Strategy and Ministry
I recently spoke with a few Pastor friends of mine about in-person worship and strategies for going back to in-person worship. We talked about several different aspects of the Church and the impact that each decision would have. I thought of the conversation I recently had with Dr. Brianna Parker on my “Ministry Pivot” podcast about the importance of data and using data effectively in ministry. Recently, Givelify came out with a version of their giving platform called the Analytics Studio. This tool can be very useful to Churches and leaders as they engage their congregation and community; here is how:
The View
This new tool gives you a birds-eye view of giving yes but also of engagement. It allows you to see quickly how many people have given and to what envelops. However, a ministry view allows you to see how many people heard the appeal during worship and were inclined to give. For example, let’s say you have an outreach project feeding the homeless or providing supplies to school-age students. You can see in the Analytics Studio how many people responded to those moments, and if you were able to reach your target giving number, we should all have a target. Another helpful view in the studio is the percentage of giving to any envelope. As a leader, you can see how you need to increase your communication or what ministry you might need to pivot. Before you invest more staff time and resources toward a project, you can see the benefit of that project.
The Trends
Another cool new feature, Givelify, shows you an image of donor giving “style.” It shows you the consistent donors and those who are inactive in a particular date range. Using this to engage better those who are consistent and say thank you could be an excellent idea for many churches. Also, looking at those labels (occasional, decreasing, and inactive) can help check on them and make sure they are okay if we don’t see them active in any other part of the ministry. The note here is that some people might have changed their method of giving or be in a season where they can’t give for several reasons. This is even more reason for us to check on them and offer support during this season, and Givelify allows you to see the trends. You can also see those who have given for the first time, which will enable you to engage them early in their Church involvement.
I believe these thoughts and others like them will allow us to think through our ministries and how we impact those we serve in different ways. Givelify has created a great tool to give us information and help us think through the strategy and development of people and communities. How do you use strategy in your ministry?