MARK 6:35-37
His disciples came to him and said, “…it’s already getting late.
Send the crowds away so they can go buy something to eat…”
Center for Mission Effectiveness
…But Jesus said, “You feed them.”
Our Mission…
When we think of mission effectiveness, there is no greater example of leveraging meager resources to create enormous impact, than Jesus feeding the 5,000.
But if God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, we should not be content with meager resources. God has gifted us individually and collectively with abundant talent and financial resources all for the purpose of serving and caring for His people, bringing glory to God, and revealing to the unsaved, the hope of salvation and eternal life beginning with God’s Kingdom on earth.
Oswald Chamber’s classic devotional guide, My Utmost for His Highest should be our call in the work of God’s kingdom on earth.
Oswald Chamber’s classic devotional guide, My Utmost for His Highest should be our call in the work of God’s kingdom on earth.
The Problem
The Center for Mission Effectiveness (CME) was founded in 2021 to carry out one of the key mission objectives of Christian Foundation of America (CFA) – developing capacity in order to equip the Christian community with the tools, resources, knowledge and best practices for stewardship and generous giving.
COVID has had a particularly severe impact on faith-based nonprofit organizations. While the demand for nonprofit services has soared, national 2021 statistics show the lowest number of individuals/ families making charitable donations ever, corporate giving was down, and many nonprofits lost as many as 50% of their volunteers.
The federal government poured trillions of dollars into our economy to help those individuals and families who were impacted negatively but many of those government resources were directed toward government and secular agencies. Often faith-based nonprofits are specifically excluded from government funding and some private grants and corporate donations.
That said, God actually has created more talent and financial resources than our government, much of which He has entrusted to His people for His work on earth.
Our Solution
The mission of the Center for Mission Effectiveness is two-pronged:
- Faith-based non-profits – who CME will collaborate with, and provide services to the organization and its leaders to help them achieve optimal mission effectiveness and maximum mission impact.
- High Impact donors – who we will assist in evaluating the effectiveness of their donations in making maximum impacts though organizations they support and the individuals and communities those organizations serve.
Our work with organizations and impact donors begins with detailed assessments that include measuring the current readiness and effectiveness in the following key performance areas:
- leadership capacity
- management and operational capacity
- community engagement capacity
- service delivery capacity
- funding capacity
- outcomes / impact evaluative capacity
- ministry capacity
Based in assessment results, we are able to recommend the exact types of next steps for every stage of organizational efficiency:
- EFFECTIVE TEAMS are encouraged to scale and self-monitor using key metrics for continuous improvement
- WELL FUNCTIONING TEAMS are bolstered with resources to improve using best practices and innovation
- DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAMS are given immediate attention with recommendations for appropriate changes in personnel/ methods/structures
CME is prepared to not only discover opportunities for improvement through our assessment process, but to provide tools and implementation guidance from our highly skilled coaches, trainers and mentors.
THE CENTER FOR MISSION EFFECTIVENESS is a program of Christian Foundation of America. It was founded in 2021 to carry out one of the key mission objectives of CFA – developing capacity in order to equip the Christian community with the tools, resources, knowledge and best practices for stewardship and generous giving. If you’re a nonprofit leader looking to lead well into the future, visit us at CenterForMissionEffectiveness.org
From Organizational Excellence to God-Sized Impact…
CME was founded by and led by John Gardner, MBA, as part of his “next phase” focus of his skills-set and 40+ years of experience. He has served in senior level leadership in for-profit and non-profit health industry organizations including hospital administration, physician practices, skilled nursing and rehab and diagnostic services.
John is a certified member of the John Maxwell Team for coaching and training of adults and youth. He is on the Advisory Board of the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging and the Advisory Board of Christian Foundation of America.
John and his wife of 55 years, Lucy, have lived in the Conejo Valley area for almost 45 years now with their two adult children, their spouses, and their 7 grandchildren living nearby. John and his family have been active in Calvary Community Church for that entire time, where John is Elder Emeritus.
Connect with John and get your nonprofit started on your journey toward greater impact and sustainable excellence today…
John Gardner
Founder, Executive Director
Center for Mission Effectiveness
Call: 818-292-7156 Mobile
