St. Andrew’s Anglican Church Membership and Marketing Report
The mandate of the Membership and Marketing (M & M) Committee was identified in 2011 as follows: 1) to provide proactive advice to Vestry regarding the health of the membership of the church,
2)to ensure the church is employing the most suitable methods and techniques for marketing and for market analysis,
3) to assist the Finance Committee by monitoring the levels of attendance by the membership, and to investigate the root causes of differences between actual membership and budget, together with determining future positive actions.
In April, 2015 a Committee was formed and followed a 'Process Chart' which included a Situation Analysis i.e. defining a gap between the current state and future state of the church, determining the causes of the gap, and suggesting opportunities for improvement.
The committee began by preparing a 'Situation Analysis' which could include:
1) a review of the records including attendance, monetary support, demographics, current communications and any other data we could collect and use.
2) a list of services provided by St. Andrew’s to its parishioners.
3) interviews with the incumbent, the staff, the Vestry, and selected parishioner groups.
4) a review of information from outside the parish, including information from the Diocese, from the community as well as competitive information.
5) survey information from the “Time of Transition” team.
6) demographic information for the local area.
Each committee member was given an assignment to collect information from the categories listed above. A complete list of services offered by St. Andrew’s was compiled in November 2015. It was determined that the core service which the church provided to its members was the Worship Services. The Sunday School, the ACW and the Friends in St. Andrew's were identified as next in importance. These were followed by a multitude of other valuable services, rendered both inside and outside the Church.
Each committee member was asked to attend a Service at another church which would provide further benchmarking capabilities. With all this in mind, each committee member compiled their top five “Opportunities for Improvement”.
The Committee’s report was received by Vestry on May 12, 2016, and deferred for review and study until the next Vestry meeting. On June 14, 2016 Vestry approved a proposal that an Implementation Committee be formed to examine the original report and determine a path forward. After a call for volunteers, a Committee consisting of church members with a diverse range of experience was formed and meetings commenced. Examination of the original report in totality identified eleven “Opportunities for Improvement” : Attendance, Communication, Fund Raisers, Hymns, Participation in Sunday Services, Parish Hall, Sermons, Services, Sunday School, Website and Youth.
The Implementation Committee carefully reviewed and considered each “Opportunity for Improvement” and where and when possible, moved each “Opportunity” forward in the best interest of St. Andrew’s. A concluding report was submitted to Vestry on February 20, 2018.
A “thank you” to all who participated!
George V. Wright Chair, Membership and Marketing Implementation Committee