First Impressions – part one

Posted on November 28, 2009 Written by

Years ago a survey said the number one thing church guests remember about their first visit was (drum roll, please), the landscaping. That’s right – the church lawn. Not the sermon or the greeters but something most members take for granted (until the weeds take over). Guests speculate that if a church takes care of its grass, it is probably doing a good job on other things such as worship, childcare, etc. So, use this list to help ensure you are giving a good first impression.

  • Street signs o Make sure there are street signs on the corner(s) nearest your building. If not, ask the city or county to install signs on your corner (not one of the other three). Make sure people can clearly see your church is at the corner of Elm and Main St. and not the other church at Elm and Second St.
  • Exterior church signs
    o Ensure that the road-side signs with the church’s name are uniform. Some churches have signs of different architectural styles (Gothic, Baroque, Mission) reflecting the committee in charge at the time. Nice lighting is critical.
    o “Keep it simple, stupid” works for church signs, too. The signs should have “just the facts” – after all, there’s only so much fine print you can read at 35 mph. Somewhere the church’s website should be on the sign.
    o Signs with changeable lettering are not bulletin boards but are marketing tools – the messages must be a positive reflection on God and your church. Pithy messages are cute but what are you communicating?
  • Parking lot entrance signs
    o Can drivers see quickly (at 35 mph) where and how to get into your driveway?
    o What about coming in at night, in snow, or rain – is the driveway marked with reflectors, poles, or other visual aids?
  • Parking lot maintenanceo Every other year get your parking lot re-striped. Well-marked lines help people park cars properly. It also cuts down on “creative parking.”
    o “Creative parking” can lead to fewer actual parking spaces and to a bad impression to guests. It is also a hazard if it blocks access to emergency vehicles.
    o Some first-timers come to an evening performance. Light the parking lot so they can see how to get back to their car and continue their positive experience after the special event. Of course, residential churches need to consider the impact of lighting on neighboring houses and turn off parking lots at a reasonable hour.
  • Guest parking
    o Ensure your guest parking (not “visitor parking”) is near the main entrance doors. Label these clearly so members don’t park there.
    o Some churches replaced “handicap parking” with “Special Needs/Sr. Adult Parking” so police cannot ticket non-handicap vehicles. It serves the same function but gives more flexibility.
Lead On!
Steve
Filed Under: buildings, facilities, leadership Tagged: , ,

First Impressions – part three (and last)

Posted on November 28, 2009 Written by

This is a list of physical first impressions. There are whole books devoted to the Sunday morning volunteers. Let me give a brief list of these “personal” first impressions:

  • Your website was created by people for people. Make sure it is saying the right things about your church. Most visits to church websites are by church members seeking information about church programs. But does your site give non-members what they need (including a positive first contact)?
  • You may have police directing traffic in the street near your main parking lot. Are they courteous or surly? Make sure they understand they, too, are part of the image of the church.
  • Some churches have greeters in parking lots helping drivers find spots and directing them to a door. That is an excellent way to impress people – especially if those greeters accompany young families all the way to the welcome desk.
  • The front door greeters should have assigned doors – they’ll get to know the people coming in their door and vice versa. Make sure the greeters have the latest church directory so they can call people by name – it will really impress guests who see people greeted by name.
  • The Welcome/Information Desk volunteers should be extroverts off the scale: warm, friendly, and anxious to go out of their way to help people. Don’t let these critical volunteers burn out. Heap praise on them but also let them know how much is riding on their actions.
  • Parents want to know their children are safe – volunteers need to explain the safety (a better word than “security”) measures in place. Print up a card explaining the details – what to do when you drop off your child and how to retrieve your child. The Welcome Desk volunteers can explain these details en route to the classroom.
  • The Welcome Desk volunteers also need to walk with guests to their Bible study (Sunday School) room or the worship center. But the volunteer also needs to explain to the guest how to find their way out of the building after worship (many church buildings resemble rat mazes) or perhaps the Welcome Desk volunteer can ask a member sitting nearby to “host” the guests.
  • Names are powerful – guests will notice as they walk with their Welcome Desk volunteer when she greets passing members by name. It says a lot that these volunteers learned members’ names and greets each one by name.

