Reaching Out to Religious Institutions

Selling promotional products to religious entities requires direct targeting and building relationships.
Oct 27, 2008

By Dawn McMullan, Contributing Writer

John Bagwell knows marketing to religious entities is different than marketing to any other customer. When Dallas-based Bagwell Promotions created a Web site just for reaching out to churches, Bagwell took the utmost care to make sure the site reflected the market he was trying to reach, going through the online catalog to eliminate any items that didn’t fit the mission of the new site.

"Since we had a lot of Baptist churches as clients, I deleted beer and alcoholic items as best I could," he says. "On the Web site, I stressed an online catalog where visitors could find other items for the ministries. A few weeks after launching the site and a lot of patting myself on the back for doing such a good job on the design, I got an email from a pastor who asked, 'Can you tell me how I might use condoms to promote my church?'"

Needless to say, condoms have since been deleted from the ChurchMax.com inventory list.

There are, no doubt, many stories like Bagwell's that illustrate the differences in working with religious institutions vs. corporate institutions. But none of these differences would likely surprise Kirk Chritton, director of marketing at MCH, a Sweet Springs, Mo.-based company that specializes in business-to-institution marketing. "They are definitely different to work with than a corporate client," Chritton says. "That's because they're not trying to make a profit. They're not advertising or doing a promotional effort because there's a profit motivation. You have to talk to churches in terms of what their mission is. It may be membership. It may be community support."

Determine the Mission
Chritton recommends targeting your direct-mail pieces to religious entities by creating a religious theme, even if you just change the cover (without being denomination-specific, of course): "It can be tricky to make sure you have appropriate creative material that isn't overly denominational. Some people may be offended if it's a mistargeted message." As Bagwell found out.

While the church-specific Web site has brought in business, Bagwell says 40% of church business still comes through the company's main Web site, bagwellpromotions.com. Nevertheless, Bagwell still thinks ChurchMax.com is a good idea: "I think it gives us a little more credibility within the industry."

Crossover Niches
This is an industry with more possibilities than you might think. Religious entities cross into many other areas, Chritton says. Churches may delve into education, toys, commercial kitchen equipment and gymnasium equipment. They serve the community by providing health screenings and feeding the poor. "Churches are users of many goods and services that are crossovers," he says. "They are one of those pillars of the community."

Keep in mind, churches aren't all about Sunday mornings. They have baseball teams, mission trips and youth groups. Vacation bible schools (VBS), for example, create the need for many products. Contact them in the spring when they're planning their summer VBS week. Another tip: churches have the most money around Christmas and Easter, so you'll probably sell more to them then than, say, in July, when giving is down because families are on vacation.

Subcategories of the church are schools, daycares and sometimes nursing homes. Each has its own decision makers and budget.

Spending
Lay people generally do the ordering, although clergy occasionally get involved. Bagwell finds that multiple buyers within a religious entity don't always go to the same company for promotional items. "I have one church where I get lots of business from the children's director, but the youth minister has yet to purchase anything from me," he says. "Like many businesses, it's all about the relationship. If someone is comfortable with you, they are more likely to continue to purchase from you."

That purchasing, though, has taken a hit from the economy. While government institutions are fairly recession-proof, religious institutions do not have that same benefit. "The church market is one of the harder-hit institutions," Chritton says. "When things get tight at home, what goes into the collection plates on Sunday morning is not as generous. At the same time, charitable needs increase significantly. Discretionary spending is one of the first things to be reduced in a church budget, which is all the more reason to focus on those high-collection times during the holidays and VBS."

Before the economy took a turn, however, the megachurch had caused a boost in this market. Large, suburban churches that started popping up in the 1990s created larger, wealthier congregations with more discretionary income. They run more like a business than smaller churches and tend to place large orders. "They're going to be very active in outreach and promotion," Chritton says. "These are very good markets for promotional activities because of their large size and relative wealth of the areas they tend to be in. They are still very mission-oriented, but they're applying modern marketing principles to their mission, collections process and membership recruiting."

T.R. Moore, president of Warnerville, N.Y.-based WaDaYaNeed, finds church budgets generally tighter than other clients. Moore says he's seen an increase in orders from religious entities as they learn about using promotional items, like the company's bar mitzvah beach balls and pens in the shape of a cross.

The company's Web site, whatdoyouneed.com, has a specific page dedicated to reaching the religious market, which Moore finds needs a bit more hand holding than other markets. "Explaining the benefits and impact the right promotional item can have is very important," he says. "Most of these clients have never ordered a promotional item before, so there is a slight learning curve. You usually have to explain setup charges and offer artwork services, as most religious organizations don't have a graphics department."

Bagwell, however, finds some are quite savvy: "I think churches shop around more than most industries. Be prepared for your contact to tell you they have found the same item from someone else without the setup charge."

Good sellers are write-on/wipe-off boards with a photo of the church and vital phone numbers and service hours. Bracelets, bags, bookmarks, coffee cups, Christmas ornaments, magnets and hand-held fans. Cross- or church-shaped pens also are popular. Since many churches have an interest in the environment, Bagwell offers organic tote bags and recycled mugs.

And selling these items to churches means selling them to church members, who might be new customers, Moore points out. "The upside is church members may order something for their business, wedding or family reunion," he says.

Dawn McMullan is an award-winning freelance writer based in Dallas. She has written for national, regional and local magazines, as well as provided commentary for Dallas newspapers and radio stations. She can be reached at dmcmullan@sbcglobal.net.

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Reaching Out to Religious Institutions
Selling promotional products to religious entities requires direct targeting and building relationships.
John Bagwell knows marketing to religious entities is different than marketing to any other customer. When Dallas-based Bagwell Promotions created a Web site just for reaching out to churches, Bagwell took the utmost care to make sure the site reflected the market he was trying to reach, going through the online catalog to eliminate any items that didn't fit the mission of the new site.
October 27, 2008