My life long friend Tony Coulombe is in the process of founding a new missions organization called the Mustard Seed Global Fellowship. They are headed for Japan and have an awesome vision of building Christian communities there. Tony has a lot of money to raise to be able to accomplish the mission so to help him I devised a viral fund-raising strategy using YouTube.

Step 1 Record Highly personal and direct videos that speak directly to prospective supporters

• Record in different environments: Try the park, a busy street or somewhere that reminds you of the possible supporter (Tony plans to record videos in little Tokyo)
• Be active in your recordings: Don’t just sit in one place, give the video some movement by walking around.
• Show your passion for the mission: Be authentic, be excited and don’t be scared to ask for money.
• Get them Engaged: Explain how you will continually use online video and blogs to keep them updated and connected to the mission.
• Make Hundreds of videos: The time it takes will make up for itself in the stronger commitments you will receive. (Givers gain)
• Use a cheap camera: No need for High Definition professional equipment here! Most digital cameras these days come with movie mode, use it!
• Keep it short: Between 1-3 minutes.

Step 2 Upload the videos to YouTube

• Files need to be under 1024 megabytes: Another good reason for using a cheap digital camera.
• Don’t worry about people seeing videos you have created for others, it will only serve to support that you are dedicated.

Step 3 Setup an easy way for people to give, whether that be online giving or a simple way to receive information on how to give via mail.

• Realize how important this is: Your videos will deeply impact most people, give them a way to immediately respond.
• Google Checkout: Free for 5013c Non-Profits
• PayPal: Takes a commission so I am not a huge fan…
• See your Bank for possible methods or have a web developer get it done.

Step 4 Email videos to possible supporters

• Make it very clear: You want them to watch this video and they are accustomed to receiving spam so make sure they know it is a video from you made SPECIFICALLY for them.

Step 4.5 Submit the videos to various online social networks and Christian blogs creating a VIRAL reaction to a unique idea for raising support.

• Getting a Viral Response: This Idea is very young and unique. There is a window of probably a year that it will work virally to raise funds so GET ON IT!

Two Examples of My Family Fundraising with YouTube

Transferring Inspiration, Passion, and Vision has been Stifled to Impersonal Mass Mailings

Raising support is getting harder and harder today. People are increasingly more difficult to engage and inspire about any specific cause or mission. On first reaction we could blame it on the laziness and depravity of the culture, but actually it is the recent evolution in communications. Though the mission maybe a very mighty one, the way we are accustomed to transferring inspiration, passion, and vision has been stifled to impersonal mass mailings. Lets change that. Lets start using Social Media to its fullest potential for the Church!

With all that said, you may not always totally agree with some posts in the following links and that is OK.  But we love anyway.

Blog to Check Out (in no particular order):

Perry Noble

Mark Riddle

Mark Oestreicher

Youth Specialites

Mark Matlock

Internet Monk

Greg Stier

David Crowder

Dan Kimball

Adam McClane

Church Relevance

Stuff Christians Like

Lifechurch.tv

Todd Rhoades

The Ooze

Donald Miller

Joshua Griffin

Jonathan McKee

Drew Causey

Andy Woods

Rethinking Youth Ministry

CHURCHSMO (I had to include that one)

As I said, this list is not exhaustive, but a good starting point for people looking for ideas.

What other ministry related blogs would you include?

But just like in “real life” there are dangers.  And parents need to be aware of these dangers so they can protect their children.

*Do your research!
You wouldn’t let your child take a trip without doing the proper research.  So why would you let them enter into the world of social media (or the Internet in general) without knowing what they are getting into.

*Teach!!!
Once you do the research (and that will be time consuming and take hard work), guide them in responsibly using these tools.  Let’s be honest, kids probably know more about the Internet than you do.  Your job is to teach them to represent Christ even online.  Tell them the dangers of posting certain pictures, revealing too much personal information, and connecting with strangers.

*Check In!
This part can be tricky.  Finding a balance between monitoring your child’s behavior online and giving them space can be difficult.  But you do need to be aware of what is going on.  Ask questions…lots of questions.  Hopefully, you have done the research and taught your child how to be responsible with social media and they will follow suit.

