Why Christian TV Will Get Worse Before it Gets Better

Posted On
01/03/2010

Why Christian TV Will Get Worse Before it Gets Better

If you read my book “The Last TV Evangelist” you understand that we’re going through the greatest period of disruption and change since the invention of the printing press. In the Christian world, two significant things are happening: First, technology is changing the way we communicate. Traditional media is giving way to social media, and while TV and radio aren’t going away, they are undergoing dramatic changes. With the advent of the Internet, media has become a two way conversation, and a new audience wants to be part of the story. For instance, the millennial generation grew up picking the next American Idol by texting on their cell phone. They want to be involved. This shift will impact media, business, politics, education, and even worship. It will change everything.

Second, from a demographic perspective, the donors who built the major media ministries of the last few decades are disappearing, and being replaced by a new group that doesn’t share the same values and priorities. My opinion is that we have 8-12 years left with the donors that built the major Christian ministries we see today. However, that demographic group is shrinking fast, so we’re already seeing a real slide. The former donor base that was focused on giving for expansion – particularly building projects – is now being replaced by a generation more interested in great causes. Tomorrow’s donors are more focused on building water wells in Africa, redeeming slaves in the Sudan, or helping the homeless here in America. The question that hasn’t been answered yet is how to convert them from passionate supporters to actual givers. On that subject, the jury is still out. After all, this is the generation that grew up on Napster, and believes everything online should be free. It will take some time to change those expectations.

Most media ministries have never had to listen, and they struggle with change. With that in mind, here’s what I predict: As donors stop giving to the same old traditional Christian TV appeals, here’s what will happen:

1. Many of those ministries will panic and start doing “emergency appeals.” We’re seeing some already. There’s enough of the older donors left who respond to these appeals, but the income will be short lived. The ministries will discover the long term PR damage won’t be worth the short term financial fix. It will leave a distaste – particularly with a younger audience – who will turn elsewhere with their support.

2. They’ll bring in the fundraising “A Team.” You know the guys – the same few that always appear during telethons. In fact, they’re appearing on so many different Christian TV networks these days, it’s hard to tell the networks apart anymore. Telethons will increase as panic increases.

3. Some will close their doors. The really hard core ministries will refuse to acknowledge that the lights at the end of the tunnel are the lights of an oncoming train and just keep driving into oblivion.

4. A fortunate few will see the shift coming and respond accordingly. They will realize that with a handful of exceptions, the day of the big media ministries is over, and re-tool to reach a new generation in a new way. They’ll control spending and streamline strategically to get through the transition, while working on a longer range media strategy that connects to a new generation of donors.

Brace yourself. Whatever you like or dislike about religious media, it’s about to get worse. Most of the media ministries you see today are already struggling, but too many refuse to see the reality of the change they need to make. There are answers, and if you’re one of those ministries, my recommendation is to see the handwriting on the wall, track the shifting culture, listen to your audience and donors, and get the right advice. With the right strategy, you could emerge on the other side stronger than ever. Different for sure, but potentially stronger than ever.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Dan Wathen

What would it look like moving away from “Paid for Program” model to the traditional advertising model? Most Christian TV stations/networks are set up as “Educational or non profit” and this wouldnt work. It would mean using or starting new broadcast venues to allow it. Could cost for airtime be subsidised by advertisers? As Ive said I would much rather see a tide commercial anyday versus another telethon. I”m sure companies would love to advertise with a Joyce or Joel. The smaller org would have a harder time getting advertisers. This is only one part of a solution. Advertising is slipping on TV and we must be creative on all fronts to inventing new ways to get people enganged and participating in our programs.
Dan Wathen

Another hypothetica: What if “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” did a 1:30 pitch for finanical support at the tail of the show. Do you think they would get resonse? Heck yea. They have found a way to connect emotionally with the every day person. They are “Showing” the gospel in action. Perhaps we need less preaching shows and more ACTION. This rolls into people feeling a part of “A Cause”. I think we need to throw out all blueprints of christian media of the past and lets start over.
Steve Newton

From my corner (Strategic Media Management) I have a few observations, well actually 7 E-Z Steps to Success!! ;-)

1. TV is fundamentally a business, if you make good TV, have a good message and offer good products your viewers will want to buy or donate to, you will be successful, if you don’t….?

