But here’s a twist…

For many years, Outreach Magazine and Lifeway Research have compiled an annual report documenting the top 100 fastest growing churches in the United States. These reports contain fantastic insight into the features and assimilation practices of America’s largest churches.

Based on this report, the Church Hacks team has examined the best church websites of the top 100 fastest growing churches to bring you our perspective on the best website practices and features being utilized by these churches.

The great news is, you don’t have to run hundreds and thousands in attendance across multiple church campuses to have a great, effective website. A church of any size with any budget can employ the website features we highlight in this post!

Here’s how we graded the websites:

Design: Is it dated, or cutting edge?

Navigation: Is the main menu long and intimidating (more than 1 tier) or compact and simple?

Layout: Is the layout cluttered and confusing, or open and minimalist?

Core: How easy is it to find contact and location info? More than 1 click?

CTA: Is there an obvious single call to action, or are there multiple choices above the fold?

Social: Is social media banished to footer icons, or does it get a more prevalent position on the home page?

Stories: Does the website tell stories? Are they well done?

Slideshow: Does the home page host a moving slideshow?

Video Background: Does it use a video background?

Responsive: Does the layout conform to tablet and smartphone screens?

Based on these criteria, we picked the following:

The Best Designs

The 3 most visually appealing designs:

jamesriver.org
We love the clean definitive branding, sticky menu bar, and the simple but beautiful sections. We dig the sharp graphic design for sermon series and header images.

pinelake.org
Pine Lake chose beautiful flat design anchored with fantastic photography. This website is straightforward and delightful.

canvaschurch.com
With dynamic “mobile-first” design and minimalist slide-out main navigation, this one is a real treat!

The Cleanest Layouts

The 3 simplest, least intimidating to navigate:

calvarychatt.com
Calvary employs a smooth layout with lots of white space and a minimalist 4-option main navigation.

crosspoint.tv
This basic 4-option main menu with a minimal slide-out sub navigation moves us right into easy-town. The large text links play beautifully with mobile devices.

theactionchurch.com
Probably the cleanest layout on the list, Action Church rolls with a compact menu, header video and, six buttons. That’s it. Well done, Action Church. Less is more!

The Clearest Call to Action

The top 3 successes at soliciting an action from visitors:

rivervalley.org
River Valley hits the mark with a big bold call to action overlaid on the header video. If you’re visiting the RVC website, there’s no misunderstanding – they want you to Plan a Visit!

prestontrail.org
Visitors to the Preston Trail Community Church website will have no problem figuring out where to start. That big bold button will make sure of it.

centralbaptist.com
Central Baptist Church would love for you to plan a visit. We know this, because of the huge gold words “PLAN A VISIT TODAY” emblazoned across the entire width of the website. This is a bold CTA if we’ve ever seen one. Well done Central!

The Most Socially Connected

The 3 best at connecting their site socially:

venuechurch.com
Venue Church gives premium header space to their array of social media accounts (at least in the desktop view) as well as a sliding Twitter feed on the home page. Let’s get social, Venue!

mycalvary.com
Calvary Fellowship wants to connect socially, and it won’t be hard to find out how. The home page sports gobs of social links. In fact, we counted 4 different sets of social media links on the desktop view, one of which is a sticky sidebar.

sunvalleycc.com
Sun Valley Community Church decided to make social media the call to action on their website. They dropped Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn icons front and center. Nicely played Sun Valley!

The Best Storytellers

The top 3 sites using clear powerful member testimonials:

newspring.cc
Though a little tricky to find, the Newspring Church stories feature is incredible. They wrote them in long form story style complete with candid photos documenting the progression. While they doubtless have hundreds of hours into this exceptional collection, it is very powerful! https://newspring.cc/stories

pinelake.org
Since 2013, Pinelake Church has consistently documented the life-change of its members using compelling video stories. As of this writing, their website holds 180+ powerful stories, with new ones being added every month. Thanks, Pinelake, for sharing the incredible work of Christ with us! https://pinelake.org/stories/

sandalschurch.com
Sandals Church proves that you don’t have to have a professional video crew and 5-figure media budget to create compelling, inspiring stories. Their website lists dozens of short, engaging written stories that prove over and over that Jesus is greater and stronger than any trial. https://sandalschurch.com/stories/

