http://www.218consulting.com 'Providing innovative and effective solutions to the challenges that Churches and Not For Profit leaders face. Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:56:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Pennsylvania State University studied 12,833 telecommuters and found that telecommuting programs are beneficial for both the workers and their employers. The results showed  more job satisfaction, less stress, improved work-family balance, and higher performance ratings by supervisors. Sounds great!!!!   So how so you work in a church or non-profit and do ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/12/27/telecommuting-for-jesus/ My son and I have a game we play almost every day - it's called "What's the price of gas today?" He is great at remembering what and where and keeping me informed.  I almost always get the lowest price around! At one intersection close to our house there are several ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/12/17/the-new-economy/ O.K. - so it's the holiday season, and you know what that means.  Yep - time to pick a fight with those you love.  Hmmm.., that sounds wrong.  Maybe that's just a side effect of all the family time! Well, dear family - here we go.   Most preaching is done for the ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/11/30/stop-preaching/ It is budgeting time for churches and non profits. With the shaky economy right now, most organizations are looking to cut back on expenditures.  2009 looks to be a tighter  year than 08.  At the same time that "lower funds" are being expected for 09, income is actually increasing in ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/11/22/budget-for-09/ They are the ones we call "leaders".  You have seen them, and may be one of them.  They have the ability to motivate and get things done.  People gladly follow them and share in the excitement of all that is being accomplished. We pay them a lot to do what ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/10/24/leadership-is-simple/ In our last post... we made the claim that there is extra money in the salaries and benefits budgets of churches and non profits. When a staffing need presents itself, there are always two options.  Find a volunteer, or hire an employee.  The default has become to waste money by hiring ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/09/25/non-profit-salaries-and-benefits/ When the economy gets tough, churches and nonprofits are some of the first to feel the pinch.  Both groups often live on thin budgets to begin with, and when the income slows down - it can get really difficult to make it.  There are numerous articles out there (here, here, ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/09/22/non-profit-budgets-in-a-tough-economy/ I was recently given a book by John Ortberg entitled Overcoming Your Shadow Mission.  The basic premise of the book is that individuals and organizations have a stated mission, but that in reality they also have unstated missions.  Ortberg states" noble missions will give rise to noble thoughts and shadow ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/09/22/know-thyself/ "Quitters never win and winners never quit." I've heard this all my life - but recently had this idea challenged. In The Dip, a small book by Seth Godin, he effectively makes the claim that winners quit all the time. The key is that they quit doing ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/08/04/quitting-to-win/ During this summer, I have been serving full time on a church staff as Executive Pastor.  The Senior Pastor is on a much deserved sabbatical, which is a great thing for a church to offer.  Since the end of May, I have had the opportunity to reengage being a point ... http://www.218consulting.com/2008/07/10/responsibility-without-authority/