Using Media During Worship Service

Closing the Back Door

Presentation Software Review

faitHighway offers new website solution with Wordpress themes

faithHighway Go Live: Christ Alive Church

When to Use Technology and When to Say No

Social Media Resolutions for 2012

Facebook New Apps for the Timeline

After working with churches for over 5 years, I have gotten to hear stories of success when churches make an active attempt to connect with their visitors and current members.  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%.  Churches need to make sure that they have a system to track who has visited the church, and when they need to follow up. One of the best ways to track visitors and make sure they are followed-up with is using a web-based church management system, like Ignite CRM.  This will help you make sure that no one falls through the cracks, and you can help to close the back door for many of the people that come.  According to Lifeway, 32% of people did not come back to church because they felt like nobody contacted them, or they didn’t feel like anyone cared they were there.  How easy is it for us as church leaders to use technology like a church management system to make sure that we do something as simple as following up with visitors when they are reaching out to us in the first place!

We also see the need for connecting people with groups and bible studies so people can be engaged with the community of the church (20 percent of people left because they “didn’t feel connected to the people in my church.”).  We also want to make sure that members and visitors are getting involved in serving opportunities (20 percent of people said they left because they “did not feel engaged or involved in meaningful church work”).  Church management software with a member dashboard helps people stay up to date with the groups they want to be involved in, allowing them to see what is happening in each group and letting them communicate with group leaders.  A member dashboard also lets people stay connected to sermons, giving, and can use social media to connect even further with the church.    The more connected someone is to the people, groups and ministries of your church, the more committed they will be to the church.

Even if you are seeing a lot of new faces in your church, you want to make sure they are not only visiting, but staying.  By connecting with them immediately after their visit, plugging them into places where they can connect with people, and getting them involved in volunteering and serving, you increase your chances of keeping people in your church.  From my experience, web-based church management software like Ignite CRM is the best way to track and manage those connections.  Not only will you be closing the back door, but hopefully you will be able to remove the back door all together!

Photo By: Katerha

Internet marketing and church websites continue to serve as a powerful channel for communicating your vision to your communities and attracting first time visitors.  This is the time to sit down with your team and set realistic goals for the New Year.  Spending time now to develop your internet marketing strategy for next year will provide you with the appropriate baseline, timeline and milestones to ensure effective execution.

In setting your new goals here are some things to consider.

1. Plan in Advance – If you don’t want to plan out your marketing strategy for the whole 12 months, break it in half or in quarters.  Think about the times when churches really like to build momentum.  For example, Christmas, Easter and Back to school just to name a few.  How are you going to reach your community and bring in more first time guests?  Come up with a strategy.
2. Set Realistic Goals – Set goals that can be achieved.  When consulting with Pastors and asking them who God has called them to reach all too often I hear “The whole world!”  That is great, but not always realistic.  As much as Jesus has called us to reach the world he has given us a plan in Acts 1:8 on how to do it.  Start with your home town, then your city, then your state, then the world.
3. Evaluate Your Website – Why is this important? Because it is statistically your #1 outreach tool today.  Your Church Magazine reports that 85% of people will visit your website before they visit your church.  That’s a lot of people.  Your website needs to be your main hub for any marketing and advertising that you do; it has to be your main point of contact.  It’s so important to have something that reflects the heart and vision of your church and makes people actually want to visit your church, not just hurry up and click off because it’s something that was done 5 years ago or can’t be navigated through.  If you need help getting it current, call faithHighway.

I’m a firm believer that if you invest in your website and set goals at the beginning of the year you will see results.  There are millions of people out there that are just waiting for someone to reach out to them and share the love of Jesus. You can do that through many different avenues such as your website, door hangers, personal invite, billboards, TV Commercials, Internet marketing, and so on.  The people are there waiting, why shouldn’t it be your church who is doing the reaching out?

Photo By: tsuacctnt

But how do you get the word out to your whole community that you’re having an event?

