It was a peculiar moment when church volunteers began handing out the ubiquitous green-and-red boxes to row after row of exuberant children. It was the last evening of a vacation Bible school in Loja, Ecuador, and our family knew firsthand the love, hope, and prayers that went into every single box–along with the soccer balls, hair clips, plastic dinosaurs, and packs of stickers. We watched in awed appreciation as boxes packed on far-off kitchen tables made it into eager arms.
Enable Acts of Kindness
As we enter into the Advent season, it is traditionally a time of increased awareness of others’ needs. Your ChurchSpring website tools can help streamline and enhance your church’s acts of compassion not only at Christmas but throughout the year. Whether you’re organizing a shoebox packing drive, raising funds to meet a missionary family's need, or collecting supplies for a local shelter, you can use your website to share more background and details than you normally would during a church service.
Five Ways To Engage Members To Help Others
Using your website in multiple ways will increase clarity and provide a place where everyone can depend on the information being accurate. Here are five ideas to get you started...
- Create a dedicated page or section on your website for the specific Christmas outreach effort or ministry opportunity. Share details, needs, and ways to get involved. Use the funds list of the ChurchSpring Giving platform to direct donations, and then place that giving button on the dedicated page.
- Share stories and testimonials on your site from those being served to inspire involvement. Scan thank-you notes from previous years and create a photo gallery. This will be an area that you can add to year after year.
- Use your Messaging feature to email members reminders and deadlines for donating, serving, or even attending relevant events. Include a link to the volunteer form or dedicated page.
- Utilize the website sliders to promote the service opportunity. Include a strong call-to-action button to drive traffic to your volunteer page or informational page.
- Add specific events to your website calendar and send a link using the Social Scheduler. This will help to be a reminder for donation deadlines, serving, or even attending relevant events.
Acts of compassion come in all shapes and sizes.
Sometimes you get to see the results. And sometimes you send it off on a boat, with no idea of where it might go or to whom it might reach. But God has given His Church the privilege of serving others through the works He has prepared for us. The Church, in turn, should look to utilize available technologies to help its people take advantage of these opportunities to serve. This is utilizing your website for the great commission!
Not a ChurchSpring member yet? You can be! To learn more about how our team can serve your ministry, watch our demo webinar at churchspring.com/demo.
