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As of October 1, LWR embarked on its new fiscal year. Whether it’s a new job, a school year, a new fiscal year, or a new calendar year, new beginnings are times of both reflection and action, of asking questions and seeking answers. Since I joined LWR in July, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, asking a lot of questions, doing a lot of listening, and, yes, putting some things in motion.
We are living in tumultuous times. Reading the news every day keeps at the front of my mind the stark reality that so many of the world’s problems – even those that seem to be solely political – stem from economic insecurity. I firmly believe that the more organizations like LWR can do to help stabilize the economic life of the world’s poor, the safer the world will become.
As I read LWR’s Mission, Vision and Values, I was particularly struck by the language in the “innovation” value: “our goals are so compelling, and suffering so pervasive, that we are unsatisfied with the status quo.” As I have talked with staff at all levels of the organization, I have seen that LWR staff truly do espouse this value: they are unsatisfied with the status quo; they are eager to use their formidable intelligence, talent and abilities to make a positive difference in the world.
Using this as my guide, I have identified what I see as LWR’s “Burning Imperative” for the next few years: Growth in Impact. Because the needs of the world are so great, I believe LWR is called to do more. And to grow our impact, I believe we need to focus on a few key areas. I have asked departments to plan around four themes that, through my conversations with staff, I believe will help us take LWR to the next level: Partnerships, Innovation, Efficiency, and Influence.
Partnerships
The needs of the world are so great that we recognize it is impossible for one organization, one government, or even one sector to address them alone. We need to work in partnership in order to have an impact in the world, and one key way to do this is to leverage others’ resources in support of our work. LWR is blessed with a long legacy of strong partnerships, both in the field and in the U.S., but in order to reach our growth goals, we need to be open to new types of partnerships and new ways of working. One of my key goals as CEO will be strengthening existing partnerships and identifying new partners.
We certainly can’t take for granted our longest-standing partners and those most critical to our identity as an organization: the Lutherans who — through their church bodies, congregations, and individual gifts — provide the majority of our funding. Investing in relationship-building with Lutheran church bodies, congregations and individuals will continue to be a priority for LWR.
Longer term, we will need to generate more resources overall, from a variety of sources. This means taking advantage of the funds available from the U.S. government for relief and development; building relationships with foundations; and seeking new partnerships in the private sector.
Innovation
The Foundation Strategy Group recently published a sobering report, “Ahead of the Curve: Insights for the International NGO of the Future.” One of the insights of that report is the importance of evolution and innovation, lest we as a sector become outdated and ultimately fail the very people we exist to serve.
We must think creatively about how we do development, how we relate with our supporters, and how we manage our work internally. Business as usual and the old ways of working are no longer an option in today’s rapidly changing world, and the opportunities afforded by new technologies and other innovations are ushering in an exciting new era.
Efficiency
In addition to building efficiency through innovation and technology, I want to see LWR increasing scale in our work. The infrastructure to design and implement a $1 million project is not so different from the infrastructure to design and manage a $100,000 project. With scale comes greater efficiency in program delivery and the ability to help more people.
As we grow, we will need to find efficiencies in all areas of our work.
Influence
In addition to increasing our funding and reaching more people through our programs, a key way that we can have greater impact in the world is through thought leadership. We can and should help to shape the debate on topics like development funding priorities, the intersection of relief and development, and the nexus of global security, economics and politics. We can and should highlight our innovative work so that our peers might learn from it, as a way to improve our collective impact on reducing poverty and suffering in the world.
Lutherans have a tendency toward modesty; but we can’t let our modesty stand in the way of helping those in need.
Conclusion
Each of these areas is inter-related. Influence leads to public recognition, which leads to more partnerships, which leads to greater funding. Innovation through technology and program design leads to influence, which attracts partnerships. Efficiency and scale position us to manage larger grants, which can support more innovation and also attract more funding partners. If implemented correctly, it becomes a virtuous cycle that makes the most of our assets, challenges us to stretch ourselves, and ultimately, reach more of the poor and suffering people in the world to help them lift themselves out of poverty, care for their families, and achieve full human flourishing.
I recognize that this approach is not without risk. Innovation and experimentation can lead to great successes, but there will inevitably be failures along the way as we test new partnerships, new approaches, and new systems. We have historically been a fairly conservative organization when it comes to risk. I believe that we need to take a few chances, and I appreciate your support as I push LWR to broaden its horizons.
Which leads me back to where we started: the suffering in the world is so great, and the need so pervasive, that we, who have been blessed with so much, cannot be satisfied with the good work we have done. We need to push ourselves to our very limits to bring hope, help and opportunities that will change the course of generations of the lives of families living in poverty around the world.
“If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward you needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.” Deuteronomy 15:7-8