Church Marketing Sucks

Our Don't Suck List Still Sucks

For those counting--you know who you are--it's been 31 months since our last update about the infamous Don't Suck list. Lots of people have made suggestions publicly on this site, through e-mail and countless conversations offline. I think we've finally blurred the lines enough so that people can't tell the difference between the despicableness of the list itself or of our inaction to actually do something about it. There is no excuse.

I have decided to pull a Ty Pennington (no, I don't plan a drunken arrest) and make this my special project. The bulk of the work will begin in June with a goal to have something launched later this year. Although I will personally take the lead on this project, it will definitely be in the same collaborative spirit we've all been a part of here in the CFCC community.

Here's the plan:

1. There are two layers to this project. The first is a directory of sorts that is more comprehensive. It will be a pre-screened list of go-to people and companies for helping churches communicate. The second layer will be a regularly published "Don't Suck" list that is chosen entirely based on the opinion of the panel behind it. It will be more editorialized which means many will like it and many will hate it. Consider this your warning.

2. There is a post on the CFCC Freelance Lab looking for a web designer/programmer to help build this stuff. If you fit the description, please respond el pronto.

3. If you want to volunteer and be a part of planning/steering this, you can email me: brad [at] cfcclabs dot org. Please put "Don't Suck Volunteer" in the subject line including a brief description for why you want to be a part. If you email me to volunteer it means you will make time to respond to a survey or two and possibly make yourself available for some conference calls, among other related tasks.

4. If you have specific comments that you want to put out there and make sure we're considering, you can also email me: brad [at] cfcclabs dot org. Please put "Don't Suck Comments" in the subject line.

Thanks for your patience and for helping us build this thing right. The Don't Suck list is nearly always in our top ten most most frequented links, and it's one of the most practical things we as the CFCC community can do to help churches beyond what we're already doing through this blog and the labs.

Small Churches Should Embrace Cheap Technology

Last week's poll/quiz revealed the encouraging stat that 62% of churches have a web site, up from 57% in 2005 and 34% in 2000. The results come from a recent Barna survey (nicely summarized with pretty graphics by Kent Shaffer).

One of the interesting, though hardly surprising, things about the survey is that no matter the technology--web sites, projection systems, e-mail newsletters, podcasting--large churches are adapting these new technologies much faster than small churches.

]]> This isn't surprising because large churches have both the need to justify and the money to pay for technology. It's hard to connect 1,000 people, so an e-mail newsletter is a must. And it's hard to see the pastor when you're sitting in the back of a 1,000-seat auditorium, so a projection system is a must. And with larger churches come larger budgets.

While the need and the cash might not be there for small churches, I think there are still some inexpensive benefits they can gain from technology. Every church needs to connect their members and keep everyone in touch, and cheap to free technologies like e-mail newsletters, web sites, blogs and social networking sites can do just that. These same technologies can make it easier to reach out to your community as well. You might not be able to afford a newspaper ad for your church garage sale, but a Craigslist post is free.

There are all sorts of free opportunities out there and I've gone off on web 2.0 and the church before. There are so many ways your small church can take advantage of technology and get more bang out of your budget.

Bottom line: If you're a small church, don't let money keep you away from technology.

Quiz Time Poll Results

The most recent Barna poll asked about church technology usage, comparing the results across the years 2000, 2005 and 2007. We decided to quiz you and see how well you would be in tune with what other churches are doing. We asked you what percent of churches you thought currently have a web site.

44% of you guessed guessed that 0-50% of churches have a web site. Maybe that number is so high because 0-50 is the biggest range. Or maybe you just don't think many churches have sites.

The numbers go down from there. 21% of you thought that half to 65% of churches have sites. Another 21% of you thought 66%-80% have sites. That's the group I was in, as an optimist.

The really optimistic bunch of you thought either 81%-100% of churches have web sites. That'd be pretty sweet, but unfortunately, only in DreamLand.

Well, if you didn't cheat, the results are in...

62% of churches have a web site. That's up from 57% in 2005 and 34% in 2000. Check out Kent Shaffer's wrap-up for more complete results, including stats regarding e-mail blasts, social networking, projectors and more.

This week, we want to know, did your church do anything to celebrate Earth Day, either corporately or around the office?

People Gotta Know

Earlier this week my wife and I were part of a conversation with a handful of churches brought together in Northeast Los Angeles. Those present were about as eclectic as you could get: inter-denominational, multi-generational, multi-ethnic and people from every part of the socioeconomic spectrum. We had come to discuss how our individual churches could unite together and be one church community within our city, particularly as it relates to addressing issues of poverty, homelessness, education and other hot topics confronting us. Unfortunately, this was an historic moment for churches in Northeast Los Angeles.

