Go the distance through Equipping Leaders

The value of mentoring cannot be overstated. There are facts and figures to support the 3over3 success of mentoring programs (three hours a week over three years is the rule of thumb for life-changing mentoring, especially for children and teens). Churches and non-profits are mentoring in all sorts of ways: prison mentoring, foster care mentoring programs, after school mentoring programs, career mentoring, parent mentoring, etc. As I have been looking into different mentoring models lately, I have come across a great lesson in creating sustainable programs. Consider these two scenarios:

Case #1
An agency (or church) begins a mentoring program. There are a few churches in partnership with the program and advertisements for mentors are placed in bulletins and newsletters. The response is ok and the program begins. More and more children are coming to the program, but volunteers are a little scarce, so the agency (which has a grant for this program) decides to offer incentives for the mentors and begins to pay mentors $25 hourly for their work (that's $1560 annually per mentor). A few more people become interested.

Case #2
An agency begins a mentoring program. Leaders from area churches are invited to come and hear about the mentoring program. The agency, which also has a grant for the program, gives $5,000 annually to be a part of the program. Many of the churches use the money to hire (very) part-time director/recruiter to invite and train people in their church to become mentors. Some of the churches use the money to send their potential mentors to training, and use another portion of the funds for appreciation gifts for the mentors. Some of the churches have a volunteer director, but give her a spending allowance to take recruits out to lunch or coffee, to casting vision.

Which program do you think will have long-term success and gain the most church involvement or mentors? You don't have to guess... Both of these scenarios are true examples of real mentoring programs that exist. I can tell you that my friends at one-By-One Leadership, (from case #2) are running a very successful prison mentoring program in Fresno, CA. (I won't name my well-meaning friends in scenario #1, who run a good program with potential).

In comparing the two programs, the biggest difference is not the amount of money (although it will actually "cost" program #1 more financially per child mentored than program #2). The difference is in using funds to build leadership and equip mentors. Putting money into leadership, casting vision and training seems to offer programs greater sustainability, not to mention greater potential for growth. (Now, I have opinions on paying people to mentor, as you can imagine...but I will stay away from that today.)

In the economy of the non-profit sector and the budgets of the local church, resources are usually scarce, while the work is vital. We must build sustainable leadership structures for the programs that are so valuable to our communities. It seems like common sense, but how often to we get excited about a new externally focused program and simply jump in and do the work? Sometimes it does feel like money makes the world go round and if we just had more, we could do more. Maybe we would not need so much money if we invested what little we did have into training mentors, appreciating volunteers, and hiring LEADERS who have the ability to aim hearts towards God's heart.

Just this week's food for thought! (By the way, the program in Fresno is called Children of Promise. Here's the link: http://www.onebyoneleadership.com/home.htm. Yes, it's worth the click!)