Do any of these names ring a bell for you? 

• Church Management System (ChMS)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Member Database 
• Donor Management Software

There are a plethora of names for the technology non-profit organizations and churches use to manage their records of membership or donors. 

No matter what you call it, this system (database) is the very heart of your operation which pumps blood (i.e. information) to all other areas of your organization. If this vital organ is showing signs of disease or aging, less blood will flow to the other important organs of the body and eventually the heart will fail. 

Now, internal medicine is not our specialty. But you get the idea! Without a database that has the latest tools and features, your staff will be unnecessarily overworked and frustrated while your communication with members/donors will be sporadic and uninspiring. 

How do you know when you need a new database? If your system checks any one of the boxes below, your database is no longer meeting the needs of your organization:
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​During the COVID pandemic, we learned how important it was to be able to access important files and tools while at home rather than in the office. Three years later, we still see organizations limit their efficiencies by using a database software solution that is only installed on a computer or two in the physical office. 

Database tools should be available to your staff wherever they are working on whichever device they choose, either through a secure web browser or a mobile app. Giving your staff the tools they need, when they need them, creates a much more efficient process and ensures data integrity. 

If your team has to wait until they are “in the office” to update records or find member/donor contact information, you can imagine what may accidentally get missed or how much longer tasks will take. 

We have even seen staff have confidential information of donors/members insecurely stored on their personal laptops because they haven’t had the chance to get to the office yet. 

Your organization must securely store and handle the confidential and personally identifiable information of those who support your mission. 

Ask your current provider if they have a web-based or cloud-based option. If not, it is time for a new system.
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When managing a non-profit or church, so many systems and processes are essential to your mission—giving and donor management, new visitor tracking, event registration, reporting, email lists, etc. 

Yet, we rarely find that these systems “talk to each other”. Therefore, your staff is spending a significant amount of time updating individual systems, pulling reports from multiple sources, or following up to collect payments for registrations received months ago. 

Imagine how the scenarios below could have an impact on your organization, your supporters, and your staff:

• A visitor comes to a community event you are hosting, has a great conversation with one of your staff, and ends up volunteering for your next food drive project. Your team lead for the food drive immediately receives a notification email that a person new to your system has signed up to volunteer for the event. Your team lead reaches out a few days afterward and welcomes them to the team and shares what to expect in their role! 
  
  
• You send out an email newsletter providing an update to all previous donors about your recent campaign. You only need $1,000 left to reach your goal of providing 100 filled backpacks for students to start the school year. A supporter who hasn’t given in the last two years is inspired to make an online gift for the final $1,000. You immediately receive a notification and pick up the phone to thank them for their gift. 

These scenarios can only be accomplished effectively with an integrated system of tools that shares information back and forth while providing simple processes and notifications for staff.
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Pulling a list of members or donors is an important task so that your leadership can be informed and analyze trends. Unfortunately, we have found this simple task can take hours for staff to run database queries to provide accurate results on outdated systems. 

Specific reports, such as a list of households with children 0–5 years old or a list of donors who have given more than $100 in the last 12 months, should be easily accessible to best serve your mission 

These reports tell an important story about your organization. Yet, if it takes considerable time to find the data and write the story, then leaders and staff cannot make informed decisions or communicate proactively. This is devastating for an organization’s growth when information is a prevalent and powerful tool. 
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​Having the financial resources to live out your mission is crucial, which means fundraising is essential to your daily operations. 

Fundraising technology has adapted substantially in the last 15 years with the global adoption of online giving, digital payment systems, online banking, etc. 

This new technology requires updated security measures so it is a great time to evaluate the fundraising and payment tools you offer for donors. 

Many systems now offer online giving which directly connects to member profiles in the database (with secured access for only admin users) as well as pledge and campaign management tools. 

20 years ago, all of your website content needed to be “above the fold” because people would not scroll below what they could first see on the screen due to slow loading times.

