Strategic Plan:
Puget Sound Chrysalis
Michael Heavener, ABC
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Read/print strategic plan in Microsoft Word format |
Abstract
This strategic plan is intended to isolate and identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the non-profit Puget Sound Chrysalis youth spiritual retreat organization that can be used to develop a long-term goal to alleviate weaknesses and control threats. The paper analyzes environmental conditions from which a strategic plan can be established for the Chrysalis program. The plan discusses the vision, mission, values, and organizational statements that define Chrysalis as a Christian ministry. It highlights external and internal factors which most significantly affect long-term goals. It sets a single significant long-term goal, develops a process for implementing the goal, assesses the critical success factors, and defines measurements to evaluate the plan’s effectiveness.
Table of Contents
Financial
Projections and Analysis
Appendix
1.1—Purpose of Chrysalis
Appendix
1.2—SWOT Analysis Table
Appendix
1.3—Additional Strengths
Appendix
1.4—Additional Weaknesses
Appendix
1.6—Competing Organizations
Appendix
1.7—Communications, Critical Success Factors
Strategic Plan:
Puget Sound Chrysalis
Puget Sound Chrysalis is caught in a whirlwind, buffeted by external and internal forces over which it has little influence. It can be trapped and whirled away. Or it can respond like an airplane pilot, trimming the wing tabs, and using piloting skills to steer around dangerous eddies toward safer, calmer air. In order to be a good pilot—a good steward of the Chrysalis community’s resources—the board of directors needs to start with a checklist of the critical factors over which it is able to exercise control. The checklist includes assessing the environment, determining the potential of the board’s actions, and setting long-term goals and measurement criteria. Once the wind’s velocity, direction, and turbulence are known, the board can develop strategies to safely navigate the whirlwind of the next 10 to 15 years. This paper offers a sample strategic plan shaped around some of the strengths and weaknesses of Chrysalis, and around the opportunities and threats the organization is likely to encounter.
Chrysalis is a nondenominational spiritual renewal program to provide young men and women between the ages of 15 and 24 with spiritual lessons and means to grace, centered on growing closer to Jesus Christ. These young men and women are seeking deeper meaning in their lives. They have expressed openness to the teachings of Jesus Christ and many are eager to expand their faith and spiritual knowledge.
Chrysalis is an international ecumenical youth adaptation of the adult-focused Walk To Emmaus, managed by The Upper Room, a division of the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church. The Upper Room was granted exclusive use of the copyrighted program and materials of the Catholic Cursillo de Cristanidad, modified for use by Protestant denominations. (Chrysalis, Walk To Emmaus, The Upper Room, and Cursillo are defined in the glossary.)
Puget Sound Chrysalis, a registered 501(c)3 corporation in Western Washington, has developed growing pains and struggles to maintain its ministry, focus, and financial footing. Economic slowdowns have crimped the organization’s ability to grow. A strategic plan, which it does not have, would help the organization concentrate on its core competencies and aims.
Policies set forth by the local board of directors must conform to those stated in a Letter of Agreement between the Puget Sound Chrysalis board and The Upper Room.
At this time, Puget Sound Chrysalis does not have a vision statement. Therefore, I propose the following statement to give central purpose to this strategic plan:
“Creating an
environment where youth can learn the importance of a Christ-filled life.”
The proposed vision identifies three areas of concentration the long-term plan can influence to move Chrysalis forward in its ministry. It must conduct the ministry in an atmosphere of charity, love, nurturing, and understanding that is Christ-centered and Biblically based. It must instill in the youth a sense of excitement about leading Christian lives and establishing their own ministries. It must lead the youth to make Christ the heart of their entire being, actions, conduct, and faith, including prayer, meditation, service, love, and compassion.
The following mission statement can be found on the Puget Sound Chrysalis web site:
“To develop,
challenge, inspire, and equip Christian youth as leaders, through Christian
action in their homes, churches, schools, communities, and the Chrysalis
experience.”
