What Should Your Church Marketing Budget Be?
ByThere are many church planters and pastors who are now catching on that branding and marketing their church can be a good thing if it’s done with excellence and focus (the only time a church shouldn’t move forward is if they can’t do it well) and it’s very exciting to see churches begin to invest in great stuff! It really makes a difference in many ways.
One of the questions I encounter when working with churches is what is the cost for a great brand identity or marketing campaign. This is always difficult to address because there are so many scenarios and options. Every church is different and there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. My reply question is usually “What is your budget?”, but many people don’t know what to budget or sometimes believe that it is going to be cheap. Before I tell you an estimated amount, I am going to share a few “truths” with you.
Truth #1: Think of your marketing budget as a mission investment and not an expense.
How much is it worth it to you to grow your church, reach your community, and invite people to the eternal worship in Heaven compared to the eternal rotting in Hell? Some people don’t think branding or marketing is a “missional investment” but if it connects you to an unbeliever, it definitely is!
Truth #2: You will only get what you’re willing to pay for.
If you only have $500 dollars to spend you’re not going to get too far. The fact is that great branding and marketing services aren’t cheap but they are extremely valuable (read #1 again). Sure, there are cheap, we’ll do it for 100 bucks operations but my analogy is you’re not going to try and bargain with or skimp on a heart specialist when you need the best heart surgery are you?
Truth #3: Your marketing budget should be a priority, not an after thought.
Yes, relationships and word of mouth are the best form of marketing. The problem is not all people will talk and it takes a lot of time to build strong relationships. Branding and marketing is essential and you must do it in some form to reach people. You might have the coolest sound system or espresso bar but if people aren’t visiting your church, this stuff will eventually end up on E-bay.
OK, now to answer the question of what should you budget?
Church plants should be ready to invest at least $25,000 for the first year (I know some of you are going to need that heart specialist now) to get started. This sounds hefty but this estimate includes a lot of stuff such as brand identity, website, banners, direct-mail, etc. Churches in their first few years would be wise to plan for about the same. Established churches who have been around for several years should consider allocating 10%-15% of their overall church budget per year for marketing and communications.
I read a study from Center for Church Communication that shows 80% of churches typically spend less than $10K per year. This isn’t going to get you very far in today’s world! One could also conclude with the same study and others that spending more on marketing would result in more visitors. I know that it’s difficult for some churches to allocate the funding for marketing and every situation will be different, but it’s important. Count the cost and do what you can to build and increase your marketing budget; it will definitely be worth it!
James Dalman is the owner/chief brand genius at the Branding Shed as well as a contributing editor to Church Communications Pro.
Hey Corey and James. There’s one thing I would add to this that I feel is very important.
That is, if a church is going to invest significantly in marketing, they should commit to being extremely responsible with that investment. And here’s what I mean:
As you know, I served for several years as the Tech and Communications director of a large church, with a very large marketing budget. In churches, we often tend to ignore the bottom line because there is no direct relationship between money spent and revenue brought in.
The arguments outlined in this post were my mantra when I was on a church staff and I would use them to argue my point and hopefully increase my budget year after year. But the truth is that I do far more MEASURING OF MY RESULTS now that I work at a business than I ever did when I was at church. Why? Because here in the business there is a direct relationship to revenue, but in the church, there is not.
So, the caution I have for all of those church marketing folks out there is be careful when you get all revved up about how marketing is missional and we should do quality work and . . . etc. Be careful that you’re not just in it for a bigger and bigger budget. Be careful that you are finding ways to measure your results and quantify the successes of your campaigns and if they are not successful, to cut them off.
You can make a beautiful campaign and still get no results. It is very difficult to measure marketing success in a church environment. And where there is no measurement, there is a high probability of waste. I think the last thing any of us want to do is waste the church’s money, yet I would say waste is more common in church than in the business world because of the difficulty of accurately measuring results.
That’s my two cents.
Tim,
Those are great thoughts and I agree that churches should be great stewards of the money in their church.
I also agree that churches SHOULD measure the results of any marketing or promotional campaign if possible to know if something works or if it doesn’t (and cut it if it doesn’t) but you can’t measure marketing if you’re not doing any. Sometimes the idea will be a flop…it’s the chance you take, but better to take the chance than not take it at all. And by all means don’t increase the budget just to increase it – do it if it serves a purpose.
What shocks me is there are church teams who will spend more money on Starbucks and Panera gatherings than promoting in the community which can grow their church. Just a thought.
James
Wow, a Church to spend $25,000 on marketing in the first year? Where do they get this money??? From the people!
I thought Churches were non-profit organizations? Marketing is done when you expect an ROI (Return on Investment).
All under the guise of “saving souls”.
Jenn,
Thanks for your comment!
Do you think church communications (or call it branding, marketing, or advertising) is capable of having a Return on Investment?
I believe that it does because all the churches I have partnered with on church marketing have seen an increase in people and commitment levels. I know that atheists, Jewish people, and drug addicts have walked into churches because of these tools.
I’ll also ask this. At what price do we place on one’s soul? If $25K helps bring one person to a church and they give their life to Jesus, is that worth it?
Wow, comparing Atheist and Jews to DRUG ADDICTS? That’s rich.
Jenn…who said I was comparing? What I AM saying is that I know of personal stories where people from these specific backgrounds have attended church because the communication tool are effective.
Don’t read between the lines.