However, user behavior has changed (thanks to the invention of smartphones and social media). There is no longer an apprehension to scroll down web pages which means you no longer need as many pages on your site.

If your menu looks like the example below, you are overwhelming users with too many options and making it hard for them to find the information they need in one place.

Condense multiple pages of content into one page and ultimately, simplify your menu to a handful of pages (shoot for 10–15 pages depending on your organization).
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Evoke’s secret visitor assessments consist of:

1. Pre-Visit: review of public communication channels such as your website, social media channels, and Google search results and business pages.
   
   
2. Worship Visit: attendance at a worship service or two without any prior notice to the staff or congregation. We assess the overall hospitality of the congregation & leaders, outdoor & indoor signage, all messaging, screens & visuals, accessibility of the service, the inclusion of online worship community, etc. 
   
   
3. Post-Visit Recommendations: A thorough report is provided of our findings and observations along with a list of key actions to continue and recommendations for improvement. 
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If you are interested in having a secret visitor assessment for your congregation, please contact us! We would be happy to provide that outside perspective to your church!

Imagine you are out for an afternoon walk (hopefully with a cute pup in tow) and you pass by this house. 

What is your first impression? What do you notice?

What thoughts did you have about the owners of this property? 

Looks a little unloved and messy, right? 

Just like a physical location, your digital presence leaves an impression, a feeling with those passing by. 

Whether people “walk by” your website, Instagram reel, or email newsletter, we want to avoid any feelings of chaos or confusion so that you can inspire them to take action and engage with your organization. 

You can do just that through a consistent, personalized visual identity. 

Below are a few reasons why a visual identity is so important to the success of your organization. 

1. It’s more than a logo. 
   Your organization is more than just a logo. Yes, the logo is important, but what truly allows your organization to stand out and be seen is the accompanying color palette, imagery, fonts, patterns, and layout that transform someone from a website visitor to a donor or worshiper. 
   
   “But what about Nike?” you might ask. Their branding is simply a logo and tagline.
   
   Yes, but also….Nike is a multi-billion dollar organization that spends between $2.5 - $3.5 BILLION PER YEAR on marketing and advertising so people quickly recognize the swoosh. 
   
   You don’t have that monster of a budget. Or global presence. So you cannot solely rely on a simple logo to be understood by the surrounding community. 
   
   You must be consistent in your visual presence in every communication channel, every day, year after year for people to begin to recognize your identity and thus your organization and what your mission is.
   
   
2. Visuals capture more attention. 
   Regardless of the communication channel you use, visuals (i.e. photos, videos, graphics, etc.) are proven to garner more attention, likes, and follows.
   
   The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” still rings true today even in the age of AI-written content used by billions of people monthly. 
   
   Imagery and colors can evoke emotional reactions while also showcasing the personality of your organization. 
   
   For example, check out these two church websites. 
   Goserve.net
   Oslcrockford.com
   
   What is the mission and personality of each? What emotions do you feel when you visit the church’s website? 
   
   The visual difference is intentional even though they are both Lutheran churches. 
   
   Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is located near Washington, DC and has a large, traditional congregation that is reflected in the rich jewel-tone color palette and kaleidoscope-like patterns. 
   
   On the other hand, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church highlights movement through organic patterns and vibrant colors, reflecting the church’s focus on future generations and growth in the heart of the suburban Midwest. 
   
   
3. Perception is reality. 
   People want to support organizations that look like they have their stuff together. Period.
   
   Human beings highly value order, convenience, and simplicity. 
   
   If your communications are disorganized or confusing, people will start to question how well the organization is internally managed. And large donors will not make that much-needed online gift if we make it too complicated for them to do so.
   
   Yet, organizations continually forget to prioritize their visual identity and online presence. Understandably, we get distracted by the daily tasks that require immediate attention.  
   
   You rarely have time to “test out” the online or in-person visitor experience to identify the loopholes or pain points. 
   
