Don’t you worry that sending postcards to the neighborhoods around your church is a waste of money? A denominational executive said to me recently, “We’ve stopped letting our church planters send postcard invitations. They don’t work.” I understand his reasoning. I’ve seen dozens of postcards that were completely ineffective. I’ve mailed out a few myself. […]
Recent Articles
Which is the Best Church Marketing Tool to Reach your Neighborhood?
Some of my staff had a debate last spring: Is sending a postcard for your Fall Outreach series worth the money, or is it better to do doorhangers, or advertise by social media? What do you think, Pastor? How to Use the Best Church Marketing Tools for your Church The Law of Invitation My answer to […]
How to Scale Up Excellence and See Your Church Grow
You Can Make More and Better Happen Two Stanford professors have much to say to church leaders about how to get from here to there. Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao are leadership thinkers and professors at Stanford University who have wrestled with the process of spreading excellence across organizations. Their book, Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to […]
Church Assimilation: 3 Simple Ways to be a Friendly Church
Last month while we were on vacation, we visited a church meeting in a shopping center that had a huge sign; we figured it would be a church trying to reach it’s community. When we arrived just a few minutes early, there were barely any cars in the parking lot and we saw only one guy outside; and he was leaning against […]
Second-time Visitors: How to Attract them Back
The first time people visit your church it’s a blind date. But when they return they’re saying, “hey, we kinda like you.” And “we might want to get to know you better.” The second-time visitor is a big deal. These second-time visitors seem calm and pleasant on the outside, but inside they are a seething cauldron of […]
How to Have a Christmas Offering that Raises Money and Maturity
For most churches a well-executed Christmas offering will reap twice your normal weekly offering. Think about it: that’s an extra 10% of your budget you can use for kingdom advancement. If you’re like me, your mailbox is flooded in November and December with requests from every non-profit organization that has ever been lucky enough to […]
23 Questions that will Help your Church Get Better
When you visit a doctor, he determines your health by two methods. First, he collects the numbers. Then, he asks you the questions. The first step is quantitative. These 18 important numerical measures for your church give you the numbers side of evaluating your church’s health. The second measure is qualitative. Qualitative insight comes from asking questions. 23 Qualitative […]
How Healthy is Your Church? These 18 Numbers Will Tell You.
Whether you’ve thought it or not, your church has an evaluation system. Every service is evaluated by every attendee. They talk about it afterwards in the lobby. They share their impressions between friends. If it’s really good, others hear about it. If it’s really bad, even more “others” hear about it. We can’t help ourselves; […]