#1 Missed Opportunity for Growth.

Imagine the following scenario that happened in Florida.

A seafood restaurant named The Florida Flounder had it's birthday celebration. They sent out mailings, they had TV and radio spots, and they even put out door hangers with coupons for the celebration.

The turnout was great. One of their best weekends ever.

To continue the excitement of the weekend and get the attendees back and even those that might have missed the celebration, they set course on an incredible strategy... "if we build it, they will come." 

That's right, they did nothing. They decided to wait for their fall festival to continue their marketing.

Sound familiar? It should, because a majority of churches in the U.S. put everything into their Easter outreach and then go on an outreach break.

One of the major differences between those churches who are growing the Kingdom and their membership is that they take advantage of the mailings, communication, and attendance at Easter to continue ongoing outreach.

Continuing outreach right after Easter does the following:

1. Shows your neighbors that you still care about them during times other than holidays, so that maybe they should care about you other than those times too.

2. That the way their spirit was touched on Resurrection Sunday can continue in their daily lives.

3. For those who received your information, but didn't attend, it gives them another chance to try you out this week.

4. By conducting a service outreach like a food drive or distributing batteries for smoke detectors, it shows that besides a place of worship on holidays, your church is relevant for every day. That in turn makes Christ relevant for every day.

Solution:

That all sounds great, but how?

1. First, when you obtain a list of the names and addresses in your community, make sure you can use the list all year. When you purchase a list, you are actually renting it. And the rental is usually for 1 time, 2 times, or 1 year.

2. Next, give your teams tangible guides to help them reach their assigned neighborhoods. This includes a script to use as a guide, a list by street and house number of every home, and a map to show them the way.

3. Track and communicate your progress. This saves time, money, and energy because you know where you have gone and where to go next.
   It also gives your teams valuable feedback to keep them going, encouragement to participate in your next outreach, and will make the word of mouth about their experience more positive so that you have new participants next time.

4. Finally, start out simple. Everyone can pray, so begin by prayerwalking your community. The weather is nice, or getting there, and both the lives of those praying and the homes they are praying for will be changed. Prayer will also open up hearts and opportunities for your next outreach.

To find out more on implementing these solutions, please go to www.mappingcenter.org/communityconnector or call 888.627.7997.