Does Advertising Work to Grow our Faith?

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Does Advertising Work to Grow our Faith?
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Kansas CityThe First Experiment

• 4 Month Media Test Spring 2003
• 130,000 Media Buy, UUA Capital Campaign- Funded
• Uncommon Denomination Creative
• Focus Groups with UUs and non-UUs
• Hospitality Belonging Training for
  Congregations
• Focus on using advertising campaign to leverage
  congregational change
• Pre Post Awareness Research

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Kansas CityThe Numbers

• Average Growth of Congregational Adult Membership
  in 3 years prior to test ? 2 per year
• Adult Membership growth during and after the test
• Test Year 13.2
• Year 2 8.0
• Year 3 4.4
• 3 Year Total 25.6
• National 3 Year Growth 3.0
• Total New Adult Members
• Test Year 93
• Year 2 64
• Year 3 38
• 3 Year Total 195

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Houston The Second Experiment

• 4-Month Media Test Spring 2005
• 212,000 Media Buy, Major Donor-Funded
• More Effective Media Buy/Cooperation of Houston
  Chronicle
• Improved Creative
• Imagine A Religion
• More Heart / Less Head
• Hospitality Belonging Training for
  Congregations
• Improved based on K.C. Experience

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Houston The Numbers

• Average Growth of Congregational Adult Membership
  in 3 years prior to test ? 1.7 per year
• Adult Membership growth during test ? 6.35
• Total New Adult Members ? 107

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Houston vs. Kansas City
Kansas City Houston Difference
Media Buy 130,000 212,000 63
Size of Market 1.1M Metro Area 4.7M Metro Area 427
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Cost per New Adult MemberKansas City
First Year 3 Year
Total 3-year adult membership growth 93 195
Expected growth w/out advertising (14) (48)
Growth attributable to advertising 79 147
Cost/New Member 130,000/79 1,645 130,000/147 884
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Cost per New Adult MemberKansas City
First Year 3 Year
Total 3-year adult membership growth 93 195
Expected growth w/out advertising (14) (48)
Growth attributable to advertising 79 147
Cost/New Member 130,000/79 1,645 130,000/147 884
New pledge income to congregations (new pledge units x average pledge) 47x1,205 56,635 88x1,205 106,040
Months to recoup media costs 27 21
new pledge units 60 of new members average
pledge increased 14 during 3 year test
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Early Reports from Orange County,South Bay
Long Beach

• 100,000 Media Buy
• Growth 3 prior years 1
• Growth this year 11.3

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Early Reports from Orange County,South Bay
Long Beach

• Rev. John Morehouse, Pacific Unitarian
  Church
• The ultimate testimony to the campaigns
  transformative nature can be summed up in one
  short story. About three weeks ago a lesbian
  couple showed up for our worship service. They
  had seen the insert in the LA Times. After the
  service they asked to speak to me and told me
  they wanted to have a union ceremony to bless
  their domestic partnership. Just the other day,
  one partner stopped me after church and asked to
  speak to me. She told me that her partner was
  dying of cancer. You see, she said, while
  that is sad, it so wonderful we found this
  church. At least we will be blessed by this
  community, at least she wont die before she
  knows that there is such a religion for us. We
  have a world waiting to be saved. This campaign
  was a brave step into that work.

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Some Simple Minded Projections
Growth Goal 1 2 3 4 5
Incremental New Members Required 1,600 3,200 4,800 6,400
Acquisition Cost using K.C. 3 yr cost as basis (884) 1,400,000 2,800,000 4,200,000 5,600,000
New Pledge Income to Congregations 1,152,000 2,300,000 3,456,000 4,608,000
Simple minded because media selection and cost
must be market specific. Our growth has been a
steady 1/year for over 20 years.
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Does advertising work to grow UU congregations?
YES!
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Fringe Benefits

• Congregations work together
• Basis for future growth efforts (for instance, a
  Kansas City emerging new congregation)
• Congregational culture change
• Happy donors with capacity for significant
  future generosity
• Increased awareness of Unitarian Universalism
• Unmeasurable - but perhaps central!

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We Are Still Learning

• Role of PR tied to ad campaigns
• Southern California Success
• Media selection
• How much do we have to spend?
• Impact of market size
• Did we under-spend in Houston?
• Did we over-spend in Kansas City?

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Conclusions

• Advertising is not a panacea, but where
  conditions are right it can be a powerful tool
  for growth and should be a part of an overall
  growth plan.
• The fringe benefits are impressive.
• The costs are substantial, but not beyond our
  reach. A single typical mid-size church can
  easily raise 150,000 for a minor renovation.

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Conclusions

• In Kansas City and Houston our advertising had to
  do two jobs
• Create awareness (effectively -0- prior to the
  ads)
• Generate visitors/members
• A modest national awareness campaign might well
  multiply the effectiveness of market-based
  outreach campaigns.

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Together Let Us Grow Our Faith!