The 1997 Five-year Strategic Plan was developed over a five-month period and approved on May 19, 1997.
Staff and committee members participated in facilitated sessions and examined the organization’s strengths, limitations, opportunities and threats. The resulting mission, goals and objectives were agreed upon as statements of direction for the next five years. This plan will be used throughout this period to provide guidance for decision making and as a reference for measuring success.
In September 1998, after the first fifteen months, the plan was evaluated during a two-day session by the CWS Emergency Response Office Executive Council. Minor adjustments and revisions were made.
Mission Statement
The Mission of CWS/ERO is to witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ by timely, effective and compassionate response to the physical, psychological and spiritual needs of persons and communities who experience natural and human caused disaster.
Purpose Statement
CWS/ERO will achieve its mission by enabling member communions to join effectively together through CWS/ERO and its partners in emergency preparedness, mitigation and response ministry.
CWS/ERO will respond where:
There is critical human need (as outlined in protocols);
There are relationships and capacity; or,
There is substantial donor interest.
Statement of Values
CWS/ERO believes that:
Enabling Local Partners is the most effective way to address disasters;
Denominations want a coordinated response to disasters;
Denominations bring different strengths, capacities, needs and resources in disaster response;
Members want their Denominations to respond to disaster; and,
Denominations have not fully accessed all the available
resources.
External Goals (intended outcomes necessary for achieving mission)
1. The needs of survivors of natural or human caused disasters will be served where there are relationships and capacity:
a. Annually up to 12 of the minor or major domestic catastrophes will be addressed through initiation of a disaster response appeal;
b. Annually, major international response catastrophes will be addressed through the initiation of up to 10 CWS appeals and/or support of ACT appeals.
c. Annually up to three continuing crises will be addressed through humanitarian assistance appeals.
d. Annually up to two specialized program needs will be addressed through assistance appeals (i.e. Disaster News Network, Capacity Building Program)
e. CWS may alert and/or coordinate the denominations to opportunities for response without initiating an appeal.
2. The awareness and readiness of member Denominations to respond ecumenically to critical need will be addressed through:
a. Monitoring and tracking the incidence of disasters domestically and internationally;
b. Raising the awareness of disaster situations and opportunities for response;
c. Increasing the potential for response by linking denominational resources with partner needs.
3. Local partners will have an increased capacity and greater access to resources to respond to disasters:
a. Domestically, at least 50 faith based community organizations will have the capacity for preparedness and response;
b. A model(s) for building the capacity of international faith based organizations will be designed and implemented;
c. Internationally, at least 50 faith-based organizations will have the technical capacity to respond in disasters;
d. When requested, all international and domestic implementing partners may have access to material goods to meet human need.
4. Denominations and other partners will have confidence in CWS and an increased commitment to disaster relief through CWS.
a. Each Communion, as they are able, will fund a specific portion of the appeals;
b. The Denomination portion of every appeal will be fully funded;
c. Partners will recognize and utilize CWS as a reliable resource for meeting critical need
Internal Goals (outcomes that ensure CWS/ERO achieves its purpose)
1. ERO staff will be effective and efficient:
a. Staff will know and understand the structure and resources of denominational partners;
b. Staff will have the ability to use appropriate technology;
c. Service to denominations and partners will be quality focused.
d. An evaluation tool will be developed and implemented for the staff which determines: 1) if plans were accomplished, 2) what was the impact or outcome of the accomplishments and 3) how efficiently were the outcomes accomplished
2. ERO consultants will be effective and efficient:
a. All Consultants will understand and apply community-organizing techniques to disaster relief;
b. All Consultants will understand and apply the models for mitigation, preparedness and response;
c. All Consultants will adopt uniform practices and philosophy;
d. All Consultants will meet the training requirements for certification.
e. An evaluation tool will be developed and implemented for the consultants which determines: 1) if plans were accomplished, 2) what was the impact or outcome of the accomplishments and 3) how efficiently were the outcomes accomplished.
3. ERO will have an increased ability to respond to requests for disaster relief:
a. Protocols for international and domestic disaster response will be refined, adopted and implemented;
b. An internal communication strategy will be developed, adopted and implemented;
c. Non-disaster resource materials resource procedures will be developed, adopted and implemented;
d. Financial and program information will be appropriate, timely and complete.
4. The nature and role of ERO’s Material Resources Program will be defined, adopted and implemented within ERO;
a. Material Resources will be quality focused; and,
b. An optimal location will be identified for strategic benefits and limitations and recommendations will be developed and implemented.
5. ERO will have more resources to respond to calls for assistance by developing and fully implementing a fundraising strategy that increases response capacity:
a. Alternative sources of revenue (non-denominational) will be identified and procured;
b. A comprehensive public communications strategy will be developed and fully implemented.
c. Administrative overhead costs will be reduced as a % of total budget and savings redirected to program.
6. ERO's technical efficiency and effectiveness will be increased:
a. There will be at least (1) consultant in every state;
b. The consultant network will be organized into 10 regions;
c. All 10 regional consultants will have and use the latest information technology; and,
d. 30 partners will have and use the latest information technology.
7. ERO will assess its impact and achieve its goals and objectives:
a. ERO will develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation strategy.
8. The ERO Executive Committee will ensure the ability of ERO to respond effectively and efficiently to disaster.
a. The Committee members will define the roles, responsibilities and composition of the committee;
b. The Committee members will know and carry out their roles and responsibilities;
c. The Committee will be composed of persons who meet the needs of and represent ERO and Denomination interests; and,
d. The Committee will be structured to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of its members.
e. Written commitments to CWS/ERO (MOUs) describing denominational strengths, needs, capacities, resources and responsibilities will be developed by denominations represented on the EROEXCOM and obtained by the ERO by the year 2000
