UMC Food Ministry, a regional outreach of the United Methodist Church, has been a leader in feeding hungry kids in our region, operating through more than 300 sites in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati and serving over 2.6 million meals in the first nine months of 2020. The organization, a long-time OneSource Center consulting client, credits its strategic planning partnership with OneSource Center in helping it enhance its service model in an economically sustainable way and positioning the organization for long-term growth.
“As UMC Food Ministry grew, it was becoming apparent that we were outgrowing our administrative and support capability, and the organizational structure was not going to serve us well in the long-term,” said Larry Karow, Founder and CEO of UMC Food Ministry. “We partnered with OneSource Center on a very extensive strategic process that also included creating a mission statement and tagline, and then moved to developing an organizational structure that helped position UMC Food Ministry for long-term strategic growth and sustainability.”
The strategic process began pre-COVID, with key leadership never anticipating the kinds of changes it would need to undertake in terms of mission expansion and greatly increased distribution needs. Because of the strategic work done pre-pandemic, the organization was firmly on the right path to pivot, increasing their food outreach in just two years by 63%.
Because of the successful implementation and outcomes achieved through strategic planning and organizational review, additional projects were begun in areas of succession planning, key personnel executive search and hiring, human resource policy and procedure review, logistics and inventory management system development and staff training. At each turn, OneSource Center lined up consultants trained in the specific business practices that were needed, giving UMC Food Ministry “best-in-class” offerings because of the highly skilled consultant team’s depth of expertise.
The work with OneSource Center continues, even in the midst of COVID-19 challenges, and Karow continues, “UMC Food Ministry thanks OneSource Center for its guidance in helping our organization be even more responsive to changing community needs in dynamic times.”
Want to learn how OneSource Center’s consulting team can assist your organization with planning to support future growth and sustainability? Contact Vickie Ciotti, VP of Consulting Services at VCiotti@OneSourceCenter.org