Online Outreach / InreachReaching Sinner and Saint

Martin Spriggs

• WELS Chief Technology Officer• martin.spriggs@wels.net• 414.256.3250• Links: http://

www.diigo.com/list/mspriggs/online-outreach-inreach

• Presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/mspriggs/online-outreach-and-inreach

You

• Why are you here?• What problem are you trying to

solve?• What is wrong with your website?

Online Outreach

• Contemplation• Construction• Content Coordination• Collection• Calibration

Contemplation

• Communications Committee– Can be arm of outreach– Can be stand alone and serve all boards (outreach &

in-reach)– Cross section

• Big question: “Who is your primary audience?”– http://www.peacehartford.org, http://www.stonebriar.org,

http://generationchurch.org

• Another big question: “What do you want the visitor to do?”

• The last big question: “What is an evangelistic website?”

Construction

• Tool selection requirements– Content Management System– Ease of use– Distributed content management

• Domain name selection• Options: – FinalWeb ($21/month) or WordPress

($50/year domain and no ads )– Vimeo for videos, Flickr for photos

Content Coordination

• Enable content creators• Think events, not institution• Know your audience• Create an immersive experience• Keep it fresh (RSS, a content schedule)– Requires planning– Requires creativity

• What about member content?• Twenty Guidelines

Collection

• What do you want from your site visitor?• What can you do with their information?• Privacy policy

– http://www.rlc-elca.org/privacypolicy.php– http://

www.shepherdofthehillswi.com/site/MyPage/tabid/88/ctl/Privacy/Default.aspx

• Solicit Feedback• Use Forms

– http://www.jotform.com– http://docs.google.com

• Subscription Services are best for e-newsletters / devotions– http://www.mailchimp.com

Calibration

• Regular review of site performance– Google Analytics– Findability

• Track effort vs. “return”– Budget for web outreach just like anything else– Promote in traditional ways– The website should still be the centerpiece of

your digital outreach strategy• Don’t do anything else until…• Statistics say…

Online In-Reach

Internal Communications the Social Networking Way

Social Networks

• What is a social network?– Characteristics:

• Interdependency• Relationship

– What does that remind you of?

• Evaluate: “A healthy church is a social church.”• Evaluate: “Let us not give up meeting

together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25

Facebook

• 500 billion on just one network– Why so popular?

• Plusses and minuses• Personal uses for Facebook?

– Personal Outreach– Deepen relationships– Share news, life– Find love

• Church uses for Facebook?– Deepen relationships– Share news– Keep connected during the week– Build desire for face-to-face

• Church in day-to-day context

Facebook

• Setup & Examples: http://welstechwiki.wels.net/page/Facebook+Pages

• Four Questions: http://www.blog.martinspriggs.com/?p=92

• Privacy & Friendship: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2011/03/facebook-friending-101-for-schools.html?m=0

• Features: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_features

• Resources:http://www.churchoffacebook.com

The Table Project

• http://tableproject.org• Interesting concept with promise for

churches• Free• Easier to use than Facebook

Twitter

• Your message in 140 characters or less

• Is it for you?– http://blogs.wels.net/te

chnology/2010/03/03/is-there-a-place-for-twitter-in-your-church/

– Lower priority than web, Facebook, and texting strategies

• Resources:http://twitterforchurches.com

LOL

Text Messaging

• Lingua Franca of 2011– A lingua franca is a language systematically

used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue

– A language youth group leaders need to speak

• Caution: Don’t try to be “one of them”, but know what channel they are listening on

• Uses– http://ezinearticles.com/?Church-Text-Messagin

g---Getting-the-Word-Out&id=3644064

Questions