Churches Turn to Sales Tools
The Rev. James Carpenter isn’t waiting for new members to follow the Holy Spirit to the doors of his Noblesville church--he’s using a full-scale marketing blitz.
The First Christian Church spent $1,750 on four-color mass mailings to every resident in the area’s ZIP code before both Christmas and Easter. The church also advertises in a local newspaper, subscribes to a monthly listing of new homeowners and sends personal letters about the church.
The result? Carpenter said 462 first-time worshipers came to the church last year, the first time the church tried direct marketing. That’s an average of almost 10 new worshipers each Sunday.
“It’s (the mailings) one of the largest single items in our budget,” said Carpenter, the church’s senior pastor. “We feel like it’s money well-spent. Like they say in business, you have to spend money to make money, and it’s like that in church too.”
The Fishers Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) turned to The Phone’s for You, a church development company, and door-to-door visits to fill seats at its newly formed church north of Indianapolis, the Rev. Terri Gomez said.
About 100 callers spent four nights a week for five weeks trying to drum up interest after being trained by the development company, which provides information on where to obtain phone numbers and supplies scripts, said Gomez.
Fishers Christian Church’s first service, held March 20, drew 80 worshipers, Gomez said.
“Just based on statistics, the numbers work in marketing, whether you’re marketing a house or a church,” she said.
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