The fact that you’re reading this right now is a sign that church newsletters work. Churches and ministries must stay connected to their people. There is no easier way to maintain that connection week after week than by using professional, stunning, email newsletters.

Continue reading “The Best Way to Stay Connected with Your Congregation” »

church devotionals · church email marketing · church emails · email marketing

Continuing our theme of creating compelling and quality newsletters through Constant Contact, I wanted to address one point. How do you craft an email newsletter in such a way that church members will forward on to their friends? The goal in a church newsletter is not just to inform church members, but to spread the word to others as well.

There are two means to accomplishing this. One is a bit more difficult and takes some practice. The other is very easy.

1. The sort-of difficult answer: create absolutely riveting, high-quality content.
People will forward things that they find personally impacting–a poignant testimony, an inspiring story, a Scripture lesson with powerful implications. Develop newsletter content beyond the bland. One way to do this is to simply let Scripture speak for itself. God’s Word is powerful and incisive (Heb. 4:12) and can address any human condition (2 Tim 3:16). Compelling content is the best way to create a newsletter that people will forward.

2. The easy answer: let Constant Contact do it for you.
Constant Contact has a built-in feature that inserts a “forward email to a friend” button into your newsletter. You can remove or edit this feature on the “Email Message Settings” in your newsletter. Or, you can click the “my settings” tab in your account and then navigate to “email features” to set up the forwarding options.

Here is what the forwarding option looks like.

Forward Email to a Friend: (Check the box to include the following links)
	Link text that displays in your email
	Link text that displays in the forwarded email

This is the easiest and most effective way to encourage email forwarding. In fact, when you send it to others, they are then able to easily join your mailing list, too. You should have both great content and easy forwarding options in each newsletter that you send out.

No tags

Excellent church email doesn’t come naturally. It takes time. It takes work. It takes practice. We’ve brainstormed, researched, read, and experimented, and have come up with some solutions for creating excellent emails. Here are Sharefaith’s top ten tips for excellent church emailing. Sharefaith, a leader in church email marketing, makes easy email communication with your church members easy. Find out more about church email marketing on our Church Email page. Our partnership with ConstantContact gives you a powerful tool for excellent emails. Read on for ten tips.

Continue reading “Church Email Tips” »

church email · church email best practices · church email marketing · church email tips · church email usage · church powerpoints

For all it’s impressive features and amazing qualities, sending out church email newsletters is useless if you don’t have the email addresses of your church members. Here is a collection of suggestions on how to grow or maintain your list of church members’ email addresses.

• Put an announcement in the bulletin, requesting everyone to send an email to the church email address in order to have a record of their email address.
• Provide a tear-off or request card in the bulletin that enables people to write down their email address. They can place this in the offering plate or leave it with a church leader.
• If you have some form of contact with members (phone, Facebook, etc.) send them a message or give them a call and ask them for their email address.
• Pass around a sign-up sheet in your meetings, especially small group meetings or Sunday School classes, to collect email addresses.
• Request an email address on the church membership form.
• Include an email address request line on your visitor information cards.
• Include a contact form on the church website in order to collect names and email addresses. You may also wish to include a “Join Our Mailing List” button or “Forward to a Friend” feature for broader distribution.
• Put email request cards in high traffic locations of the church facility, such as lobbies, near restrooms, etc.
• Make an announcement from the pulpit requesting email addresses.
• Use a video (click on the image above) that displays the church email address and website as a means to gaining additional email addresses.
• If you do not have a church directory, consider starting one. Request email addresses as part of the information in the directory.

Constant Contact, in addition to being one of the best email marketing tools available, also has one of the finest email list management tools. Each email you send gives recipients the choice to opt-out of future mailings.

Remember, “church email marketing” isn’t a term meant to denigrate the dignity of the Body of Christ. It is a term that is used to spread the life-changing Word to as many people as possible using the medium of email communication. And if you haven’t yet started using Constant Contact, click here to get started on your free two-month trial. (No credit card information is required.)

No tags

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing tips and tutorials on using Constant Contact, a church email solution. Much of what we have covered deals with reaching out to church members and attenders. That is one of the most obvious uses for such a powerful platform as Constant Contact. Now, let’s think about a different group of people–church volunteers. Constant Contact is also an incredibly powerful tool for keeping in touch with this group of people. These could be Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, nursery workers, ushers, deacons, maintenance workers, etc. Why is it important to keep in touch with them?

