By: Portable Church Industries

Source: Campus Planning Dashboard

The post Campus Planning Dashboard appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Your Launch Sunday attendance will be inflated by grand opening well-wishers. That can be good and bad at the same time. Here are some ideas to maximize the good and minimize the bad.

Many churches experience a spike in attendance at their inaugural public worship gathering. Which can be exciting! But then the following Sunday, attendance goes down. Way down. It’s pretty typical to see attendance drop by a quarter to a third the very next week.

Some real-world math here: if there were 150 at Launch, it shouldn’t shock you that there’s only 100 the next week. Or if you have 350 on the first Sunday to have 235 the next.

What in the world is going on?

There are several factors that lead to an attendance spike at a church’s grand opening:

Well-wishers come to celebrate
A marketing push brings higher than usual numbers of new families from your community
All of your regulars come on a single, historic Sunday

The post 3 Ways to Help Your Grand Opening Well-Wishers Help You appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: 3 Ways to Help Your Grand Opening Well-Wishers Help You

The post 3 Ways to Help Your Grand Opening Well-Wishers Help You appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Save a ton of time and data entry when you scan business cards with your smartphone. Your new friend’s contact info goes straight from their card into your address book.

As pastors and church planters, you should be out in your community meeting with civic leaders and community influencers. Imagine a successful week of meeting with a half dozen leaders individually. Or maybe you went to a networking event and met a couple dozen.

Now imagine sitting down afterwards with a stack of business cards to type all the contact information into your contacts app. What you’re feeling is something like dread, right?

No planter I’ve ever met relishes the idea of sitting down and slogging through data entry like that.

So I offer you this power networking tip that saves you all the heavy lifting.

Install the CamCard App

There are several apps like this to choose from, but CamCard is free, well-designed and easy to use.

So easy to use that I recorded these quick how-to videos that are each only about 1:00

I bet that once you get past the very short learning curve, you’d be able to scan business cards in :10 or less. Each.

CamCard is published by the same shop that did the app I recommend for solving portable church offering data security issues…

The post Use this Free App to Scan Business Cards with Your Smartphone appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Use this Free App to Scan Business Cards with Your Smartphone

The post Use this Free App to Scan Business Cards with Your Smartphone appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By Patrick Bradley: If you haven’t heard this response yet in your church planting journey, you will: “Call me back when you’re a real church.” Have a plan to address this before you’re hit with it.

Oh, they never say it exactly like that. But when you invite someone to get involved in the church plant before you have weekly Sunday morning gatherings, it’ll come up. Usually, it sounds more like:

Sounds cool! Let me know when you’ve launched and we’ll check you out
You don’t have a building yet? Keep me posted
I’ll definitely be there for the grand opening!
etc.

If you’re unprepared, it can be disheartening. You see the beauty and adventure going on now and want people to share it.

But instead of letting their response deflate you, accept it as the challenge that it is.

What’s Really Going On

Encoded in this common response are all kinds of potential messages:

You Don’t Fit in my Box

Somewhere in our collective American psyche, there’s a baseline understanding that church happens on Sunday mornings. Your church plant is not at that stage yet, so some people won’t know what to do with you. You might even get asked if you’re some kind of cult.

My Theology of Church is Off

Some people have only experienced a consumerist, non-participatory, only-show-up-on-Sunday-morning kind of church. That may be their fault or another church’s. Regardless, they don’t know what being part of the church is like Monday through Saturday. Or they’re not interested.

I’m Not Ready to Commit

They might be begging you off because they’re not ready to commit to getting involved in a brand new church. They may or may not have any idea what it even entails. But probably they’re politely telling you no.

How to Prepare

Here are some pointers on how to be ready for the “when you’re a real church” response to an invitation:

Let go of any need to control their response
Pray through how God would have you lovingly challenge their assumptions; this may be their God-appointment to grow their ecclesiology
Recognize that this response overwhelmingly comes from already-churched people
Remember that they are people, not grist for your organizational machine
Be clear about what exactly you’re inviting them to (that isn’t Sunday morning worship)

I don’t have to convince you that church is so much more than an event on Sunday morning. But you may have to convince them.

