Conference Schedule

"Check Your Pulse: Evaluating your mission for maximum effectiveness and kingdom impact"

Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020

8:oo a.m. OPENING SESSION WITH BIBLE STUDY

8:45 a.m. WHY WE EVALUATE MISSION WORK – Brad Hewitt
Consider the mission of your organization. Is it so vague that it doesn’t really matter what you measure, you’d be hitting your target? In this session, Brad will explore the connection between mission and measurement, and share stories of evaluation-based changed that he has led throughout his career.

9:30 a.m. CASE STUDY SESSION – Brad Hewitt
This interactive session will invite attendees to examine both public and private sector business practices to demonstrate the need for and benefits of evaluating mission work.

10:15 a.m. BREAK

10:30 a.m. WHY AND WHAT WE SHOULD EVALUATE IN MISSION WORK – Rev. Dr. Paul Mueller
Paul will help mission leaders discover Biblical standards for mission evaluation and give guidelines for avoiding evaluation approaches that may not be in line with God’s calling for His Church.

11:00 a.m. TABLE TALK
Participants will discuss what they are currently doing to evaluate their mission work, how effective their current evaluation process is, and the challenges they face when evaluating mission work.

12:00 p.m. LUNCH

1:00 p.m. WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN THE EVALUATION PROCESS – Brad Hewitt Brad will share why inviting the input of others during the evaluation process can increase felt ownership of the ministry as he addresses the question of who should be involved in the assessment process from within and outside of an organization.

1:15 p.m. COLLABORATING WITH OTHERS IN THE EVALUATION PROCESS – Rev. Dr. John Mehl
John will share the challenges of collaborating in the evaluation process and what is possible when true collaboration is established.

2:00 p.m. WORLD CAFÉ
Attendees will discuss the benefits of involving other agency leaders in their agency’s evaluation process and how to overcome the potential risks of such collaboration. Participants will dialog about potential partners who could positively impact our work.

3:00 p.m. BREAK

3:15 p.m. ALMA MEETING Our network will gather for an update on ALMA’s mission and vision, membership and financial reports, and call for nominations for board members.

4:15 p.m. BREAK

6 p.m. BANQUET FESTIVITIES

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020

8:oo a.m. OPENING SESSION WITH BIBLE STUDY

8:45 a.m. WHAT WE SHOULD EVALUATE – Brad Hewitt Measuring the "ends" and not simply the "means" is a constant challenge for any organization, but particularly for those that are looking for transformations over time. Brad will share examples of measurement systems he has seen be effective.

9:30 a.m. HOW TO EVALUATE MISSION WORK – SESSION 1 – Tracee Swank
Church Doctor Ministry leader Tracee Swank will provide practical means for evaluating your mission agency and its work. Attendees will go away with an evaluation tool that is scalable for the size of their agency and useful for assessing their agency’s entire mission or individual programs within their organization.

10:30 a.m. BREAK

10:45 a.m. HOW TO EVALUATE MISSION WORK – SESSION 2 – Tracee Swank
Tracee will continue training on the scalable evaluation tool and provides application for a variety of ministry settings.

12:00 p.m. LUNCH

1:00 p.m. TEC TALKS – Technical experts will discuss evaluation techniques within their area of expertise. Each TEC Talk will zoom in on a specific topic, sharing what an evaluation “win” looks like, how to apply evaluation tools to that specific topic, and what to do if the evaluation shows need for improvement.

          1:00 p.m. – Marketing Efforts – Sarah Guldalian
          1:15 p.m. – Staff Effectiveness – Chris Rodgers
          1:30 p.m. – Fund Raising Efforts – Tim Kurth
          1:45 p.m. – Volunteer Engagement – Susan Hewitt

2:15 p.m. TABLE TALKS – Lead by Technical Experts
Attendees are invited to meet with the Technical Experts of their choice for further discussion. Each will provide clarity, field questions and even offer as time allows. Attendees are welcome to bounce around and get the info they need from each technical expert.

3:15 p.m. BREAK

3:30 p.m. EVALUATION ENCOURAGEMENT AND ALMA MEETING
After come concluding words from our keynote speaker, Brad Hewitt, ALMA Members will vote for the new board members and evaluate ALMA’s services using tools shared at this conference. We would like to discover what members value most about our organization and where we need to grow in order to best serve our diverse group of mission agencies. Your ideas are welcome, regardless of your tenure with ALMA.

4:30-5:00 p.m. CLOSING SESSION
As we leave this ALMA Conference, we want to pray together, hear God’s Word and be resent out into the world to carry the message of Christ to the ends of the earth.