   ​We highly recommend doing an annual digital assessment of your communication channels so you can better understand where your visual identity, communications, and processes may need some updating! 

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Every interaction with your organization needs to offer a quick and easy introduction to the mission of your organization, what you value, and how others can get connected.

A visual identity is crucial to making a great first impression.  

With overall church attendance continuing to decline year after year, many congregations are searching for ways to better their visitor engagement and get new folks connected into ministries.
 
As we look to the summer, usually a high visitor traffic time for congregations, we wanted to share the top three common pitfalls we see in church visitor engagement as well as solutions to overcome these pitfalls. 

It is easy to point out the problems—we are committed to helping you find solutions to the communication and engagement issues you face every day!  

Okay, let’s get into it! 
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According to a Barna study about the new Sunday morning as a result of the pandemic, more than one-third of practicing Christians attended online worship with churches they do not normally attend and 42% listened to/watched messages from other religious leaders!

Although this study was completed in June 2020, you can assume this practice of “virtual church shopping” and finding spiritual guidance from various sources continues today. 

Just like the front door of a church moved to a digital space in the 2000s in the form of its church website, Christians now have more sermons, choir anthems, devotions, and online worship services at their fingertips than ever before. 

It would be negligent to assume Christians are not using these resources to help them have a better understanding of a particular congregation, who is welcome in the church’s physical space, and what the church values are prior to walking through your physical front door. 

Why prioritize the online experience? 
At Evoke, we have seen a shift from prioritizing the online experience, back to an acute focus on “butts in the seats” under the lens of “rebuilding community.” Because churches are no longer required to maintain an engaging online presence, some have let it fall to the wayside. 

As budgets have taken a hit over the past three years, along with the constant comparison of “before the pandemic” numbers, we understand the human reaction to revert back to what we understand best.

Yet, there is a lot we were forced to learn about how technology can be used to enhance worship and engage more people in ministry. 

However, these important learnings seem to be lost in the fearful shuffle of what comes next for churches in a post-pandemic world and how to get people “back in the building”. 

Instead of believing the ways of doing ministry during the pandemic were temporary, how could your congregation utilize your learnings and integrate technology into your processes long-term to feed your in-person ministry opportunities? 

When your visitor processes neglect God’s beloved who may prefer online worship, families that are praying and reading scripture together in their living rooms, those who travel often for work, and those who cannot physically visit our spaces for a variety of reasons, we limit the power of God and the work of the Holy Spirit to only the righteous in-person few. And the God that I believe in will and can not be limited by our human view of how church must be done. 

Solution: Establish an Online Greeter & Prayer Team
Just like your in-person greeter team, an online team of greeters should engage with those who are worshiping online, many of whom may be looking for a church home. 

This team should be trained on the dos and don’ts of how to effectively engage with folks online and how to get them connected to digital resources. 

Online greeters should be familiar with upcoming ministry opportunities and events, the church website (and necessary links they can share like a prayer request form), and service/volunteer opportunities. 

“Where are you joining from today?” is a great introductory question to ask during online worship.

Notice we did not say “Where are you joining us from?” -  stay away from “us” language (learn why here!) to help create a more inclusive environment for online worshipers. 

Consider this chat scenario: 
Greeter: Good morning church! Where are you joining from today? It is a wonderfully sunny day in Fairfax, VA today.

Lisa: Myself and my three kiddos are still in our pj’s this morning. The time change kept us away today—sorry! 

Greeter: So happy to have you and the kids in worship today, Lisa! Here is a link to the faith formation resources for today, including some coloring sheets for the kids to enjoy during or after worship. 
www.churchname.org/faithformation

Lisa: Aww, thanks so much! Super helpful for my 3 and 6-year-olds.
 