2. If you lack of accountability by not analyzing/ knowing all your costs, breakevens or don’t understanding an ROI from a IOU….it’s going to cause a ministry much crisis and pain.

3. Direct Response TV and Spot TV is working very well for several of our clients…ROI’s are up! I see the creative use of this format to be around for a while to come and many good deals are out there right now.

4. Obviously trim what isn’t working and keep what is, even expand what’s working within reasonable perameters. If your ministry has a niche go there and work it hard… be different.

5. Nothing new here, but direct all viewer traffic to special landing pages or URL’s…Web income accounts for as much as 25% of total income from TV offers.

6. Use Webcasts as a tool to communicate to donors and potential new donors…do this on a monthly or regular basis as poss. Have a good CRM software system to communicate internally and externally.

7. Creative program content will always be king, unique product offers, selective use of different media all with accountability towards the bottomline will ensure being around for some time to come.
Tonya Lee

I agree with Phil, Mary and especially my friend Ron Lambros. He is right when we say we are not in a traditional media and most of what we do could not be explained in a traditional business model. It is God’s first and He will make a way when there seems to be no way. Having said that, God also gave us a brain, talents, and foresight to find a way to make an impact on the culture using the appropriate tools of the culture.

The fact that online content is the most important content that Christian media has to offer is something that everyone has to deal with. In the era of rising costs of media content, Christian networks in upheaval, and local independent stations going under then the Christian broadcaster must look at their online offerings as the best and most effective way to reach an audience. One drawback to this – the online audience is not flipping channels and just happen to land on your program. They have to LOOK FOR YOU.

The challenge is to get yourself out there enough to where you are reaching people. It’s not all about reaching donors. It’s about reaching the lost with the salvation message of Jesus Christ. If we ever lose that mission as the main goal of minsitry then turn off the cameras and lights and shut the doors. May our ministry never be donor focused but rather people focused. If it’s all about the donor then let us die.

As for the “personality driven” ministry I think that is a little short sighted. Everything is personality driven. Television shows (24, American Idol, The Biggest Looser) are ALL personality driven. You tune in to see the people and you get the message in return. That is the way it has been since the prophets. People came to see Elijah call fire down from heaven – what they got in return was the message that there is only one true God and he can make crispy critters out of those who mock him. We live in a personality driven culture. If your personality can drive you to bring in donors – fine. If your personality can open the door for someone to hear the gospel message and come to the saving knowledge of Christ – that is the reason God called you to ministry in the first place.

Do we have to change – yes, desperately. But, I believe we are living in a time when God is cleaning his shed. There are those in “ministry” for reasons other than leading people to Jesus and teaching people how to live in the precious life God has for us (the good, bad, beautiful and ugly of it).

The reality is that one must pay the bills. So, you have to modify your plan to make the most of your resources at the moment. That’s using the brain God gave us. However, we have a mission and the foundation of our mission can never be what we can “get” but always what we can give.
Dan Wathen

Watching Ed Young Jr. on God TV tonight…he has paid advertising in his show. First time ive seen a Ministry do this. Majic Jack, and some headache pills…its a start.
Steve Newton

As far as ministries putting commercials inside their shows to generate revenue, many years ago we suggested doing so inside The 700 Club, at that time the concept was shot down by concerns it would take away from donations or give mixed signals. I never thought that was the case…. for several years now The 700 Club has sold paid commercial spots inside the program mainly on ABC Family Channel and I don’t think it has affected their fund raising at all.

