This is Part 2 in a series. Check out Part 1 here.
The other day in Multi-Site Staff meeting, we talked about ways that many campuses were connecting with their community. In the meeting, I made a long list of things we did while we were FOSM. I’m planning on sharing them with you in this series. So let’s pick up at #5…
5) Facebook – We started advertising on Facebook about a year ago. It’s not the most effective method in a way that can be measured… butts in the seats. But I like it because for about $200 we were able to get over 1.3 MILLION pages impressions on the screens of people in the San Marcos area. There are about 20-25,000 Facebook users in our immediate area. I really like the fact that our logo was seen over a million times. I can’t help but think that these were seeds that God will use in the future.
6) Flyers in businesses and schools – San Marcos is a music town and a college town. Because of that, practically every business allows flyers to be posted in their place of business. At one point, we paid a guy part-time just to put up flyers. You know, the kind of flyer with the little tear off part. This guy developed a list of about 150 places to put up our flyers. Hardly a week went by that didn’t see someone show up at FOSM because of one of these flyers. And yes, every time he posted a flyer, he tore off one of the little tear off thingies, just so we wouldn’t look like losers.
A note about Flyers in schools: For a brief while, we were able to distribute flyers to elementary age school kids as long as the event advertised benefited the community. The school district no longer allows “outside” flyers so we are not able to do this anymore.
7) Business Cards – These are little cards with a logo of the church and some church info. Here’s an example of one we are using for BAF San Marcos. These cards don’t do anything earth shaking. They are just tools. Tools that you and your people can use to help you invite people to church. I use them so much I feel inadequate if I don’t have some on me. We give them out to church attenders at our campus almost every weekend.
8) Breakfast Tacos – Around here, everybody loves breakfast tacos. They are pretty much a staple in most of Texas, especially South Texas which just so happens to be the BEST part of Texas, lol. Anyway, we love to serve our community in any way we can, especially with FOOD! It’s awesome to just take 10 dozen or so tacos to the Police Department with a poster that says “Thanks for what you do.” Another way is too take 10 dozen or so up to your local school with the same kind of poster. Some of these people we really RELY on (fire, police, teachers, etc) rarely get thanked or honored. Tacos are a great way to do that. Donuts are too. :)
Coming up in part 3: Serving IN the community