Reasons to Have a Marketing Budget

We would all say that marketing is important for churches.

***When I say marketing, I simply mean raising awareness in the community about what you church is doing and why someone should attend what your doing.

However, few churches are really doing it. Even fewer have made it a budget priority.

So below are a few reason why churches should put marketing in the budget.

Consistency Brings Results.
A lot of people (even businesses) view marketing as simple addition.

Postcards + Stamp = Attendance

The majority of the time, this arithmetic doesn't add up.

The reality is that marketing is more like interest on an investment. For the most part, it pays dividends over time.

The only way for marketing to operate as an investment is if it has a consistent place in the budget. This means that you need to set aside a portion of income every month to raise awareness about your church in the community.

Budget Items are Priority Items.
Everyone would probably acknowledge that you can get a general sense of what an organization (or an individual) deems important by what they spend their money on.

For the most part, church marketing is about raising awareness about what your church is doing.
It is about connecting with those who are far from God and showing them the next step (e.g. coming to church, coming to an event, etc.)

So, if that is true, then marketing is an extension of your efforts to reach your community. In a small but important way, having marketing as a line item communicates that you are serious about reaching people who are far from God.

It Forces Longterm Planning.
Budgeting by definition is thinking about tomorrow. It asks the questions "What are our financial priorities?" and "How do we plan to achieve them?" Having marketing goals is a great chance to think about where you want your organization to be in the future and how you are going to get your community involved to get there.

One final note: I know money can be tight. Remember, you don't have to eat the whole cake in one bite. Start somewhere. Even just a few hundred dollars can go a long way toward telling your community about what your doing.