Start Here – IMPORTANT “Big Invite” Overview Info You Need To Know

Ok, let’s get started! It’s important that you read this section today in its entirety.

You are about to embark on a plan that has been proven to attract more guests to your church! How exciting is that?!

The Apostle Paul’s statement of his own evangelistic priority sums up the paradigm you MUST bring to the Big Invite Campaign in order for it to be a success:

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible… I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. (1 Cor. 9:19)

Think like that and this Campaign will make sense. And, it will work for you.

Watch this very important video where Scott N. Smith explains this year’s theme and gives you some very important tips and strategies to make The Big Invite 2020 work for your church…

NEW ADDITION FOR 2020: Mobilizing Groups

Watch this short video to hear from Scott Sullivan, Catalyst, as he describes what’s new in The Big Invite to mobilize groups and initiate follow-up after Easter.

The Importance of SATURATION

We live in a noisy culture full of distractions.

The main thrust behind the blueprint you will find on this site is SATURATION. It is no longer optional.

The entire Big Invite Campaign is designed to deliver every step you need to help your church SATURATE your community with the awareness that YOUR CHURCH is the place to be on Easter… and it’s a place to “find the Easter secret to the Happy Life.”

Everything is here:

“Easter Secret to the Happy Life” print designs for mailing, handing out, posting on doors

– Pre-written social medial templates and images

– Tutorials on how to create great videos, boost Facebook ads, and more…

– And more will be added as we get closer to Easter

PLUS… you’ll know how and when to use the various pieces because of our strategic 7-week timeline!

The “Rule of Seven” tells us that it takes roughly seven “touches” to gain what’s called “top of mind.”  In other words, seven exposures to your church name or event name before it “takes” in the mind of the prospect.  Therefore, multi-pronged outreach is vital just to get their attention in any meaningful way. (The work of the Holy Spirit notwithstanding, of course).

Just like the stunt car driver has to put the “pedal to the metal” to jump all those barrels successfully, right now is the moment of full commitment.

You must press the gas and hold it there, full on, through Easter. Everything is competing against you.  Don’t let up. You’ve got to SATURATE — both with prayer and with promotion.

Again, like Paul says… “by any means,” right?

The Campaign Promo Pieces

Many of the campaign pieces here are designed to mobilize your church members with invite strategies that work. Many are free. Some are paid. All are important to achieving the goal of “more guests than ever.”

On the parts that require printing and/or mailing, Outreach.com has agreed to become our partners in making available our designs for you to order.

Benefits of Our Partnership With Outreach.com
  • With Outreach.com, you have turn-key, easy-to-order designs for your Easter campaigns. Outreach.com will save you time, money and headaches.
  • Outreach works exclusively with churches so they understand our needs.  They can even help you get your non-profit permit set up if you don’t have one yet… for FREE!
  • Outreach is turn-key. For instance, mailing postcards… they can help as little or as much as you want. Printing only or mail on your behalf.

To make things super simple, Outreach has created a special “portal” for Georgia Baptists. There you will find the various promotional items we recommend in the week-by-week action-steps of the Campaign below.  It’s just point, click and order. (See big red button below.)

Time is of the essence. Keep reading through, mark your calendar to be sure to stay ahead of schedule in order to have materials in-hand or in the mail on time.

What to do now:

First, read through the entire week-by-week outline on this site of what you’ll be doing each week and get a feel for what’s involved in ramping up the number of guests you host this Easter. Do this with notepad and calendar in hand.

Second, order your promo materials as early as reasonably possible. Ordering quickly will eliminate the need for expedited shipping. All printed materials that will be shipped to you will arrive 7-14 days from the time of order, depending on the product. Outreach.com suggests you allow 10 days for manufacturing and shipping.  Start NOW planning your orders. Go to the page, and feel free to contact an Outreach Order Specialist, as they can be extremely helpful. Direct mail orders need to be placed by March 12 to get in-home delivery right and to avoid rush fees. Other deadlines are stated below.  The list is at the bottom of this section.

Third, read through Getting Ready For Guests (next section) and take note of what teams you need to put together and what roles you need to fill.

Fourth, plan your prayer emphasis. Use the themed 7x7 Prayer Card we’ve provided.  This card is to be downloaded, printed, and distributed — designed to get the “Start Your New Beginning” theme in front of your people while focusing their prayers on a few they will invite and bring to Easter.

NOTE: If you’re too late and past Feb 23 to launch your 7×7, you can use the…

  • 6×6 if you’re launching March 1
  • 5×5 if you’re launching March 8
  • 4×4 if you’re launching March 15

On the 7×7 Prayer Card, they will write a seven names in one column of the card, then they will duplicate that list in the other column. One half of the card they keep with them. For the other half, you can have them make a visual commitment (such as pinning the card to a designated wall or cross), thereby keeping the need in front of the church.

