complete 2-day anti-drug programs with senior students in first term in two high schools in major three townships”.

Remember that as part of the planning you need to establish concrete criteria for measuring your progress toward reaching each goal you set. This helps you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the satisfaction of knowing you have achieved your goal.

Example: the specific goal could be “To run two 2-day anti-drug programs in first term with senior students in three major townships.”

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as...How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

Measurable goals have “built in” evaluation factors. When the time arrives to consider the success or failure of a project or staff performance, the original criteria are the benchmark for the rating.

Once the ministry projects have been listed you need to prioritise them according to the resources and overall goals of your program.

If the selected projects involved in achieving the specific goal come with costs, either in finances, manpower or time commitment then a project analysis is advised.

The project analysis would list all the foreseeable costs in real terms.

Example:• One hundred percent of one staff

person’s time for two months.

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• Fifty percent of a second staff person’s time for one month

Plus:• Rental costs for marquee for one week• Erection and dismantle costs• Power and lighting machinery rental• Musician’s payments• Printing and postage costs• Etc

Then the possible income needs to be predicted

• Ticket sales• Offerings• Donations• Merchandise sales• Auction items• Etc.

What to do if the costs are greater than the income?

• Cancel the project• Postpone the project until funds are

available• Raise more funds• Partner with another ministry and divide

the costs• Seek out commercial sponsors• Attempt to have needed resources

donated• Etc.

When all the costs, income and possibilities have been explored the decision needs to be made as to the viability of the project. Ask questions such as:

• Can the programme afford to commit the resources?

• Can the programme afford not to commit the resources?

• Can the resources be better used elsewhere?

• Can the project be better handled by another organisation?

If the answers to these questions indicate that the project is unviable, then an alternate

project would need to be analysed, and so on down the priorities list.

If the answers to these questions indicate that the project is viable then the next step would be to plan the timeline for its implementation.

Project ScheduleThe “T” in Smart goals reminds us that a

goal needs to have a time frame and a schedule. The schedule of any project has to fit into a more complex schedule that may include official government and community events.

It is a well tested procedure to lay out on a whiteboard or large sheets of paper a yearly calendar. Place into it the events which you consider as non variables such as; school terms, key festivals, major sporting events, national days etc., and then place into it the key events of your program time including:

• Staff vacations• Staff conferences • Outreach events• Fund Raising events• Etc.

It would look something like this:

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When the yearly calendar is completed then you can do the same for each month and week if needed. This calendar needs to be visible to all staff!

When you have established your ministry calendar be sure to provide all stakeholders with a copy and notify them whenever changes are made.

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Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

Sept.

October

Nov.

Dec.

All away Staff Conference

Nation Days

Chris Away Chris Away

School Vacation Easter/Film

Joe Away Joe Away Team Prayer Day

Youth Leaders Conference

Camp Cut Off

Pay Camps Schools Vacation/Camps

Schools Vacation/Camps

Team Prayer Day

Drama Team Mary Away Mary AwayChris TV Spot

Team Prayer Day

Sports Final/Breakfast

Stuart Away Stuart Away Send Fundraiser Invitations

Team Planning

National Church Conference

Team Prayer Day

Fundraising Dinner

Pay Camp School Camp Vacation Christmas

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Biblical Study of Ministry Planning

James 1:5! If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives gener-ously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

This verse is a perfect place to start when planning. Everyone lacks wisdom and should begin any planning with prayer. If you do, the verse says that God will give wisdom to you. The verse does not guarantee that your plans will succeed but God will answer your prayer for wisdom. As you will see later in this study, seeking advice is highly recommended. What better place to start than with your Father in heaven who is all knowing and all powerful!

It can be very easy to jump right in to planning without consulting God first. List three ways in which you can make sure prayer is your first step when planning.

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Read Joshua 6:1-7

God gives Joshua the plan for how he wants him to destroy and take over the city of Jericho. Joshua then calls all of the priests and relays the plan to them. It is important to listen to God when making plans. It is also wise to carry out the plans that God gives you.

Do you think this plan was difficult for Joshua to carry out? Why or why not?

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If God does give you a plan, why is it important to carry out the specific plan God has given, even when it may not be the “normal” way?

