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the difference a dollar makes

I spent last night representing Church Planters of the Rockies at Valley View Christian Church’s missions fair.  There were about 15 of us there … ranging from a Bible translater in Africa to Camp Como to guys like me.

Scott Bloyer was also there.  Scott is the lead pastor at Elevation Christian Church in Aurora, a church plant that started on October 10, 2010, and is doing really well.  Last year alone, they baptized over 60 people!  In December they moved to a larger school that would give them a greater potential for growth.  In less than two years they are averaging nearly 200 people a weekend.  In a few months they will be launching a video campus inside two of Colorado’s prisons.  Did I mention things are going really well?

They have done all of this with a barebones budget for marketing.

Typical of a new church, they started without a pile of cash.  (Honestly, that’s often one of the best ways to start).  Now, they’re at a point where they would like to a direct mail campaign.  Sitting right at 200 in attendance, they have an opportunity to leap frog past that growth barrier and reach even more people.

And they need money to do it.

This is what struck me last night: to reach 14,000 people with one postcard would cost them only $2,500.  That’s 18 cents per household — per card.  That’s a bargain!

For many of us, we worship in churches where $2,500 is a drop in the bucket.

For Elevation, that’s a lot of money.

Here’s the deal: one mailing of 14,000 isn’t enough.  Response rates improve with every subsequent mailing.  Typically, they would need to mail at least three cards to see the best response.

That’s only $7,500.  Or, three churches deciding to kick-in $2,500 each.  Or, 15 people to give $500 each.  Or, one person to fund it all.

The truth is, we make decisions every day about how we will spend our dollars.  Coffee.  McDonalds.  Movies.  If we were honest, most of our dollars have a very limited impact.  We eat lunch and then we’re hungry again by dinner.  Even coffee eventually gets cold (sad but true).

I’d like to challenge you consider the difference your dollar could make if you chose to invest it in a growing church.  14,000 postcards represent 14,000 households, which represent moms and dads, kids, and more.

If you’d like to give online, you can do so by visiting Elevation’s online giving page.