2. Every group needs uniquely targeted communication.
By “grouping” or “circling” people, it helps us strategically organize and target our communication.
The word “strategy” sounds very official and business-like. But targeted communication is not simply a matter of strategy; targeted communication is personal. By only sending relevant content to each group, we protect the people we serve from over-information. This allows us as church leaders to demonstrate, “You matter to me, so I’m only going to send you stuff that matters to you.”
Here’s an example from the church I pastor: We have a group on our ChurchTeams database called “the radical.” This group is made up of the people who are radically passionate about our church and who have leadership influence with others. Some of them are “officially” leaders in that they lead small groups or serving teams, but every one of them are “practically” leaders in that others listen to them and follow them. When our church is rolling out any new efforts, we announce them first to the radical group. They usually get an email with a private video explaining what’s coming at New Life Bible Church. This group loves getting these emails because they hear about things before everyone else. Then they begin to virally influence others before the official news is passed along to everyone else.
Now this is important, so don’t miss it: The people in my Google+ “Star Wars Fanatics” circle don’t know they are in that circle. They just know I like to send them Star Wars related info from time-to-time … and they enjoy it because it matters to them. Likewise, the people in the “radical group” I mentioned in the last paragraph don’t know they are in a group called “the radicals.” They just know that I like sending them sneak previews from time to time … and they enjoy it because it matters to them.
The reason I’m writing this is simple: Learn to think differently about the people in your church and how you communicate with them. Make sure the systems you have in place make this kind of targeted communication easy to execute.
Do the people in your church enjoy getting the information you’re sending because it truly matters to them?
Do your church systems make this kind of communication easy?
Does your church software help or hinder in this regard?
