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Is Your Message
Being Heard? By Dan Mirgon, CFRE, CLU, ChFC I had an interesting experience the other day. Living in Southern California, my wife and I drove up to Pasadena the day after the Rose Parade for a walk among the floats. This event is attended by thousands, and presents an opportunity for some to showcase their concern for their fellow human beings by holding signs and shouting "Christ Died for You!" Now, I'm all for telling the truth, in fact I
think the core of what we are called to
But I was struck by this experience, mostly because in the light of the event, they were completely irrelevant. Nobody was listening, and on the odd occasion that a passerby took the flyer being offered, it went immediately into the next trash receptacle. They might as well have been holding blank signs and saying “have a nice day.” Why? The sign holders seemed to care that lost sinner’s needed salvation. But that wasn’t their message. They seemed to care that life without Christ offers no hope – but that wasn’t their message either. The message was that Christ is the solution to a problem you don’t think you have. The truth is that unless you feel the need for salvation, you’re not likely to reach for a Savoir. To connect that with your development communications, you need to think about how your audience perceives what you are saying. To understand whether you need to adjust your message, look at the last seven or eight pieces of mail or newsletters that you have mailed. Now, assume you just landed from a distant planet and ask yourself – what are they trying to tell me about themselves. Do you look like a ministry that the God of the Universe is involved in, or something else? Ask yourself whether your message is clear and concise. Do you clearly understand the impact this ministry is having, and on whom? The alternative is sometimes pretty ugly isn’t it? I look at communication pieces all the time that sound as though the world turned their back on the organization a long time ago, and they are simply trying to “convince” people they aren’t as bad off as they sound. Is it any wonder why ministries lose large segments of the donor file every year, and need to replace them with “fresh donors?” Now factor in all the other advertising noise your donor hears. The press is always ready with the bad news, the latest scandal stays on page one long after its newsworthiness expires, and oh buy the way – this ministry that you gave money to last year is . . . what, in trouble again! No, you have to remember whom you represent, and to whom you are speaking. As an evangelical ministry, you represent God. He can do anything, including make people see Him at work through your ministry when you tell a transparent, clear story of the lives that are being transformed by Christ through you. As for your audience, they are not checkbooks. They are people just like you. They deserve the chance to evaluate what you are doing, wrinkles and all, and decide whether you are actually having an impact. When you are, they get involved. When they can’t hear it, they go away.
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as Christians is to help the world realize that they need "saving."