Many Christian networks and stations don’t allow commercials due to their non-commercial/non-profit license status with the FCC. so it may work on some, but not on all, I’m suprized that Ed Young is running spots on God TV as I thought they were non commercial….good for him maybe the trend is catching on.

The real question… is the potential revenue from running spots inside show vs. using the limited time avail to sell ministry products and fund raising…really worth it?
Paul Teja

I find all these comments thought-provoking. As a network executive, I get to see how various ministries cope with changing times. Some do better than others. How people (viewers, constituents, donors) use media is in constant flux and those ministries that realize that and adapt to new and varied methodologies are the ones that will continue to grow. Viewing habits change. Audiences change. The message stays the same, but the presentation must be in lock-step with the new realities. Our God is the God of Creation — and He has given us the gift of creativity — creativity in production, creativity in fund-raising, creativity in marketing.

Commercial spots in ministry programming? I don’t have a problem approving the show if the product were appropriate. A good point by Steve Newton, though, is compare the value of the advertising revenue to the value of selling your own product first. And yes, there are restrictions for some networks and stations placed on them by the FCC.

Personality-driven vs cause-driven? I remember in the 60′s when Oral Roberts was building the university. He was known as the old “hole digger”. He said, “Dig a hole and people will give.” This was a personality-driven ministry, but Oral was smart enough to recognize that people gave to causes, like building a dorm or a student center. The two can live comfortably together in ministry.

2010 will be full of challenges, but also opportunities. Carpe diem!
Gary King

I am impressed by the thought and experience reflected in the previous posts. It seems like everyone posting is focusing on keeping “the machine” alive. By that I am referring to the tremondous costs involved with a television ministry with equipment, personnel and air time. Since my livelyhood for the past 35 years has depended on these “machines”, I am not in a position to critize that process. I agree with Phil that everything we are doing needs to be re-thought and re-evaluated. What if we focused on reaching our generation and the next with the Gospel of Jesus Christ rather than how to get their money? I know, that’s not fair. Without the funds, the machines would shut down and the ministries would go away. We have all seen it happen.

It has always taken a name to raise the necessary funds in the past to put on a crusade or TV show. I used to be an online editor. When everything went digital I found myself competing with young editors who were williing to work for much less than I could sustain my household on. This was largly due to the necesary skill and knowledge level was largly reduced to learning a computer program. I predicted that soon every high school student would soon be editing in his garage on a home computer. I was wrong about the garage, but right on the editing. I moved back into lighting. I am taking a long time to get to my point, but first another analogy. When Ford introduced the automobile there was a choice of one model, the model T and one color, black. Last year I bought a motorcycle. It took me an entire year to reasesrch which type of bike I wanted because I had so many choices. Reaching the masses can be described the same way. Oral Roberts grabbed the attention of the masses because of his reputation as a healing evangelist and TV viewers had only three choices for nightly entertainment, ABC, NBC and CBS. Today it is possible to view almost anything via the internet. I haven’t tried, but I could probably see one of Oral’s prime time specials if I searched. With websites, YouTube, facebook satellite TV, the competition for the attention of the masses is unprecedented. So, like YouTube, we have to become creatative. Maybe WE have to evangelize rather than leaving it up to the giants of the faith. The Mega Ministries are going away. Now is the time for them to adjust to today’s technology, to today’s generation.
Headless Unicorn Guy

Back in the Eighties there was this one Christian AM radio station (KBRT 740) that was paid advertising. For much of the Eighties they had one of the best afternoon talk shows in the Los Angeles area (Rich Buhler’s Talk from the Heart), but they pretty much declined into your usual TBN without the visuals in the Nineties. As far as I know, they were the first Christian station to go from “beg for donations like VCPR” to paid advertising.
Nathaniel Bluedorn

I’m glad change is good, because it’s always happening.
Danny Orser

I don’t know about that, Dan. As much as you’d think that people would give to shows like “Extreme Makeover”, the reality is they usually don’t. Phil’s right: The Napster kids are tight with their money. It usually ends up that people these days give to something that they themselves are directly involved with. They don’t pay for someone else. Everyone goes dutch.
http://www.SetFreeLifeSeminars.com Sue T

To expand a bit on Gary’s point about researching his bike: the fact is that more choices create lethargy. They do not make people feel more powerful, but less. Too many choices cause most to be overwhelmed and they pull in the wagons and create their own little neighborhoods.