You get the idea. If you don’t, then ask a fellow administrator to visit your church as if for the first time and give you a report with this checklist. Don’t shoot the messenger – she’s trying to do your church a favor by giving guests a great first impression of your church. After all, you only get one chance to make a first impression – make it count.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: buildings, facilities Tagged: ,

First Impressions – part two

Posted on November 28, 2009 Written by
  • Lawn care
    o Is your grass cut and leaves raked on Thursday or Friday, especially during your growing season? Do your trees have mulch beds? Every three months, walk the entire church grounds with your lawn care provider – let him know your expectations clearly.
    o Dead trees and dead branches are dangerous to people and cars – cut them down. It’s cheaper than a lawsuit.
    o Trees are great – they help the church’s “green” image and provide shade. But, get trees with color (maples, cherries, crepe myrtles) instead of pines – people driving by will notice colorful trees. Avoid oak trees, they’ll tear up your pavement and sidewalks. Ask your city nursery for advice – you might even get trees for free (I did).
  • Flowers and color beds
    o You need to have something in your color beds year-round (unless your winter flowerbeds are covered in snow). Flowers say a lot to guests – get flowers with lots of colors. I guarantee it will get attention.
    o Get rid of bushes in islands because they block the driver’s view as she looks for an empty spot. If you want bushes, put them against the building (and use azaleas or hydrangeas).
  • Marked entrance doorso Are the doors you want guests to enter clearly marked? If you have multiple buildings, how do guests know what door to come in? Perhaps some clearly visible wording over the door like “Main Entrance” will cut through the confusion.
    o Regular attendees may enter through “short-cut” doors. If a guest follows a member into one of those side doors, the guest is immediately lost – not a good first impression. Help guests know which doors to use (and which not to use).
  • Appearance of entrance areao The main guest entrance lobby should be busy with people and signs to convey an image of an active, on-mission church but not cluttered with “funeral parlor” furnishings. Make the first impression an attractive, warm, colorful visual experience.
    o Word of caution – the furnishings in your lobby telegraph the demographic your church seeks to reach. Your grandmother’s furniture, while pretty, will appeal to, well, your grandmother and not 20-somethings. What does your lobby say about your target audience?
  • Welcome desk location
    o Your Sunday morning welcome desk should be visible instantly and not crowded by workers talking to each other about Saturday’s ball game. Get the desk as close to the primary guest entrance door as you can – maybe even out on the sidewalk! If guests don’t know where to go, they’ll go somewhere else or go home.
  • Interior church signage
    o Is your interior signage coordinated? Is it in clear and large print? Is it visible down hallways? Some churches have color signage for different buildings or different age levels such as green carpet and green signs for elementary school classes. Just don’t make the mistake of changing your signage style with every new building.
    o New signage is expensive – but it can have a “wow” effective both on members and guests. Use color – it is very effective in all areas of your church buildings.
Lead On!
Steve
Filed Under: buildings, facilities, future, planning, strategy, young adults Tagged: , , , , ,

Photos on Websites

Posted on November 3, 2009 Written by

Okay, I’m not a Web guru – far, far from it. But I keep getting asked this question, “What is a policy or guideline for churches regarding posting pics on their Websites and other communications materials?”

Here’s my answer: I don’t have a policy on this matter but I do have some guidelines. To be completely clean and clear, you should have a permission slip from every person in every picture. In reality, that is impractical at best and impossible at worst. I use judgment – use pictures of your members only for in-house slide shows and publicity. Any publicity on the Website or mass-distributed materials (postcards, brochures, etc.) has purchased stock photos. Those pics are better quality and you don’t have to remember every person in every pic on your site in case a person dies or moves away.

I want to believe that difference is sufficient to ward off any problems yet is a reasonable solution. What do you think?