This mission is an action statement enabling the vision to be carried out and long-term objectives to be established. It establishes the unique purpose for which Chrysalis exists, as well as its scope of operation, and reflects the values of the entire organization (Pearce-Robinson, 2003).
The mission is something every Chrysalis team (see glossary) should memorize, as it is supported and implemented through the Team Covenant each team member is required to sign.
Leadership is important to Chrysalis, for having dedicated leaders willing to share themselves with the youth, and for developing youth who are comfortable with their own leadership roles in the church and community. Christ was the leader of his disciples—and he trained them to become leaders in the early Christian church after his death and resurrection.
The values of Puget Sound Chrysalis are to foster youth participation in church activities, their service to God and community, and their continued spiritual and moral behavior, set forth in the New Testament. Essentially, the values answer: “What’s in the future for us?”
As a signee of The Upper Room’s Letter of Intent, Puget Sound Chrysalis adheres to the Statement of Organization of the parent organization. This statement best sums up the values of Chrysalis:
“The purpose of Chrysalis is to serve as a ministry of the church to inspire and support the spiritual formation of Christian young people. Chrysalis provides young people in the church a course in the essentials of Christian faith and practice that is educational and experiential in character ... through a daily flow of worship and reflection, systematic teaching and small group dialogue, creative expression and play, prayer and signs of support from the wider Walk to Emmaus and Chrysalis communities” (Gilmore, 2004; full text in Appendix 1.1).
The environmental analysis is used to identify the positive and negative influences on the growth of Puget Sound Chrysalis. It consists of internal environmental variables (i.e. about Puget Sound Chrysalis) that translate in to strengths and weaknesses, and external environmental variables (i.e. about the entire youth spiritual movement “industry”) that translate into opportunities and threats.
Table 1.1: Abbreviated Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis
|
SWOT Analysis |
Strengths (see page 9) |
Weaknesses (see page 10) |
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Identify one (1) long-term priority for each
strategy |
s1.Youth dedication, spirituality, and enthusiasm s2.Program strengths |
w1.Fragmented pool of participants w2.Lack of clergy |
|
Opportunities |
SO Strategies |
WO Strategies |
|
|
Use strengths to
leverage opportunities. |
Use opportunities to
overcome weaknesses |
|
o1.Increased spiritual longing o2.Future upturn in families with children |
Youth
dedication, spirituality, and enthusiasm + Future upturn in families with
children |
Future upturn in families with children + Fragmented pool of participants |
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Threats |
ST Strategies |
WT Strategies |
|
|
Use strengths to
avoid or overcome threats |
Manage weaknesses
and avoid threats |
|
t1.Lack of church availability t2.Declining youth population, lack of volunteers and donors |
Program strengths + Lack of church availability |
Lack of clergy + Lack of church availability |
A more detailed SWOT analysis is available in Appendix 1.2. For a brief explanation about the SWOT analysis process, see the long-term objectives section on page 14.
Chrysalis is subject to a number of key internal trends that affect the program’s viability. These can sometimes be viewed as either strengths or weaknesses, however, this paper identifies them separately.
In the strengths column are found the following key ingredients for successful growth and organizational renewal, as well as flourishing weekend (see glossary) activities. These are, unfortunately, offset by some negative factors—weaknesses—that pose long-term concern.
Other secondary strengths and weaknesses were also identified but for the purposes of this strategic plan, to simplify the strategic analysis, these have been relegated to Appendixes 1.3 and 1.4. The abbreviated SWOT analysis is shown on page 8.
S1—A key internal strength is the dedication, spirituality, and enthusiasm of the youth of Chrysalis. We count heavily on their enthusiasm levels to buoy each retreat weekend. Even “graduates” who have married, joined the military, or relocated strive to return whenever possible to work weekends on which their younger siblings or friends are candidates. It is not possible to work a weekend in isolation. Required participation in team gatherings, worship times, and kitchen/logistics functions places volunteers in close proximity to others eager to share their passion and enthusiasm. Girls’ weekends, particularly, can pump up the entire community for the next month. It is a constant source of joy—and amazement—to see the depths of spirituality the youth have gained in their faith quests. They are as educated as most adults (and often more) about the scriptures and Biblical interpretation, history, and tradition, as well as the importance and operation of a weekend’s program. A number of Chrysalis “graduates” are attending seminary or have been ordained as clergy.
