Planning for Growth
Preparing for Growth
When I stepped into the role of CEO, I knew Set Free needed to grow. We had more mission than our current level of funding could handle. Then, factor in the number of wells yet to be drilled and children still held in slavery just in the areas Set Free was currently working in – I had my work cut out for me. So, I got to work by switching our CRM to one that integrated with existing systems, was more user friendly, and improved our donor experience. I created a 5-year strategic plan with measurable outcomes and objectives to meet. I delineated staff roles to create better clarity while also working to eliminate silos. And I prayed.
I prayed often for God to open doors. Others joined me in this prayer, but it felt like it fell on deaf ears. COVID happened and many doors closed. But I continue to pray, and we also took advantage of the shut-down to deepen relationships, ask questions, and dream. Set Free was far from the 5-year objectives I had set, but we were also holding steady. In hindsight, we weren’t yet ready for doors to be opened.
“As much as I prayed 3 years ago for doors to open, we weren’t ready.”
Three years into my tenure as CEO and two years into a pandemic, I made some additional changes. We expanded our marketing efforts to spread the word about the global need and the work we were doing to meet it. I tweaked staff roles and added an additional team member. We eliminated strategies that weren’t working and expanded those that were. Most notably, we focused a lot of our efforts on expanding monthly donations, church relationships, and business partnership. And we continued to pray for God to open doors.
Now we were ready, and the doors are opening wide. It is now uncommon for a week to pass by without a team member visiting a church, small group, or business to share about Set Free. New opportunities have presented themselves, and we have the manpower to be able to handle them effectively. As much as I prayed 3 years ago for doors to open, we weren’t ready. We would not have been good stewards to those new relationships, and our staff would have been stretched thin.
What were our keys to success? Here are my 3 takeaways while we were planning for growth.
- Know where you are going. Yes, the strategic plan timeline was ultimately delayed by factors both inside and outside our control. But we remained focused on where we needed to go. That was critical in guiding the decisions needed to help us get there.
- Focus on your staff. The success of any organization is highly dependent on its people. In our case, we had one staff member stretched too thin by essentially doing two jobs and another we weren’t utilizing to their full potential. We shifted things around, clearly defined both tasks but also expected outcomes, and hired for a gap we discovered.
- Plan for success. Sometimes the biggest challenges occur not when you fail, (you can usually adapt or at least learn from the experience) but when your demand outpaces what you can handle. You see this regularly when a product goes viral and their website servers crash later that day. It’s not always something you can foresee, but it is best to be as prepared as possible. Think to yourself, if this campaign/initiative/new product/etc. is wildly successful, what do we need to have in place to deliver on the promises made? And then plan for that. You never know, the doors might just open wide.
