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Email me if I can be of assistance to you at mail@mikeheath.net

For twenty five years I have helped people come together to accomplish a shared purpose.  Early in my career I became the executive director of a Christian community called Bethany Acres.  At Bethany Acres we cared for troubled people who were addicted to drugs and alcohol and/or suffering from mental illness.  For the past twenty years I have served at the state level in Maine.  During all those years I was responsible for fund raising, in addition to serving as an Executive Director.  Here are some specific ways that I may be of assistance to you, your church, your business or your non-profit.
  • Direct mail fund raising
  • Creating and managing a comprehensive communications strategy
  • Board development
  • Staff and volunteer management
  • Executive leadership development
  • Integration of technology into operations of small organizations
  • Press relations including press releases, interviewing for visual, audio, internet and print media
  • Web site oversight, development and creation
  • Development of best practices for the use of email and social networking opportunities on the internet
And here is a specific list of some of my accomplishments
  • Provided executive leadership for four years to a Christian community in Winthrop Maine
  • Eliminated debt at both ministries that I led. I managed them on a strictly cash basis
  • Led a successful capital campaign to eliminate the mortgage on our office building
  • Managed dozens of events including banquets as the executive in charge
  • Wrote hundreds of articles, columns and emails
  • Designed dozens of websites
  • Marketed multiple issue campaigns
  • Led many statewide campaigns involving hundreds of volunteers
  • Assisted in the successful marketing of six musical recording projects
  • Testified at public hearings
  • Provided hundreds of media interviews to media outlets all over the world including the BBC, New York Times, Fox News, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and CBN
  • Debated a variety of issues in the media and on college campuses
  • Earned the national Family, Faith and Freedom Award from the Family Research Council in 1998
  • Successfully lobbied in both Augusta, Maine and Washington D.C. on a variety of difficult social and moral issues
I'm humbled by the testimony below that was written by my good friend.  Rev. Dallas Henry was President of the Christian Civic League during my tenure as Executive Director.  In September of 2009 he published the following column about my two decades of ministry there:

WELL DONE, GOOD FRIEND

Here’s a fact if you are a leader: you are going to encounter obstacles. You will encounter various trials and difficulties.  Just ask Michael Heath.

A few years ago James Dobson and Focus on the Family were blamed for the death of a young homosexual man out west.  It was absurd, but it made national headlines and was on all the news shows. This was unfair.

If you try to lead in moral values, you will be opposed. It may come from the government or the press or even from someone in the church who thinks you are wrong. Just like Moses though, when we are faced with opposition, we must press on toward the goal. Moses told the Israelites when the Egyptians came, to stand firm. Don’t run away. Don’t go back. Stand firm.

It is human nature to be intimidated by a powerful opponent and react according to their threats. Nobody wants to be sued. Nobody wants bad publicity. Nobody wants to be gossiped about or talked about. Nobody wants their reputation flawed in any way. Nobody wants hard feelings.

We can’t, however, allow the opposition to set the agenda. What would have happened if Moses told the Israelites, "uh oh here comes the Egyptian Army; everybody run!"? Sometimes it means to stand firm, the way he told the Israelites to stand firm, sometimes it means finding another way to accomplish the same thing. Sometimes it means to wait on God’s timing. But it always means to not allow the opponent to kill the message that you know is right.  That is the way Michael Heath led The Christian Civic League of Maine.  Many have said that they didn’t know how Mike could stand up under all that persecution.

For these past 20 years, my time with Michael Heath has made me and everyone else who has been close to him, a better leader, a better man, a better husband and father.  Here are just a few of the reasons:

• He leads his family first. He has a talented wife and three successful adult sons, two of whom are Marines.

• He knows his strengths, and hires great people to support his weaknesses.  The League has a small but great and effective staff that is very dedicated.

• He doesn't give up. He's had plenty of good reasons to leave the League long before this. Anyone who has followed his career knows that there isn’t anyone in Maine who has received more ridicule and character assassination than Mike Heath. At times, it nearly killed him! But he refused to give up.

• He is a masterful communicator. Some of the best leadership I've ever seen has come from Michael Heath.  I've told him many times that the League is the success it is today because of his skills!

• He does life with his friends. I've met other leaders who refuse to have friendships.  Mike is the opposite.  He is a friend to many and, in turn, has many good friends in Maine and around the world. 

• He sees a crisis before it happens and takes decisive action.  Disaster can be averted when the captain of the ship sees the rocky shore ahead.

• He gives away leadership. He doesn't hoard it. He freely lets people lead.  Some have taken advantage of Mike trusting them, trying to assert themselves inappropriately.  Even though he has been hurt by power hungry people who he trusted, he remains a man who still gives away leadership.

• He is one of my biggest cheerleaders. Not just mine, but the League Board of Directors and the League staff as well. He loves it when his team succeeds.

There are only a few people you'll ever meet who are such great influences that your life is irreversibly altered because of their impact. For me, Michael Heath is one of those people.

Christians like to imagine they float above the “filth” of political posturing and decision-making based on personal benefits. The reality is far more gruesome than we like to see in vivid color. Michael Heath has experienced the cost of truth telling for the past 20 years. (As G. K. Chesterton observed: “People cannot tolerate very much truth.”)

The basic definition of transition is a “passage from one state or stage to another.” The Christian Civic League is now experiencing transition.  Michael Heath is no longer the Executive Director and the Board of Directors is in “search mode” to find a new Executive Director. It is a historic time in the life of the League.  God is faithful and will show Himself strong on the League’s behalf because we put our trust in Him.

Many are asking what Mike will do next.  He has already begun a new business called Mike Heath Consulting, specializing in political, marketing, technology training, fund raising and board development.

To Mike I say; God bless you, my wonderful friend.  You will be missed by your friends and even your enemies.

Because you have served the League with distinction I believe God is saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

Email me if I can be of assistance to you at mike@mikeheath.net

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