Week 4 - Staff Report to Board

Adam Fike
Thursday – 2/5

A staff report to the board should be convincing and persuasive. It should be brief and also hit on the most important aspects of their ministry. Staff reports are much more effective when they include an emotional story or testimony from the area of ministry. Stories of how God is changing lives through a particular ministry are touching and naturally lead people to approve of the ministry. These stories break up the monotony and separate good reports from bad ones. People are excited to hear testimonies and real-life stories of how God is moving; it is exciting! They have a unifying affect on people; therefore, it is helpful to be a good storyteller in preparing reports. Good stories include lots of details, emotions, and attitude changes. It may also be beneficial to tell the history of your ministry if the board members are not familiar with it. The history helps people to know and understand the purpose and direction of the ministry. History helps draws people into the ministry like it was their own.

Hard facts compliment the report and show current numbers. This is effective especially in influencing those who highly value particulars and detailed data. These reports can include attendance, number saved, number of recommitments. These are also helpful for future use. Cumulative facts can also help to show growth over time or spikes in recent years. The best thing about reports is that the pastor gets to chose what will go onto the report. If a pastor really believes in a certain ministry and feels God’s direction to keep it up, the pastor can make the report more appealing by including positive data while leaving out harmful data. It is wise to focus on a goal or vision of the ministry to help it succeed. People follow vision and direction.