As I type, I am in the middle of a direct mail project at my church. I am waiting for a call back from my mailing vendor to hear whether or not there will be problem with our USPS permit and our recent name change. This is not the first direct mail campaign I have managed and I have questions about its ineffectiveness. Does it work? If it does, what is the return? In gross terms, is it worth the investment for a non-profit?

Direct mail campaigns in the local church usually start with a big idea. They are timed to maximize natural peaks in community interest in attending church and involve mailing a flier, postcard, or brochure, to massive numbers of addresses from a pre-purchased mail list. Every Easter, Fall, and Christmas, the hippest churches in any given suburb engage in what can best compared to Clark Griswold trying to outdo his neighbors with his own psycho Christmas light display. I can just imagine the conversations that would happen in the mailbox between the mailers themselves, if they could talk:

“Nice cover art, did a 6 year old color that?”

“Shut up. At least I’m original, Mr. I Didn’t Get the Memo that all Variations of ‘Got Milk?’ Have Been Used a Thousand Times Before!”

“Hey guys! Knock it off already! I bet you both are going in the trash the second she sees you. I, on the other hand, am a POSTCARD. I am gonna land some prime refrigerator space. Booyah!”

The benefit of direct mail is obvious and tends carry this time-honored tradition in the modern American suburban church. With direct mail, you can specifically target your audience with direct mail by purchasing mail lists that, for example, include all homes with young children at home. But is this benefit worth the ever-growing expense of direct mail?

The Cost
Naturally, the cost depends on the quantity of bulk mail being sent. Since most churches can not afford first-class mail rates, the cost is anywhere from 5 cents to 10 cents per piece to mail. The printing is more and obviously depends on colors, paper type, finishing, etc. A church who wants to hit 50,000 homes with a tri-fold, full-color piece can expect to pay about $10,000 for the printing, $5,500 for the mailhouse fees, and $4,500 for the postage, totaling $20,000. This is not including if they have to hire a graphic designer to put it together or not. Some companies cater to small churches who have no designers on staff and do package deals for slightly cheaper.

Now for the crude facts. The average return on church direct mail is one half of one percent (.005). Basically, if you mail 50, 000 pieces you can expect around 250 families to respond. At $20,000, the church is basically paying each family $80 to come to church one time.

But there is also the exposure that goes unmeasured and in reality, there is no fool-proof way to gauge the effectiveness of a mail piece. When it comes to cost/benefit discussion of a direct mail campaign for a church, the conversation usually awkwardly tapers off when it gets to the question of what to do once the one half of one percent arrive on campus. That is another post for another time.

The Wrong Question
Like anything, a direct mailer used all by itself as an end-all, is a waste. Church statistics and human common sense tell us that ultimately, people will come and become part of a community of Christ followers because a friend invited them. The question of direct mail or not, is the wrong question. Instead, more time should be spent thinking about and planning an effective communication strategy that involves equipping and vision casting to the biggest, most inexpensive resource any church already has: itself. Corporate America spends billions of dollars trying to figure out how to tap into and create buy-in from its customers and Average Joes. They know that a polished ad with an actress playing a soccer mom selling dish soap is not nearly as effective as a real soccer mom hearing from her friend about the dish soap and how it is on sale right now. The ad is just to create brand recognition and message.

Take Verizon and Subway. The two most annoying ad campaigns on earth right now that are working. Both companies have managed to get regular people, some not even their customers, literally singing and using their tagline in everyday conversation. How many times have you said, “Can you hear me now?” while on the phone and got a chuckle from it? Or if I were to say FIVE DOLLARS. Your mind right now just started singing the hideous, Five Dollar Footlong Song. Its nothing new, its called word of mouth and it is the Mona Lisa of all who understand viral marketing.

Where churches sometimes fail, is not in making a bad mailer that has the wrong info or is not flashy enough. Churches fail by jumping to the mailer project without giving second thought to the one thing they have that corporations would die for: a sold-out, loyal customer base waiting for marching orders… aka the church. The Church has an added bonus that all members have  in common: personal experience with the life-giving power of the resurrection of Christ. The Gospel literally means “good news.” When Jesus conquered death, the largest, most successful marketing campaign was launched, it has managed to last 2,000 years. It began with a simple statement, “Go into all the world and tell them what I have done for it.” This is a rough generalization and an uneasy comparison, but a much easier project to put a local community of believers on is, “Tell your friends and neighbors about what’s going on here in August.” As a church leader, your job is to equip them with this Not-As-Great Commission.

Our most recent mailer hanging out at the local Starbucks.

The Tools
With information almost traveling at the speed of light these days, this type of marketing for churches is even easier. Here are some ways churches can equip their body for an effective, grassroots, viral marketing campaign:

1. All about the E. This is not the 90’s and people actually ARE using the web nowadays. The most recent studies show that the majority of people under 55 use the Internet more than the TV each day. I just told a newspaper telemarketer that I didn’t want to pay for their paper because I read online for free everyday and that doesn’t take up space in my trash can. Churches can create season-specific micro-sites, invite-a-friend email embeds, one-click info sharing on their website, Twitter updates, and a Facebook page or group to spread the news. Its easy and non-confrontational for the inviter and invitee.
2. Phone power. Text messaging is incredibly viral and cheap these days. Several major carriers have already phased out per text billing on their plans and most people who text do it for free as part of their plan. At MISSION, we use a system called MobiMark where users can subscribe for free by texting “M68″ to 411247 and regular news sent to their phone. This has proven to be incredibly effective. Picture two women on a play date with their kids. As they talk, Mom A gets a text from her church that says “Tell all your friends about TwoIgnite, the new marriage series starting this week at MISSION.” Mom A tells Mom B about it and a conversation starts about the ministry. Hopefully, Mom B will bring her family ad become part of what God is doing at church. For smaller churches with smaller budgets, Twitter can accomplish the same thing.
3. Paperboy. It never hurts to print something. With all the other tools out there and the cost of printing, paper should be used in very targeted way. If your church does not decided to do a mailer, another cheap option is printing invites to give to the church body to pass out. The invite is basically a mailer that is hand-delivered by a friend instead of by a postman. The nice thing about printed invites is that they can be put on local bulletin boards, public info kiosks, and left in restaurants. I always put them on the community board at my local Starbucks.

I hope this helps. As my church grows and as I grow with it, the best thing I can do in my role is to discover what communication venues my church and my community respond to best. Sometimes there is leading on my part to more effective forms, but it should never be forced. In the same way, ultimately every church is different and every community has a unique demographic. A mailer may have great success in one area and be a disaster in another area. The difference being the  community audience, not the mailer. The best thing a church can do is know its neighbors and know how to talk to them. Sometimes this knowledge takes time and costs money.

The almost free and time-tested and proven method is word of mouth. This modern age has not made word of mouth obsolete but easier. A church who is effectively communicating internally should have no problem marketing externally, even with out direct mail.

Now, print this article off and mail it 50,000 of your neighbors. Thanks.