OUR HISTORY
It all started when…
Valentine and Alice, the two LEEDS Consulting directors met in mid nighties when paired to undertake a consultancy for the National Council of Churches, Kenya (NCCK). The assignment had them crisscross the country as a team to assess the performance of five NCCK project centers over a one month period. Their report spurred NCCK in strengthening its financial sustainability through establishing commercial enterprises, ‘Jumuia’ centers that have been established in 5 counties in Kenya including the capital city. One of the directors, Valentine, played a key role accompanying NCCK in that process.
The two met again in 2016 when Alice was scouting for a team of consultants to work pro bono to address the challenge of high dependency among Christian non-profits in running community development programs. This concern resonated well with Valentine who was considering pursuing her doctoral studies in local resource mobilization. She had even started a company, LEEDS Consulting company a year earlier, to look into developing local capacities in resource mobilisation. They reflected on the context and drew some conclusions.
A key source of data in this reflection was a report published in September 2017 by Charities Aid Foundation. The Report presented a global view of giving trends. This report is primarily based upon data from Gallup’s World View World Poll 12, which is an ongoing research project carried out in 139 countries in 2016 that together represent around 95% of the world’s population (around 5.2 billion people). Kenya took an impressive 3 rd position globally in 2016 ahead of all western countries although this dropped to 8th position the following year. Western countries had increased their giving on account of the refugee crisis especially in Europe.
Journey of Generosity
Kenyans are generous. But that generosity has its priorities. There are gaps Valentine and Alice identified that constrain effectiveness in carrying out our mandate as Christians in Africa. Our generosity in giving is constrained with regard to:
Politicians
Non-profits
Young people: Centennials and Millennials
In light of this, the two decided that as LEEDS Consulting they would promote resource mobilization that aims at:
Continuous increased giving due to raising a generation rich toward God in giving
Continuous growth in ministry in Christian
Non-profits
Politicians
Centennials/Millennials
through remaining true to their mission, multiplication of their impact, increased sustainability and ultimately abundance
Availability of funds directed to a growing scope of needs in Christian non-profits, politicians and centennials/millennials
Growth in linkages between all in the sustainable resource mobilization cycle that is in practice trans-relational, promoting the ownership, sustainability and abundance of resource mobilization in the Kingdom.
In order to accomplish this, they would seek to mobilize as many organizations and institutions, including churches to host ‘Journey of Generosity’ retreats. A Journey of Generosity is an overnight that is story-driven and experiential in nature. It includes stories of generous givers, discussions, reflections, and Bible study. This experience enables participants to process the biblical message of generosity.
Transformational Leadership
In appreciating the complexity of the context, Valentine and Alice drew up key challenges:
Challenges: External
High donor dependency; over 90% for many
Threat of mission drift where there is conflict with meeting donor agenda
Sometimes irregular, untimely giving
Donor fatigue
Growing trends in global agendas that conflict with biblical principles
Challenges: Internal
Duplication of efforts amongst Christian non-profits
Increasingly duplication with church based programs and potential redundancy
Wastage/Complacency/Inefficiencies, Slothfulness; the silo mentality,
Lack of integrity and accountability
Loss of mission and focus and creativity for sustainabilitY
The culture of entitlement, “I ought to have” rather than “I ought to give” amongst the youth