The post Call Me Back When You’re a Real Church appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Call Me Back When You’re a Real Church

The post Call Me Back When You’re a Real Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Third in a series of posts about community mapping tools, here’s another free tool to help you learn your community: postal carrier route maps.

One of the challenges of getting the word out in your community is planning time & resources to let every household know about the grand opening of your worship gatherings. Knowing how many households there are is key to your outreach and marketing plans.

…

The post Free Community Mapping Tools, Part 3: Carrier Route Maps appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Free Community Mapping Tools, Part 3: Carrier Route Maps

The post Free Community Mapping Tools, Part 3: Carrier Route Maps appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Falling in love with your community can be easy; doing the hard work of really getting to know it can take more effort. Here’s another free tool to help you learn your community: school boundary maps.

One of the challenges of demographics research is cutting through the averages. Your report says that the average income is $x in your town, but we all know that each neighborhood is higher or lower than that. How do you start figuring out which is which so you can understand their needs better?

My simple supposition is this: each school’s population ultimately reflects the neighborhoods it serves. Learn about the school and you get at least a beginner’s insight into its surrounding community.

School Boundary Maps

Great!Schools.org provides you an interactive map where you can investigate where each school’s boundaries fall, like this one in Sheboygan:

You can refer back to these maps or even create a new layer on your custom target area map and rough in the boundaries to have them all in one place.

School Boundary Demographics

But the researchy goodness doesn’t stop there! You can click through on each school and get some vital stats, like:

test scores
student progress (are scores getting better over time?)
race/ethnicity
low-income students
contact information

Use the contact information and network with the principal or a counselor about what your’e learning and what opportunities they see. What a great way to speed through your learning curve and get to serving real needs!

Gerrymandered School Boundaries

In my research for this post, I quickly stumbled upon debate about inequities in school boundaries (AKA catchment areas). Whether or not this is on your radar, it should be. It’s a system in need of reform. School boundaries can both reflect racial segregation that already exists in a community as well as feed that segregation.

Some catchment areas are gerrymandered as bad as any congressional district. I found articles that argued gerrymandering has been a tool of segregation. Another article showed research that the most gerrymandered catchment areas were actually the most diverse, which suggests that it has been used as a tool of desegregation. It’s complicated, to be sure, but this map of school district poverty is telling.

We parents can be a little crazy about our kids. If you’re in a community that is drawing or redrawing school boundary maps, that may spark conflict that reveals ancient strongholds, rivalries, or deeply-held values that no one will say out loud. What a great opportunity to learn and to share the love of Christ.

As a missionary to your community, understanding the various neighborhoods can be an important tool toward making a difference where you live. Use these school boundary maps to help.

The post Free Community Mapping Tools Part 2: School Boundary Maps appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Free Community Mapping Tools Part 2: School Boundary Maps

The post Free Community Mapping Tools Part 2: School Boundary Maps appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Planting a church is about building relationships, and many friendships start online these days. Here are 3 online ideas for connecting in your community.

So many of us are living in ever-growing metros and densely-populated areas, and yet we seem to have never felt so isolated and alone. Use all the tools at your disposal to meet people where they’re at and be good news in your community.

1. Community-Based Facebook Groups

Start exploring Facebook for local groups where you might be able to strike up a conversation or friendship. In my small suburb on the fringe of a big metro, there are groups for:

good neighbors of [name of town]
[name of town] 411
[name of town] neighborhood watch
[name of town] community discussion
[name of metro] beer enthusiasts club
[local river] fishing page
[name of town] moms and kids
…and too many more to list

2. Meetup

Find interest or cause-based groups on Meetup.com to get together with people either online or in person. I found everything I could think of and then a bunch more:

outdoors & adventure
cooking
food sensitivities
music
software coding
learning languages
…again, too many to list

Do what you love and make friends along the way!