Here are some ideas:

  1. lay them on the altar during a special invitation
  2. pin them to wall or a cross
  3. other ideas based on your experience (be sure to keep in mind, what’s visual is powerful)

Along these lines, check out Pray4EveryHome.com and share it as a resource with your people. This is a great resource to get your people praying for their neighbors systematically. This will also lead to real momentum by Easter, so there’s another reason to start this now. You may wish to include this web site along with the 7×7 card.

Fifth, pick several neighborhoods in the community around your church to target with door hangers. Decide a date, perhaps one Saturday 1-3 weeks ahead of Easter, and mobilize a group to distribute those. (If you’ve never done this before, a small group can cover much ground in a short focused period!) Refer also to the Outreach.com TIP SHEET: “How To Start A Doorhanger Campaign In Your Church.”

Lastly, Get your mailing list ready, assuming you’re mailing postcards, which we highly recommend.

Don’t have a mailing list? You have two options: Targeted and Saturated. (Outreach.com can provide, or…)

TARGETED:  Mission Insite shows you how to plot your target neighborhoods or radius and download your mailing list today! You can get your list from Research Services at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, or even better, go straight to the tool, paid for by the GBMB, for up-to-date names and addresses in your area with your own mapping tool and download area. [TUTORIAL]

SATURATED:  This is cheaper, typically, than a targeted mailing. But it all depends on how many you are wanting to reach.  From Outreach.com:

We can also help Georgia Baptists with setting up a saturated mailing list and there is either no additional expense or a very minimal expense, based on the number of pieces being mailed.  In fact, the mailing as a whole will typically be more expensive if churches provide their own list, simply because that list is not considered a ‘saturated’ mailing list by the USPS.  The USPS charges a higher postage if the mailing is classified in this manner. Again, the churches can go with their own supplied mailing list, but the overall expense will be lower if they have us provide a saturated mailing list for their mailing.  (Note: The saturated list allows the church to pick and choose which mailing routes they want their postcard to be delivered to and every home on that mailing route will receive a postcard. This is what the vast majority of our churches use when doing their mailings.)

That’s it!  This is going to be an exciting time!

Promotion Materials List

Here is the promotional tools list you’ll source from Outreach.com.  Don’t judge the list. Just review it and trust the process.

Here you go:

  1. Postcards to be mailed.* NOTE: Postcards are designed to give you flexibility in reflecting the demographics and/or ethnicities of your community. They need to hit mailboxes 10-14 days head of Easter.  Keep this in mind when ordering. Deadline: MARCH 12  if you are ordering postcards and will use Outreach.com as the mailing facilitator as well.  There is an option for print-and-ship if you want to mail from your church directly or through some other means.
  2. Invite cards.  How many to order:  a good rule of thumb is to order about 3-5 times your worship attendance number. If you have a different rule, use your best judgement and go with what you’ve done before.
  3. Door hangers.* The number will be determined by how many homes you will canvas with a team. A small team can cover several hundred homes easily on a Saturday. (See the link at the Outreach.com Georgia Baptist portal for their free door hanger campaign starter e-book download.)
  4. Yard Signs. We recommend ordering 5-10% of your Sunday worship attendance total.
  5. Outdoor banners.
  6. Indoor banners.**
  7. Bulletins.**

[themify_button style=”large red” link=”https://gbmb.outreach.com/partners/georgia-baptist-mission-board” target=”<strong>_blank</strong>”]Order Your Marketing Materials Here[/themify_button]

BUDGET RESTRAINTS?  If you have budget restraints, we have clued you in to what items are least necessary with the * demarcation above. But remember, every item there is suggested because it’s proven to work.

There are other materials such as professionally produced commercials and custom online landing pages that we have produced for you that will cost you nothing, thanks to your gifts through the Cooperative Program.

VERY IMPORTANT: Before you order print materials, determine what your Easter Page link will be.

**These items are optional only if budget is an issue. Before you leave out an item due to budget, consider possible means to get the costs covered, such as special donors, etc. We have chosen these items as a part of the campaign.

*If you are on a tight budget, and you are having to choose between postcards and door hangers, we highly recommend mailing postcards if you can afford to do so. Why? Because there are folks who always check their mail but don’t always check the front door.  However, don’t view door hangers as redundant as a door hanger campaign will put your folks in personal contact with many in the community, which can give you an edge. Again, both postcards and door hangers ideally should be used if your budget allows due to the effectiveness of both, especially both working together.