The Best Responsive Layouts

The 3 best mobile device experiences:

gochristfellowship.com
Christ Fellowship created a fantastic mobile layout that feels like an app. A simple sticky iconic menu bar, first-time visitor call to action, and big bold buttons make this mobile layout a delight to navigate.

turningpointchurch.tv
Turning Point Church offers a bright, high-contrast mobile layout. The page greets us with core info followed by a healthy list of social media links. We also love the sticky semi-transparent “back to top” button that resides in the bottom right corner of the long-scroll home page.

mountaincc.org
We’re refreshed by the clear airy feel of the Mountain Church mobile layout. Core information sits right at the top with an easy 5-option drop-down navigation and prominent social media connections. It’s straight, simple, and to-the-point. While we love it to death, our only complaint is that you cannot swipe between slides in the slideshow.

The Common Denominators

The top trends identified and analyzed:

Percentage of websites with home page slideshow: 38%

While this feature was the popular trend in recent years, the explosion of mobile device traffic has driven the use of homepage slideshows backward significantly. Their performance on mobile devices can be sporadic. More than anything else, visitors simply don’t want to sit and wait for the slides to cruise by on their screen.

Action Point: Consider eliminating the slideshow on your home page and simply replacing it with that one big thing that you’d like church visitors to be captured by immediately. However, if you do choose to stick with the slider, try to keep it to no more than three slides, or whatever can be shown within 5-7 seconds. Anything longer than that will most likely be ignored.

Percentage of websites with video background: 23%

This feature has spiked in popularity recently. It can be a nice, eye-catching feature provided the following are true:

1. The video is not too wild and crazy (think Photosensitive Epileptic Seizures)
   2. The contrast with overlaid elements is good. (white text on white sky = bad)
   3. The video quality is not awful. (flip phone footage = bad)

Action Point: Video backgrounds can be a very engaging option for your website. If you use them, make sure to reference the pointers above. Also, consider toning the video down with a color overlay and some transparency to give it a muted background feel.

The worship band may have a killer guitarist and Vegas-worthy light show, but your home page header is not the best place for that clip. Think “interesting” rather than “distracting.”

Percentage of sites with static header: 39%

Just over one-third of all surveyed websites simply chose to go with a static header image – no background video, no moving slideshow. This “back to the basics” trend has developed largely in response to the high volume of mobile traffic. For these churches, clean, sleek, and fast is just what the doctor ordered.

Action Point: It’s obvious that many churches have come full circle on the website headers, opting to give the prominent place on their homepage to a single image or graphic. This is a safe healthy trend that we’re all for. If you go this route, make sure that your header image is relevant and frequently updated. While the simplicity is great, without multiple slides to hide it, the graphic promoting the “Current Sermon Series” that ended a month ago will stick out like a sore thumb.

In addition, you could employ a header script that loads a random image from a pool of images every time the page is refreshed. This gives the variety of a slideshow without the monotonous transition animations.

Percentage of sites using stories: 31%

Nearly one-third of the top 100 fastest growing churches in America have employed “stories” on their websites. Some are written stories, and most are video stories. In every case, they are real-life scenarios of individuals and families whose lives have been impacted and revolutionized by the power of the gospel through their local church.

Stories are incredibly effective, as they bring the viewer to ask themselves the introspective question “why not me?”

Check out these helpful articles about the power of story-telling:
https://hello.ekklesia360.com/blog/how-to-use-storytelling-when-growing-an-engaged-church
https://churchtechtoday.com/2016/02/05/storytelling-video-church/

Action Point: Use stories. While researching this article, I was brought to tears over and over experiencing the grace of God in peoples lives. Don’t let the lack of video budget, expertise, or experience stop you from getting your foot in the door. If you have those resources, by all means use them, but there are no real excuses for avoiding storytelling.The fact is, if there are no stories to tell in our churches, we’re doing something wrong! Start by simply interviewing some of your members, and you will be amazed at the gold mine of grace you’ll discover. Furthermore, make sure that your members get the opportunity to review the story before you post it to avoid misunderstandings or errors.

