A venture of faith: Strategic ministry alliance in the Christian retail marketplace

This project addresses the question: Can the establishment of strategic alliances, based on the Partner Christian Stores model employed in the Christian retail marketplace in Orlando, Florida, effectively multiply the personnel and financial resources engaged in advancing the mission of a global nonprofit Christian ministry? The ministry context for this project is Wycliffe Associates, a nonprofit volunteer organization providing opportunities for Christians to effectively support the advancement of Bible translation worldwide through involvement in prayer, service and stewardship. In order to multiply personnel and financial resources advancing Bible translation Wycliffe Associates tests an alliance with a Christian retail store as a means to provide a continuous and sustainable engagement of local Christians with the global ministry of Bible translation.; The research question is answered by evaluating the Partner Christian Stores strategy initiated by Wycliffe Associates in 2004. Detailed organizational documentation provides the case study. The effectiveness of this project is analyzed in three phases: (1) collection of data to create the case study, (2) comparison of project results to other resource development strategies within Wycliffe Associates, and (3) comparison of the project alliance to external models and best practices.; This dissertation provides a reference for nonprofit organizations in considering strategic alliances within the Christian retail marketplace. This project determined that while strategic alliances generally have significant potential benefits to nonprofits the current financial stresses within the Christian retail marketplace make cross-sector alliances in this market segment a high-risk proposition.