by Jor-El Godsey

O - Ownership: For board members, ownership translates to stewardship, meaning board members are entrusted with managing God's resources – people, programs, and purse – to fulfill the organization's mission. This stewardship responsibility requires careful evaluation and use of all resources to ensure they are directed towards achieving the mission efficiently and effectively.¹

Someone once said, “Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge.”

Some otherwise earnest board members mistakenly believe they are called to serve on the board just to provide their opinions. This perspective leads to a somewhat detached role of being only an advisor to those leading the ministry toward fulfilling its mission.

Yet, being only an advisor misses the biblical call and the public expectations of all board members of non-profit organizations. Board members aren’t there merely to offer opinions. They are there to govern actively.

A part of governing is ownership of the call, the mission, the effort, and the outcome. The mantle of governance is much like the owner of a business. The owner shoulders the leadership of the company personally and intimately. This usually includes the Executive Director or CEO as an ex oficio board member.

“Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have” - Pat Summitt, legendary basketball coach

No one board member is ever “the owner” of a non-profit organization. But the board as a whole, in effect, is the ownership.

The Three P's

The board, as owners, fulfill their call primarily through the three P’s of the organization:

• People – the staff, whether paid or volunteer
• Programs – the efforts chosen that fulfill the mission
• Purse – the finances that support and sustain the team and the efforts

“The greatest ownership of all is to glance around and understand.” - William Stafford, Poet Laureate of Oregon

Board members don’t just glance at the client stats and financials. Their attention is broader and more inquisitive in looking to understand the health of the three Ps and how well the missional call is being addressed.

Just like for-profit business owners always keep an eye on being profitable, non-profit owners stay focused on accomplishing the mission outcomes. For PHOs, the mission is not to operate a pregnancy center or maternity home. Those are but methods intended to achieve the mission of rescuing lives and lifetimes. PHO board members should be analyzing the impact on lives turned from hurtling towards abortion towards life.

How to "own" your role

Owners strategize and plan. That’s because they know the old axiom, “To fail to plan is to plan to fail.”

Planning must be intentional. And periodic. Every board, as a part of their fiduciary responsibility, approves an annual plan for spending. We call it a budget, but it’s still an annual plan of expectations relative to the “purse.” We should have similar plans for the other two P’s – people and programs.

Strategic planning is a must for boards to fulfill their ownership role. In this Post-Roe era, PHOs face highly dynamic situations. Our clients have always been subject to changes in culture and economics. The shifting culture and difficult economics we’re all facing are hitting our clients even harder. Such are also impacting our donors and vendors.

Even more challenging is the dynamic nature of Big Abortion. Not only are they actively shifting their distribution paradigm to capitalize on relaxed restraints on chemical abortion, they are aggressively using political power and legislative actions to increase their footprint and maximize profits.

Board members, as owners of this era of ministry governance, should be able to readily lean into a current strategic plan—one that was updated since the Dobbs ruling in June 2022. If not, a S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis should be on the agenda for the very next board meeting or the subject of a special strategic session.

The weight of governance is of intense importance during such dynamic times.

Now, more than ever, we should be like the Sons of Issachar “men who had an understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” (1 Chronicles 12:32, ESV)

Check your inbox next month as we dive into the next major responsibility, Values!

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1. Taken from Heartbeat's Governing Essentials Manual. This series is just one piece of the manual, which can be purchased at any time here.