• Your ministry runs on volunteers. They are integral to the life of your church.
• Your volunteers have chosen to be involved in the life of the church.
• Your volunteers want to know that their role is appreciated and recognized.
• Your volunteers need some regular contact with church leadership and administration so the leadership can hear their feedback, and so the leadership can give them instruction or advice.

For this reason, consider using Constant Contact to maintain regular contact with this group of people. Start by collecting the email addresses of each one of your volunteers. Then, sit down to think about what kind of information and contact would be helpful to have with church volunteers. Here are some ideas.

• An occasional “thank you” note for their service to the church.
• Special testimonies from other church members on how the ministry of the volunteers has been meaningful.
• A regular update including a short devotional or encouragement from the Bible.
• Information regarding church news, changes in policy, answers to frequent questions, etc.
• Updates regarding upcoming birthdays or special events of other church volunteers.

Essentially, you can send them a mini-newsletter which would include more ‘insider’ information than the regular churchwide newsletter. Doing so is a way to help your volunteers know that they are included and valued in the ministry of the church. Beyond the occasional email update, you can also send them a survey. We’ve discussed sending surveys churchwide, but there is important information that you can gain from a volunteer-specific survey as well.

• Find out how many hours they spend each week in their volunteer ministry.
• Determine if the church is providing them the resources and instruction that they need for their responsibility.
• Find out what would be most helpful to them in terms of support for their ministry.
• Take suggestions for improving the church ministry in some way.
• Ask them for their input on enhancing their specific area of responsibility (e.g., Sunday School curriculum, more mops for cleanup, a nursery paging system, etc.)
• Rate their level of satisfaction with the volunteer ministry in which they are involved.

It can be easy to overlook this group of people who comprise the ministry core and the essential machinery of the church. Regular email contact is a way to maintain contact and help to sustain their ministry in your church. If you haven’t started your free trial with Constant Contact, get started by clicking here.

No tags

An email devotional is a ideal for keeping touch with church members and providing spiritual insight for their benefit. Using email to send a devotional is also quite easy using Constant Contact.

Topic: How to write a devotional article that can be emailed regularly to church members.

Time Required: However long it takes you to read this article

Goals:

• To understand some basic suggestions for writing a devotional article.
• To have a pattern you can follow in writing a devotional email article.

Regularity
How often will you send out the devotional email? The more often you write, the more time it will take, so this factor should be part of your consideration. Devotional emails should be regular or systematic. Weekly is best.

Length
The rule of thumb on length is to keep it short! Email devotionals are not sermons. A one to three paragraph length is just right.

Content

Devotionals should contain spiritual encouragement, knowledge, or inspiration. People face challenges on a daily basis—-challenges from their flesh, the world, and the devil. They need hope. Romans 15:4 tells us that “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” For this reason, weekly email devotionals should be built on God’s Word. Using the Bible is far more effective and enduring that another person’s thoughts on life. Your content should focus upon Scripture.

Visual
Daily devotionals should be easy to read, using an easy writing style and an attractive layout. An unsightly devotional may never get read. Sharefaith provides attractive artwork that can enhance your email devotionals. Included are email headers, footers, and other artwork designed for email and Constant Contact.

Developing A Devotional

Start with Scripture
Since devotional emails should be short and taken from the Bible, developing a devotional is simple. For your subject, find a verse or a Scripture passage that God has used in your life. Or find a verse that deals with a specific challenge or current event. The most effective devotional material comes from Bible passages that God is working into your life.

Bring It into Life
After finding a Scripture passage, think of an illustration, life situation or a brief story that ties into the theme of the passage. Use as your starting point something short that grabs the reader’s attention, and show them how the Bible applies to daily life.

Open It up
Following a vivid first few lines, explain the passage by opening its meaning with a brief explanation. You don’t need to be a highly-trained theologian to craft an effective devotional email. Your explanation can contain three or four important points that the passage teaches. Simple, brief, and understandable.

Apply It to Life
The most significant portion of your devotional email should indicate specific ways that the reader can follow the teaching of the Bible in their daily life. Be specific. From the daily challenges of a homemaker to the high-pressure schedule of an executive, every person needs the endurance, encouragement, and hope from the Bible.

Conclusion

Writing a powerful devotional will take practice and care. Keep in mind that your purpose in writing an email devotional is not to promote your church or impress your readers. Your purpose in writing an email devotional is to edify other believers and encourage them in their love for Jesus (Romans 15:14).