Percentage of responsive sites: 95%

A responsive website is simply a website whose base code is engineered in such a way that the layout arranges automatically for optimal viewing on any screen or device, whether a laptop, desktop, mobile phone, or tablet.

Since mobile web traffic has now officially passed desktop web traffic, responsive web design is non-negotiable.

Is it possible to reach people without a responsive website? Of course. In fact, 5 out of the 100 fastest growing churches in America have non-responsive websites. The point is, in order to stay relevant with your website, you’ve got to go responsive with your layout.

Action Point: If your current website is not responsive, plan to upgrade to a responsive layout as soon as possible. While it still works, a legacy non-responsive layout is hurting the effectiveness of your website, period.

Conclusion

While the 100 fastest growing churches in America typically have multi-million dollar budgets, multiple campuses, and full-time media department staff, none of the observations and recommendations in this article require those resource levels.

Don’t read these trends and decide that they are out of your reach. That’s simply not true!

Choose one or two improvements and decide to implement them before the end of the year. You’ll be that much closer to an effective church website for your community.

Care to see the Church Hacks grade report that we used to score the best church websites of 100 fastest growing churches in America?

Click below to download the full PDF report, complete with hyperlinks!

The post The Best Church Websites of 2017 From America’s Fastest Growing Churches appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

Dunham+Company reports that 42% of U.S. churches have online giving. Seemingly low being that churches have had 15 years to get on the “online fundraising” bandwagon, but when you take into account the fact that there are over three hundred and twenty thousand churches in the U.S., the number seems reasonable. 42% of 320k = ~135,000 churches with online giving.

For those that allow members to give through the church website, they’re likely seeing growth in this area as the latest figures from the Blackbaud Charitable Giving Index show that online giving continues to grow at approximately 7% year over year.

I’m sure there are likely many reasons for the shift to online giving – comfortability with computers and smartphones increased confidence in security protocols and less paranoia about identity theft, more millennials giving through mobile technology, etc.

So …  at this stage, the question is less about if you’re doing online giving at your church and more about how effective your church online giving program is, right?!

Before we go any further, let me ask you this. How much more online giving revenue would you have if you could increase your online donation form conversion rate by 2%?

Let’s do a bit of math …

If you get 100 visits to your giving form and 1% convert into donors, you’ll have 1 online donor. Meh.

If you get 100 visits and 3% of them convert into donors, you’ll have 3 donors. That’s a 200% improvement!

Imagine if you had 5,000 visits to your church giving form and 3% converted into givers. That’s 150 donations! If your average gift size is $100, then you’d have raised $15,000 online vs. if you had the same amount of traffic and only converted 1%. That would only yield 50 donations for $5,000. You see the point here? Focusing on your church donation form conversion rate can make a HUGE difference.

It’s with that in mind that we present 11 online giving form optimization tips that you can implement fairly quickly. Have a look and let us know what you think in the comments below.

1) Make your donation form simple to find

This one may sound obvious, but the easiest way to optimize your online giving form is to make it easily findable! Take a look at your church homepage. Can you spot the give button/link easily?

You don’t have to be obnoxious or “in-your-face” with it, but you should make it super simple to find. Take First Baptist Church in Woodville, TX. They’ve got a very clean website and don’t overdo it with the “GIVE” button, but you can certainly spot it in the navigation.

2) Keep donors on your website!

If one of your church members is on your website and clicks on a GIVE button, then is taken away to a third-party website to complete the gift, you stand a higher chance of donation form drop-off. Meaning, when people are taken to that third party page, for a split second, they wonder what just happened and can I trust where I’ve been taken.

That momentary question or hint of doubt placed in the mind of a possible giver about to transact online leads to some percentage of people deciding not go give.

The point here is that people want to know they’re on a secure site when giving a gift and sharing credit card information. Sending supporters away from your site is likely to raise questions and leave supporters wondering if they should rethink giving to your organization online, or at all.

The point, keep them on YOUR church website vs. sending them away.

