02 09 2016 Imagining God's World Vision FAQ test file

FAQ: Imagining God’s World Vision

What is the process to develop the strategy?
In late 2015, WVI President Kevin Jenkins launched Imagining
God’s World Vision, a process to determine the direction
leadership should set for our organisation over the next 15
years. As an early step, the Global Office of Strategy,
Collaboration and Innovation (GOSCI) engaged all staff in a
virtual exercise called The Big Brainstorm. Staff were asked “What
If”, “Imagine If” and “Wouldn’t it be great if” as it relates to their
imagined future for World Vision. Some of these ideas may be
used to inform the new strategy.

In January 2016, close to 50 representatives from across the
Partnership came together to reflect upon and make high-level
recommendations for World Vision’s new global Partnership
strategy as part of the Imagining God’s World Vision process.

In partnership with GOSCI, the representatives developed outlines for possible futures for World
Vision, also called strategic options, that take into account our Field Ministry, Ministry Funding, Global
Engagement (including Faith in Development), and Preparing World Vision as a 21st century INGO.
These strategic options seek to articulate World Vision in 2030 by considering:

 What is God calling us to contribute?
 Where is God calling is to contribute?
 How can we best follow his calling?

Specifically, the strategic options take into consideration such issues as scale of programming, our global
footprint, the types of children we may target, how to sharpen our focus, what ministry funding would
be aligned to the ministry impact priorities, etc.

The strategic options are not definitive, but rather they are intended to be used for further engagement,
potentially taking characteristics of more than one to focus the final recommendation of what World
Vision could look like in 2030. They will also serve as potential destination points for the Partnership to
articulate a more detailed five-year strategy.

How will the organisation be consulted on the strategy?
The strategic options will be further refined through a comprehensive, six-week Partnership-wide
consultation process starting in February 2016. This process will involve gathering feedback around the

strategic options to enrich and validate the scenarios. Additionally, working groups will focus on better
defining our strategic choices, filling in the gaps and describing implications.

During the six week process, all key entities in the Partnership will be consulted on the strategic
options. Each entity will be asked to determine how best to obtain input about the strategic options
from within its leadership and staff, local boards and advisory councils, and external stakeholders.
Strategic option outlines and guidance on the consultation process will be provided in French and
Spanish a week after the English version is released.

Executive leadership will finalise strategic options for presentation and consultation with the WVI Board
at its meeting in May 2016. Following input by the WVI Board, further engagement with the Partnership
will take place, leading to a recommendation from the Executive Leadership team to the WVI Board for
approval of a new Partnership strategy in November 2016.

What questions will guide the consultation process with offices?
 Clarity. What gaps need to be addressed?
 Attractiveness. What aspects of this option make it more attractive?
 Feasibility. How feasible is it?
 What key obstacles need to be overcome to make this happen?
 How different is this from our current strategy?
 What would be the impact of this on your own organisation? What changes do you anticipate
will need to be made to contribute to the strategic option (s)?

What about issues that are not addressed in the strategic options? E.g. fundraising
trends
These issues will be taken into account during planned work to develop the strategic options and their
implications more fully. For example, the trend towards disintermediation in charitable giving (i.e.
donors giving directly to beneficiaries via the internet) could significantly affect the fundraising
component of all the options. A small group is looking at likely trends and possible ways that World
Vision could harness them to support our work.

How does the work to imagine World Vision in 2030 relate to the five-year
strategy?
To know what directions we should take in the next five years, we first need to determine our longer-
term destination. When we have a clear picture of the desired 2030 future for World Vision and the
children we are called to serve, we will examine the gaps between our current and desired future state,
as well as what should be included in our five-year strategy to set us on course to achieve it.

We can’t accurately predict our revenue even a couple of years in the future! How
can we plan for as far away as 2030?
We shouldn’t expect to make detailed plans for many years ahead, but we still need a clear idea of the
ideal future, even if we have to make adjustments year by year.

It’s like a family planning a road journey. While the family may use maps and websites months in advance
to plan their journey, they may suddenly encounter road hazards or diversions along the way, requiring
them to adjust course. Similarly, World Vision needs to stay alert to new information and become agile
in adapting to changing circumstances as we go forward.

What does a new Partnership Strategy mean for my office/department’s strategy
and planning?
It is important to note that we are at the beginning of this five-year and long-term strategy development
process, and we are not ready to make decisions based on draft scenarios at this point. We need to
continue executing our existing plans and strategies, in tandem with the work of Imagining God’s World
Vision of who we will become. Offices/departments however, should build flexibility into their strategies
to enable adjustments once the Partnership strategy is developed.

What’s the best way to support the Imagining God’s World Vision process?
We would encourage all entities to fully engage during the six-week consultation process. Leaders and
staff are also asked to pray for discernment throughout the process, especially for senior leaders as they
prepare to make decisions about our strategic direction, guided by God.

Where can I find more information about Imagining God’s World Vision?
Watch Kevin Jenkins, WVI President and Chief Executive Officer describe the significance of the strategy
process here

Visit our Imagining God’s World Vision site on wvcentral to access the strategy development timeline,
calendar and other helpful resources.

Background Information

What is Imagining God’s World Vision?
Our five-year Partnership Strategy is ending in 2016 and senior management is taking steps to develop a
new strategy that will build on our accomplishments of the past five years, especially our work to
improve the well-being of the world’s most vulnerable children.

The process to develop the new strategy is called Imagining God’s World Vision because we want God to
be able to speak to us about what He desires of World Vision in that imagination. We want to be
inspired by God and we also want the results of this process to be inspiring. Our updated strategy will
look to what we hope to achieve by 2030 for children and World Vision as an organisation, and on what
we need to do over the next five years. Our next strategy will be highly focused, aligned with our
vision, mission, core values, and guided by God.

Why do we need a new strategy?
In discussions with leaders and staff in considering a new strategy, everyone recognised that “business as
usual” is not sustainable given the external environment and our internal strengths and weaknesses.
A new Partnership strategy, rather than a refresh of the existing strategic direction allows us to redefine
our priorities by making choices about the direction we want to undertake. We’re also driving to have
more global focus as an organisation. We believe that focus will help us to be better stewards of the
resources God has given us and to articulate and demonstrate evidence for impact. That will help the
organisation to realise our mission.