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Pro-lifers benefit from careful planning

By Janet Baker
Treasurer, Pro-Life Maryland, Inc.

Having obtained an understanding of the spiritual and temporal environments in which we work, we will now study the six elements of planning.

Many of us fail in the planning aspect of our work. Indeed, some even eschew it, erroneously believing such planning to be instances of "not relying on God but in our own power" (as if there really is such a thing as "our own" power).

The six elements are:

  1. The Mission
  2. The Focus of the Mission
  3. The Opponents of the Mission
  4. Available Resources
  5. The Physical Environment
  6. Pro-Life Tactics

The Mission: The mission statement is the most important part of any plan, and should be written before anything else is done. There are two parts of the mission statement:

    1) a 1- or 2-sentence summary of an activity we will do in order to accomplish or further a specific goal, and

        2) a short summary of the criteria we will use to decide whether we have accomplished our mission.

The Focus of the Mission: The focus, or target, of the mission is the person or group of people whose attitudes or actions will be influenced by the mission, if the mission is successful.

The focus of the mission may vary with time as the situation evolves. Accordingly, pro-life tactics will change (more on that later).

The Opponents of the Mission: A crucial step to planning a mission is to take into account those groups that will actively try to prevent the pro-lifers from succeeding in their mission.

The pro-lifers must also determine who will be supporting these opponents. The next step is to research their standard tactics. The aim is to be prepared to neutralize their attempts to hinder our mission.

Available Resources: Many inexperienced pro­lifers err in "biting off more than they can chew." They attempt jobs that are too big for them and get knocked down in the process. What they probably thought of as "stepping out in faith" is actually the cause for serious burn-out.

It is better to take on a task too small and succeed rather than take on a task too large and fail.

Two benefits are realized from this strategy: 1) people are trained for larger jobs; they gain confidence and experience, and 2) the leadership can better assess the group's strengths and limitations.

Pro-lifers must tally their resources ahead of time . This is done in three steps:

1) Inventory current resources: Take a complete inventory of all resources on hand or that will be available by the time the mission is to be undertaken:

a. Tangible assets

    i. Human assets

    1. Volunteers or salaried people
    2. People from other Christian or pro­life groups who share the mission
    3. People with mission-specific critical skills (investigation, research)
    4. Favors we can call in

        ii Financial assets

    1. Funds on hand
    2. Funds that can be raised on appeal

    iii. Physical assets

    1. Cameras, computers, communication equipment
    2. Vehicles
    3. Storage space

    iv. Information assets

    1. From local resources and/or public record
    2. From national/international sources
    3. From the Internet
    4. Strategic and tactical intelligence

b. Intangible assets

        i. Influence with community leaders, Church officials, other pro-life groups

        ii. Imagination (alternative and original solutions to problems)

        iii. Wisdom (dealing properly with various people

    iv. Time (used wisely)

2) Remedy inventory shortages: Draw a time line where the group expends tangible resources needed to accomplish the goal at approximated times.

This list should be compared with the inventory taken. ' If the group has the resources necessary for the mission, it can proceed with the next steps of planning. If not, the planners must work on building the group's resources, or explore other missions that the group can successfully undertake.

3) Conserve resources: The group must expend its resources only at the rate specified in the time line created above. The time line is really a budget, which it may not exceed, lest it find itself lacking in resources long before the mission is accomplished.