Check out Planetshakers church in Australia. Once a person clicks on the GIVE button from their website, a simple overlay church giving form shows up right on their website allowing someone to give and never leave the main site.

3) Put your church brand on your donation form

Your church probably spent a fair bit of time creating a nice website with a clear brand and public-facing presence. That brand and communication style should be consistent all the way to the donation form experience so that your givers feel confident at the moment where they pull out their credit, debit, or bank account information to give.

Maintaining trust and confidence by keeping people on your website and branding your giving form increases the likelihood that a person visiting your donation form will complete a transaction. In fact, studies have shown that

To drive the point home, consider this fact. Potential donors are 41% more likely to leave without completing their donation on an unbranded donation form according to Blackbaud!

Imagine if you converted 41% more people into givers just by being able to brand your church online donation form!

Check out Vantage Church in Toronto, ON. They’ve added their core logo and brand colors to keep their online communication and messaging on point all the way through the transaction.

4) Keep it to one step.

In a report by Dunham+Company they showed that 65% of nonprofit websites require people to click three or more times to give a donation (see graph). How many clicks does it take on your church website? 1, 2, 3, 5 … more?

The main point here is that single step (aka one page) donation forms perform much better. Requiring your donors to take multiple steps in order to give to your organization can cause significant donation drop-offs.

Don’t make it hard for people to give.

5) Don’t make people tell you their life story–limit the number of fields.

People are in a hurry, live in a 140 character world, and don’t want things to be a hassle.

In a still highly relevant case study by Optimizely in 2013, removing the title and phone number fields from a donation form resulted in an increase of 11% in average donations per pageview for the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Only collect what you need on your donation form!

It’s obvious, people don’t like to share any more that what is minimally required to complete the transaction. Make sure you’re being sensitive to this by limiting your church online giving form to only the fields you truly MUST have.

6) Make sure your donation form is mobile optimized.

Over 80% of landing pages are not optimized for mobile! Yet, according to Blackbaud, in one short year, mobile giving increased 45% from the 2014 giving season to the 2015 season. What?

With the increasing use of mobile devices and the increase in mobile giving, your church needs to ensure that donations can be made on the go.

If your online giving form isn’t mobile responsive, you’re missing the boat.

7) Make recurring giving a prominent feature.

A financial gift is a blessing, one that every church is grateful for.

That said, a one-time gift, even a big one, ends there. But a monthly recurring gift, even if for a smaller original amount, is so much better!

Why? Because monthly recurring giving means a long-term commitment.  Being able to plan on that type of giving from a large group enables your to create an operating budget that’s more predictable, plan better, and increase financial consistently for your church.

Make sure you make it simple for your new donors to turn their gift into a monthly recurring donation!

8) Give donors the ability to cover the fees.

One of the biggest reasons churches struggle with introducing online giving is because there are fees associated while taking cash and check donations via the offering plate are “free”. But, well all know “free” is a myth because people are counting the money, creating reports, depositing the funds, and making sure the books are balanced. All of that takes work and has an associated resource cost to consider.

One of the ways you can help offset the actual cost of online giving is by allowing your donors to “cover the fees”. Check out the image below. See the little switch to “Cover card processing fees”? We’ve seen that over 25% of people will take advantage of this feature!

9) Send a custom email confirmation.

Someone just opened their pocketbook to give out of faithfulness and gratitude which presents an incredible opportunity for you to connect with that person.

This is the emotional high point for the donor, yet most churches do very little to give donors that warm and fuzzy feeling at the end of the donation process. In fact, nearly two-thirds of organizations surveyed by Dunham+Company did not have any type of next step for a donor to take!

Make sure you’re thinking strategically and fully utilizing the confirmation email a faithful giver receives immediately after they give. Here are a few ideas:

1. Say thank you.
2. Let them know how their donation will be used.
3. Invite them to take the next step with your church.
4. Share information about volunteer opportunities.
5. Ask them to share with their friends on social media why they supported your organization.

There you have it. 9 ways you can optimize your church online giving form to increase its performance and grow giving revenue. Let us know if you have any questions or additional optimizations you’ve implemented on your church website.