There are a few free ideas:

Facebook- this is the obvious one. Create an event. Invite your congregation and encourage them to spread the word. You can upload the event flyer as the event picture, so all the details are right there.

Community Event Calendars- Local newspapers usually have an online calendar filled with community events. Take time to submit your event. You’ll probably need to plan ahead for this one and submit it Two or three weeks before the event, in case it has to be approved .

Local Adventure website- some cities have websites that are filled with “free, local fun.” Do a little investigation and see what your city has to offer. Start by Googleing “free events in “your city”.

What other places can you think of?

This is where a good church management software comes in.  A good church management software will allow churches to track first time guests and how the church has followed up with them.  It will also allow those first time guests to connect with the church.  The new trend in church management software is to give members and visitors alike the opportunity to have  a member portal.  IgniteCRM does exactly that.  It gives church staff a very user friendly way to keep track of members and visitors, and it gives members and visitors a chance to connect to the church.  We know that Christianity Today states that if a person gets connected into a small group they are five times more likely to stay at the church.

The biggest question for church staff members going into the Christmas season is not whether the visitors will show up.  The biggest question is what those churches and staff members are going to do to follow up with the gifts God will grant them this season.

Merry Christmas!

Photo by: notmargaret

Social media is one way that we can connect with people throughout the day, despite the hurried schedule our culture leads. See if any of these engagement activities tickle your tinsel (yes..I did just say that….I’m sorry?).

1. Repost and Comment on Natwivity Updates – An organization is going above and beyond to help people see into the lives of those from the Christmas story. Each day characters from the Christmas story tweet/share on Facebook  – add your commentary and engaging questions as you repost this information. Helping people see the humanity of the story allows real connection and makes the miracle of Immanuel even more impactful.
2. Create a “What if it’s true?” Campaign – We know how many amazing miracles, prophesies and stories surround Christ’s birth – but many in our culture (and even some in our churches) struggle with believing these truths.  Try posting a statement from the Christmas story on your Facebook/Twitter page and leave it open with the question “What if it’s true?” Let people comment and pose follow up questions, opening the door to conversations that would have never happened in the first place. But – be ready for the hard questions! They will come…
3. Have a Church-Wide Tweet Up (or ministry-wide depending on church size) – It’s the holidays! Who doesn’t love to gather together for coffee, hot chocolate or cider.  Create a welcoming environment for guests and members alike by inviting people to spontaneously meet up at a coffee shop, café or mall. Allow people to build those important, intentional relationships to strengthen the body of Christ.
4. Use Social Media to Empower Community Cause – Check your community calendar for fun Christmas festivities and join in the fun.  When you use the power of your social media reach to publicize community events, it will be noticed!  Plus, it’s an amazing way to connect with unbelievers to create new relationships.
5. Make Up Your Own 12 Days of Christmas- Never hurt to get a little creative, right? You can choose to incorporate the real Christmas story…or just do something off the wall and fun to get attention and start conversations with your followers.

Let us know which one you try…or if you have a plan of your own!

Photo by JollyUK.

I’m not complaining…in fact we do have a group of solid, dependable volunteers at my church and I know our church staff is so very thankful for them! However, as a staff leader, it’s important to make sure you don’t spread your volunteers too thin.  Learning their strengths and helping them figure out where they can best use those strengths will help you build a strong volunteer staff.

Here are four steps to help you get started:

1. List Your Strengths- have your volunteers and staff make a list of their strengths. They should include the activities they enjoy the most, the things they are best at.
2. Ask Others- It doesn’t hurt to have someone else create a list of strengths for you or your volunteers/staff. It might be surprising to see how someone else views them. Maybe pair volunteers up, if they know each other well and start with questions like: What am I best at? What are my weaknesses? What strengths might I build on?
3. “Hire” your volunteers- Interview your volunteers for specific positions. Get to know your volunteer and encourage them along the way. Take time to listen to them and see what they are looking for. Maybe even let the volunteer interview you.
4. Review the Strengths lists- once you start listing strengths on each of your volunteers and getting other’s feedback, keep it in a file. Every quarter, when you meet with your volunteer, go over those strengths and see what areas they would like to grow in.