So perhaps certain age groups, certain demographics, will flock to one or two mediums and hunker down there. Others will only check in with a few particular ministries they like and not consider others. To be flexible and able to minister to the many and few may be the most important attributes of all for the future–or at least, to KNOW YOUR MARKET and stick with it if you are not skilled in ministering to the many (meaning “varied”).

I’m not in the biz. I’m just someone who’s been around since The Jesus Movement and has watched the worst of worst and the best of the best, and even rubbed shoulders with a few from each camp. At this point in my life, I will support World Vision and The Salvation Army. They are actually doing something. Individual ministers I support are friends with small ministries or churches or missions (a mission such as providing surgical operations to children with operable disabilities or something).

Just my 2 cents.
Renie

Seeing things at work where no one really embraces a faith in God, what seems to work as far as advertising is word of mouth. One person will come in with a link or a story of something they’ve seen or tell of something they’ve heard and the next thing I know, everyone has seen and heard it by the end of the day. It’s usually something they saw online and wanted to share. These are young people who feed off of something new and search a lot for new things out there. They seem to be the types who would embrace a cause because it makes them feel good.
http://www.gordonmarcy.com/ Gordon Marcy

Excellent thoughts, comments & ideas.

My belief is that all the problems stated here could be solved more efficiently if broadcasters, ministries and churches were to join forces and work together.

A coming together in true Nehemiah fashion, to rebuild the “media wall.”

By definition, collaboration involves organizations (which may or may not have had any previous relationship) coming together and fundamentally changing their individual approaches to jointly plan, implement and evaluate programs to solve a problem or achieve a common goal.

The problems have been well stated. Our common passion…to reach, every man, woman and child on earth with the gospel…compels us to resolve them.

International telecommunications firms are working feverishly to get the entire world connected to the Internet by 2015. This is a historic moment and opportunity for the Church and worldwide missions.

Given the global forces and dynamics, I wonder though if individual Christian organizations, or even individual Christian industries, have the resources to be as effective as we once were.

All will hear. God promises that. It just seems unclear right now who is going to be involved from a media perspective.

Many are thinking about these things.

During his keynote address at the 2008 National Religious Broadcasters Convention, Dennis Rainey, President of FamilyLife Ministries (and host of it’s daily radio show), issued a challenge to religious broadcasters.

He said it’s time to: 1) Dismantle fences around our ministries; 2) Use our God-given platforms to partner with others; 3) Leverage all our assets to fulfill bold ministry initiatives; 4) Take bold steps of faith to fulfill The Great Commission; 5) Seek God to do the impossible; 6) Cover our strategies in prayer

Has the time come?

“The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us.” Ne 4:19-20
Bruce van Heerden

You are so right Phil,but I do not think it will take that long because the people who are supporting these TV guys are the ones who lost there 401k’s and they are rebuilding , the do not have money for TV ministry. The new generations are also tired of the narcissism of the family bused Christian TV they are done with having the next generation of TV Evangelists family who have no talent, no anointing and no ministry take over from mom and dad just because of there name, ala Roberts, McCauley, Schuler,Copeland and the rest. It may be that Christian TV is headed for commercial TV
steve

Greetings,

I have just stumbled across this site by complete accident…

all these thoughts are interesting..