The post 9 Church Online Giving Form Optimizations You Should Make Today appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

You’ve done your Easter mailers and handed out invitations, and encouraged your people to invite. You have posted your social media graphics, prepared your sermon, enlisted extra volunteers, prayed, and hoped for the best.

You’ve read a plethora of articles on how to have the best Easter service ever. You’ve seen what others are doing and wondered whether you should have done more.

There are last-minute details you’ll be addressing in the next few hours, and then it’s on.

The largest-attended church service of the year will be happening, whether you feel ready or not.

This short article is not another Easter “how-to.” You’ve read plenty of those this year.

It’s not another plea to get you to squeeze another drop of marketing out of Easter Sunday.

I want to encourage you with 3 quick reminders about Easter Sunday.

Don’t allow the hype to cloud the reality.

Here’s the reality: Jesus is alive. The Son of God paid for the sins of the world and conquered the grave in a stunning display of humility, love, and power.

Don’t allow that reality to be clouded by the hectic schedule, busy hallways, and jelly bean fights in children’s church!

When we stop and consider the cause for our celebration, it brings a smile to our face, gratefulness to our hearts, and a spirit of victory that cannot be quenched. Let’s keep it real!

This will really help us to…

Keep a resurrection perspective when things go wrong.

The video will glitch out.

The mic battery will die.

You’ll run out of bulletins.

There are a hundred things that could go south, and inevitably some of them will.

Some church leaders have a harder time rolling with it than others, but let me encourage you to keep a resurrection perspective when things go wrong. Because He lives, we can not only face tomorrow, but we can also deal with the fact that we ran out of parking spaces way too early!

Try to relax, and love with your life.

The fact is, the reason we celebrate Easter is because Jesus is alive. Jesus’ resurrection is significant because it brings hope to hopeless people.

Jesus wants to love the people that walk through your church doors. He wants to love them through you and through His church. So, let’s make Sunday less about a magical audiovisual experience and more about Jesus and the people He loves!

May His Spirit calm our fears and concerns, and may we see people through His eyes on Sunday.

After all, that’s why He came. That’s why He lived, died, and rose to life by His own power.

So, take a deep breath. Have a hot cup of coffee, tea, or whatever gets you going in the morning. Then get over to your Easter gathering and love people with your life.

We’re praying for you!

The post Easter is Happening – Let’s Keep it Real appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

What camera should I use?

Even taking into consideration the fact that shooting with the same camera as someone else won’t make your video look the same, I have to admit that the camera I choose does have an impact on the final product.  There’s a reason I don’t use the exact same camera every time I shoot.

But, how do I know what camera to use?  What is the thought process when I pick what camera I’ll use for each production?  Well, I’m going to tell you.

Why not just use the same camera for everything?

Before I tell you what camera to buy, let me provide some explanation.  Another great question that I’m asked all the time is “What camera should I get for my church/ministry?”  The answer isn’t the same for everyone.  Some churches are using the camera to live stream their church service, other churches are using the camera for announcement videos shot on a green screen.  Some are using the camera for promotional videos, or a recap video about a missions trip or other church event.  In each of those scenarios, I’d suggest a different camera.

What if we don’t have $1000 or more to spend on a camera?

Some churches are just able to afford more than other churches.  That always has to be taken into consideration and we’ve certainly taken this into consideration with this guide!

What if we don’t use a camera that often?

This infographic will take you step by step through the things you should consider before you buy a camera.  What will it primarily be used for?  Will it ever be used on a green screen?  What type of budget are you working with?  How often will the camera be used?  We’ve already considered all of this for you, in the end, we make a camera recommendation for your church or ministry!

The post The Ultimate Church Camera Guide appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

In the next couple paragraphs, I want to give you some easy to follow instructions on how to run a successful FB group (personally I manage a few them with my largest one being about 700 members).

We will cover all the basics of how to get started to crafting an effective post. Trust me getting a private FB group up and running is a lot easier than you think.

What is a facebook group?

FB groups have been around for awhile but it seems like in the last few years they have really gained popularity for being places you can connect with people around a centralized topic.

