The Diocese of Dunedin has a huge variety of organisations, all wanting to thrive. What is one secret of success that we can learn from?

The Diocese of Dunedin includes a whole variety of organisations - from Parishes to social service agencies in Dunedin and Invercargill, rest homes, a psycho-geriatric hospital, a girls’ school and a University hall of residence. Being successful means making a real difference in our communities, often having a larger impact that our size would indicate. But, often we are not thriving as we could be.

Late last year at a Charity Law, Accounting and Regulation Conference, Craig Fisher, a consultant with RSM New Zealand (specialising in governance, audit and assurance advice as well as restructuring, growing, and developing organisations) spoke about this. His context was "knowing when it may be time to call it quits" and how an organisation may plan for the future by considering collaborations, mergers... or closing down.

This might sound a bit alarming, and we are certainly not suggesting that we all call it quits (!), but there was some excellent advice given about what makes for growing, thriving organisations that is worth sharing more widely with our Boards and Parishes. None of us want to be in the position of calling it a day, but it's important to be thinking of the future... and sometimes that may some things that in their existing forms need to finish, with new things replacing them.

So, what's important to consider?

Successful charities are all about the why, not the how.

They know why they are there and why they do what they do. Organisations that are not so successful get caught up more in the what and how, risking losing sight of the bigger picture, that is, their purpose.

When did you last spent time asking things like: 

• Are we really being effective?
• What could we be doing differently?
• Could others do this better than ourselves?

There is a difference between being effective... and being busy fools! This is why it's important to pause, reflect and ask: are we doing the right thing?

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the charities sector and has been likened to a blowtorch i.e. amplifying and speeding up existing issues organsations have been facing. Business-as-it- was in the past has gone and we are starting to realise that some things won't go back to the way they were. 

Think of it like a tornado: it will destroy some buildings but leave others untouched. COVID-19 has had this kind of impact with some being literally brought to their knees and others experiencing record results. It is a very unequal impact.

The Charity Sector in Aotearoa-New Zealand

Overall we are characterised by having  large number of small entities that are often poorly resourced. 

• They tend to be more operationally focused rather than strategic (focused on day to day running, doing what they have always done vs thinking ahead, altering course to meet changes)
• Often they can have weak financial models and positions
• Often they can underinvest in Information Technology and in people 

This is why many people are seeing COVID as a "burning platform for change"... although there often people around us (even ourselves!) who won't change even if the situation gets really desperate...

There has been an extraordinary amount of money put into the public and private sectors since the pandemic began. We are doing pretty well health wise (barring another out break and current virus mutations), but we risk becoming complacent and thinking things will just go back to normal. Predictions are that 2021 will be even more challenging. 

So... there are seven questions that are important for charting the future:

7 Hard Questions

1. What is our purpose?

2. Do we really have the right to exist?

3. Do we still need to exist?

4. Should we have an end date?

5. Should we continue to try and go it alone?

6. Are we thinking broadly enough about who we collaborate with?

7. Can we reimagine the future?

The secret is to spend time reflecting and asking questions like these

Hard questions... but important to ask. If our Parish or Organisation is all about solving a particular problem (maybe think of it as a "wicked problem"), how will we know when we have achieved what we have set out to do? The prospect of shutting up shop might feel like failure... but it could actually be the ultimate measure of success - job done! But only if we are truly focused on our purpose... and not ending up in failure because we have completely missed what we need to be doing, and instead "doing what we have always done".

Part of the dynamic of asking these questions is that it helps us to really look at our impact: how can we see and measure what we are doing? It's not all about being busy...

If we are not collaborating, we run the risk of doubling up on what others are doing, or actually adding to the misery of a situation. A classic example is when there is a family with identified needs who get three knocks on the door from three agencies offering food... and then none for the next three weeks. Think of the difference if those three agencies had collaborated or even joined forces in some way. 

Final Thoughts

Reflecting on the future in this way is hard - and can be really challenging, especially if we and others lives and livelihoods are involved. But it is a (now not so secret) technique that really makes a difference.

We want to encourage all Diocesan Organisations and Parishes to spend time whenever they meet together to think more strategically - being wise and more effective, rather than getting caught up only in what you are already doing.  

Matthew 7: 24-27 NRSV

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

Want to see the full presentations from the conference?

• When is it time to call it quits
• Collaborations, mergers and practical considerations of closing down