Since June, we've been working on starting a new church in Shakopee, MN. Renew Community Church had its very first preview service last weekend (October 13). And we'll be having one preview service per month until we launch weekly services April 12, 2008.
We had two (yes, 2) guests. We knew we wouldn't have very many people at our first preview service, because we had been spending so much of our time working out systems and buying equipment and banners and materials and working out all the logistics. Between the 6 of us, we had personally invited about 50 people (several of whom said they would come). Unfortunately, we were counting on our mail advertisement from Outreach Marketing to have some positive effect on attendance. It did not. (really? 8,500 mailpieces and not one bite?)
Anyway, we had prioritized systems, equipment, materials, and content. And that part rocked! So now we have everything and know we can do church. Now all we have to do is prioritize inviting people and getting them to come check us out. We already have at least 5 more people who said they can come in December. Not so sure about November yet...
I guess that's why we're having preview services before the launch.
P.S. for more information about our project, you can check out the Shakopee Team Project website.
Welcome to Juggling Sheep, Jay Perry's blog about time management and personal productivity for pastors. Learn to balance work, life, family, and personal spirituality.
Share your best practices, tips and tricks, processes, sermon planning ideas, and resources. Feel free to email me: jaylperry[at]gmail[dot]com.
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2 comments:
Ok, I hate to send out those slick postcards from Outreach. They are costly and we don't see an immediate return.
BUT what we have found is that the card establish a presence in the community. People know who we are because they saw our card AND...
AND someone invited them
AND they came to an activity
AND one of our groups served them in some way
AND they know somebody who goes here
AND they provide a service to our church
AND AND AND
The postcards don't do it alone! But they do provide a trust factor when combined with an AND.
I think that is how the postcards work. They support what you do. They don't do it for you.
If you decide to use direct marketing, the decision to make is if one should use Outreach.com or go a less expensive route.
Yes you can get this in other ways. We have found the postcard helpful most when our people are inviting as well.
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