No tags

Have you ever considered conducting a church survey? At first thought, the idea might not appeal to you. Perhaps it seems too consumer-oriented or unnecessary. Think again. There are powerful benefits to conducting a church survey. A church survey is not a tool by which you can cater a church’s ‘services’ to fleshly appetites. It is a tool by which you can measure your church’s effectiveness or obedience to God’s Word, a thermometer by which you can understand your people’s spiritual status, and an administrative tool by which you can streamline the management of your assembly. While there are inherent dangers in any man-made tool, the church survey is an excellent means by which your church can improve.

What Can I Learn from a Church Survey?
The short answer is, you can learn whatever you want to. It’s up to you. Here are some specifics:

• The spiritual activity of your people. Gain a better understanding of their Bible reading, devotional habits, prayer life, etc.
• Church demographics. Learn about your people’s age, gender, occupation, income level, family information, and other metrics that can aid in your ministry.
• Church attendance or program effectiveness. How often do your people attend church? What service(s) do they go to? How many, if any, of your church’s program do they participate in?

The information you gain from a church survey can give you valuable information to help you more effectively shepherd the church. As you understand your church members better, you will be able to more effectively target their spiritual needs. For example, by knowing that few of your people have graduated from high school, you as a pastor will be advised to keep the teaching at a certain level. If your surveys reflect that few members read their Bibles each week, perhaps a greater emphasis should be placed upon personal devotions.

Church surveys work both ways. A church survey also informs the leadership as to their effectiveness in the ministry. Church leadership can learn a lot by listening to people. Using a survey to do so allows people to share their perception of the leaderships organization or efficiency. You can gain feedback as to how the people are understanding the preaching. You may also gain some much-needed feedback on the nursery program, youth group, or evangelism programs of the church. Surveys can alert the church leadership to their blind spots and help them know how to make corrections.

What Are Some Guidelines for Conducting a Church Survey?

1. Keep it brief. Few people enjoy filling out long surveys. Be sure that your survey accomplishes your purposes and no more. Be cautious about asking for lengthy answers or asking too many questions.
2. Make it optional. Don’t force a survey on your people. Sending the survey by email and reminding them that it is not a requirement, could make it more likely that they will fill out the survey accurately.
3. Assure them of confidentiality. Your goal is not to snoop. Confidently and honestly assure them that their church survey answers will remain confidential, and will not be shared with anyone else.
4. Not too often. People can get tired of surveys. After all, when people fill out surveys at a restaurant, surveys at work, and surveys for the Census Bureau, it can be a bit wearisome. Keep church surveys infrequent.
5. Easy is best. A survey ought not to be difficult for people to do. Emailed surveys that are web based are the most ideal form of survey. The surveys we will discuss in upcoming posts are based on Constant Contact’s online survey tool

No tags

The Sharefaith blog has been featuring practical how-tos and instructions on maximizing your church’s outreach in a series we call “church email marketing.” We are using Constant Contact as the primary tool for doing so.

This set of instructions, how to create an email church devotional, will build on the knowledge that you may have gained if you have already constructed a church newsletter using Constant Contact. If you have no familiarity with Constant Contact, please take a moment to read the explanation or visit their learning center to find out more. Also, you may want to brush up on last week’s tips for how to write a church email devotional.

Topic: How to Create a Church Email Devotional.

Time Required: 20-30 minutes, not counting the time it may take to write copy.

Goals:

• To show you step-by-step what is required to send out an email devotional.
• To establish a pattern for regular distribution of a church email devotional.
• To demonstrate how easy church email devotionals can be.

1. Login to Constant Contact.
2. Click on “Create an Email.”
3. Create a generic name for your email that allows you to remember the topic, date, or both. This will only be seen to you, not your recipients.
4. Select a template for your devotional. With over 400 pre-designed templates, there are plenty to choose from. You may want to select the category “religious pack” to see if one of these templates could work for your email devotional. Remember, that nearly every template is customizable with your own pictures, logos, layout and font faces. Generally, speaking, for an email devotional, the simpler the layout the better. Since most devotionals will not have multiple articles or entries, a simple one-article layout is best. When you’ve selected your devotional email template, click “next.”
5. Edit your email message settings. Keeping the titles uniform is a great idea. For example, each devotional email subject could be “Community Church Weekly Devotional.” That way, recipients will know what they are receiving. That title could be followed by the specific theme of the devotional. For example, “Community Church Weekly Devotional: Praying Your Way Through Temptation.”

