Check-in and attendance data also help provide a good picture of how an individual or family is connecting (or not connecting) with your ministry. Obviously, you want to see attendance trends for facility planning and discipleship but there is a lot more to it. Closing the back door to keep folks from slipping through the cracks is a challenge every ministry faces. Data mining, or using the data you already have to help you identify problem spots, is a valuable tool to target discipleship.
Serving data is another way to look at how well folks are being assimilated into your ministry and a great measure of discipleship. Having a clear picture of “who is doing what” can help you target volunteers for different ministry opportunities. Many times 20 [percent] of the people are doing 80 [percent] of the work because the other 80 [percent] of the people aren’t being properly asked or discipled to serve.
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And then there’s cross-comparing the data: Do you know who’s attending and giving but not serving? What about who’s giving and serving but not attending? With online giving, it is also possible to give and not serve or attend.
We often don’t take the time to mine our data to answer these questions and more in order to grow our effectiveness. Corporations prioritize mining data to make money, churches and ministries should mine data to grow the Kingdom of Christ and help equip those they serve to become more faithful disciples.
Jonathan Smith is the owner of MBS, Inc, and Director of Technology at Faith Ministries in Lafayette, IN. You can reach Jonathan at jsmith@faithlafayette.org and follow him on Twitter @JonathanESmith.
