Course Overview

Introduction to P-E-O

A better way to see the people around your ministry.

About the Course

When you treat every supporter the same, you consistently make one of two mistakes: asking too much too soon, or never asking enough of people who are ready for more.

The P-E-O framework, Participation, Engagement, Ownership, is Mission Increase's way of describing how people grow in their relationship with a nonprofit over time, and what it looks like to meet them where they are rather than where you need them to be. This course introduces the framework, explains the five categories through which champions can grow (praying, giving, serving, learning, and sharing), and previews the P-E-O Chart you'll build throughout this topic, a strategic map of your champion community that makes relational cultivation both visible and plannable.
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P-E-O helped our small nonprofit rethink how we do fundraising, but it also changed how we develop staff, relate to our board, communicate with givers, and interact with the people we've been called to serve. It's truly been a game changer for us. 
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Susan G.
Nonprofit Leader

Course Outline

Frequently asked questions

Is the P-E-O framework just a fancier way to segment donors?

No, and the distinction matters. Donor segmentation is about organizing people by financial capacity or giving history so you can send them targeted appeals. P-E-O is about understanding where someone is in their relationship with your mission, both spiritually and relationally, so you can make an appropriate next invitation. It's a discipleship framework applied to champion development, not a database strategy.

What if my champions are at very different stages? Do I need to manage this individually for every person?

Yes and no. At the organizational level, P-E-O helps you see whether your organization is offering enough entry points, enough next steps, and enough pathways to Ownership. At the individual level, the most impactful champion development work does involve knowing where specific people are and what their next step might be. The Foundational course, P-E-O, will walk you through how to create a P-E-O Chart that makes this manageable rather than overwhelming.

Our non-profit is fairly new and we don't have many long-term supporters yet. Is this course still relevant?

Especially relevant. The leaders who find champion development hardest are often those who built early supporter bases without a relational framework and now have a large list of shallow relationships. Starting with P-E-O early means you build relational depth from the beginning, so you're not trying to retrofit a framework onto a transactional history.

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Portland, OR 97223
503-639-7364
info@missionincrease.org
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