In response to how we could broaden the conversations we were having on this night to the rest of the people in our church communities, an elder in the room stood up. Tony was from one of the nearby Catholic parishes responsible for the only 7-day-a-week feeding program in the area. They've gone from feeding a handful of people to nearly 150 every day for lunch, and dinner on Friday nights.

You can imagine my surprise when Tony said the majority of people in their parish did not know their own feeding ministry exists. "In spite of printing something in the bulletin every week," said Tony, "our own people have no idea what's going on." Many others in the room nodded in sympathetic frustration. The collective sigh sounded like this: "How could we get others in our church on board with social justice topics when it seems like very few others even care?"

]]> Stop assuming people get it. This problem is far too common which is why it's number three on my list of common communication mistakes. It's not that people don't care, it's that you and I don't care enough to make sure they know what to care about. Pick the top 4-6 things your church is really passionate about and invested in. If you can't pull at random people from your congregation and have them say the same things, we've got a problem.

Now what are you going to do about it? People gotta know.

Job Lab and Freelance Lab Roundup

We've seen some good action in our Freelance Lab and Job Lab since our announcement that they're free forever. If you haven't been checking them out, here are some opportunities for you.

Design a worship folder and banner for Concordia Lutheran Church.

Create a wedding booklet for First Baptist Fort Lauderdale.

Or, if you're looking for more full-time work...
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina is looking for a webmaster and a graphic designer.

Remember, if you're looking to fill a communication-related project or job opening, our Freelance Lab and Job Lab are now completely free.

Church Marketing Lab: Stages, Shirts and Summer Fun

Let's talk numbers here for a minute. We're only 52 members away from the 2,000 mark in the Church Marketing Lab, and the conversations just get better and better. Last June we hit member 1,000, and now we're already at 2,000! In October, we were looking at the 3,000th posting. Now, we're almost at 5,000! So if you aren't in the conversation, head over and join in. Here's some of what we've been seeing lately:

Here's a smorgasbord of ideas for a vision-casting print.

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Check out this album cover for Bethel Church's new worship CD.

Pineapple Island is the theme for this VBS t-shirt.

This is the set design for a series called "Family."

Flickr Goes Video, So Does the Church Marketing Lab

If you haven't heard, Flickr added video capabilities to their photo-sharing site. And if you didn't know, the Church Marketing Lab runs on Flickr. What does that mean to you?

Well it means that while you could always submit graphics and photos to the Church Marketing Lab for review and discussion, now you can submit your church's videos as well. Got a series bumper? A skit? Something else?

hsojeel, a Church Marketing Lab member, explains it a little more deeply.

Keep in mind that video is only for pro users, which is a $25/year upgrade from the free Flickr service.

Quality Church Resources for Free (or Cheap)

The folks at Muddy River Media got in touch with us to let us know about their new and free church resource site. So we got to thinking, why not compile some other church resources? But Kent Shaffer of Church Relevance thought it faster. So here is his list of great free and paid church resources.

It's a great list, and I can't think of anything to add to it. Anyone else have some favorites?

Local Labs Poll Results

Local Labs have really been taking off. They've been organic and exponential so far, so we wanted to see how an average reader would feel about a Local Lab in their own city.

It looks like the majority of you are adventurous souls. You would love to check out a Local Lab and see what it's all about if there was one in your city. Well 23 cities nationwide (and one in Canada!) have Local Labs so far, so you might be in luck. That goes for the 36% of you who would go if it were convenient. It very well might be close to you.

That's 86% of people who would go if the conditions were right. Wow!

Another 11% of you don't really need Local Labs. Is that because you aren't a designer or church marketer? Or are you just that good? And a final 3% of you like to keep your friends on the Internet. Maybe that means we need a Second Life Local Lab on our very own Church Marketing Sucks Island?

And if you want a Local Lab, but there's not one in your area, just head over to the Church Marketing Lab, start a discussion thread titled "Local Lab [your city]" to hook up with some people in your area!

This week, it's a quiz time. The results of this quiz are out there on the Internet, so answer before you find them! And we'll post the study next week. So click through from your RSS reader and check our right sidebar to answer, what percent of churches would you guess have a web site?

