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When budgets tighten, IT departments often find themselves in the difficult position of having to do more with less. Clarence White, CIO and IT secretary of The Salvation Army, USA Western Territory, has used this difficult time as an opportunity to reinvent his department. Outcomes spoke with White about his creative solutions to the challenges faced every day by one of the country’s largest nonprofits.

What are some of the particular IT challenges that face The Salvation Army?
Because The Salvation Army is a very decentralized organization, it was difficult to build an IT team that had the breadth of experience to deal with the enterprise issues that we face. In order to do that, I had to break the decentralized model The Salvation Army operates on in every other division. 

What principles were helpful to you in building a stronger team?
I turned upside down the norm of The Salvation Army—I centralized our people. Our IT people now work in a virtual department. I have them all over the geography that we serve, but they actually report to territorial headquarters. It’s a very different working environment than most of The Salvation Army. It used to be that each region had their own set of IT people, a mini department. I took all those mini departments, all the personnel that we had, and developed specialists in each area in various technologies. I left them out in the field where they were servicing people before, so if I need things done on the ground, I have them there. But now, I also have these specialist technicians in every area of technology, and their knowledge is very deep and very specialized. 

How have budget cuts affected your approach?
We’ve had to always seek the best possible deal and we’ve had to shelve a couple of projects, but overall, it has required that we become much more creative. We have to turn over every rock and stone to look for the best opportunity. In one sense, the financial climate has helped us. We’ve had a lot of creativity that has come out of necessity. We can’t throw money at a problem, but we still have to solve it. Let’s say I have a critical problem in a database that serves hundreds of users. There might have been a time I would call in a hired gun to look at the problem and do a feasibility study with us. Because I developed that team strength and because money is tight, I now have people on staff who can solve most of the problems that might come up.

How do you keep staff up to speed on new technologies?
We invest in training and education. That’s important. If any of my staff feels they need specialized training, they only have to present it to me and I’m generally very supportive of it. I have staff members that now have terrific education and certification, and it really strengthens the team. It’s an investment.

APPOINTED William and Nancy Roberts, as national commander and national president of women’s ministries, respectively, of The Salvation Army USA. Since 2008, the couple led The Salvation Army in Kenya after serving for more than 30 years in leadership roles within the organization.

APPOINTED David Bainbridge, as international director of Tearfund. He replaces outgoing director Peter Grant, who left to set up Restored, a new alliance of Christians working to end violence against women.

APPOINTED Kevin Ezell, as president of the North American Mission Board, the domestic missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. Ezell previously served as pastor of Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA) has joined forces with Azusa Pacific University (APU) to form a new center dedicated to providing relevant, accessible training on Christian nonprofit leader?ship for churches, parachurches, and other nonprofit organizations. The new center plans to offer online certificate courses in fields of Christian nonprofit leadership, such as Finan?cial Management, Resource Development, People Management and Care, Marketing and Communications, Tax and Legal, Internet and Technology, Executive Leadership, and Board Governance. The first two certificate courses, Financial Management and Resource Development, will be released in early 2011. Visit the CLA website at christianleadershipalliance.org to learn more.

Charity Navigator Changes Scoring Metrics for Religious Activities
After Charity Navigator’s analysts reviewed data from past years, the organization decided to adjust the metrics used to rate organization capacity—primary revenue growth and program expense growth—for museums, fundraising organizations, and religious activities. These new ratings adjusted scores for the years 2009 and beyond, and did not change scores for years before that. As a result of the new ratings system, higher Charity Navigator ratings were received by organizations such as the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, Worldwide Discipleship Association, and Awana.

Habitat for Humanity Reaches Milestone
Habitat for Humanity built its 400,000th home in 2010, doubling the number of homes they have built for needy families in just 5 years.

"Throughout our history, we have seen time and again that an affordable, safe, and decent home is the gateway to better health, greater family stability, and improved educational opportunities in every country where we work,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity. "We are pleased that even in this difficult economy, Habitat for Humanity has been able to help an unprecedented number of families around the world have a better place to live. We are seeing great results from focusing not only on building individual houses, but also on repairing and rehabbing homes and creating partnerships that emphasize total community development.”

By 2013, Habitat for Humanity hopes to assist 100,000 families annually with new or improved housing.

ECFA to Lead Oversight Commission
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) will head the Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations to obtain feedback about the financial practices and oversight of churches and religious groups nationwide. The initiative, spearheaded by Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, aims to determine possible new protocols that encourage compliance and maintain financial integrity within the religious sector while avoiding federal legislation mandating it.

This initiative comes just after the conclusion of Grassley leading the Finance Committee’s three-year investigation into the financial practices of six major Christian media organizations. Ultimately, it found no definitive instances of wrongdoing and encouraged a few televangelists—including Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn—to change how they govern their ministries or set compensation. 

"The tax-exempt sector is so big that from time to time, certain practices draw public concern,” Grassley said. "My goal is to help improve accountability and good governance so tax-exempt groups maintain public confidence in their operations.”

YWAM Celebrates Milestone
In December, Youth With A Mission (YWAM) marked its 50th anniversary with a celebration at the organization’s headquarters in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The organization, which is active in 180 nations across the globe, is best known for its short-term missions work and student discipleship programs. More than 4 million people have participated in YWAM outreaches in 240 countries. "Our goal is to focus on where we are not,” says David Joel Hamilton, who serves with YWAM as vice president for strategic innovation. "We’re intentionally trying to go to the least-reached areas, where medical needs, poverty, and illiteracy are the greatest.”