How should parents deal with social media?  What are some specific ways parents can teach their children to be Christlike in the world of social media?

So why do Youth Ministers need to be online?

The answer is simple – because that’s where your students spend a lot of their time.  The Internet is a mission field in and of itself.  You have an opportunity to connect with students in a whole new way.

Many students tend to communicate more freely through Facebook messages or email or IM.  Those students feel free to express themselves in ways they probably would not face-to-face.  And if you aren’t connecting online, you are missing out on a whole new realm of ministry.

Places to connect with your students:

-Facebook        -Twitter        -MySpace        -YouTube

-Flickr            -Skype            -Blogs            -IM

Why do you think Youth Ministers should be online?

Bio- Joe Bennett is a former Student Minister with over five years experience in churches in Kentucky and Missouri.  Currently, Joe and his wife, Andrea, live in Louisville, Kentucky and worship at Sojourn Community Church.  Joe’s heart and passion lie in seeing life change happen through Christ.  Because of his experience in Student Ministry, Joe has seen a great need for Christians to have a presence online.  This generation spends so much time on the Internet and it has become a mission field in and of itself.  For this reason, Joe is excited to be a part of CHURCHSMO. On top of that, Joe loves the Boston Red Sox, the University of Kentucky, working out, Fantasy Football, comedy, and food.  He is married to his college sweetheart and has a wiener dog named Seriously.

What’s Going to Change @CHURCHSMO?

Joe and I will be sharing the CHURCHSMO Twitter Account as well as the various other social media services that are used.

If you would like to connect with Joe personally leave a comment and be sure to follow him on twitter @JoeRBennett.

Tutorial Video

Occasionally Facebook will have technical issues and the twitter app won’t install properly. Just delete it and try again later.

I would really like to see some discussion for the following question. I have an answer but I want to hear some objections and some other peoples input first.

Why do I need Twitter if I am Updating my Facebook Status Already?

I have been asked to speak to seminary students from the SBTS about social media. I will be live streaming the presentation using USTREAM. Follow me on Twitter if you would like a reminder.

Here is what I will be covering:

How to Use Social Media for Ministry WITHOUT Overloading, Burning Time, and Losing Your Religion

Social Media is said to be the biggest change in communications in the last 50 years. These social technologies are revolutionizing the way people are conversing, collaborating and connecting. If your goal is to reach people and bring glory to God than this is something you cannot ignore.

What you will learn:

• DIY Mass Communication: Increase Your Reach with Social Media

• Simple and Practical Tools for Getting Started

• Transformed and Transparent : The Significance of a Facebook Profile

• Keeping it Pure: How to Avoid and Block Distasteful Advertisements

• Avoid Info-Overload: How to Stay Up To Date without Staying Up All Night

• Status Updates: The Power of “What are you doing right now?”

• Build Authentic Relationships Online (Assuming you can do this offline)

Let me know in the comments that you will be watching and I will try and mention you in the presentation. Especially if you are in another country.

Tutorial Video

My Facebook Video Challenge to YOU!

I am not going to shave my head or anything but it would be awesome to see a bunch of videos pop up on my wall!

What are some ways that the Church can be using Facebook Video?

Step #1 Sign-Up and Create a “TextMark“

Choose a keyword that will be easy for people to type in. If availble, choose short words or an acronym for your church.

Step #2 Create a PowerPoint slide that shows people VISUALLY how to ask a question using their phone

Send a text message to 41411 that starts with ASKSOJOURN followed by your question.

Example:

Step #3 Have a team Sift through the questions and forward them to your cell phone

This screen will be very valuable and make it easier to manage a big surge of questions. They will need to refresh the page occasionally to see new questions as they roll in.

There are several settings that need to be tweeked within TextMarks. Pay attention to the great option that allows you to respond with something like this when they ask a question…

Custom Response:

As always, I am curious to hear how others are using this kind of tool. Is there a better way?

Live at 11AM & Rebroadcast at 9PM / FM 89.3 or Listen Online Here

WFPL (a local radio station) invited me to be on a show to discuss the current state of affairs related to “Our Evolving Relationship with Technology“. I will be joining John Palfrey, a Professor of Law and a Vice Dean at Harvard Law School. He is a regular commentator on network news programs, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News, NPR and BBC. Needless to say it will be an interesting conversation!