S2—An important strength of Chrysalis is the “program” because it adheres so closely to the basics of Christianity. Youth participants receive a solid grounding in the sacraments, teachings of Christ, and paths that lead to rewarding lives as children of God. Five talks are given by clergy, along with five by peers (youth) and five more by adult laity—all come from the depths of the speaker’s personal faith, all are filled with scripture, experience, reason, tradition—the four corners of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (see glossary), and all are critiqued by the team before being delivered. The program also features time for singing, boundary-breaking, group discussions, meditation, prayer, worship, community building, Holy Communion (Eucharist), personal time with clergy as desired, delicious well-prepared meals, and even shedding tears.
W1—A critical internal weakness for Puget Sound Chrysalis is social and geographic fragmentation in our community. Groups such as ours are based upon the worldwide Cursillo de Cristanidad model, nonsectarian, ecumenical organizations into which youth from any Christian denomination are welcomed. However, various denominations offer their own youth programs and have traditionally stayed away from recruiting in other groups’ populations (The Upper Room, 2004). In addition, Puget Sound Chrysalis covers an area 160 miles long by 100 miles wide, with the 12th worst traffic in the U.S. (Pryne, 2004), down from fifth worst in 2003 (Park, 2004). Although we strive to balance retreats geographically so everyone has at least one opportunity per year, many volunteers and candidates are not able to travel the entire distance, limiting the pool of volunteers and adding to the workloads of those nearby who can participate.
W2—A serious internal weakness is lack of available clergy, forcing us to face a painful ongoing crisis. The Cursillo model requires four clergy per weekend; Puget Sound Chrysalis has operated with as few as two—and cancelled one weekend due to lack of clergy. It can count on a handful of like-minded Lutheran and Presbyterian pastors but the bulk of clergy resources come from The United Methodist Church. UMC pastors must balance their time between parish ministry (their local congregations), organizational functions such as church camps, annual legislative meetings (annual conference), ongoing boards of ministry, special orders from the presiding bishop, community ministries and regional charities, and Chrysalis/Walk To Emmaus. A clergyperson must also attend his or her own Walk To Emmaus before becoming eligible to serve as a weekend’s clergy (and many have chosen not to attend). In addition, with the “splintering” of The United Methodist Church over ordination of homosexuals, clergy are increasingly forced to defend and communicate their points of view. In Puget Sound Chrysalis a vocal laity minority has already unsuccessfully demanded certain clergy be banned, and their voices are increasingly strident. These same lay people have removed themselves from the pool of volunteers.
Chrysalis exists in a world where external influences sway the scales toward or away from successful operations. The following section identifies key external trends of interest, which this paper identifies separately as opportunities or threats.
An abbreviated SWOT analysis table showing these opportunities and threats is found on page 8, and a detailed SWOT is available in Appendix 1.2.
O1—The first trend is an increase in spiritual searching and religious interest in the United States and the Puget Sound region. Bible reading is up: “27% Increase in Bible sales...” reads one headline (Olsen, 2001). Worship attendance is increasing. New churches are starting. The United Methodist Church added four new congregations in the Pacific Northwest in the past eight years; other denominations in the region are growing by six or more churches a year (NAMB, 2004). Even in traditionally non-churched mass media, anything that can be construed as spiritual has earned an aura of virtue. This is a God-given opportunity, especially for Christians striving to enrich the lives of their children.
