Implementation of nonprofit business process assessment recommendations has helped Dorcas Ministries significantly increase the value of service they provide to help those in crisis thrive
One year after the completion of their Community Impact Project with Jabian Consulting, generously sponsored by Elevation Church, we met with André Anthony, Chief Executive Officer, to discuss the significance and impact of this project. He shares that the original goals of the project are being realized, with staff having more time to do their jobs and be more efficient, resulting in being able to do more to help those in crisis thrive. This is especially critical in a time of increasing needs and costs.
This organizational improvement has enabled them to meet significant external pressure as:
- Significant increase in demand for their support in all their services – paying rent and utilities, workforce development, food and financial assistance, and low-cost shopping in their Thrift Store – has led to significant increase to the value of support they are delivering to the community. They are projecting to provide half a million dollars more in support to the community this year compared to the previous year ($2.7 million v. $2.2 million in 2022)
- Cost of running the organization has also significantly increased over the past 10 years. The organization has tripled in size across the board over those 10 years, resulting in increased need to hire more staff, among other expenses.
As Mr. Anthony explains, “When I joined the team, I realized that we had an opportunity to reimagine the structure of the organization. My thinking was aligned with the Apparo Business Process Assessment, which had been conducted not too long before I came on board, and that made it easier to work towards better ways of realizing our mission. It worked because the Apparo volunteers asked the questions that needed to be asked and were an objective third party.”
Key changes that have been implemented based on the BPA recommendations have increased organization efficiency and effectiveness. They include:
- Restructuring staff, reassigning/consolidating tasks, rewriting job descriptions
- Hiring administrative assistant and other key human resources, fundraising and marketing roles
- Putting KPIs in place
- Conducting a technology discovery process as first step towards streamlining and integrating multiple software database systems
“It’s a lot of change which is both exhausting and exciting. Our staff’s passion for the job and the organization has been reignited. The changes are also helping to make us more professional, to meet the level of expectation of an organization like ours that is doing serious work to improve lives and to demonstrate that we are ready for what comes next.”
