Mobilizing the Body of Christ in McKinney TX
3e McKinney was founded five years ago to mobilize the Body of Christ to bring care, hope and transformation to McKinney through a collaborative effort of many churches, faith-based entities, social agencies, businesses and individual volunteers to fulfill the Great Commission. Their name (3e) reflects their mission:
- ENGAGE volunteers in short and long term community involvement
- EQUIP volunteers to serve in love, grace and compassion
- EMPOWER the under resourced to long-term self-sufficiency
Within 5 years, 3e has connected with and mobilized 42 churches throughout McKinney (a city of 135,000 just Northeast of Dallas). This connection has given churches a channel to coordinate externally focused efforts and resources (funds, time, people) into the community. The current Executive Director is a former Police Chief and retired City Manager. As you can imagine, this provides 3e a unique opportunity to connect local churches with needs in the public sector.
Like many city-reaching ministries, 3e has a small staff team–1 full time and two part time staff members. Yet, despite their small staff size, 3e is having a tremendous impact—in part, they believe, because they are leveraging Meet The Need to
- stream line city-wide church collaboration,
- increase their volunteer base and better communicate service opportunities,
- build program/event effectiveness, and
- understand who is being served (while avoiding service duplication).
3e McKinney relies heavily on the reporting features within Meet The Need to execute several city-wide events (and other ongoing ministry activities) each year. Each of these events involves multiple church and community partners and thousands of volunteers.
Adopt A School
12 churches within McKinney have adopted Title 1 schools within their district. 3e works to facilitate these relationships by building connections with
public schools and churches in their neighborhood. 3e has recently engaged a retired school principal to spearhead this effort as a paid part time staff member. Many churches involved in this outreach use Meet The Need to post reoccurring needs for volunteer tutors, communicate with their volunteers, and on occasion to post needs for the families being served.
Clothe A Child
Just a few months ago, 20 churches and 5 high schools provided over 600 volunteers to serve 1,100+ children. Partnerships with other area nonprofits allowed 3e to identify low income families in need of school clothing. Families were registered to shop at Kohl’s (each receiving a $100 store voucher). Families received breakfast and shopped alongside a volunteer to find the best buys and bargains for their children. 3e used Meet The Need to schedule all of the families receiving assistance, create and fill multiple volunteer shifts at multiple times, and communicate regularly with their volunteer base leading up to and following the event.
Garage Giveaway
Twice a year, 20 churches get together to host an event that serves approximately 3,000+ members of the McKinney community. In the Spring and
Fall, churches host an event that provides families with items they need free of charge. Alongside the garage giveaway, churches host a ministry fair that provides health screenings, haircuts, children’s games, food and entertainment. Meet The Need is used to schedule multiple volunteer shifts over a three-day time frame. MTN has allowed 3e to easily communicate volunteer needs with many churches and engage volunteers from throughout the community.
Meet The Need Reporting Makes the Job Easier
Staff at 3e uses Meet The Need’s reporting daily to keep an eye on how the churches they are connected with are impacting the city. They are able to see
- How many people are serving and where they are coming from (what church they attend)
- Where there is a volunteer shortage (shifts that aren’t full)—to reach out for help with specific needs
- Quarterly and Annual activity for Board and Executive review
- Unfilled family or ministry needs—which prompts a call that may lead to an understanding that the need has already been met (and not completed in MTN) or that there is still work to be done
3e has also been able to grow their electronic marketing efforts by exporting data and then importing/entering it into Constant Contact. This has allowed them to introduce new people to their mission and keep volunteers informed of other service opportunities (by including a MTN link in every eletter sent). MTN provides a neutral platform to share city-wide needs in a way that church members (despite geographical, denominational or cultural differences) can quickly and easily respond.
Community Leadership
3e McKinney is recognized as a community leader, in part because of their broad volunteer base. When school principals, city officials, and local nonprofits have a ‘job to be done’ they call 3e. MTN has provided a wonderful platform to quickly communicate city needs and engage willing church members to help. The city of McKinney views the Church as a leader in their community, a caring group of people ready and willing to make a difference, and an irreplaceable resource. Meet The Need is happy to be a part of it all!
To learn more about the work of 3e McKinney, EMAIL Debi Maerz or visit their WEBSITE. To hear Meet The Need’s most recent webinar about reporting, CLICK HERE.
