Talk to me: Get the word out!

In my previous post, we discussed the Biblical basis for making your group's communications relate desire and qualification of the audience.  As promised, this post will give you some tools for accomplishing those goals.

In my experience, there are four formal ways to communicate to your group:

1. In-class verbal announcements
2. In-class visual announcements (PowerPoint/bulletin board/whiteboard/clipboard)
3. Weekly e-newsletter
4. Facebook group or Facebook fan page

While you do not have to use all of these media, I suggest using at least two of them-- one in-class, and one digital.

For in-class verbal announcements, the best time to do this is at the beginning of class, before the Sunday School lesson.  Use a format that implements the 4WHC details:
Who, What, Where, When, How, Cost (templates coming soon!).  It can be done by your teacher or your director, but it is best done by one person.  Announce the soonest events first.

Visual announcements are great because they include anyone who comes in late or look through the details.  You can easily pass around your typed announcements (templates coming soon!) on a clipboard so everyone can see the details and/or sign up as necessary.  Written announcements on a looping PowerPoint presentation on your classroom's tv screen or whiteboard are also great reinforcements.  A bulletin board can be a useful place to display a calendar of events, plus photos of past events to generate interest.  However, if the bulletin board is in an unused corner of the room, it may prove largely ineffective.  (Tip: Place a breakfast buffet or coffee station near the bulletin board so people will look at it while standing in line).

Weekly e-newsletters take a little time but are useful tools.  You can easily set up professional-looking group e-newsletters through services like MailChimp or Constant Contact.  Yahoo! Groups has this feature plus other functionalities like document hosting (for directories or photos).  Plain mass emails from a volunteer or leader work are ok too, but protect your members' privacy by sending each email message to addressed to yourself, with the others' email addresses in the BCC line.

Facebook Groups or Facebook Fan Pages are another great way to notify members of events.  Remember that not everyone uses Facebook and that, depending on the settings, your posts may not always end up in others' news feeds.  However, Facebook is a great way for your community to connect with each other for needs, individual questions, and just putting faces with names.

For a great overview of these and other communication resources, check out the book Duct Tape Marketing Revised & Updated: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide by John Jantsch (affiliate link).  The first edition was a handy, readable book that gives you the how-to on any marketing plan.  This link is to the updated version, which I have not read.

Lastly, never underestimate the power of personal invitations.  Mass notifications and announcements are great for awareness, but few things will make a person invested in attending like a personal invitation.  Particularly if you have a new visitor or an absent member, try giving that person a call or walking up to them at the end of class to say, "Hey, about that event coming up... are you planning to go?  I would love to see you there, and save you a seat!"  After all, this seems to me one of the best things about the gospel-- Jesus offers us a personal invitation to Heaven and offers to save us a seat there!

"My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. " (John 14:2-3)

I am a member of the church I attend today because a friendly woman at a MOPS consignment sale invited me to her Sunday School class, gave me her phone number and email address, and offered to meet me at the door to help my family find the right nursery care room for our son and the way to the young married adults classroom.  Although this is not a church I would have necessarily thought to visit because of the distance from our home, the personal invitation did the trick in getting me to visit and eventually join.

What will you do to get the word out this week?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below!