But there seems to be absoultely no one quoting the word, no one letting the word of God be their light.

you can strive and come up with all sorts of ideas and ways of doing this and that to raise money…. But as in all tings… it begins with getting on your knees, humbling yourself, and crying out to God. God is always the source of abundance…he’s the source of ALL things.

Im here in the uk, and watching GodTV is probably the worse thing a Christian could do. I see so much lies on this channel. Wealth and health..prosperity gospel… living for today….. a little leven leavens the whole lump.

We are the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus Christ…and we are to love…we are to reach out.. we are not to be just hearers, but doers.

If every one of us were doing that… these grand plans wouldnt be necessary. Members each have a part to play in the body. And if it were all working as it should, unified, and sold out for Jesus, then the world would be seeing and experiencing the love of God in powerful ways. Instead its not… the church we see today, much of it isnt the real church..its dead, worldly and full of sin.

Start praying and calling out for God to change and help you to be effectual locally..and keep praying for governments, people in authority… etc. But it starts with self. Revial never comes until one is seeking it for himself…. getting serious with God personally.God is sovereign, and nothing happens that he does not know about.

Where is your faith?!?!? Anything is possible with God!!!! You dont need huge events and loads of money… you need the spirit to move!

We’re in the end times… and the next generation is going to be the most rebellious.

I work in media here in London.. the spirit moving in it is aweful… and that will be true in the world… the spirit of this age.

The church needs to rise up, and start being like Jesus…. and the wishy washy, non born again will I pray by God’s mercy will know Him, the kingdom will grow, and the world will see and turn. The devil is using the fake churches, preaching, teaching to deceive many.

If we’re pursecuted… so what? We are all to partake in the sufferings of Christ.

The kingdom isnt going to grow based on mans efforts to fund raise…. its going to grow by his people reaching up to him in prayer, moving in faith, loving the unloveable, and using what we have to be effectual in the circles we move in. Yes we can give to christian charities for global missions etc… but lets get out there locally…. if we all do that.. the church WILL be effectual globally.
Rukabu Dennis

there is one think that i know and this thing here is the only truth chek it out “if the lord is on our side who can be againest us” this is what keeps me alive.
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http://thechristiancreative.com Alex Tillman

I really think we need to get away from “the sermon is the show” model and move into an age where the content is produced in a completely different format. Yes we do have the few programs that tried reality TV or a news broadcast style, but the major players are still in a sermon or talkshow style, which is great for raising money, but not so great for reaching PEOPLE. Here is the US non-believers aren’t tuning in to TBN. I believe the real future is online. traditional media is dying and we need to be ahead of the curve (for once).

On demand content is the way of the future and we need to produce something thats worth watching. So why not a gameshow? A documentary? or a sitcom? Jesus used parables – so why can’t we use a comedy? or a home-improvement show?

It’s time to take off the blinders and look at this whole thing in a NEW WAY. If we keep doing the same thing, we’re going to reach the SAME people, and those that aren’t being reached need us more than ever!
http://www.chrisbusch.com Chris Busch

Phil,

I think your predictions are essentially sound.

Media ministries have been traditionally personality based. I don’t consider that wrong, just a reality of what have been the dominant mediums, television and radio. But, even if we look at ministry in the distant past there has always been a focus on individual leadership personalities. The fortunes of a church usually rise and fall depending on the person serving as lead pastor.

For an organization to become attractive to donors beyond the personality stage (like American Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc.) requires a careful transition. First, the existing (but aging) loyal donor base needs to be kept intact. The organization should look to this group to be high in average giving but with the census decreasing due to aging, retirement, etc.

New donors have to be attracted, often with different messaging than what appealed to the long-time loyal group. For instance, the core group may need to receive communication that is more based around the personality that drew the donor to the organization. But, the next wave of donors often need to be attracted on the basis of the charitable work of the ministry, with a central personality present but not necessarily the focus of the relationship between the donor and the ministry. Also, it is important to talk about the long-term goals of the ministry/organization that subtly communicate the intention of the organization to live beyond the life of the founder. (However, there are probably some organizations that should plan to eventually liquidate after the death of the founder).