3. NextDoor

I’m surprised more of us haven’t heard of this one yet. NextDoor.com is billed as “the private social network for your neighborhood”. When you join, you get connected with other users within a certain distance of your address.

You have to verify your address and use your real name to lower the threat of trolls and stalkers. If you’re an early adopter in your neighborhood, they send actual snail mail invitations to your neighbors with an invitation code.

But this may create the opportunity to learn that one neighbor’s name & story, you know the one that rolls right into the garage when they get home and never provide a chance to bump into them? Those online introductions could turn into real-life neighborhood connections, block parties, whatever.

What are the ways you’ve made new friends starting online? Share a story or tool over on social media!:

The post 3 Online Ideas for Connecting in Your Community appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: 3 Online Ideas for Connecting in Your Community

The post 3 Online Ideas for Connecting in Your Community appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Use these free community mapping tools to help you do the hard missionary work of learning your community. Taking notes and marking things down on a saved online map will become invaluable as your network, serve and get the word out in your community.

Radius Around an Address

I am at the Exponential West conference this week, hosted by Mariners Church. This map shows a 5-mile radius around their facility here in Irvine, CA.

Use a radius map for figuring out which of these are within a given distance of your target:

other nonprofits
area churches
major employers
potential worship gathering facilities
colleges, universities and local schools

Draw your own radius map at FreeMapTools.com

How to Import a KLM File

Once you’ve played around and drawn a radius that is meaningful and worth saving, FreeMapTools allows you to export a KLM file. You can use that file to create a layer on your saved My Map by Google.

Here are the quick steps:

Click on the Generate KLM button to save your radius
Create a new layer on your Google My Map
On that layer (left-hand side), click Import
Find the KLM file that was saved to your computer and upload it

That’s it! Now you can turn that layer on and off in your map when you need to use it or hide it.

Drive Time Radius

But we all know that a 5-mile drive could mean 10 to 45 minutes of drive time depending on conditions. This map approximates how far you could get in 20 minutes averaging 30mph from Mariners Church.

This is a great tool to figure out the drive time to your potential worship facility. Use this in conjunction with the average commute data you can find at DataUSA to know what people are used to. Put in your zip code or major metro area and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for commute drive times.

Create your own drive time map at FreeMapTools.com  And you can export a KLM file of this one, too.

All Zip Codes in a Radius

Another great tool from FreeMapTools is their Zip Code Radius Search Map. It’s basically the same as the radius tool above, but instead of a KLM file, you get a list of zip codes that fall within the radius you draw.

Use that list to pull more specific demographics and find lists of organizations (above) to network with in your community.

Zip Code Overlay Map

Sometimes you need to know what the zip code boundaries are in your region. So use US Naviguide’s Zip Code Map to see them overlayed on a Google map. They’re labeled and color-coded.

Use all of these free community mapping tools to get started on your research and record your findings. I’d love to see the maps you create – give me a shout on social media!

The post Use these 4 Free Community Mapping Tools appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Use these 4 Free Community Mapping Tools

The post Use these 4 Free Community Mapping Tools appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Networking is when you’re meeting with civic officials, business leaders, community groups, nonprofits, etc. Here are 6 great reasons to go network in your community today.

I’m sure I don’t have hard numbers to prove it, but I would argue that there’s a tangible difference in the health of a church plant between planters that intentionally network and those that keep to themselves. These may give you a hint why:

Uncover Real Needs

Most community leaders are leading because they want to make a positive difference. Which means that they’re in touch with real needs in the community. Networking with them allows you to ask questions about community needs that get past the online demographics report level of general info.

Find Community Partners

As you sense the calling to address a community need, networking helps you find like-minded organizations to join forces with. What a shame it would be to approach the community with a savior complex and blow right past other groups that are already valiantly addressing the same issue.