The difference between posting in a FB group vs directly on your personal timeline is when you post in a group the content stays there and it cannot be seen or shared with people outside of the group. This makes people feel more comfortable to engage with content.

How to start a group.

This part is super simple. Below I lay out a step-by-step plan for getting your church private FB group up and going.

1. Go to the left-hand menu in FB and under the ‘explore’ heading click on Groups
2. In the right-hand corner click the green ‘Create a Group’ Button
3. From here you will see a pop-up where you can name your group as well as pick a privacy setting. I would recommend having a closed group.
   • Leave it on the default group type.
   • You will need to add a few people to the group initially
   • Leave it as a “Closed Group” this allows anyone to find the group but you will need to approve them to be in the group. And they will not be able to see the post until approved.
4. Now just pick a cool icon and hit ‘OK’ to start your group

Personalize your group

First, upload a header image I would recommend only using your logo on this and not worry about any text that way it looks good on mobile, tablet and desktop.

Next, you will want to go to ‘Edit group settings’ by hitting the three ‘ … ‘ next to notifications in the header bar. Here you need to do a couple of things:

1. Hit the customize address and put in a custom name and hit the ‘customize address’ button. This will give you a vanity URL so instead of your FB group URL being something like ‘www.facebook.com/groups/756572774506301‘ it will be ‘www.facebook.com/groups/yourchurchgroupname‘ this is a simple way to give your FB group some class.
2. Take a moment and write a description for your group as well as a link to some rules for being in the group. I would recommend using google docs and make the document viewable to everyone.
3. Now you need to add a location — since you are a church with a physical address it’s good to fill this out.
4. Create a welcome video explaining the purpose of the group and ‘pin it.’
5. Lastly, click on ‘All group posts must be approved by an admin or a moderator.’ if you want to avoid removing random embarrassing post please make sure this is clicked.

That’s it! You can now start adding members and regular attenders to the group.

? PRO-TIP: Download the Facebook Group App for your mobile Device.

How to manage a group.

First, you are going to want to choose some moderators. These are people who will be able to review post as they are added to the group.

Now that you have moderators I would sit down and create a weekly agenda you are going to follow. 2-3 times per week you are going to want to have some type of content that helps people engage with the group.

The four keys to creating great content:

1. Keep it SIMPLE
2. Create a SYSTEM
3. Track your STATS
4. Then STICK with it

Let’s start with the first key of keeping it SIMPLE. Below I am going to share two posts neither one were flashy. In both posts, I asked a simple question and they both generated some great engagement. The takeaway here is just to create simple content that anyone can comment on don’t overthink the production value.

You are going to get burn out super quick on FB groups if you don’t build a system. I would recommend you cough up the cash and spend $60 for a year-long membership to buffer.com it will be a life saver. Then just once a month plan out your post and schedule them but don’t forget to check-in and see who is commenting.

One of the most important things with social media that most people don’t think about is their stats. Facebook gives you tons of data on what is working.

Instead of always trying to post new things take some time every month and go back to see which post performed well, which videos got the most views, which questions got the most comments and what pictures got the most likes. Then rinse and repeat. Create similar content to get similar or better results.

? PRO-TIP: Every month we give away free social media graphics
use them as post for your FB group. See examples here.

Lastly, you need to stick with it. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is an highly-engaged FB group. So settle in, dig deep and invest into it for at least 90 days. I promise you will not be disappointed with the results.

You are ready to start your group!

Personally, I am excited to get your feedback recently I was reading about how church polled their congregation and found that 50% of their members were on FB during the week. I would imagine it would be similar for your church which means Facebook becomes the best way for you to connect, equip and encourage your members throughout the week.

I know I covered a lot so if you have any questions just hit me up in the comments below. I’m looking forward to keeping the conversation going!

The post The Pastor’s Blog is Dead! [Part 2] appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

Imagine I walked outside your church and went to the nearest gas station or drug store, stopped the first person I saw and asked them this question, “What is the church up the street known for?”

What do you think that persons response would be?

Over the past ten years and after working with thousands of churches in every state of US I’ve realized that local churches have a tough time being known for the right things in their community.