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: communications Tagged:

Financial Leadership Mistakes Churches Make

Posted on October 26, 2009 Written by
  • Low Expectations of members – Are people living up to our low expectations? How high do churches set the bar or are we just too scared that people will go away? In reality, people are more willing to live up to higher standards if they know what they are.
    o Set the bar as high as God sets the bar. To do less is to undermine God.
  • Low Teaching by leadership of biblical financial principles – Many church leaders are scared to talk about money because they don’t know how to. They don’t know how to talk about money because they’re scared to talk about it. They’ve got to get off the merry-go-round. Find a God-model for your talk on biblical financial principles – “just because the church needs it” or “because tithing is biblical” is not sufficient.
    o Make biblical financial teaching a regular practice. As with all habits, once you do it enough, you’ll get used to it and do it regularly. However, get a God-model to challenge your members.
  • Low Accountability of church leaders (both paid and volunteer) – Who holds church leaders accountable for what they spend and how they spend it? Do those expenses advance the Kingdom or are they just frivolous spending?
    o Can church members get a copy of the church’s monthly financial statements without hassles? If your church’s checkbook were posted online, would you be embarrassed at any expenses? Did they spend church money wisely? I have a saying that church money should work hard twice – once when the donor earns it and again when the church spends that money.
  • Low Transparency of church finances – Do churches have fuzzy numbers? A church’s monthly financial statements should be in a readily accessible place and questions should be answered clearly and completely.
    o Make your financial statement accessible. Answer all financial questions to the satisfaction of the person asking the questions.
  • Low Leadership and Management – Leadership is guiding the church toward a vision that captures most people’s imagination and gets them on board the ship. Management is ensuring that you have the right people in the right places on the ship and rowing in the same direction. Leadership is about positions; management is about people.
    o Every five years do strategic planning so that you know what positions your church needs in order to accomplish its mission and vision.
    o Then, find the right people to put into those positions even if it means letting go of some great staff. If they can’t lead the church in its strategic plan, then help them move on so that your church can move forward.
    o This means that every few years you’re going to kill some neat programs that no longer fit into the church’s mission and vision and you’re going to let go of some fine friends and colleagues. But you’re the leader of the church – decide what is most critical to the future of the church – its mission or keeping people and programs that distract from the main thing.
Lead On!
Steve
Filed Under: church finances, communications, generosity, strategy, young adults Tagged: , , , , ,

Email to a Colleague at my Church

Posted on October 23, 2009 Written by

I thought I’d share an email to a fellow minister. My goal is to get ministers and members to think “outside the financial box” and think if new ways to get money for church needs, especially capital needs.

For a couple months I’ve heard you all getting info about new drop down backboards for the gym. The latest figures I have are costs in the $24K range which is way out of anyone’s budget and designated funds. That got me to thinking about asking the Upwards parents if they would be willing to make a gift or contribution to this project.

In my years as a church administrator, there have been countless times when people wanted to make a gift and asked me what are some pressing needs. My experience is that people want to give back to a ministry or the church that has blessed them or helped them. Unfortunately, the church too often feels that “we can only do it if we pay for it” or “that’s rude to ask people for money.” Both of those concepts are wrong – we shortchange people when we don’t give them the opportunity to give. People want to return the favor, we just need to be open to it, especially to be open to new ways of paying for the church’s needs. Having been in church business for my entire life, I can see a distinct pattern downward in the typical way of funding church – the offering plate is drying up.

I’ve been in multiple conversations with members of the church’s financial leadership team, Ministry Coordination Council members, and the senior pastor on the subject of developing new streams of revenue for the church. The senior pastor asked an MCC member and me to make a presentation to MCC in November on the why and how of new revenue streams. This is a subject that is gaining importance and visibility within our own church.

The Minister of Recreation and I partnered recently on a basketball camp that was a tremendous success and we split the revenue – some for the Rec Ministry and some for the building maintenance (to fix holes in the walls from “stray” basketballs). This is a great model for how we can move forward to fund needs of various ministries and the buildings. I would like to propose that you consider yet another stream of revenue to help meet a need of the Rec Ministry – the backboards.

The idea is that for two of your eight Saturdays during the Upward games, you will distribute a half sheet of paper with the message below. The message is not threatening or guilt-inducing. Instead is makes known a need and gives people the opportunity to respond if they want to. It tells them how they can help a ministry of the church and thanks them for letting us be a part of their life. This is not a solicitation (which our church’s by-laws won’t let you do), it gives people an chance to respond. I truly believe that it is right, ethical, and scriptural to give people the chance to express their gratitude without any form of compulsion. To not give people a chance to give is to limit people and God.

