2. Review Your Church
• Church of the Heavenly Secret, located in
beautiful downtown Anywhere, USA
• Currently has 72 members, 40 regularly attend
• Average age is 62
• Website needs work, communications (internal
and external) are poor
• Active and engaged vestry
• Ready to invite and accept new members and
change
3. Review Your Market
• The real estate commission is showing an
increase in sales in single family homes near
the church.
• The census reports an increase in young
married couples in the area.
• A recent survey by the local seminary showed
that what most people are looking for is an
opportunity for spiritual growth.
4. Review Your Competition
• What are other churches in the area doing
• A mega church 2 miles down the road packs
them in every Sunday.
• The service most attended by young couples is
the 8:30 or 9 a.m. time slot.
• Weekday activities increase Sunday
attendance
5. Set Goal and Objectives
• Goal: Grow the Church
• Objectives:
– Increase the number at the 9 a.m. Sunday service
by 40 percent
– Target young couples, with and without children
– Increase the attendance at adult education by 35
percent
– Convert 15 percent of visitors to members
6. Strategies
• Create an impression in the community as
being the most welcoming, family-friendly
church
• Develop signature events and programs that
are known outside church membership
• Become a community resource for meetings
7. Tactics
• Station greeters at the doors
• Have multiple Sunday options for children
• Use bulletins to explain Episcopal liturgical
practices and promote Christian educational
opportunities
• Create a robust, interactive, adult education
program
• Schedule priest(s), vestry in Coffee Hour for
conversations
8. Marketing Vehicles
• Internal Communications
• Advertising
• Public Relations
• Direct Marketing
• Website
• Social Media
9. Internal Communications
• Drive everyone to your website
• Knowledge is powerful
• Create a firm information foundation when
everyone is on the same page
• Empower your membership with information
• Use e-newsletters, they are efficient and cost-
effective
• Don’t abandon print
10. Advertising
• Online is the best value for reaching your target
audience: Google Adwords, Facebook, Yahoo
• Get on the elists: Yellowpages.com, patch.com,
superpages.com, churchangel.com, your local
Convention & Visitor Bureau
• All advertising roads should lead to your website
• Print ads are for special services, programs,
events, listings in the religion section
11. Public Relations
• Compile a media contact list
• Take a reporter/editor to lunch
• Send accurate, brief releases that appeal to
their audience
• More (releases) are not better
• Press release template available
13. Website
• Most effective way to attract visitors
• Does not have to be expensive or complicated
• Must have a dedicated content manager
• Post the content your audience wants, not
what you or your staff wants
• Use the Diocese web template or
wordpress.com or blogger.com
14. Social Media
• The new “word of mouth”
• Recruit social media ambassadors
• Blogs, Facebook, Twitter
• Think of it as your virtual “coffee hour”
• Use social medial to tell stories with photos
and videos that give real, tangible insight to
your Church
15. Action Plan
• Budget
• Recruit volunteers
• Make specific assignments
• Create a schedule
• Identify benchmarks
16. Evaluation
• Use web tracking - Google Analytics
• Track newcomer Conversion Data
• Track member retention rate
• Conduct Surveys
