Media Outreach

As 63% of Americans, clothed in perfectly bright matching outfits, venture from their homes to the church of their choice this Easter, what will your church do to prepare?

I always see an influx in church ads around the community this time of year.  Some promote themselves with cheery spring colors, while others promote a new catchy sermon series.

Either way, I always wonder what we’re doing to prepare for the people.  While most organize, strategize and plan for the Easter service and even the corresponding sermon series, I want to shed some light on a new statistic I came across.

Research has shown that almost 90% of guests will return to the church if someone follows up with them on the same day as their visit. Waiting just 24 hours decreases the odds of their return to just under 60%.*

While you are working diligently to plan for that busy Easter Sunday, I want to encourage you to plan for the full 36 hours around the service.  As you coordinate your worship experience, pump up your greeter team, put up your matching vinyl sermon series graphic and set up extra chairs to accommodate the Sunday attendance that has tripled in size, remember that what happens after the service that day is nearly as important.

Make sure to have a team ready to follow up on Easter Sunday.  Rallying volunteers for this task may be a little difficult considering that most church-goers plan an elaborate feast, but you can share this enlightening statistic to plead your case.

If you have software, have one set of team members rigorously entering in data from your visitor/communication cards.  Plan to have another team lined up to begin delivering fresh bread loaves or making follow up phone calls that afternoon/evening (however you usually follow up).

In the event that you are using an Excel spreadsheet to keep up with numbers, consider using a web based software (like IgniteCRM) so that multiple volunteers/staff people can be entering information at the same time.  This also allows your follow up team to access from remote locations as well.

Next week we’ll discuss some ingenious ways to connect with your visitors after the large Easter service.

*Anderson, Andy. The Growth Spiral: The Proven Step-By-Step Method for Calculating and Predicting Growth Potential in Your Church.

Photo By: terren in Virginia