$50 discount for Social Media and SEO Bootcamp with Bill Seaver
Bill Seaver is a friend and the “best in the business” when it comes to leveraging social media for greater impact. If you’re a church leader, you need to check this event out.
Here’s the deal: Bill gave me permission to offer the readers of Church Giving Matters a $50 discount on registration. All you have to do is use PROMO CODE: socialboot_cgm.
Everything I know about social media I learned from Bill Seaver.
And you can attend $50 less than everyone else with PROMO CODE: socialboot_cgm! (Discount only available through Friday, July 16.)
Small charity raises $25,000, saves 12 lives via social media
Some people criticize what they don’t understand. Social Media has surely been a misunderstood (and highly debated) fund-raising channel by those in the highest decision-making roles in many nonprofits. The metrics don’t look the same as direct mail, transactional fundraising, so it is dismissed as being premature and the subject of too much hype.
For the nonprofit (e.g. church) trying to engage young donors, social media creates an “event” or something to be experienced instead of simply presenting “problem-solution-urgency” and asking for a measurable response. Young donors want more than a proposition; they wanted to be engaged, empowered, and connected to the gift and response.
I think churches are the best positioned to take advantage of this new social media dynamic because meeting together regularly is built into the DNA of how local churches operate. It would make a lot of sense to set aside your next staff meeting to discuss the steps Estrella Rosenburg took to leverage social media to engage donors and raise $25,000 in one day.
How is your church experimenting with social media as a way to engage others? What’s working for you? What isn’t?
Social media statistics confirm a shift in communication habits
I enjoyed reading Social media statistics to show your boss (or just encourage you) from my friend and social media guru Bill Seaver.
Two things jumped out at me almost immediately:
- The ladders represent a 180 degree turn around in social media practice and engagement.
- The number of participants, observers, or “spectators” has risen to 70%.
What does this mean for the church? If you’re not leveraging social media to communicate with your membership, the people in your pews CAN’T H-E-A-R YOU…or worse…they won’t even know you said anything in the first place.
Build Community, Fund Ministry Series: Commitment precedes funding
One of the great things about hosting a blog like Church Giving Matters is that I get a good excuse to hang out with really great people doing BIG things for the Kingdom. I’m so excited about this new series entitled “Build Community, Fund Ministry.” It is a first attempt to make the connection between the process of member assimilation and ministry funding.
To help, I have Lauren Hunter with ChurchTechToday.com, Steve Caton with Church Community Builder, and Tom Roepke a really innovative church leader who has experience in institutional fund development and currently serves in a local church setting. This is a six part series. Each Monday, I’ll post a new podcast capturing our discussion. I will also post a brief outline so that you can quickly preview what will be discussed.
I hope you are as blessed by this series as much as the four of us were in the process of creating it.
Here is the outline of our FINAL conversation:
Focus: Church funding begins with capturing the heart of an individual, not the dollar. Anyone can get a few dollars for just about anything. When we are talking about cultivating generosity, the soil in which this behavior grows is that of commitment. Without an emotional connection and an expressed commitment, sustainable, sacrificial giving doesn’t happen.
Key ideas:
1. Multiple giving options make it easy for people to give.
2. Communication of impact leads to more frequent and larger gifts.
3. Managing giving patterns could reveal a ministry opportunity.
4. Fully assimilated members tend to serve in leadership, be consistent givers, consistently participate in activities and events, and carry an overall positive and satisfied story into the community.
Listen or download the final podcast of this series.
Previous podcasts in this series:
1. Lifecycle of church membership
2. Connection creates community
3. Community facilitates interaction
Are you a church leader looking for a “social media 101″ event?
My friend Bill Seaver is leading an event called Social Media Bootcamp on March 24, 2010, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Everything I know about social media I learned from this guy. Seriously!
I asked Bill why church leaders should attend this event even though it’s not directly tied to local church ministry. Here is what he said:
Boot camp is important because it’s going to equip and empower with a plan just for you. It’s not just an info session like some seminars.
My interest in social media and the interest of the clients I work with related to social media is NOT about looking “cool.” My clients are interested in a social media plan of action that will make a difference in their ability to increase giving capacity, multiply ministry opportunity, and maximize Kingdom impact.
Again, I learned EVERYTHING I know about social media from Bill Seaver.
If you can, I would suggest you make plans to attend. This event would be a great place to start learning how to communicate in ways that are already native to the people in your pews.
Before you can leverage social media to increase funding, you have to understand how it works.
Christian Computing Magazine covers social media and capital campaigns
Really grateful to Kerry Bural for the guest post opportunity on Ministry Marketing Coach. Shortly after this post appeared, the editor for Christian Computing Magazine called and asked if he could include it in the next edition of their magazine. (Of course I said YES!).
Here is the article as it appears in the February 2010 edition of the magazine.