Start Here – IMPORTANT “Big Invite” Overview Info You Need To Know

Ok, let’s get started! It’s important that you read this section today in its entirety.

You are about to embark on a plan that has been proven to attract more guests to your church! How exciting is that?!

The Apostle Paul’s statement of his own evangelistic priority sums up the paradigm you MUST bring to the Big Invite Campaign in order for it to be a success:

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible… I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. (1 Cor. 9:19)

Think like that and this Campaign will make sense. And, it will work for you.

Watch this very important video where Scott N. Smith explains this year’s theme and gives you some very important tips and strategies to make The Big Invite 2020 work for your church…

NEW ADDITION FOR 2020: Mobilizing Groups

Watch this short video to hear from Scott Sullivan, Catalyst, as he describes what’s new in The Big Invite to mobilize groups and initiate follow-up after Easter.

The Importance of SATURATION

We live in a noisy culture full of distractions.

The main thrust behind the blueprint you will find on this site is SATURATION. It is no longer optional.

The entire Big Invite Campaign is designed to deliver every step you need to help your church SATURATE your community with the awareness that YOUR CHURCH is the place to be on Easter… and it’s a place to “find the Easter secret to the Happy Life.”

Everything is here:

“Easter Secret to the Happy Life” print designs for mailing, handing out, posting on doors

– Pre-written social medial templates and images

– Tutorials on how to create great videos, boost Facebook ads, and more…

– And more will be added as we get closer to Easter

PLUS… you’ll know how and when to use the various pieces because of our strategic 7-week timeline!

The “Rule of Seven” tells us that it takes roughly seven “touches” to gain what’s called “top of mind.” In other words, seven exposures to your church name or event name before it “takes” in the mind of the prospect. Therefore, multi-pronged outreach is vital just to get their attention in any meaningful way. (The work of the Holy Spirit notwithstanding, of course).

Just like the stunt car driver has to put the “pedal to the metal” to jump all those barrels successfully, right now is the moment of full commitment.

You must press the gas and hold it there, full on, through Easter. Everything is competing against you. Don’t let up. You’ve got to SATURATE — both with prayer and with promotion.

Again, like Paul says… “by any means,” right?

The Campaign Promo Pieces

Many of the campaign pieces here are designed to mobilize your church members with invite strategies that work. Many are free. Some are paid. All are important to achieving the goal of “more guests than ever.”

On the parts that require printing and/or mailing, Outreach.com has agreed to become our partners in making available our designs for you to order.

Benefits of Our Partnership With Outreach.com
  • With Outreach.com, you have turn-key, easy-to-order designs for your Easter campaigns. Outreach.com will save you time, money and headaches.
  • Outreach works exclusively with churches so they understand our needs. They can even help you get your non-profit permit set up if you don’t have one yet… for FREE!
  • Outreach is turn-key. For instance, mailing postcards… they can help as little or as much as you want. Printing only or mail on your behalf.

To make things super simple, Outreach has created a special “portal” for Georgia Baptists. There you will find the various promotional items we recommend in the week-by-week action-steps of the Campaign below. It’s just point, click and order. (See big red button below.)

Time is of the essence. Keep reading through, mark your calendar to be sure to stay ahead of schedule in order to have materials in-hand or in the mail on time.

What to do now:

First, read through the entire week-by-week outline on this site of what you’ll be doing each week and get a feel for what’s involved in ramping up the number of guests you host this Easter. Do this with notepad and calendar in hand.

Second, order your promo materials as early as reasonably possible. Ordering quickly will eliminate the need for expedited shipping. All printed materials that will be shipped to you will arrive 7-14 days from the time of order, depending on the product. Outreach.com suggests you allow 10 days for manufacturing and shipping. Start NOW planning your orders. Go to the page, and feel free to contact an Outreach Order Specialist, as they can be extremely helpful. Direct mail orders need to be placed by March 12 to get in-home delivery right and to avoid rush fees. Other deadlines are stated below. The list is at the bottom of this section.

Third, read through Getting Ready For Guests (next section) and take note of what teams you need to put together and what roles you need to fill.

Fourth, plan your prayer emphasis. Use the themed 7x7 Prayer Card we’ve provided. This card is to be downloaded, printed, and distributed — designed to get the “Start Your New Beginning” theme in front of your people while focusing their prayers on a few they will invite and bring to Easter.

NOTE: If you’re too late and past Feb 23 to launch your 7×7, you can use the…

  • 6×6 if you’re launching March 1
  • 5×5 if you’re launching March 8
  • 4×4 if you’re launching March 15

On the 7×7 Prayer Card, they will write a seven names in one column of the card, then they will duplicate that list in the other column. One half of the card they keep with them. For the other half, you can have them make a visual commitment (such as pinning the card to a designated wall or cross), thereby keeping the need in front of the church.

Here are some ideas:

  1. lay them on the altar during a special invitation
  2. pin them to wall or a cross
  3. other ideas based on your experience (be sure to keep in mind, what’s visual is powerful)

Along these lines, check out Pray4EveryHome.com and share it as a resource with your people. This is a great resource to get your people praying for their neighbors systematically. This will also lead to real momentum by Easter, so there’s another reason to start this now. You may wish to include this web site along with the 7×7 card.

Fifth, pick several neighborhoods in the community around your church to target with door hangers. Decide a date, perhaps one Saturday 1-3 weeks ahead of Easter, and mobilize a group to distribute those. (If you’ve never done this before, a small group can cover much ground in a short focused period!) Refer also to the Outreach.com TIP SHEET: “How To Start A Doorhanger Campaign In Your Church.”

Lastly, Get your mailing list ready, assuming you’re mailing postcards, which we highly recommend.

Don’t have a mailing list? You have two options: Targeted and Saturated. (Outreach.com can provide, or…)

TARGETED: Mission Insite shows you how to plot your target neighborhoods or radius and download your mailing list today! You can get your list from Research Services at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, or even better, go straight to the tool, paid for by the GBMB, for up-to-date names and addresses in your area with your own mapping tool and download area. [TUTORIAL]

SATURATED: This is cheaper, typically, than a targeted mailing. But it all depends on how many you are wanting to reach. From Outreach.com:

We can also help Georgia Baptists with setting up a saturated mailing list and there is either no additional expense or a very minimal expense, based on the number of pieces being mailed. In fact, the mailing as a whole will typically be more expensive if churches provide their own list, simply because that list is not considered a ‘saturated’ mailing list by the USPS. The USPS charges a higher postage if the mailing is classified in this manner. Again, the churches can go with their own supplied mailing list, but the overall expense will be lower if they have us provide a saturated mailing list for their mailing. (Note: The saturated list allows the church to pick and choose which mailing routes they want their postcard to be delivered to and every home on that mailing route will receive a postcard. This is what the vast majority of our churches use when doing their mailings.)

That’s it! This is going to be an exciting time!

Promotion Materials List

Here is the promotional tools list you’ll source from Outreach.com. Don’t judge the list. Just review it and trust the process.

Here you go:

  1. Postcards to be mailed.* NOTE: Postcards are designed to give you flexibility in reflecting the demographics and/or ethnicities of your community. They need to hit mailboxes 10-14 days head of Easter. Keep this in mind when ordering. Deadline: MARCH 12 if you are ordering postcards and will use Outreach.com as the mailing facilitator as well. There is an option for print-and-ship if you want to mail from your church directly or through some other means.
  2. Invite cards. How many to order: a good rule of thumb is to order about 3-5 times your worship attendance number. If you have a different rule, use your best judgement and go with what you’ve done before.
  3. Door hangers.* The number will be determined by how many homes you will canvas with a team. A small team can cover several hundred homes easily on a Saturday. (See the link at the Outreach.com Georgia Baptist portal for their free door hanger campaign starter e-book download.)
  4. Yard Signs. We recommend ordering 5-10% of your Sunday worship attendance total.
  5. Outdoor banners.
  6. Indoor banners.**
  7. Bulletins.**

[themify_button style=”large red” link=”https://gbmb.outreach.com/partners/georgia-baptist-mission-board” target=”<strong>_blank</strong>”]Order Your Marketing Materials Here[/themify_button]

BUDGET RESTRAINTS? If you have budget restraints, we have clued you in to what items are least necessary with the * demarcation above. But remember, every item there is suggested because it’s proven to work.

There are other materials such as professionally produced commercials and custom online landing pages that we have produced for you that will cost you nothing, thanks to your gifts through the Cooperative Program.

VERY IMPORTANT: Before you order print materials, determine what your Easter Page link will be.

**These items are optional only if budget is an issue. Before you leave out an item due to budget, consider possible means to get the costs covered, such as special donors, etc. We have chosen these items as a part of the campaign.

*If you are on a tight budget, and you are having to choose between postcards and door hangers, we highly recommend mailing postcards if you can afford to do so. Why? Because there are folks who always check their mail but don’t always check the front door. However, don’t view door hangers as redundant as a door hanger campaign will put your folks in personal contact with many in the community, which can give you an edge. Again, both postcards and door hangers ideally should be used if your budget allows due to the effectiveness of both, especially both working together.