Vanderbloemen offers free succession planning tools for faith-based groups

Vanderbloemen marked National Succession Planning Day by releasing free succession planning resources for churches, Christian schools, nonprofits and values-based businesses. The materials are aimed at organizations that expect a leadership change but have not yet built a plan.

Why it matters: - Succession gaps can disrupt staff morale, giving and enrollment when a pastor, head of school or executive director leaves without a plan. - Vanderbloemen is pitching the resources as a practical starting point for faith-based organizations that need to prepare before a transition turns urgent.

What happened: - Vanderbloemen released a free succession planning resource collection in observance of National Succession Planning Day. - The tools are available now at vanderbloemen.com and at the National Succession Planning Day resource page. - The collection is designed for churches, Christian schools, nonprofits and values-based businesses preparing for leadership transitions.

The details: - The resources include guidance on identifying potential successors, building leadership pipelines and mapping what a transition requires. - Vanderbloemen framed the effort around organizations that know a transition is coming but have not yet built a plan. - The firm noted: "Succession planning isn't about predicting exactly when someone will leave. It's about being prepared." - A SHRM survey cited in the release found that 21% of HR professionals said their organization had a formal succession plan, 24% had an informal plan and 56% had no succession plan at all. - The most common reason for not having a plan was a lack of time and resources. - Lifeway Research reports that the median pastoral tenure at one church is eight years. - Lifeway Research also found burnout, conflict and shifts in calling among the most common reasons pastors step away. - Vanderbloemen said its own research found 24% of U.S. senior Protestant pastors had seriously considered leaving full-time ministry within the past year.

Between the lines: - The release positions succession planning as a governance issue, not just a hiring task. - Vanderbloemen is emphasizing early board involvement so organizations can identify internal candidates, clarify governance and control the communication timeline. - The company is also reinforcing its niche in faith-based transitions by tying the message to pastoral tenure, burnout and ministry stability.

What's next: - Vanderbloemen says organizations can learn more about its succession planning services at its consulting page. - The firm says it will continue serving churches, schools and nonprofits through succession planning and executive transition work. - Vanderbloemen describes itself as having guided those transitions for more than 16 years, with searches completed in all 50 states and 11 countries.

The bottom line: - Vanderbloemen is using National Succession Planning Day to turn a common leadership weak spot into a free entry point for churches and mission-driven groups that still lack a formal plan.