Community Event Calendars: Who Knew They Were This Good?
by Chris Forbes
Free tips for getting the word out about your church from the Ministry Marketing Coach
Have you ever seen the listing of church events in the religion page of your local newspaper and wondered, “How did they get so lucky to have their information there?”
Or, have you seen church events listed in a community calendar from the city government or Chamber of Commerce in your area and thought, “Why didn’t my church make this listing?”
The simple secret is: ministries send their information to the city, the Chamber of Commerce and the local newspaper.
Newspapers and community organizations often will post information for free about local events like the ones in your church. They do this because community events information adds value to their publications and resources. Publications like to have as much good information as possible, which is why they welcome the information sent to them. And, people tend to buy the publications featuring their church.
On the other hand, not everything you want to list will make the final edit. It’s best to send only the special events with the most obvious community significance. If you have a relevant, local special event to send to these organizations, often they will publish this information. Be on the lookout for these special opportunities to publish your events in community calendars.
Some chambers of commerce require membership before posting calendar information. Since a membership costs money, it’s not a free marketing tool. But, it can be considered a “nearly-free” marketing tool. An annual membership for a non-profit organization usually is nominal. Once you are a member of the chamber of commerce, they can help by including your church’s information in their directory. They also will list some of your events in the public calendar.
Besides all these great services, the chamber will have useful information about your town and will host networking meetings several times per year where you can get to know local business leaders, which provides a great opportunity to tell people about your church and share your faith with others.
Action Point!
Research to find out what community calendars exist in your town, find out where you can mail, email, or fax your events to be placed in those community calendars so they can be published for free. Look into becoming a part of your chamber of commerce.
