Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

Colorful, fun church reminder postcards for Summer

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Summer church reminder postcards
Remind people in fun ways about what is going on at church this summer with these cards.

A light touch, a gentle reminder is often all that is needed to let people know what is going on at church during the summer and to help you do that, I revised some summer postcards I made with www.tagxedo.com, a fun site you can use to create word cloud images that you can then place into any publication you are working on.

The cards below were designed as reminders or notes that you can send out to remind people of what is going on at the church. Make them up for Sunday School Teachers, Small Group Leaders and Pastors to write a few notes a day to various church members. Summer is time for fun, but the best of times are often with our church families and these cards can remind people of that.

Below the illustration of the cards is a downloadable ZIP file that has ready-to-print PDFs and editable MS Publisher files.

To download the ZIP file for the images above, click the following link: Fun Summer postcards

 

SEND OUT THOSE POSTCARDS!!! National Study on the importance of Direct Mail confirms the effectiveness of postcards

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Postcards are an effective way to communicate
Even though we have many channels of communication, postcards are still one of the most effective, as this current study shows.

The direct mail and marketing companies, Lob and Comperemedia just sent out some highlights from their 2022 State of Direct Mail: Consumer Insights report. I think it's fair to say that where they list "direct mail" we can substitute the word, "postcard."

Here are their findings:

  • 72% of respondents read direct mail immediately after or on the same day they bring it inside their residence
  • Of the 62% of consumers that have taken action on a direct mail piece, 64% were inspired to take action because of an offer or promotion
  • 45% of consumers say receiving direct mail from a brand feels more important than receiving an email from a brand

Though these companies of course want to sell you their direct mailing services, as church communicators we can learn a lot from them.

Based on these statistics, one of the most successful communications churches can create for outreach is a postcard

As I have reminded church communicators for many years, when a person gets a postcard out of the mail, for the brief seconds that they check it out, you have their complete attention. They cannot help but read the message you have on it.

It is one-on-one communication. [Read more...]

Sample of an EFFECTIVE church calendar postcard

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church postcard sample
You don't have to be fancy to inform people about important events at church. Postcards are a great way to do it!

This isn't a fancy publication, but I think if more churches would send out something like this, the impact for the Kingdom of God would be tremendous!

I'm saying that because we know many people today for good and bad reasons (have to work or choose sports) don't always attend church on Sundays. But that doesn't mean they may not want to attend other events at the church at other times. However, in most churches, if you aren't there on Sunday, you miss out knowing what else is going on because you didn't get the bulletin. Some churches may post it online, but if you don't have access to a computer or don't bother to check out the church website regularly, you won't see it.

The wonderful effectiveness of POSTCARDS

Postcards get taken from the mailbox, read quickly and often are then posted on the refrigerator serving as a continual POSTER of what is going on at the church.

A postcard like the one below, created by Ebenezer United Church,  is incredibly effective in how it reminds people of what is going on at the church. Below is a picture, at the end of this article a download for members of Effective Church Communications. Click on the image to see the printed side more clearly and then ECC Members can download the PDF file below.

Like the example above showed, you don't have to be fancy

[Read more...]

How to edit MS Publisher Templates provided by Effective Church Communications

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The video below shows you how to edit MS Publisher Templates. The set used as an example is a collection of Summer Postcards. The sets of communications created for Effective Church Communications typically have one example available for everyone. That is in a ready-to-print PDF format. For Effective Church Communication Members there is more--not only in the number of PDFs that you can download and print, but the downloadable ZIP file for members has the original MS Publisher file in it. This file allows you to edit the communications and modify them however you want for your church.

This ability greatly expands the usefulness of the ZIP files for Effective Church Communication Members because you can modify them for many uses and situations beyond the specific use or season they were created for. What makes this especially useful for you is that the basic layout work, the artwork, the typefaces--all that has been done and you simply need to change or add the details about events for your church. There are hundreds of templates available for ECC Members that can all be edited in ways similar to the ones shown on the video following.

For more information about Effective Church Communication Membership and to sign up, CLICK HERE.

Note: this is an older version of MS Publisher, so your exact location of commands might be a little different, but the basic instructions are the same.

How to edit Effective Church Communication Templates in MS Publisher


The video below is

“The refridgerator has never been hacked” and church outreach applications

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The US postal service has a recent ad that starts out with the statement: "the refrigerator has never been hacked." You can check out the video below.  Though the ad is obviously designed to encourage people and businesses to use the mail, it also has some great reminders for all of us as we as we work to reach out to our communities with invitations to seasonal and special events.

Below is the very short video and following it are some more applications for church communicators. At the end of the article are links to templates that you can modify to create invitations for your Christmas events.

Click on the image to go to video and then come back for some more advice.

Fridge hacked
Click on this image to go to the video. It is from a USPS ad reminds us that a message posted on the refrigerator is a great way to communicate.

 

What church communicators need to remember

Humor aside, the fridge is still communication central for every home that has one.

No matter how tech savvy you and your family members are, no matter how many people have mobile phones, ipads, or email accounts, everyone will see an image on the fridge many times. If you want your congregation to be reminded of a holiday event, the fridge is the place you want for your message.

Tips to make your message fridge friendly

  1. Make it a postcard
  2. Be sure the key connecting points of your message are on ONE side of the postcard.
  3. Far too many postcards work hard to create a catchy image on the front, but then expect people to turn it over for connection information.
  4. If the backside only has connection information--you may not know what the details are for.
  5. Think of your postcard as a mini-billboard--connection and details on one side.
  6. People will post it on the fridge and come to your event.
Christmas Invitation Color, snow man, with details
This is an example of the way you can modify our templates to create mini-billboards for Christmas outreach. CLICK HERE to go to the article that has the templates.

A set of Christmas invitations

CLICK HERE to go to an article with Christmas invitations.

There is a free one for everyone and a great set of editable templates for Effective Church Communication Members.

This is just  one of the many resources available for Effective Church Communication Members. Membership is only $9.99 a month and give you access to a huge amount of templates, ebooks, instructional videos year round. CLICK HERE for more information.