2018 Case Study - The Victory Mission

Organization Background

Victory Mission + Ministry provides outreach and restoration to those in need. Individuals can receive a day's worth of food at the food pantry, a clothing voucher for necessary items, and short- or long-term shelter. When they come for food, clothing, and shelter; Victory wants to develop relationships to encourage life restoration and change. Victory believes everyone has a name and a story of past hurts and hardships. The ministry wants those in the restoration programming to live in a supportive community with high quality employment. At Victory Mission, “Every life has Purpose!”

Challenge 

Change the culture by empowering the staff and teaching them to and manage the finances better. Many of the staff had no idea how the organization funded itself.

Solution 

Victory Mission has been inspired by other non-profit success stories in Springfield such as the work done by Cindy Stein in the government offices of Greene County, as well as Katie Davis’ impact at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks. Jason Hynson, the executive director of the Victory Mission, turned to GGOB to help stabilize the organization’s finances.

Results

As a result of teaching its employees financial literacy and how the organization spent money, Victory saved over $600,000 from the previous year's expenses.  Net cash reserves have increased $1.3M (from negative $709,636 to positive $517,812) in 2017.

Staff members finally recognized how the organization was funded—and how they could better forecast their goals in the future.

They also came together as a team: one that will win or lose together. “Victory leadership, management, and staff understand they are in it together,” says Hynson, who adds that staff are encouraged to share ideas and give feedback to growth. “The culture is building and new jobs, employees, and opportunities make for daily challenges to the culture. Victory Mission strives for unity of heart and mind!”

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“The freedom to discuss financials inter-departmentally has drastically improved morale.  It has removed the mystery and any sense of favoritism that was perceived.” ~ Rita Chambers

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MiniGame™ Spotlight

Hynson says that playing MiniGames has helped the team overcome a few unique changes. “This is an area of focus or change that Victory continues to develop more intentionally,” he says. “We now can bring strategic tasks and opportunities to the team for feedback and growth!”

The first MiniGame the whole staff played was aimed at increasing the number of catering clients—their goal was to reach 10 new customers within last quarter of 2017.  The resulting new customers increased catering sales for the month of December by 100%—increasing sales from $1,000 to $2,000 for the month.

“Besides the extra income from the new clients, we realized how competitive individuals can be and that energy can be transferred to each department, and in the future,” says Hynson.

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“GGOB has enabled me to see how the entire Victory staff work at making Victory a sustainable and viable organization. GGOB has brought about an openness in communication and transparency with finances that produces trust in the decisions that Victory's leadership makes on a daily basis for the success of the organization.” ~ David Myers

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What's Next

Hynson admits that the process of implementing the Great Game in his organization has been somewhat slow—and even a bit painful. His goals for the coming years remain focused on teaching his staff financial literacy and helping them understand the power of forecasting their numbers into the future rather than starting each year’s budgeting process off with a blank sheet.

He recognizes that the pace of an organization’s ability to share the financials must be based on what the current needs are. It’s important to evaluate how deep to share the financials needs based on the current strength of the staff when starting. “If financials need vast improvement, it may be scary for the staff to be aware of the details,” he says. “Opening the books can cause stress and anxiety if the financial situation needs review.”

But, by continuing to focus on providing training and assurance, he is confident in his organization’s ability to improve on its communication and decision-making into the future.  

“We’re only at the beginning,” says Hynson. “I can’t wait to see how far we’ll go in the next few years.”

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