The newer group of donors will at first likely be lower in average gift and therefore it will take more numbers to begin to build a contingent to replace the current aging donor base. So that’s the trick for “mature” media ministries, messaging that attracts a new group of donors in large numbers alongside messaging that speaks to the current group of larger and loyal donors. The new group must be growing in numbers, frequency of giving, average size of gift, etc., while the long time donors gradually shrink in their impact on the organization and its mission.

There are of course a lot more issues that affect the future, many of which you have discussed in your books and on this blog. There is such a thing as an industry life cycle (Google for graph) that affects all organizations. Those who survive the decline phase after maturity are those who find new markets, new products, new services… those organizations that “re-invent” themselves. And an essential part of that process is adjusting to a culture that is undergoing seismic shifts affecting how brands are viewed, how media is consumed, how donors/buyers are motivated, etc. Add to that the massive economic tsunami and its after effects and it’s not hard to see the possibility of three things happening –

1. Some established media ministries will fail to adapt and will go the way of the dinosaurs with the current economy providing the catastrophic event to finish them off

2. Some established media ministries (a minority I think) will adapt to the changing culture, prudently find their way through the economic malaise and emerge on the other side changed, but strong and growing

3. There will be newer ministries emerge who don’t have the baggage of the established ministries but who also don’t have the core of support. Some will find the new “sweet spot” with donors and will be the growth ministries of the next cycle.
Mary Hutchinson

I am with you in part…but I think Rick Warren just proved that a crisis that is real will cause people who care to dig deep and give. If a ministry REALLY is in crisis, then the donors not only should be told, it is a disservice to them not to tell them. They deserve to know and be able to make a difference if they want to.

You are right that things are changing; this generation wants to engage with media, not follow it blindly. The media ministry of the coming years had better take note of that and create those opportunities now.

To do that requires all of what Phil says and more: It requires a database that contains the donor information that every single decision maker in the ministry has ready access to (related to their area of concern) and can run simple queries and understand the reports.

If a ministry does not offer that to their leaders, they have them doing their job blindfolded.

Having one person filter and present data to leaders puts far too much burden and weight on one person’s view. If that person has a bias (and don’t we all?), the data is less than objective.

Because of that limitation, in the past three months I have seen smart ministry leaders, trying to make decisions when they didn’t have a full picture of what their donor’s were trying to tell them through their giving. Each of them had their data at a database house that was not user-friendly and up-to-date, or there’s was a self-written in-house database that only its keeper could manage.

Here are some of the situations that led to:

One organization was ready to invest in more media — not knowing that at the pace they were acquiring donors, they would be bankrupt in six months. Literally. They needed to fix the front end; they needed a Phil-type to come in and help with the program itself before investing in more airtime.

Another was ready to stop doing one of their outreach programs. They didn’t know that one program was the pet project of 80% of their current file. Change the offer, lose the donors.

Another was ready to launch a new partner program (monthly givers) without knowing what partner program in the past had rung the bell the best with their viewers, giving them partners who renewed and fulfilled their pledges.

Another was spending 80% of their media budget on an outlet that generated less than 5% of their response.

Another was flat for five years straight because they didn’t know how to keep a donor. They did an amazing job of attracting donors, but they didn’t create a communication plan that kept them engaged.

None of the things Phil talked about can happen unless the investment is made first in the database. None of it.

As a creative person, I wish it was not so. I would like to say that the next big idea will solve it all. It won’t.

Investing in your database is investing in knowing your people, what the like, what they want, what they need, why they support you. Then you and your leadership team can give them more of what they want—and the donors will in turn support you.

“Without knowledge…”
Kirt Salisbury

Hello mary! Was good to see your name once again. I understand you are now living in Denver? I left INSP in Charlotte about 5 years ago, moved back to CA and am semi retired but doing some PT writing! Very good comments!