Recently, I had the privilege to interview Marc MacDonald to talk about his new book “Be Known for Something” (You can purchase a copy from his website beknownforsomething.com  or amazon) And we talked about how a church can be known for the right things in their community. Below you can watch or listen to the entire conversation.

Important Giveaway:

We are going to be giving away three copies of Be Known for Something to people who answer this question in the comments below. What is your church trying to be known for in your community?

Full Interview with Mark MacDonald author of Be Known for Something:

Note: We had some technical difficulties at the end of the interview and hat to end it earlier. 

The post Guest Interview with Mark MacDonald appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

The post Free Church Social Media Graphics: April 2017 appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

Continuing on with that theme, this week Allen has put together a list of 5 quick, but extremely important tips for you to keep in mind when working on your next Church Video.

5 Tips for Your Next Church Video

Audio is extremely important!

I know we may have mentioned this a lot, but it is absolutely essential that your church has a mic to use when filming your church videos. The onboard microphones on most cameras are not built to be used as the main source of sound for videos, so it is extremely important that you have an external mic!

Light your subject!

If you missed last week’s post regarding the perfect lighting formula for your videos and would like some help with lighting, that would be a perfect place to start! Click here to re-watch last week’s video and learn how to perfectly light your subjects.

Check your framing!

Watch our video above for some quick tips when working with framing of your subject.

Have everything planned ahead!

If you aren’t working with volunteers, you’re still not working with professional talent, so it is absolutely essential that you plan ahead and have scripts, prompts, talking points, visuals, all planned ahead before beginning to film. This will save you a TON of time in the filming process and will make the burden a lot easier on your volunteers/church staff.

KEEP IT SHORT!!

This is most important here! Remember that although your congregation may be forced to sit through your video announcements, if you make your videos 10 minutes long, they will lose interest after the first couple minutes.

Make sure to keep your videos short and concise!

We hope these tips were helpful to you. If there are any we missed, please make sure to let us know in the comments below!

The post Whiteboard Wednesday: 5 Tips for Your Next Church Video appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

As you are working on lighting for your videos, doing a few things right can really go a long way for your video production.

This week on Whiteboard Wednesday, Allen has put together the perfect lighting formula for your church videos!

With this simple formula (and low-cost as well, depending on your budget) you will be able to increase the production value of the videos at your church exponentially!

Also, we know that churches are always working on a budget, so we have put together a list of affordable lighting equipment below that would be perfect for this formula:

Neewer Dimmable Bi-color LED
StudioPRO 1600W Softbox
LED Fluorescent Light
Neewer Reflector

Lastly, If you are interested in signing up for our FREE launch event for the launching of our video courses, click here!

We would love to hear how you guys have used lighting this formula to up the production value of your video in the comments below!

The post Whiteboard Wednesday: The Perfect Lighting Formula for Your Church appeared first on ChurchHacks.com.

It’s the cornerstone of the Christian faith.

It is the ultimate comeback story, and our eternity rests on it.

Second only to Christmas, it is my favorite holiday, hands down.

It can be quite predictable in our churches though, can’t it?

We’re going to choose a handful of songs from the “Resurrection collection”, the kids are going to show up in their cute pastel outfits, the pastor’s going to preach on the empty tomb, and we’re going to try to make it home before the ham turns to pork jerky.

Now, that’s great, I’m not knocking it. It’s all part of the celebration tradition!

Most churches I’m familiar with are excited about Easter and are doing what they can to make the most of it for the sake of the gospel.

But, what if you could do one thing for Easter 2017 that would make it unforgettable?

Would you do it?

Here are a few church Easter ideas I’ve seen others implement that can put some extra punch in your celebration. These can easily turn your epic Easter into an unforgettable event!

Some take a lot of planning, and others are simple and easy to add on to what you’re already doing.

So, enough rambling.

Here are 5 church Easter ideas to make 2017 unforgettable:

1. Preach Sunday morning in an Easter bunny costume.

Nothing says “unforgettable” like a pastor in an Easter bunny outfit.

Bonus points if the costume is pink.

If you pull this off, it’s sure to make Easter 2017 an event your church will never forget.