Connect Other Groups

Eventually you may have the privilege of connecting other groups together. I sat in on a call this week where the planter had introduced a local coffee shop to a local nonprofit they had never heard of (right in their own community). Through that connection, the coffee shop began donating its day-old pastries, which they had previously been throwing away. The church and the planter didn’t directly benefit from that connection, but the community is better for it.

Make a Friend

As a church planter, you’re a risk-taker and an entrepreneur. You will run into a higher concentration of similarly-wired leaders as you network in your community. Maybe a new friendship is waiting to be born, one with no agenda other than being good friends with things in common. Who couldn’t use a few more of those?

Find a Facility

Sometimes finding a facility to host worship gatherings is a challenge. When you network with realtors, city planners and the like, you are connecting with people that know every facility in the community. They might be able to suggest something you haven’t thought of, or provide entree to a facility that wouldn’t initially have considered you.

Boost Your Energy

This is an common side effect when you go to network in your community: planters are people persons, and being out talking to people is likely to charge your batteries more than sitting behind a laptop screen checking things off a to-do list. You have to do some of that, too, but why not be more fully alive by spending time with other leaders in your community?

Networking isn’t just going to happen. There will be so many demands competing for your attention. Resolve to meet with at least 2 community leaders every week for the next 6 months and see how your ministry changes!

The post 6 Great Reasons to Network in Your Community appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: 6 Great Reasons to Network in Your Community

The post 6 Great Reasons to Network in Your Community appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: When a business or individual donates something, send them a church donor acknowledgement letter for their tax records.

A local coffee shop has generously offered to provide coffee and muffins for your workers at a community service event. How exciting! All they want in return is a tax receipt so that they can write off the donation when they file their business return next year.

One of the first financial systems you set up for your church is keeping track of cash tithes & offerings so you can mail out giving statements to your supporters and members. You can include non-cash donations in those annual giving statements, but the receipt you give them right away is different when the donation isn’t monetary (cash/check/ACH/card).

The Church Donor Acknowledgement Letter

All other things being roughly equal, I see 2 main differences in a church donor acknowledgement letter:

No Dollar Amount

You describe the donation but do not valuate it. That actually makes your job a whole lot easier. It’s up to the donor to determine its value when they file their taxes. All you have to do is record what was given.

Different Disclaimer

For tithes and offerings to a church, you should include the language:

No good or services were provided by our organization in consideration of this donation apart from intangible religious benefits.” (or similar)

You finally got that shoe store to donate 20 pairs of shoes to your church for your back-to-school community service project. They should absolutely get a receipt, but they probably didn’t give the shoes for “intangible religious benefit.” Your church donor acknowledgement letter can omit the last part of the disclaimer.

What to Include

According to the IRS, your church donor acknowledgement letter must include:

your church’s name
description (but not value) of the non-cash contribution
a statement that no goods or services were provided by your church

…and I would recommend adding:

a statement that your church is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization
your church’s federal EIN (some people will call this your ‘nonprofit number’)

When This Doesn’t Apply

You’ll need a 3rd version of a donation receipt if you’ve given the donor anything worth more than $10 at the time they made their cash or non-cash donation.

For instance, you do a fundraiser dinner and charge $50 a plate at the door. If the cost of the dinner is $15, you need to disclose that, and they’ll only get to write off $35 on their taxes. Or maybe you send each of your outside supporters a year-end photo book of the life of your church as a special thank-you. Keep it under $10 or it has to go on the giving statement.

There are still plenty of generous individuals and business owners out there willing to do good in the community through a church. There’s no reason you can’t send them a thank you letter that also serves as their tax receipt.

So use these guidelines to draft yours today or check out this free template from Passion for Planting to get you started.

The post How to Write a Church Donor Acknowledgement Letter appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: How to Write a Church Donor Acknowledgement Letter

The post How to Write a Church Donor Acknowledgement Letter appeared first on Passion for Planting.