TC-866 Faith Based Non-Profit Organizational Development

Dr. Bryan Stone

Boston University School of Theology

(617) 353-2456 bpstone@bu.edu

Course Description

The purpose of this study is to assist students in (a) understanding and assessing the organizational structure, operation, and management of faith-based non-profits, (b) gaining an awareness of how faith-based non-profits go about the tasks of effective fundraising and grantwriting, and (c) designing and writing a workable program strategy, organizational and strategic plan, and grant proposal.

Required Reading

Students will be required to read the following texts plus two other self-selected texts from among the choices in the bibliography. At least one of the two self-selected texts must focus on religious or faith-based non-profits.

Bryson, John M. and Farnum K. Alston

1995 Creating and Implementing your Strategic Plan. Jossey Bass.

Clifton, Robert L. and Alan M. Dahms

1993 Grassroots Organizations: A Resource Book for Directors, Staff, and Volunteers of Small, Community-Based, Nonprofit Agencies, 2nd Edition. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Esau, Jill C.

2005 Start and Grow Your Faith-Based Nonprofit. Jossey Bass.

Flanagan, Joan

1993 Successful Fundraising: A Complete Handbook for Volunteers and Professionals. Chicago: Contemporary Books.

Miner, Lynn E. and Jerry Griffith

1993 Proposal Planning and Writing. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

Reading Response Paper

For the one self-chosen text, a reading response paper will be required. The paper should be divided into two parts as follows: (1) first, in no more than half of your paper, briefly summarize what you understand the author to be saying. A successful paper at this point is one that is able to introduce the breadth of the reading material in a concise and integrated way. (2) Second, in the remaining half of the paper, provide a critical analysis of what you understand the author to be saying. Here you should raise questions, express points of agreement and disagreement, analyze and evaluate the argument, and make application to our course objectives and/or your own research project. The paper should be neatly typed, 5-8 pages long, 12 point standard font, and double-spaced.

Organizational Review

A central area of instruction in this class will be the process of creating a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Some of the many topics covered are bylaws, articles of incorporation, board development, board-staff relations, non-profit status, federal laws, lobbying, marketing, management structure, personnel and financial policies, committees, dissolution, mission statements, types of non-profits, budgeting, compensation, strategic planning, and volunteers. In tandem with the instruction, students will be asked early in the semester to select a faith-based non-profit organization in the greater Boston area and to conduct a brief “audit,” or review of that organization. The organizational review is designed to introduce the student (in a “hands-on” way) to the kinds of documents and structures required for the legal and healthy functioning of non-profit organizations. The review also includes interviews with at least one each of the organization’s management, board, staff, and clients.

Critical to the instruction in this area is the relation of “faith” to “organization.” Questions of how religious aims and mission relate to non-profit functioning as well as differences between faith-based non-profit corporations and “churches” will be explored.

Program Strategy

As preparation for the grant proposal and as a means to understanding effective program planning, implementation, and evaluation, students will be asked to write a strategic plan for one specific program in the organization they are working with. Instruction will be offered on the nature and development of a program strategy within the broader context of strategic planning more generally.

Grant Proposal

It is the intent of this course that every student would be able as a final by-product to write a fundable grant proposal. The organizational review and strategic plan are stepping stones to that end. Considerable attention is provided in class on fundraising strategies and sources, and detailed instruction is devoted to grant proposal writing, including especially the incorporation of the program strategy (above) into that proposal.

Class Attendance

Students are expected to meet on assigned days with the professor. Students will be expected to be prepared ahead of time with reading and assignments for these sessions.

