Survey Results
(11.30.15)
On November 20, an informal survey was sent to 285 CEOs of member organizations of Lutheran Services in America (LSA) asking for a few words in reply that would answer two basic questions:
- What is your biggest challenge right now regarding your organization’s sustainability?
- What is your organization’s biggest challenge right now regarding board governance?
This survey was not sent by LSA nor was this effort being conducted on behalf of LSA. It was a completely independent effort to glean basic perceptions around the most critical challenges facing LSA organizations.
Two dominant themes emerged from responses to the informal survey regarding the greatest challenges to sustainability facing LSA organizations. About half the respondents indicated that the greatest challenge had to do with being able to recruit and retain qualified staff. The other half indicated that having sufficient financial resources posed the greatest challenge. Neither of these factors come as a surprise, since focus groups conducted by LSA as part of its strategic planning process yielded similar results. Still, they are worth exploring in more depth and the explanations provided by survey respondents provide a greater measure of understanding and context.
Recruiting and Retaining Qualified Staff. High levels of staff turnover, especially among those providing direct support, have challenged human service organizations regardless of the populations being served. Whether CNAs or DSPs, national turnover rates for direct support staff range from 40-50 percent per year. This directly affects the quality of services. Market rates for entry level wages remain around $10 per hour in most parts of the country. Organizations are limited in their ability to significantly increase wages because a large majority of employees fall into those job categories.
Increasing Revenue. Most social ministry organizations fund their operations through Medicare or Medicaid funding from the government. With more states moving toward managed care, Lutheran agencies are experiencing challenges to do more with less. Uncertainty around stability in reimbursement rates creates the need to explore alternative sources of revenue. Most Lutheran agencies cite the need to improve their fund raising efforts. Unfortunately, these efforts come at a time when congregational support is declining and charitable foundation resources remain static. Development of major donors take considerable time and effort in relationship building before rewards are realized. Respondents expressed the desire to have greater involvement of board members in helping with fund raising.
The answers from survey respondents were also evenly divided between two dominant themes related to the greatest organizational challenges regarding board governance. Half the answers described the challenges related to recruiting qualified, committed, and engaged board members. The other half described challenges that in some fashion or another reflected confusion or lack of understanding and acceptance of the proper roles and responsibilities of nonprofit boards.
Recruiting Qualified Board Members. There appears to be a widely shared difficulty in identifying, cultivating, recruiting, and engaging qualified board members. Although there were numerous unique nuances to the responses, a broad generalization can be made that CEOs feel their organizations need strong supportive boards comprised of dedicated board members. In some cases, there is a perception of conflict between that need and requirements for Lutheran representation and/or the Lutheran identity of the organization.
Board Roles and Responsibilities. The other half of the answers reflected various challenges around the expectations of board members. Whether board engagement is related to advocacy, fund raising, public relations, or even more effective board meetings, it appears from responses that many board members do not fully understand their roles and responsibilities. While respondents didn’t express concerns about historic tendencies toward micro-management, it was clear that CEOs strongly desire to have their boards more engaged and active in helping advance their organization’s mission.
Future blog posts will delve into these four themes in greater detail.