Perhaps you have been tasked by your organization to develop a member care program. How do you figure out what is needed?
Dr. Laurie Gardner of Wycliffe wrote “A Proposal for Member Care in Missions” in 1998 that has served as a template for many who are putting together a Member Care Plan. She has generously made her work available to non-profit organizations to use.
Needs Assessment
Gardner suggests that a “Five-By-Five Plan” serves as a place to begin. These are five questions each requires five answers:
- What are the five greatest needs of our organization?
- What are the five most vulnerable populations within our organization?
- What are the five most likely events to happen to some of our members within the next year?
- What are the five best strategies to begin to meet some of these needs?
- What are the five most basic resources we need in order to begin to care well for our members?
The answers are discovered through use of extensive questionnaires (including a “Continuum of Care” and “Member Care Assessment Tool” which are available upon request) and personal interviews with current members of your organization.
Organizational Decisions
Once the needs assessment is completed, you need to define what your organization is capable of offering. What are the appropriate, legitimate needs of support that can be placed on the resources of our mission? Who do you have on the field with skills and experience that could be trained to serve as a Member Care Facilitator (MCF)? Will this role be filled by one or more persons? What outside resources can you utilize to meet some of the needs?
Decisions need to be made about information management and confidentiality issues. Where will this person be placed in the mission, and to whom does the Member Care Facilitator report? How will this position be funded? Will there be money for travel to visit field missionaries? Will there be funds available for training for the MCF?
Start Small and be Proactive
It is tempting to want to develop a big program that meets all the needs that have been discovered through the needs assessment process—but that would be a recipe for failure. As you understand what you able to offer and what your organization can afford, choose prayerfully the one or two issues that you can address within your capacity.
Member Care isn’t always addressing problems. Some of the best Member Care services are those that help encourage spiritual vitality, emotional stability and lifelong development so that your missionary personnel are able to thrive in life and effectively participate in the stated mission of your organization.
An abbreviated selection of Foundational Books that help shape a Member Care Program
Missionary Care, Counting the Cost for World Evangelization, Kelly O’Donnell, ed.; Pasadena, CA, William Carey Library. 1998 *
Doing Member Care Well, Kelly O’Donnell ed.; Pasadena, CA, William Carey Library. 2002 *
Enhancing Missionary Vitality, J. Powell, J. M. Bowers, ed.; Palmer Lake, CO, Mission Training International. 2002
Global Servants: Cross-Cultural Humanitarian Heroes Volume I. Formation and Development of These Heroes and Volume II. 12 Factors in Effectiveness and Longevity, Drs L. Dodds, L. Gardner; Fresno, CA, Condeo Press, 2010 **
*free downloadable versions or excerpts can be found online
** downloadable versions are found at www.heartstreamresources.org, and kindle versions are available from Amazon.com
Training programs for MC Facilitators
In addition to a few graduate programs in Member Care, there are several training programs available for Member Care Facilitators. Among them are:
Heartstream Resources< http://www.heartstreamresources.org> offers a two-week training program on the foundations of Member Care and implementing Member Care in Pennsylvania.
Narramore Christian Foundation “Counseling and Member Care Seminar” is offered in Thailand in October of each year.
(c) 2102. Faith De La Cour
Member Care Reflections 
Good Morning Faith.
My name is Grant Dixon, and with my wife Sharon, have been assigned to the Member Care work with Mission Aviation Fellowship within the Asia Pacific region. We are both passionate about having our people thrive in their workplace and while we have inherited some resources, we would like to make an assessment of whether we are effectively meeting the needs of those God has sent to us.
I am reading Laura Mae Gardner’s ‘Member Care – Lets get clear about it’ and she she has mentioned a ‘Member Care Assessment Tool’ and ‘A Continuum of Care’ and in looking for these documents on the web, your site was the first I came across which mentions these tools.
Would I be able to obtain a copy of each?
Thanks for your assistance.
Grant
Hello Faith – I am facilitating a member care network for YWAM Thailand and we are beginning to talk through what the needs are in our organization. Is it possible to get a copy of Laura Mae Gardner’s ‘Member Care Assessment Tool’ and ‘A Continuum of Care’ or could you point me to someone who could help me with this>
Blessings
Barb Hutchins
Hello! I also am tasked with developing a Member Care program and am also interested in accessing the two resources listed here, the Assessment Tool and Continuum of Care. Thank you!