Grading

Final course grades will be calculated on the following basis:

25% - Organizational Review

25% - Program Strategy

25% - Grant Proposal

25% - Required Reading of all texts plus reading response paper on book of student’s choice

Course Schedule and Due Dates

	Topic	Assignment
18 January	Introduction Organizational topics: 501(c)(3) code, articles of incorporation, tax exemption, bylaws, mission statements, types of non-profits, membership, regulation
25 January	Conducting an Organizational Review Organizational topics: Board of directors, board-staff relations, executive management, committees, staffing, volunteers, start-up	Read first half of Clifton
1 February	Faith-Based Organizations, church-state issues, U.S. Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Community-building, service, and ministry
8 February	Legal Issues, conflict of interest, fraud and abuse, lobbying, political action	Read second half of Clifton
15 February	Site visit	Organizational Review is due
22 February	Accounting, audits, internal controls, budget and finance, risk management, policies,
1 March	Strategic Planning, writing a program strategy	Read Bryson and Alston
15 March	Fundraising – Private, Corporations, Foundations, Direct mail, In-kind giving, events
22 March	Fundraising – Public Money, Federated Giving Earned income	Program Strategy is due
29 March	Grants and Grant-writing	Read Miner and Flanagan
5 April	In-class review of grant proposals with visiting program officer	Grant Proposal is due
12 April	Site visit	Reading Response paper on self-chosen book is due
26 April	Wrap-up session

Bibliography

Bassett, William.

1997 Religious Organizations and the Law. Deerfield, IL: Clark Boardman Callaghan, 2 vols.

Bozeman, Barry

1987 All Organizations Are Public: Bridging Public and Private Organizational Theories. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bryson, John M.

1995 Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Jossey Bass.

Bryson, John M. and Farnum K. Alston

1995 Creating and Implementing your Strategic Plan. Jossey Bass.

Carlson, Mim

1995 Winning Grants Step By Step. Jossey Bass.

Clemetson, Robert A. and Roger Coates

Restoring Broken Places and Rebuilding Communities: A Casebook on African-American Church Involvement in Community Economic Development. Washington, D.C.: The National Congress for Community Economic Development.

Clifton, Robert L. and Alan M. Dahms

1993 Grassroots Organizations: A Resource Book for Directors, Staff, and Volunteers of Small, Community-Based, Nonprofit Agencies, 2nd Edition. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Dudley, Carl S.

1991 Basic Steps Toward Community Ministry. New York: The Alban Institute.

Engstrom, Ted W. and Edward R. Dayton

1989 The Art of Management for Christian Leaders. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Flanagan, Joan

1993 Successful Fundraising: A Complete Handbook for Volunteers and Professionals. Chicago: Contemporary Books.

Freedman, Samuel G.

1993 Upon This Rock. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Hall, Peter Dobkin

1992 Inventing the Nonprofit Sector and Other Essays on Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Nonprofit Organizations. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Herman, Robert D., and Associates

1994 The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hopkins, Bruce

1993 A Legal Guide to Starting and Managing a Nonprofit Organization. 2nd edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Kelly, Dean M

1997. The Law of Church and State in America: An Analysis and Sourcebook (Vol. 1 - The Autonomy of Religious Bodies; Vol. 2 - The Outreach Activities of Religious Bodies; Vol. 3 - Inculcation of Faith by Religious Bodies. Greenwood Press.

Kretzmann, John P. and John L. McKnight

1993 Building Communities From the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets. Evanston, IL: Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research, Northwestern University.

Linthicum, Robert

1990 Empowering the Poor. Monrovia: MARC.

Miller, Kenneth R. and Mary Elizabeth Wilson

1985 The Church that Cares: Identifying and Responding to the Needs in Your Community. Judson Press.

Miner, Lynn E. and Jerry Griffith

1993 Proposal Planning and Writing. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

Perkins, John M.

1993 Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Pierce, Gregory F. Augustine

1984 Activism that Makes Sense: Congregations and Community Organizations. Chicago: ACTA Publications.

Queen II, Edward L. (Ed.)

2000 Serving Those in Need: A Handbook for Managing Faith-Based Human Services Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Rhodenbaugh, Thomas.

Human Services: An Economic Development Opportunity -- A Manual for Economic-Based Enterprises. Washington, D.C.: The National Congress for Community Economic Development.

Stone, Bryan P.

1996 Compassionate Ministry: Theological Foundations. Maryknoll: Orbis.

Warren, Rochelle B. and Donald I.

1977 The Neighborhood Organizer’s Handbook. University of Notre Dame Press.