Greeter: Glad I could help! Hope to see you and the kids for the upcoming Easter Egg hunt on April 8, too. 
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This team can also take it a step further and provide an opportunity to pray over those in need of prayer while the service is taking place. There are a few live stream systems out there that provide an option for private prayer--like Church Online—or use the Messenger feature on Facebook so the person can privately chat with you. 
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Online engagement is more than a friendly “Good morning :)”! You want to proactively provide opportunities for others to share a bit about themselves, their spiritual needs, and connect with others in the congregation.

As you grapple with how to reach out to church seekers and the surrounding community, congregations are trying out new approaches to connect with visitors or looking to other communities of faith for good ideas (copying is the sincerest form of flattery!).
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Yet, the approach to your research and development usually goes something like this:

1. Gather a group of people together
2. Discuss all the new ideas the team has
3. Select the best ideas from the brainstorming
4. Implement a few ideas (usually all at once)

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We like to call this the “spaghetti dinner approach”—throw some spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. If it sticks, then it must be good. 

A critical step missing in the “spaghetti” approach is to first establish a few goals for your visitor process. What are you trying to accomplish with a visitor process? How do you want a visitor to feel when they come to your church? What does your congregation provide to those in your community that may be different from the church down the street? What is important for a visitor to know on their first, second, or third visit?

If the team of people doesn’t have a common goal for visitor engagement, then the ideas generated will feel scattered and disconnected, leaving it difficult to prioritize them. 

The “spaghetti” approach can also lead to conflicting processes, confusing actions for the visitor, or a plethora of take-home materials that rarely get used and quickly become outdated.

Solution: Utilize the Tools You Have & Follow this Implementation Process
After you have set goals, the next step in your process should be to review and assess the current tools and processes. If you don’t have current processes documented or know how they should work, then how can you identify the areas that need the most improvement? 
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This step should include a review of the available tools, communication channels, and information collected to understand what you already have, what is missing, and what tools may not be fully utilized. 

Ultimately, your implementation process should look like this: 

1. Gather a group of leaders in respective areas affected by visitor processes (worship, new members, office staff, communications/media, etc). 
2. Agree on 1-3 goals 
3. Review and analyze current processes and tools 
   1. What is working/not working based on your goals?
   2. What is missing based on your goals? 
   3. How can processes be streamlined? 
   4. How are tools currently being used? 
4. Discuss ideas based on areas of improvement identified in step 3
5. Prioritize ideas and set a timeline for implementation
6. Implement the improvements (not all at once)

When you set your goals for visitor engagement, we highly recommend you do not include gathering contact information as one of them.

Is it helpful to have contact information from a visitor for future follow-up? YES!
​Does focusing on gathering contact information put the needs of your church above the needs of the person in your midst? Also YES! 

Don’t get me wrong, you should build processes that help you gather contact information! But the request for contact information needs to come at the right time—which is usually not within the first five minutes of meeting someone. 

When you solely focus on gathering contact information, you can easily forget that you might be just a stop on someone’s faith journey. And that’s okay. Your congregation is not going to be the church for everyone. But you should make it a priority to share the love of Christ with everyone in your midst. 

Solution: Put the Visitors' Needs First 
Have your team use their brainstorming power to come up with a list of reasons WHY visitors would come to your church.

Your list may include: 

• Because they are new to the area, they want to meet people
• To connect with other parents with kids similar in age
• Because a friend invited them and they haven't been to a church in years
  
• To be spiritually moved by the same hymns their grandfather sang
• Because their parent forced them to come along for the holiday
• Because they are struggling with faith after a terminal diagnosis of a loved one
• To hear an inspiring sermon that connects with world events and their daily life
  
  

Your team can then build an ideal experience at your congregation for each of these potential visitors.

Asking a young adult who has unwillingly accompanied their parents to worship to fill out a connection card and share their email address with you is not going to be fruitful, most likely. 

But providing a warm welcome, engaging them in conversation, and inviting them to the next young adult gathering might be what it takes—at least they will feel seen as a separate being from their parents and welcomed authentically into the community.

Share any other ideas or solutions you may have for better visitor engagement in the comments below!