In future years (or even this year), I can easily see the gift request during Upward to be for ministry opportunities in a church in Richmond, or with one of our foreign mission partners, or another recreation oriented need beyond our walls. Perhaps alternating years (between our church and another need) or even doing a split offering in the same year for two separate needs? There are many opportunities and tremendous needs out there – the real question is how can we think creatively to help meet these needs.

Will the Rec Ministry be willing to distribute this message below to its parents? Who knows what God will do through this. Thank you.

New Basketball BackboardsThe Recreation Ministry would like to install four new basketball backboard so that future Upward Basketball seasons can have better equipment. These goals will hang from the ceiling and replace our aging and hard to move floor level goals. Each new backboard costs about $6,000 or $24,000 for the entire project.

Gifts to this project are being accepted by Recreation Ministry if you would like to help. Checks can be made payable to the church and write “basketball backboards” in the memo line and given to a staff member. These tax-deductible donations are not required – it is our joy and privilege to have your child in the Upward program. Thank you for entrusting us with your most precious gift. We hope you and your family have enjoyed it and we hope to see you next year.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: budget, church finances, church staff, generosity, leadership Tagged: , , , ,

Six Generations In Church – Part 2

Posted on October 15, 2009 Written by

The trend is for each successive generation to want to be more actively involved and see tangible results. They want control over when, where, and how each dollar is spent. Younger generations want to know, see and touch where their monies are go AND they want their monies to go to causes that change lives in direct, tangible ways. Several secular non-profits are successfully reaching younger generations who feel they can (and must) “save the world.” The questions for today’s church are:

  • Remove Roadblocks
    o How does the church change its governance, bylaws, and policies to facilitate giving?
    o How does the church develop new channels and methods of giving that are in line with younger generations’ patterns?
  • Tell Your Story
    o How does the church communicate (using Websites, social networking, and even printed media) its programming opportunities and building needs in ways that appeal to younger adults?
    o How does the church encourage financial support from non-members and non-attendees who believe in our causes?
  • Be Creative
    o How does the church (ministers and members) change its mindset from funding programs and activities through the annual budget to each one being self-funding?
    o How does the church expand the types of revenue streams so that we have a diversified portfolio and are less vulnerable to risk? See “The Baker’s Dozen.

The Baker’s Dozen – Ways to Increase Church Income
1. Undesignated Gifts
2. Wills, bequests and planned giving
3. Grants and foundations
4. Endowments, reserves, investments, and interest income
5. Fees for service
6. Rental income
7. Event registration
8. Cost recovery
9. Special offerings
10. Capital campaigns
11. Designated gifts
12. Sale of materials or resources
13. In-kind services

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: budget, communications, young adults Tagged: , , ,

Six Generations in Church – part 1

Posted on October 14, 2009 Written by

Due to increased longevity of our populations, churches have six generations alive at the same time and actively involved. Churches must deal with six different attitudes toward architecture, furniture, expectations of staff, worship styles, what to wear to church, giving, going “green” at church, etc. All churches face this logistical nightmare. As this generational shift relates to giving, there is a chasm between the mindsets of younger and older generations. Whereas the oldest generation is known for giving to appeals, Generation Y prefers to give to causes.

  • GI Generation (1901-1924)
    o They are trying not to outlive their money
    o They prefer to give to institutions
    o They have very high trust levels of institutions and organizations
    o They are the Greatest Generation that fought World War II
  • Silent Generation (1925-1945)
    o They are trying not to outlive their money
    o They like to give to institutions
    o They have high trust levels of institutions
    o They grew up in the shadow of World War II and the prosperity of the 1950s
  • Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
    o They are in their peak giving years
    o The like giving to designated funds and causes
    o They trust organizations moderately
    o They grew up during the 1960s and Watergate
  • Baby Busters (1965-1983)
    o They are beginning to be major givers
    o They really like designated giving
    o They have low trust levels of government and organizations
    o They grew up during Iran-Contra, Jim Bakker and PTL, and plenty of other scandals
  • Gen Y or Millennials (1984-2002)
    o They are just beginning to give
    o They prefer to give designated gifts
    o They have low or no trust levels of organizations
    o They grew up with the Web and know they have access to anything and everything
  • Gen Z or iGeneration (2003- )
    o They are too young to have a view on giving right now
    o They will probably give significantly to designated causes
Lead On!
Steve
Filed Under: church finances, future, generosity, strategy Tagged: , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »