If you're planning to do direct mail for Mother's Day, here's a few things to consider:  1. Your copy matters – Focus on the benefits of attending, but just the features of your services (i.e. a feature is: batteries included. A benefit is, "Ready to play with right out of the box".) 2. Don't focus only on moms – Speaking of copy, just because it's Mother's Day don't speak just to moms. Remember that adults with parents are going to read it as well. Husbands of moms with young children will read it as well.   3. Be clear it's … Read More

I hope you have a big Mother's Day outreach planned. We have found that Mother's Day can be one of the biggest Sundays of the year if you promote it the right way.  Here's a few ways to make Mother's Day "Easter-Like":  1. Promote internally – Let your congregation know that this is a great day to invite family and friends.  2. Give them a "hook" to invite – every year we do Mother's Day portraits. I know this isn't an original idea, but it has paid huge dividends for us as Mother's Day is a huge evangelistic day for … Read More

One of the questions I get regularly is, "What management software do you use to manage your database?" Honestly, I'm not really happy with any of them. We've looked at all the big boys and we finally decided on Roll Call which is produced by By the Book.  It's a good program and most importantly, it's OSX compatible. Our office is 100% Mac, so that's a big deal for us.   Other programs looked good but were way too expensive for what they offered. Others just didn't do the trick for our system.   So this is not an endorsement … Read More

I've been getting some great reports this week from Pastors I work with. My friend Chris who is planting a church in New Hampshire used our direct mail and Facebook strategies (as well as other things) and saw 179 people at his launch on Easter!   In fact, he sent me one of his Facebook ads to check out. I got his permission to post it here. It's a great ad. It was all the elements:  1. The color pops 2. The copy catches your eye (In New England, anything about the Sox is eye catching) 3. The body text clearly … Read More

– I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that today was the best day in out history. – Both Miramar and Miami Lakes were slammed. – I’ll have stats later today, but it was a complete mob scene. – We’re already talking about where we’re going to do Easter next year. – the bands in both locations were outstanding – the servants in both locations went above and beyond. I’m so proud of them. – We kicked off a new series called “Ten Words” as we look at the commandments. – People responded really well to the message. – … Read More

We're grateful that we've been able to exclusively hire from within at Calvary from day one. Having said that, we do interview extensively and test to make sure the person is right for the position.   The question is, "What tests do we use?" We use 3 different tests for 3 different reasons: #1 – Myers-Briggs #2 – Strengthfinder #3 – The DISC Profile  Myers-Briggs tells us about the person's temperament. Strengthfinders tells us their natural strengths and the DISC tells us how they are best managed and the type of job they would excel at.  All 3 of these … Read More

– Great day today! – I was a little nervous it was going to be a dud since I've ben having throat issues all week. – Thankfully my voice held out all day – I taught Acts 5:1-11 in the subject of money. – It's sad to me that most people go through 12 years of school and then 4 years of college and were never taught anything about money management.  – We're doing our best to create opportunities to educate people about Biblical stewardship – The band sounded great. Mark led in Miramar and Joel led in Miami Lakes. … Read More

The #1 reason most new believer follow up doesn't happen is because we didn't think through how to get the contact information of those who made decisions to follow Jesus.  At Calvary, we love using the Connection Card because it gives a person the opportunity to check off that they prayed to begin a relationship with Jesus. Then when we collect the cards at the end of the service we can follow up with those who made a decision.  That's why you have to think through your invitation style, so you can ensure you're getting the contact information. Because the … Read More