A lot has changed since then. We’re busier, more distracted, and our church members expect information at their finger tips.
How can the church keep up when…
- We have limited time and resources
- The typical person needs to hear about an opportunity 3-7 times before they will respond.
- Reaching our community requires using multiple communication channels to connect and see results
I know the challenges, I’ve been there. So, how do we increase communication response rates? The first step is to begin…
Working 6-8 Weeks Ahead
Before you shake your head in disgust, and mumble under your breath about me being crazy, hear my pastor’s heart.
We have life giving events and powerful ministries to connect people to, but the way we’ve been communicating isn’t connecting any more.
Remember the Church Communication Survey results…
- 64.5% reported needing to increase response to church promotions
- 61.3% reported needing help with a promotion strategy
If we are going to see the ministry impact and life change we hope for, we need to do something different. We must do something different.
That something starts with…
Working 6-8 Weeks Ahead
Why is it so important?
Because our ministry lives are too busy to shoulder all the work.
Working 6-8 weeks ahead gives us the opportunity to share the work of ministry with other staff and volunteers. It provides time to create necessary promotional items and gives our church and community time to respond.
After 10+ years of experience I’ve found it to be the perfect balance between planning and promotion. Close enough to an event to know the details and far enough away to get the word out.
I mentioned before that church communications have three phases:
- Plan: Decide on the event or opportunity, determine the goals, solidify the details, chose how you will promote, and find volunteers
- Produce: Create the handouts, print materials, emails, social media posts and written information you will share
- Promote: Share publicly about the event or opportunity in person, print and online
Working 6-8 weeks ahead allows you to calendar out these three phases so you have adequate time for each.
Here’s how to do it
- Decide today to work ahead
- Pull out your calendar
- Pick an upcoming ministry event or opportunity
- Count back 8 weeks from the event date
- Mark off 2 weeks to Plan
- Mark off the next 2 weeks to Produce
- Mark off the 4 weeks before the event to Promote
- Work on each phase during its schedule time
Give it a try. You’ll thank me later.