How to Move from Desperate to Deliberate with Your Ministry Marketing Efforts

“I need more____________” You fill in the blank. Members. Clients. Money. We’ve all experience this at some point in the marketing of our ministries—the point of panic because what you need is greater than what you possess. So what do you do?

Let me tell you first tell what not to do. Don’t panic. Often when faced with difficult situations, impossible deadlines, and urgent needs--we respond from a place of panic and rather than resolving a problem we create a whirlwind of new ones.

Instead, pause a moment. Say a prayer—I usually ask for insight and wisdom. Then step back and take a focused look at your current situation. Be mindful, you are not looking for “what to do” so to speak—rather you’re looking to see what’s going on (or not going on). In crunch time, every move counts so you want to be sure your ministry marketing next steps a precise and purposeful.

Here’s where I see many great leaders get stuck with their ministry marketing efforts—they try to fix everything at once! Getting out of a tough situation doesn’t necessarily require a massive overhaul (actually that will create even more havoc than you need right now). Tiny steps toward a BIG goal will get out of a tight situation quicker and with a lot less stress.

So here’s what we need to do:

1.Get clear on the real challenge you are facing. On the surface it may seem as if you need more members or more income coming in. But a deeper look may reveal what you really need a better system for engaging the members you have (or in business a process for keep clients engaged longer).

2.Identify what caused you to be in this situation. Ask yourself, “How did I get here?” Often times if we go straight to the root cause of a challenge, we can correct it almost instantly. Are members leaving? Are there few members joining? Are the visitors not staying? Notice these are all different challenges and must be addressed in separate ways.

3.Pick one challenge to work on. Though the temptation may be to fix everything NOW, this is the impossible. Attempting to do so is the worse move you can make at this time. In desperate times, deliberate action is required. Ask yourself of the challenges identified; what if corrected now would produce the most ideal situation for my ministry. Work on that one first.

4.Carefully, plan your next step. Random action will only produce random, unpredictable and unable to be duplicated results. What you need at this point is momentum. Tiny strategic steps toward your goal are the best way to achieve this. If you are unsure of your ministry’s BEST next step, now is the time to seek the help or advice of an expert. Any misstep can set you back further than you already are—so please seek help.