I am adding a category to our blog for Church Money Saving Ideas. We have visited and worked with several churches and want to use this as a platform to provide resources and inspiration to find ways for your church to minister effectively, while being good stewards of the resources available.
Our first idea is to convert your newsletter into an email newsletter. There are several tools out there that provide very simple solutions to putting out an online newsletter, and many of them are free depending on the size of your organization. We have been using MailChimp for our e-newsletter solutions. I found the application to be very easy to use and the reporting features provide great feedback on the success and readership of what you send.
Why should you use an e-newsletter?
– The cost savings can be big. Let’s say you send out 100 newsletters. Even at basic bulk rate let’s estimate the cost at $0.25 per copy. We’re up to $25.00. Now let’s refactor in the cost of paper, printing… oh yea, and the person putting the newsletter together. All figured your getting close to $100.00 per newsletter that goes out.
– You’re not adding to “the Clutter”. Let’s face it, we all get gobs of mail everyday. Most of it ends up in the trash with few exceptions making it to the kitchen counter. I would hope that most of us would glance through the church’s newsletter to see what’s going on. However, for many of us, it adds to the pile of clutter on the kitchen counter until the wife finally gets fed up and tells you to clean it up….(oops, did I reveal too much there?)
– You can see what people are actually interested in. Most of the online tools to send e-newsletters provide great reporting functionality to show who opened the email, what links they clicked and more. This info can be used to better tailor future issues to meet what the congregation is looking for.
– Customized timing and design. We already talked about a cost savings, however, what about adding to your church communication? With a list of e-news recepients, you now have a target audience of people that want to stay in the loop about your church. Not only can you send a monthly newsletter, but now reminder emails and such can be sent out with virtually zero cost. You can also use the tracking to get an idea if people are reading these. Just remember, people gave you permission to market to them, don’t abuse it!
Hopefully I’ve convinced you, or at least got you thinking about using an e-newsletter to save money reaching your church. We’ve been using this concept for a few years and found it to be a great way to stay in touch with our clients. If you want an example of how we communicate, check out our site and use the signup form in the sidebar.
What steps are you going to take today to start saving money for your church?
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://www.thechurchbusinessguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/joshhenry.png[/author_image] [author_info]Josh Henry is the founder and Managing Partner of Axess Network LLC. Josh saw a need to assist churches with their operations and administration and put together a wealth of solutions to help. He is passionate about helping churches develop and grow… in any way you define that. Josh is married to Keri and they have a daughter Kambell.[/author_info] [/author]
