Reaching Out

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8 Ways To Build A Ministry or Business Part II

# 1 of 8 – Reach Out To The Community

By: Eme Paasch

Vol. 1 No. 2

Many churches, organizations and businesses say they reach out to their community and maybe they really do. Want to test the theory that they really do reach out? Ask yourself, how many events have churches or organizations put on this week in your community? You say, advertising is expensive and that’s true if you use normal advertising avenues. I will cover some alternative advertising techniques in a later post. But let’s get down to brass tacks here. Let’s look at churches first, then businesses.

First a couple of helpful links:

1. Switchboard.com – Here is a list of all states in America. Select your state, then your town. You will get a list of businesses in your town. How many of those businesses reached out to the community last month?

2. Directories Include: a. Middle Europe Directory

b. South America Directories

c. Caribbean Directory

d. All of Europe Directory

e. Australia & the Pacific Directory

f. Africa Directory

Canada is included with the Caribbean directory.

Look at churches in your community through our online directory links or your local telephone book. Ask yourself, how many churches reached out to your community last month? Sure churches have the occasional concert hoping to draw people in and business may have a special promotion sale. How many promotions or community events can you list for last month? This month? Do you get the point?

O.K. How can a church or business reach out to their local community, you ask? I’m glad you asked. Here are a few suggestions and we encourage readers to add to our list in the comments section below.

1. Block Parties – why not hand write or print up flyers for a free block party? Invite musicians to come to a local church or business and set up a few musical instruments and play. Most local musicians will play for free food & drink the first time. The business can provide hotdogs, hamburgers, potato chips and some soda pop. All this will cost a church or business very little and a donation basket can be passed to help cover costs. When the Block Party is over, what do you think the people who attended will tell their friends and family? Do you think the people who came to the block party will remember your church or business? You bet! This is just one of many steps you can take to increase your church attendance, build your ministry or increase your business sales.

Reaching out to the community

2. Mini Concerts – similar to a block party but you have an opportunity to use free media coverage by offering press releases to local TV, radio, newspapers, community shoppers and of coarse, Craigslist or Kijiji forum boards.

M4C play for a free community picnic

3. Farmer’s Markets – your church or business could organize a local community farmer’s market where locals can bring their homegrown fruits and vegetables to your church or business and set up in the parking lot. Invite the neighborhood by putting flyers in business, pass them out door to door, put flyers on windshields of cars or trucks, take the flyers to your local farmer’s market and pass them out to farmers.

4. Community Yard Sales – Offer your community to participate in a community yard sale. The participants must bring their own goods to sell, set up their own tables and provide their own people to watch their tables. This provides a way for the community to get to know more about your ministry or business and make some money instead of spending money.

Of coarse, these community events will have releases to be signed by all participants to protect the ministry or business from any liability. But if you are worried more about being sued than reaching out to your community, then you may not be a candidate to grow your ministry or business.

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