Blessing to you! Kirt
http://www.leebezotte.com Lee Bezotte

Great insights Phil. The days of the “celebri-preacher” can’t come to an end soon enough. If Jesus and Paul can work outside of their ministries, then so can the televangelist.
Gary Dowd

I agree with Mary that too many ministries are making poor decisions based on assumptions and tradition rather than facts about their donors. Furthermore, As an older, less content-critical donor base (the one that has been the traditional supporter of ministries) declines, ministries are faced with a challenge – how to retain a declining donor base while adapting content, style and distribution enough to attract a new one. Staid organizations, like The Billy Graham Association, have been wrestling with this for a number of years and haven’t yet discovered a solution. What’s the key to cracking the code? We’re still searching. But one thing is for sure – with the intense competition out there for our attention in so many channels, a successful ministry can’t rely on just one or two media any longer. Integrated, cross-channel distribution, each one capitalizing on it’s strengths and reinforcing the other’s weaknesses is a must, not in the future, but now. If a ministry has any chance of thriving or even staying alive, it needs to begin accumulating the right kind of data necessary to make decisions instead of relying on emotion and intuition.
Ron Lambros

Your points are on target and, unfortunately, all too correct. The current economic climate has only served to make our given donor lists shrink even further than they have. The inevitable would have occured had the recession happened or not. Demographically, donor numbers are dwindling with no generational givers to take their place. And while it may be true that we only have 8-12 years left before our donors disappear altogether, if our ministries have not begun to change to embrace social media and the changing face of interactive technology, we’re already at least 3 years behind the curve, and the crawl out will be difficult, if not impossible. Call me old-fashioned, but I still hold to two basic, faith-based premises: 1) God is our sufficiency, and, 2) God always takes care of what belongs to Him. While pondering the ever-changing face of media and how we do it, we must never forget that He will not allow His message to be silenced, and if we are faithful to share that message, God will find a way to meet our needs, today, and in the future.
http://www.frontgatemedia.com Scott A. Shuford

As God christened our new non-profit in 2009, we’ve been wrestling with these very issues because we are stuck right in the middle of that. <b>My Broken Palace</b> reaches out to the 15-24 age group dealing with depression, addictions of all kinds and ultimately suicide prevention. We did 6 events in 2009 to test our models and are expanding to 25-50 in 2010.

Our audience is that new generation, and they are responding to this authenticity and the opportunity to be involved as part of our MBP community helping each other. They are buying merchandise and resources to help support the non-profit. Leaders and teachers are responding through programs and assemblies with their kids. I think we’ll see some level of outright donation from the 15-24 crowd as well but I’m not expecting that it will be the core of our fundraising. I’ll know more in about 6 months. Within this group, we are focused on text and online giving as a result of their personal involvement.

At the same time, we’re working on a more formal donor presentation to appeal to the “normal” donor audience, the older audience Phil is talking about. In that, we’re moving back toward a more formal quotation of “ministry” elements.

Frankly, I think much of the Christian church audience is working and thinking backwards. IMHO (and probably why I’m in a youth oriented ministry) the church’s best pastors should be focused on their youth groups and raising up the next generation rather than spoon feeding the older generation. The older generation should be doing something in the church. That’s obviously not happening as we have all heard about the 20% of the church body doing all the work for the other 80%.

Ask not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church.

Seeing as Hulu spells relative doom for the old school tv model, any TV ministry that isn’t aggressively on the Net in the On Demand paradigm is either going to be a small fraction of what it is today, or not going to be here at all in the future.

American culture is particularly succeptible to the cult of personality (BTW – great song by Living Color!) People are giving to ministries that serve them directly.

:)
mary Hutchinson

Howdy, Kirt! I am in NH: http://www.getinspireddirect.com
Todd

But they’ll pay to vote for something…it’s all about engagement

Phil Cooke

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