Ok, relax, I’m just kidding.

It doesn’t have to be pink.

Really, I am kidding. But, if you do this and send in a photo, I will send you a Starbucks gift card.

2. Install an Easter photo wall at your church.

Extend the life of your Easter morning gathering by setting up a photo op area in a commons area of your church.

Encourage your members and guests to post their photos to social media with a unique hashtag.

This is a simple but fun way to expose the friends and family of your attendees to your church!

As you consider this, here are a few tips:

1. Make sure printed backdrops are a matte finish to avoid glare.
2. Install the photo wall in a well-lighted area, ideally near a natural light source.
3. Make the wall big enough to accommodate bigger groups.
4. Don’t put a date on it. That way you can use it again!
5. Suggest a unique hashtag be posted along with photos on social media. Read more about this here.

Check out this 10′ x 8′ backdrop from Sign4x – This nice printed fabric wall can be purchased for under $200, and includes a stand and carrying case.

BONUS! Click here to download a 10′ x 8′ “step and repeat” Photoshop template I created. Just drop in your logo, and the template will take care of the rest. Instructions are included!

3. Set up a church-wide photo scavenger hunt.

In days gone by, a scavenger hunt was pretty straightforward and fairly limited by technology.

Remember the good old “Polaroid” photo scavenger hunts from the 80s and 90s?

How about the VHS or Mini DV scavenger hunts from the early 2000s?

The internet and social media have opened a whole new array of possibilities.

Here’s a simple but fun idea: Host a “family” photo scavenger hunt, with a few prizes.

Here’s how it would work:

First, choose 3 or 4 “settings” that you want every family to capture photos of. For example:

• in front of your favorite restaurant
• eating your favorite easter candy
• pointing to the smartest member of your family
• searching for the easter bunny
• realizing that you forgot about the ham in the oven
• etc.

Then, instruct your church to capture the requested photos, and post them in your private church Facebook group.

At a designated time, close photo submissions, and open up “voting” in the FB group for the best photo in several categories such as:

• most creative pose
• cutest baby
• funniest pose
• etc

Here are a few tips as you think this through:

1. Be flexible with the “family” designation. Not everyone has a traditional family. Allow ‘singles’ to group up and participate as well.
2. Give a prize to every group who participates.
3. Give a prize to the first group that submits all required photos.
4. Require that every group member in the group be in each photo. (they’ll need a stranger to take the photo)
5. Keep it short, only 3 or 4 photos. If it takes all afternoon, people won’t participate.
6. Share “the best of” photos on your projector screen during the following service and reward the prizes. People love to laugh!

4. Set up an Easter signature wall.

This is one of the church Easter ideas from The Creative Pastor website. It could be easily implemented into a memorable Easter feature.

Have a big signature banner printed and mount it on your church wall in an open area. The banner could say something like “What Easter Means to Me.”

Provide a number of magic markers to go with it, and instruct attendees to take a moment and write down what Easter means to them along with their signature.

All ages can be involved in this project, and it’s an inexpensive but impactful way to encourage your church to think about the meaning of Easter!

Leave the banner up for a couple of weeks – your church will love to read and reflect on each other’s writings!

Coming up short on the creative end?

Click here to download a ready-made 5 x 8 signature banner that you can get printed for your church! If you want to change up the phrase, the editable layered Photoshop file is included.

5. Drop things out of the sky.

I have heard of several churches that have done a “helicopter egg drop” or similar aerial distribution of Easter goodies.

Talk about an impact!

This would obviously require a good deal of planning and promotion, but can create a lot of momentum leading up to Easter Sunday.

Here’s a highlight video from a small church that pulled off a “hot air balloon egg drop” in their community, reaching over 3,000 people during the event!

[video_player type=”embed” width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″][/video_player]

If you don’t have the time or resources available to secure a flying platform from which to disperse the goods, consider tossing them from your church rooftop or similar elevated place.

Something about “making it rain” from up above just adds a special touch.

CONCLUSION

What have you done at your church to make Easter unforgettable?

I’d love to hear your ideas as well.

May God bless your Easter celebration this year as you lift Jesus high!

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