I’m just going to say it: Sometimes, churches need to be a little more data-driven. I understand that running a church isn’t exactly like running a business and that attracting people to Christ isn’t quite like attracting customers to a product. But once in a while churches could stand to emulate the business world a bit more than they do, and one of those ways is through surveys.

An experiment by Rice University professors and published in Harvard Business Review concluded that simply by asking customers how a company performed is itself a great retention strategy. Researchers selected two groups of customers and sent just one of them a satisfaction and opinion survey. After a year, the group that took the survey was twice as likely to have continued loyalty toward the company.

When a church surveys its attendees, it sends two messages:

1. We care about what you have to say.
2. We’re trying to get better.

Through that messaging, the Spirit can work to bring people closer to Christ. If you’re struggling to get people to take the survey, throw in a raffle drawing or some kind of incentive. Once you have an abundance of responses, compile the data and try to reach some conclusions. From here, your church planning board, outreach team and senior leadership can make decisions about what’s working and what isn’t.

In the words of the host of “Family Feud,” survey says ... success.

Best,

John

Source:

Question Pro: Sending Out a Survey to Customers Can Double Sales

Today is a landmark day in conference preparation: the three-month point-of-no-return. As planning a conference and expo is a yearlong process (as soon as one ends, plans for the next begin), everyone at Church Solutions is starting to feel like it’s getting close because we’re three quarters of the way there ... and that’s exciting.

It hit me most today when perusing blogs and stumbling across a post from Evan McBroom, who was bemoaning the arrival of winter weather in the Midwest. I’m proud – and somewhat guilt-ridden being a native Midwesterner – to announce that it is 82 and sunny today in Phoenix. Conference attendees can expect mid-70s and sunshine.

For McBroom, the anticipated weather is only one selling point, though. He’s eager to share and learn with church leaders who are innovating boldly and confronting courageously the challenges they are facing all over the country. (For a conference agenda, see under “Related Content.”)

So, what do you say? We’re inside the three-month parameter now. Are you willing to warm up yourself, and your ministry, in Phoenix?

See you in three months,

John

Source:

Evan McBroom – The Other Side of the Boat:First flakes fall and my mind moves to Phoenix

Related Content:

Church Solutions Education Sessions: Full Agenda

A gross majority of the people who work or volunteer at your church are good-hearted, Scripture-believing, law-abiding people. But unfortunately, occasionally someone slips into your church team who either shouldn’t be there in the first place or plummets into a dangerous trap of sin that compromises your church’s safety and integrity.

A story out of Southwest Ohio today shows us how badly staff abuse of resources can hurt a house of worship. The 28-year-old A/V director for Assembly of God Church in Hamilton, Ohio, has been arrested on federal charges of child pornography that was reportedly accessed and distributed on a church-owned computer. The accused staffer may have used the peer-to-peer file-sharing service Limewire.

I certainly don’t want to place judgment on an individual whom I don’t know or to play jury in a situation that’s still being investigated. But suppose you’re a resident of Hamilton and you’re looking for a church. Maybe you’ve even been to this one before. Would you say you’re more or less likely to come back now?

I pray that this church is able to heal and retain its status as a safe place to worship, and I also pray that other churches will take note of these instances and take the necessary precautions – through software filters, computer-usage monitoring, staff screening, etc. – to make sure stories such as this aren’t repeated.

Blessings,

John

Source:

The Columbus Dispatch: Man accused of using church PC for child porn

Related Article:

Keeping Churches Safe Online