O2—Spiritual organizations draw heavily from the aging “baby boomer” demographic—for adult volunteers and as parents seek spiritual education for their children. Closely aligned with the baby boomer crest is a secondary wave of “aging” in the children of boomers. Most are attending college or have graduated. All are in the workforce in some way, requiring them to balance their commitments. Many have found happiness with another person to whom they are engaged or now married, and they are starting families. Babies of baby boomers’ babies are starting to appear at community gatherings and functions. It is very likely these young parents will want their children to attend similar weekends in the next 10 to 15 years, to share the camaraderie and faith they enjoyed, presenting the organization with marvelous long-term growth opportunities.
T1—Christian churches are increasingly under attack, and not just from atheists or extremist religious groups. In many communities, the church facility is increasingly seen as environmental unfriendly—it draws too much traffic at irregular hours, its boisterous activities run counter to its quiet residential surroundings, and its tax sheltered status makes it somewhat immune to local jurisdictional regulation. Many churches have been entreated to close their doors to outside groups such as Chrysalis, and a handful have done so.
T2—The unemployment rate in Washington State was 7.1 percent in July 2002, mostly lost in public education, aircraft manufacturing and parts, and durable manufacturing (PSBJ, 2002). These are precisely the jobs held by parents of youth most open to spiritual programs. The cost of buying consumer goods in this region rose by 23.2 percent between 1995 and 2002 (PSRC, 2002). This loss of buying power was not, on the whole, compensated by increased payrolls, leading some adults to take second jobs. Workloads have increased for adults who are working. For these reasons, volunteers are progressively harder to recruit for service at activities and on organizational boards. Many are unable to make the time commitment. The burnout process is accelerated as community members juggle their many stress inducing activities.
Using a strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) analysis, long-term objectives for the effective strategic management of Puget Sound Chrysalis can be identified and planned. The full analysis table can be found in Appendix 1.2
The condensed long-term goal for Puget Sound Chrysalis is:
“To
use the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) to perpetuate an environment
fostering the values of a loving, learning, giving Christian community where
youth are guided to become healthy, moral, constructive members of society”
For Puget Sound Chrysalis, the long-term objectives must incorporate the following:
· Profitability. We have an obligation and responsibility to our community to perpetuate our vision, mission, and program by maintaining solvency.
· Productivity. We must meet our objectives in a constructive, beneficial atmosphere.
· Competitive position. Although we are not, in the for-profit sense, competing with any other organization, Appendix 1.6 shows there is “competition” with other groups in the spiritual community.
· Employee development. We do not have “employees” in a business context. However, our volunteers seek the same personal involvements, challenges, satisfactions, recognition, and rewards.
· Employee relations: We must at all times be cooperative, cordial, and caring.
· Technological leadership. This has a double meaning. Most of our youth and many adults use computers and technology professionally, so we must be solvent enough to afford the necessary equipment, software, and supplies. The ministry and program of Chrysalis has a “technological” and vocabulary of its own, and requires us to stay current with the latest Letter of Intent and ministry trends.
· Public responsibility. The Puget Sound Chrysalis and Walk To Emmaus communities hold Chrysalis and its leaders responsible for adhering to and teaching morals and ethics, ministry values, and high Christian standards.
(All items derived from Gould, 2003).
Specific short term and long-term goals are defined in the following section and are all derived from these seven basic assumptions.
In order to be successful, the strategic plan must establish some long-term goals preparing the organization to effectively deal with the internal and external environments. A grid showing these choices can be found in Appendix 1.2.
The optimal strategic plan uses organizational strengths to leverage opportunities. This strengths/opportunities strategy is the best, most pro-active position an organization may hope to achieve. For Chrysalis this SO strategy is:
Long-Term—Develop ways to build upon the dedication, spirituality,
and enthusiasm of our youth (strength) so we are ready when the inevitable
future upturn comes in families with children (opportunity).
As a secondary strategy, the organization should look to using opportunities to overcome weaknesses. This weaknesses/opportunities strategy is not the best position to be in, since it does not have the advantage of being a totally positive plan. For Chrysalis, this WO strategy is:
Long-Term—Develop ways to tap into and assure that the future upturn in families with children will be ensured in the Chrysalis program (opportunity) to counteract the fragmented pool of participants (weakness).
Another secondary strategy uses organizational strengths to avoid or overcome threats. Again, this strengths/threats strategy does not give the organization as strong or positive a plan. For Chrysalis, this ST strategy is:
Long-Term—Develop ways to build upon the Chrysalis
program’s strengths (strength) so we counteract the immediate shortcomings of
our lack of church availability (threat).
As a last resort, if nothing else is going right for the organization, the weaknesses/threats strategy must manage weaknesses and avoid threats, which places it in a very reactive position strategically. For Chrysalis, this WT strategy is:
Long-Term—Seek ways to counteract the lack of clergy (weakness) while overcoming the lack of church availability (threat).
In order to determine long-term goals, a number of criteria should be applied. Strategic plan designers must ask whether the goals are acceptable, flexible, measurable, inspiring, suitable, understandable, and achievable (Gould, 2003).
For the purposes of simplifying this paper, a single long-term goal will be the focus from this point forward. In actual business practices, all aspects of the SO, WO, ST, and WT strategies must be considered and contingencies developed for each to counteract negative conditions in the internal and external environments.
The author has selected the ST strategy as the most immediately achievable long-term goal to bring Puget Sound Chrysalis more closely into alignment with the community’s needs and trust. While not as compelling as an SO strategy, this goal is:
“To use the strengths of the
Chrysalis program, including its personal fulfillment, sense of belonging and
satisfaction, heritage, teachings, activities, teamwork, bonding, emphasis on
sacraments, and faith development, to overcome lack of church availability, by
leading and encouraging members of the community to research, enlist, and
support alternative weekend locations, including schools, retreat centers,
community center facilities, churches hitherto untapped, and gain back access
to churches made off-limit for reasons not in keeping with the ‘great
commandment.[1]‘ “
Once a long-term goal has been planned and established, the Chrysalis board is faced with the task of implementation. For each part of the goal, seven questions (Gould, 2003) must be answered:
· Acceptability: Will the community accept using the strengths of the Chrysalis program to overcome the lack of church availability?
· Flexibility: Are the strengths of the Chrysalis program flexible enough to overcome the lack of church availability?
· Measurability: Can the strengths of the Chrysalis program and increased church availability be measured?
· Inspirational: Will the community be inspired to use the strengths of the Chrysalis program to overcome the lack of church availability?
· Suitability: Is it suitable to the needs of the community to use the strengths of the Chrysalis program to overcome the lack of church availability?
· Understandability: Can the goal and implementation of using the strengths of the Chrysalis program to overcome the lack of church availability be communicated and explained to the community?
· Achievability: At the end of the goal period, will the community and board actually overcome the lack of church availability?
This list may not include all items and processes needed to accomplish the defined goal. If these questions can all be answered positively (and the author believes for this exercise they can be), Chrysalis will find new strengths and be able to leverage the other opportunities to overcome weaknesses and threats dropped from this limited analysis.
To play out this scenario during the next five to 10 years, Puget Sound Chrysalis must measure the results of the long-term plan according to the controls and evaluations section. To increase the likelihood for success, additional outside input may be needed from former board members, the community and its members, and The Upper Room and its staff.
Because Puget Sound Chrysalis is a non-profit organization, it is not subject to the strict financial accounting of a publicly traded company. The Chrysalis board maintains an auditable bookkeeping process but does not use an accounting system.
Financial projections are presented to the board each month. The treasurer analyzes past transactions, estimates what future transactions will likely cost the organization, and discusses what must be done to balance the checkbook. In addition to weekend expenses, program and training materials, and leaders’ manuals, the board pays a small yearly fee to The Upper Room for use of the Chrysalis program, and pays a small honorarium to each church for use of its facilities.
In recent years, the board determined that the weekend fee was too low. The fee is in reality a trust donation assessed to team members, onsite participants