Church Marketing Lab: Flickr Gets Video

If you're familiar with our Church Marketing Lab, you know it runs as a Flickr group. And if you're familiar with Flickr, you know they recently started allowing the upload of videos up to ninety seconds. Folks in the lab have used the occasion to upload videos containing unicorns, gnomes, peeing dogs, moving heads and the numbers one through thirty. Here's what I mean.

This is a promo for a series inspired by Napoleon Dynamite.

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These folks have a creative way to ask you not to park in the "Red Zone."

The Pure series we've discussed before now has a video intro.

And 30 Days to Live also has a new video intro.

Socially Just Poll Results

As we launched our new Social Justice category, we wanted to know whether your church puts a priority on social justice. Here's the breakdown of what you had to say:

31% of your churches are hit or miss. Some things you emphasize and others you don't. Maybe you drink fair trade coffee but all drive Hummers. There are just some issues that don't resonate with your church.

And slightly less of you, 30%, say your church only has a few issues it emphasizes. Of those of you, what issues seem to be favorites for churches?

17% of your churches are all about the gospel justice, not the social justice. Hey, people need both, so keep bringing that gospel message.

16% of you hit social justice issues most of the time, but not quite always. Are there certain issues you stay away from, or you just can't quite get to all of them?

The final group is the 7% of you who are social justice junkies. If someone shows up in a Hummer without information about the child they sponsor, it's straight to the altar for some laying-on of hands. This is the small, but (probably) vocal minority.

This week, we're looking to find out would you attend a Local Lab meet-up in your area?

Facebook for Pastors

Chris Forbes just released a free 32-page e-book, Facebook for Pastors. The booklet can help you make the most of Facebook for your church (beyond just playing Scrabble). Check it out.

The Church & Earth Day

Today's Earth Day and Jason Boyett reminds us that the church can still care about creation. He points to Tri Robinson, a pastor who wrote the book Saving God's Green Earth. The book is all about why the church should care about the environment and includes examples of things Robinson's church has done. The book's web site features a number of resources and may give you some ideas for how your church can be more eco-friendly.

What To Do When Someone Steals Your Church

Kinetic Church got in touch with us to tell us a story about themselves, which you may or may not have heard about.

One weekend in early March, our portable church trailer containing about 75% of Kinetic Church's equipment was stolen; leaving our church with virtually nothing.
As a result, Kinetic Church created five billboards and multiple web banners in hopes of grabbing the attention of the thieves (and everyone else for that matter).

You think church marketing sucks? Well getting everything your church owns stolen sucks way more. So they ended up getting some billboards loaned to them, and they leveraged the Internet in a couple more ways to try to get their trailer

]]> So what the heck should they put on the billboard? Well, they opened that up to everyone, and here's all the suggestions they got. There's some pretty hilarious stuff in there, and some good ideas if your stuff is ever stolen.

They also created a YouTube video letting the thieves know that they forgave them and that they'd love to sit down to dinner with them. At first when I watched it, I felt like they hired Rob Bell and shaved his head, but it's a truly great video. Watch it for a boost in your morale and your faith in humanity.

This reminds me of another story making news recently and an older one I think I remember. It's a great example of how your church can handle adversity like Christ.

Going From Corporate to Non-Profit

I'm sure we've got at least a few readers out there who are in the corporate world and thinking of dabbling in the realm of churches. If you're thinking of leaving a job with a profit-making company to one with a nonprofit, there are some issues you need to concern yourself with.

The New York Times writes in a question and answer article "Your True Calling Could Suit a Nonprofit":

Q. What are the biggest misconceptions about switching from the corporate world to the nonprofit world?
A. Many people are surprised to find the hours longer and stress greater than in the corporate world. Brian Olson, who left the private sector for a nonprofit in 2006, found the decision-making process to be unfocused.

“No matter how good a volunteer board is, it’s not the same as a corporate board, because everyone has a different agenda,” said Mr. Olson, who returned to the private sector a year later to be vice president for public affairs at Video Professor Inc., a company in Lakewood, Colo., that sells self-tutorial programs. “There was a purity to corporate life I missed,” he said.

]]> They also add that:

"Many people think that work for a nonprofit will be less stressful, compared with the for-profit world," said Jean Erickson Walker, a managing partner at OI Partners, a career coaching firm in Portland, Ore.
“That’s nonsense,” she said. “In most nonprofits you’ll be expected to work longer hours--including evenings and weekends--for less money.”

Check out the whole article for some more great observations and tidbits, including expecting a 5% pay cut, not starting by sending in a résumé and finding a nonprofit that's right for you.

Of course, we'd suggest the Job Lab and Freelance Lab if you're looking towards making the switch. (link via Surviving the Workday)