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With the season of generosity fast approaching, churches not only see an increase in giving, but they also notice seats filling up. This gives ministries an opportunity to grow over the next few months and inspire new guests to become active members.
While the quality of sermons is the primary factor that keeps people coming back, 79% say feeling welcomed (especially by church leaders) makes a significant difference if they return. Even if your church has strategies in place dedicated to welcoming visitors, it’s a good idea to reevaluate these from time to time.
To help, here are 3 tips to enhance the way you welcome new church guests.
1. Extend a friendly greeting on your website
Before new visitors enter the church’s door, they look you up online. Some want to learn more about your church’s mission while others simply want to get a better idea of your location. This experience will be their first impression of the church and can make a significant impact on how welcomed they feel.
Even with a simple website design, there’s a lot you can do to show that your church appreciates new guests and treats them kindly.
- Make a short video with church leaders and staff welcoming visitors to the website
- Create a landing page listing answers to common questions newcomers have
- Provide a virtual tour that begins with pulling into the parking lot and ends with taking a seat
- Use branded donation pages to help personalize your church’s website
Beyond extending a friendly greeting on your website, make sure all information is accurate and responsive for mobile devices.
2. Strategically place greeters and welcome centers
If you already have greeters and welcome centers available at every service, that’s great! Now, take a step back to ensure they’re strategically placed in a welcoming way.
Based on how busy your church gets this time of year, greeters should be stationed beyond the front entrance. Have greeters and volunteers in the parking lot guiding newcomers as they drive in. New guests often have questions right away about where to go after parking, where the restrooms and welcome centers are, and the location of specific groups like children’s church.
When choosing a place for welcome centers, make sure they never bottleneck the flow of foot traffic. If the area is clogged and difficult to navigate through, people will avoid welcome centers rather than flocking towards them.
Also, set up welcome centers in an inviting way. Place giving kiosks so they are easily accessible, and they don’t block hallways or doors if a line forms to give or register for events. Have coffee, water, and even small snacks or cookies available, so visitors and active members can spend time socializing with others before and after service.
3. Remind your church about the different ways to tithe
New guests are already going to be a little nervous before arriving. The offering part of the service can be especially uncomfortable if they don’t know how to give online or they forget to bring cash.
During service announcements, on slides before and after services, and on your website, remind people of the simple steps to give. Do this at every service throughout the charitable season because even inspiring one new visitor a week to give and making them feel more welcomed can impact your church’s vision.
If you don’t offer multiple ways for people to give digitally, now is the ideal time to add text giving, a mobile app, and branded donation pages. Both new visitors and active church members will appreciate the convenient ways to tithe on Sundays (and any time during the week that they’re inspired!).
easyTithe has all the digital giving tools your church needs for the season of generosity! Contact us today to access text giving, kiosks, branded donations pages, and more by calling 1-888-778-4843 or emailing sales@easytithe.com.