In this step, you will take the time needed to develop your church email devotional. Again, regarding the layout, simplicity is key. Your intent is to focus upon the theme of the devotional. This step will take the longest time, especially if you use this step to actually write your copy. Once you’ve finished and are satisfied with the layout and appearance of your daily devotional, click “save and continue.”

1. Select the list of recipients for your church email devotional. You may wish to make the devotional email an opt-in program, allowing church members to choose whether or not they want to receive it. Or, you can send it to the general church email list, then allow them to choose if they want to receive it or not. Constant Contact has a mechanism that allows users themselves to opt in or out of the email list.
2. Schedule the delivery date and time. With the schedule feature, you are able to write emails for days, weeks, or months in advance. It may be a good idea to write a few, schedule them, and keep up with your devotional email ahead of schedule, so you don’t miss a date.

• Add images. Don’t forget to add relevant clipart or pictures to your message. Each of the clipart images from Sharefaith are optimized for use with Constant Contact. Adding pictures to an email devotional makes it much more interesting and readable. Browse an alphabetical list to find exactly what you need.

• Invite feedback. You may wish to include a link to the church website or a means of emailing a pastor or counselor. If people want additional instruction or helping, give them a means to obtain it.
• Keep the same theme. As you send out a regular devotional email, keep the theme the same each time. This will save you a lot of time. Rather than customize the formatting and layout each time, simply reuse the one you’ve already made. This also creates a brand image and orients recipients to the recurrence of the devotional email. To do this click on “my emails” in the Constant Contact header. Under “existing emails” find your devotional email and click the “copy” icon. Now, you will be able to follow the process for using the old devotional layout to send a new one with different text.

No tags

A regular email devotional is a great way to keep in touch with church members and provide spiritual insight for the day. Using email to send a devotional is very easy using Constant Contact.

Topic: How to write a devotional article that can be emailed regularly to church members.

Time Required: 10 minutes (time enough to read this article)

Goals:

• To understand some basic guidelines for writing a devotional article.
• To have a pattern to follow in writing a devotional article.

Regularity
How often will you send out the devotional? The more often you write, the more time it will take you, so this should be part of your consideration. A devotional email should also be regular or systematic. Weekly or daily is optimal.

Length
Rule of thumb: keep it short! Emailed devotionals are not entire sermons in print. A one to three paragraph length is just right.

Content
Devotionals are intended to convey spiritual encouragement, knowledge, or inspiration. People face challenges on a daily basis—-challenges from their flesh, the world, and the devil. They need hope. Romans 15:4 tells us that “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Thus, daily devotionals should be built on the Scripture. Using the Bible is far more effective and enduring that some other person’s thoughts on life.

Visual
Daily devotionals should be easy to read, using a simple writing style and an aesthetic layout. An unattractive devotional may be an unread devotional. Sharefaith provides attractive artwork that serves to enhance your email devotionals. Included are email headers, footers, and other artwork designed for email and Constant Contact.

Start with Scripture
Since devotional emails should be brief and from the Bible, the process of developing a devotional is rather simple. For your subject, find a verse or passage that God has used in your life. Or, you can find a verse that deals with a particular challenge or current event. The most effective devotional material comes from Bible passages that God is currently working into your life.

Bring It into Life
After finding a suitable Scripture passage, think of an illustration, life situation or story that will tie into the theme of the passage. This provides a great starting point that you can use to grab reader’s attention and show how the Bible applies to daily life.

Open It up
Following a vivid first few lines, explain the passage by opening its meaning with a brief explanation. You don’t need to be a Bible scholar to craft an effective devotional email. Your explanation can contain three or four important points that the passage teaches.

Apply It to Life
The final and most significant portion of your devotional email should point to specific ways that the reader can follow the teaching of the Bible in their daily life. Be specific. From the daily challenges of a homemaker to the high-pressure schedule of a businessman, everyone needs the endurance, encouragement, and hope that the Scripture provides.

Crafting a powerful devotional will take some practice and thoughtfulness. Remember that the main purpose of a devotional is not to promote your church or impress your readers. The main purpose of a devotional is to edify other believers and encourage them in their love for Jesus (Romans 15:14).

No tags

In this new series on Church Email Marketing, we are focusing on helping churches create and maintain an effective email marketing program. Obviously, the word ‘marketing’ is not meant to denigrate or commercialize the powerful spiritual message of the church, but is a term intended to convey the goal–getting the word out as effectively and intentionally as possible. Church email marketing has potential for enhancing the unity, spiritual depth, and strength of your church. Yesterday, we dealt with some guidelines for writing a church email newsletter. Today, we’ll dive into the details of how exactly to create a church email newsletter. You may be surprised. It’s pretty easy.