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Proverbs 15:22

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

Proverbs 20:18

Plans are established by seeking advice;  so if you wage war, obtain guidance.

Proverbs is very clear, God is not the only one that you should consult when making plans. When you plan something alone, you are more likely to fail than when you seek the advice of others. Who you choose is also important. It is good for you to have multiple people in your life who can give you advice when making decisions and plans. It is wise for these people to have many different skills, backgrounds, and even sometimes to be outside of the organisation.

Why is the wisdom of these Proverbs good advice?

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List five people you can consult to seek advice on plans that you are making.

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Read Genesis 41:33-37After interpreting the Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph gives the Pharaoh an incredible plan to survive and thrive during the famine that will take place. This plan not only allows Egypt to survive the famine, but Pharaoh’s rule benefits from the implementation of Joseph’s plan. Even people from outside of

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Egypt come to him to get food (Joseph’s family). Joseph’s actions made both himself and the Pharaoh look intelligent. Ultimately, God gets the glory in this narrative because of his role in Joseph’s life.

Planning that is done well and is successful can give both YFC and God a good name in your community. How can having well planned ideas improve YFC’s image in your community?

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Read Numbers 13:17-33

Moses gives a great example of what to do before starting any new ministry idea. His plan involved a few important steps. First, he assigns certain people to find the answers to vital questions, to do research. It is important to know the right questions, the answers will give you the ability to make a wise decision on how to proceed. Second, he gives the people time to do the research and find the answers to the questions he had asked. Third, he listens to the report they bring to him. It is at this point that Moses is in a position to make a wise decision (although if you read on things don’t go so well for Moses as the people’s faith in God is lacking).

Just as Moses did, it is important to ask the right questions. Why is it so critical to ask the right questions before starting a new plan of action?

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What are important things to do when receiving the answers to your initial questions?

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Read James 4:13-15 James, in these verses, reminds you that whatever you are planning, you need to be humble. Everything should be done with the mindset that “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” It is easy to get caught up in the success of your planning and carrying out of ministry when things are going well. It is during successful times that this passage is most applicable, because if

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God withdraws His favour, it can all come to a crash and end. God needs to get credit and the glory for the work that is done by your ministry.

Being humble is not easy for most people. What are some potential problems of not being humble before the Lord in the planning of your ministry?

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Ministry Planning Tasks

The workbook material will follow the process provided in the teaching module.

The necessary tasks will be outlined according to the material in the module.

Task 1 Setting Ministry GoalsLead a stakeholders brainstorming session to determine the two major SMART ministry goals for a ministry program over the next two years.

Goal 1 ______________________________________________________________________________

How does this goal meet the SMART criteria?

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Goal 2 ______________________________________________________________________________

How does this goal meet the SMART criteria?

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A ___________________________________________________________________________________

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Task 2Review of past program achievements may inform you as to whether or not similar goals have been successfully met. If so, how; if not, why?

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Task 3Narrow your general goals to specific ones.

Major Goal 1 _________________________________________________________________________

List the specific goals to be reached so as to achieve the major goal 1

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Major Goal 2 _________________________________________________________________________

List the specific goals to be reached so as to achieve the major goal 2

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For each specific goal your planning team needs to answer the "W" questions:

What Who Where When

Major 1 Specific 1

Specific 2

Specific 3

Major 2 Specific 1

Specific 2

Specific 3

Task 4Determine which goal has priority.

Remember ministry goals are aimed at fulfilling the Vision and Strategic Focus statements.

What will be your criteria for setting the priority?

Criteria 1 ____________________________________________________________________________

Criteria 2 ____________________________________________________________________________

Criteria 3 ____________________________________________________________________________

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Task 5Conduct a Cost Analysis on the selected specific goals

This process resembles an event analysis in that it reviews all foreseeable costs but when analysing income it considers ministry benefits rather than income sources unless the goal has a financial component.

Costs:

Staff: $

Capital equipment: $

Consumables:$

Intangibles (Inter-agency goodwill etc)

Benefits:

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Task 6Facilitate a planning day and complete the ministry planner for the next year using a similar matrix and referring back to the module notes.

Week One Week Two Week Three Week Four Week Five

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

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