What other things can help build a strong volunteer staff?

*photo by Jacob Moyer

It seems assimilation becomes harder and harder as the church grows.  faithHighway has created a way for churches to connect with visitors and members.

Christianity Today did a study that found that people who get connected into a small group at a church are five times more likely to stay at the church.  That is exactly why we created IgniteCRM.

It has a member dashboard that is powered by a back-end church management software that is 100% web based.  We wanted to give churches a tool they could use to connect and assimilate people that come into the church while giving them an industry leading church management software that any church would pleased to use.

1. Make sure your service times are available on the home page. Your online guests will want that information as well as a map (or link to a map) so don’t make them click around forever to find it.
2. Have a Christmas Invitation front and center. Not only should service times be readily available, any graphics you are using for your Christmas series should be the first element visible in your web design.  This ensures that  if your members are referring friends/family to the website, there is no question where special Christmas information is located. Contact faithHighway if you need help getting seasonal graphics up.
3. Scan copy on your site and update as necessary. With all the web visitors you’ll have this holiday season, it’s imperative that your website acts like the front door to your church (since it’s going to be visited prior to the guest’s attendance to your church).  No one likes walking through cob-webs when they visit somewhere new…
4. Have a mobile friendly homepage. If guests are coming for the first time, a mobile friendly page or site can be the difference of them attending or not.  In the event that they get lost along the way, they can turn to your mobile site for directions or a phone number.
5. Improve your SEO. Make sure the bridge has been created from search engines to your website.  If someone has passed by your church in the car or seen an ad somewhere for your church, there are many variables they will try utilizing in the search bar. This Entrepreneur article can help with your checklist. faithHighway also offers help with SEO in the case that you are looking to boost your SEO performance.

With 5 million spiritual searches online each day, we know our world is in need of the Hope and Light of the world.  Here’s one small step in making sure we are using every possible tool to engage our culture with the ultimate gift this Christmas.

That’s a pretty familiar passage for most of us, and it’s a pretty clear message he’s given us.  The main result of that commission is to reach people, plain and simple, and we are still held to that charge as ministry leaders today.  Nothing shocking there, I know.  I know it probably also doesn’t surprise you that almost 70% of the pastors we talk to are sharing with us that their new visitors are going online before they visit the church in person.  That’s a staggering statistic.  And on top of that, “Your Church” magazine released that around 85% of people are finding their church from a website.  That’s huge!

That lets me know two things.  One is that people are still looking for churches in America, and the other is that we are being watched by people we’ve never met.  They’re looking for their next church home, the pastor who’s the right leader for them and the right fit for their family while sitting in front of a computer screen nestled safely in their office or on their living room couch.

One of the things you may have picked up from those statistics is the difference in those numbers.  You may have asked yourself, “Self…Why are only 70% of pastors reporting people going online before they come in, if 85% of people are finding their church online?”  The answer is simple.  Some churches are doing a better job than others.  More people are going to some churches than others.  We all know that to be true, but let that sink in.  It truly means that people are going to one church over another, because of what they saw on the website.

It’s the truth that people will judge our message by the care we take in presenting it.  It’s an age-old saying, but one that bears repeating.  That translates to the quality of your website really shaping the perception of the quality of the ministry that they and their family will receive at your church. Your website is the bridge between your community and your church.  So you have to ask yourself, what does your website say about your ministry and message?

We ask that question all the time to churches all over the world.  As a matter of fact, we’ve seen the Lord grow 14,000 churches in the last decade.  With some attention to the quality of your website and the content and intention of its message, I’d love to see your church join the ranks.  Get in touch with a consultant today.

Photo By: Katerha