Please note: This discussion and future how-tos make use of a particular online program, Constant Contact. In order for this guide to be effective, you will need to use this program. If you are hesitant, please be aware that the product is 1) very easy to use, 2) free for the first two months, and 3) highly effective for all your church email needs. Constant Contact is more than an e-mail program. It is a multifaceted tool that fills nearly every facet of electronic communication that you need with your members.

Click here to sign up with Constant Contact (it will only take a couple minutes), than return here to start your newsletter.

Topic: How To Create a Church Email Newsletter

Time Required: About 45 minutes. This article does not account for writing the newsletter copy or setting up a contact list. Please click here to find out how to set up a contact list. An explanation is located under “contact list management.”

Goals:

• To show you step-by-step what is required to send out a church newsletter.
• To establish a pattern for regular distribution of a church email newsletter.
• To demonstrate how easy church email newsletters can be.

1. Login to Constant Contact.
2. Click on “Create an Email.”
3. On the screen that follows, you will be asked to create a name for your email newsletter. Choose a name that will help you remember when the newsletter was sent or for what purpose. This title won’t be part of your email, so you won’t have to worry about people seeing it. When you’ve selected a title, click the “next” button.
4. This is the point at which you will choose a template for your newsletter email. Using these predesigned templates virtually guarantees that your newsletter will be sharp and professional. There are 68 templates, so you should find one that fits your style. However, it is important that you use the same template for each newsletter, changing it only for special purposes or according to the holiday or season. It is best to stick with one design, so people see uniformity and recognize the newsletter when they receive it. Remember, if you can’t find a template that looks exactly like what you want, you will be able to change pictures, colors, and font once you move on to the next step. Click the “next” button.
5. Now it’s time to prepare up your email newsletter settings. This section works pretty much like a regular email. First, type the subject of your email newsletter (something like “Community Church Winter Newsletter” works fine). Then, type the name that the email will display as the sender (“Community Church,” for example). After confirming your email address as the “From Email Address,” you will probably want to leave the next few settings as they are. These features enable people to see a web version of the email or to fix any display problems. Click “next.”

1. This next section is the heart of your church email newsletter. The appearance of your email newsletter will vary according to what template you have selected. In the steps that follow, we will familiarize you with how to function within this email layout.
2. The toolbar contained in each section of the newsletter layout allows you to do the following (from left to right): 1) The pencil on paper icon allows you to edit that particular block. 2) The two papers with plus symbol icon allow you to copy the particular block, and 3) the trash can symbol deletes the block. The icon you will click on most often is the first one.
3. When you click on the edit button, you will see the following template. If you are familiar with a word processing program, many of the icons will be the same. Here you can select your font face, styles, size, color, alignment and other formatting features.

The template is just that–a template. You do not need to add as many articles as your template suggests. Feel free to upload pictures, move boxes, rearrange them, or make any other changes you wish. What you see on this screen is how your church email newsletter will appear to the recipients. As you work, be sure to save your changes by frequently clicking the “save” button! You don’t want to lose all the work you’ve done.

1. When you have completed your email newsletter, click the “save and continue” button.
2. Now, you will be ready to send your newsletter out by selecting a mailing list. Even if you don’t have a full church member email list, go ahead and send out your first newsletter. Be sure to send a copy to the church office or to your personal email address as well. Click “next.”
3. Choose the delivery date for your newsletter. If you are unlike me, and have things done way ahead of time, you can schedule the newsletter, send it immediately or save it as a draft to work on it later. Clicking on the “finish” button will complete your project. Congratulations!

• Don’t get caught up with having a lot of articles, sections, or special features in your newsletter. Allow it to be a work in progress. Add as you see fit, but the most important thing is simply to get a church email newsletter started. Allow your newsletter to grow just as your email contact list grows. Constant contact will help you manage both of these.
• You will need to determine how often your newsletter will be distributed. Monthly or quarterly is probably often enough. Special announcements can be sent out at anytime. Just be careful not to be constantly sending out emails, or your church email newsletter will lose its effectiveness.
• If this guide has been helpful to you, and you think it may be helpful for others, please forward it along to them by clicking the “tell a friend about it” button in the upper right hand column.

No tags