Follow-Up: Being on the radio was awkward, but fun! I didn’t realize that Michelle Jones from Consuming Louisville would be joining as well. It was good to have a familiar social media friend near by! You can listen to the show here.

Extend Your Ministry to Other Websites

When you change your content on Sprout Builder it automatically changes the content across all websites that have the widget on it. Instead of being just another link on someones blog you can have a multimedia presence and feed the latest content from your ministry automatically.

This tool has a mountain of applications for ministry. What other ways do you think Sprout Builder could be used?

Video clips at Ustream

I love being a part of a panel of speakers, I always learn something.

Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV

Social Media and Web Technologies Discussed

• USTREAM
• Facebook
  
• Eye-Fi
  
• Twitter
  
• LinkedIn

Excerpt & Link to the Podcast

We are partnering with our guest, Aaron Marshall, (interview starts at 22:33) this week to present a challenge for our listening audience. If you have an old (or new) iPod that you would like to donate towards the iPods4Africa mission, Aaron would love to hear from you! We would like to see our audience give at least 20 iPods. See full post here…

God’s Mac Podcast and CHURCHSMO have a ton of shared vision. Gabe Taviano is an excellent interviewer and he has created a very strong and consistent podcast where he talks about technology, the gospel, and how they mesh. If you are into church and technology this is a great podcast to subscribe to…

There is a fantastic new service that makes it VERY easy to live broadcast your event through the internet. One of the particularly neat features is that it allows you to broadcast through multiple websites at once. That means you can put live streaming video in a blog, website, Facebook page or anywhere else that allows you to embed a video.

A Few Quick Steps to get Setup

1. Setup a camera that can be fed directly into a computer.

This can be the web camera on your laptop or even a multi-camera system at a big church. Don’t worry about having the camera setup perfect the first time, just do it and work out the bugs later.

2. Sign Up for a USTREAM.tv account

You will get a profile and access to all the code you need to embed it into other sites here.

3. Hit Broadcast Now

You are going to flip when you realize how easy this is. It took me maybe 5 minutes to setup on my laptop.

Do You Pass Rattle Snakes, Dance Around with Flags or Knock People Out with the Palm of Your Hand? Let Me Know Upfront…

Its definitely courteous to explain to people the flow and activities of your service before they get there. What better way to show it than through live video? Live Streaming Video could also be beneficial for folks who are home sick or people working in the nursery.

What are some other ways that live broadcasting could be beneficial to ministry?

This is the beginning of a new ministry with the goal of utilizing millions of unused iPods to make disciples and carry the Gospel to all nations. The concept is simple. You donate your iPod, we pack it with solid biblical teaching and send it to an African Pastor.

Step#1 Send Us Your iPod

iPods4Africa
5702 Timber Ridge Dr
Prospect KY, 40059

Step #2. Your iPod will be Wiped and Loaded with Awesome Biblical Teaching

Step #3 Your iPod will be Sent to an African Pastor

Its that simple!

If you want more information or want to help out please contact us or leave your input in the comment section below.

Before

After

WordPress has a Tool that Makes it SUPER Simple to Import Your Blogger Posts AND Comments

Chad had posts and comments all the way back to 2005. Using the WordPress import tool I was able to pull all of that seamlessly into his new blog. Phew.

My Take On The WordPress Philosophy

The core philosophy of WordPress is to be open and very community driven. It always nice to have a paid company to rely on for support but when it comes to online publishing, proprietary and dependence are nasty beasts.

Using WordPress is like Using a Professional Camera

It takes a little more to learn but you can really do amazing things with it. I am not here to do a feature comparison between Blogger and WordPress, but I want to impress on my readers that WordPress is an awesome solution. Especially, if you know someone who can teach you to work it.

It should be noted that Chad’s site was created with WordPress.ORG not WordPress.COM Whats the difference?

What do you like better WordPress or Blogger? Why?

The more I use Twitter, the more I like it. I don’t like it for the sake of new technology, rather I have come to believe it is a tool that can deeply enhance relationships. Some balk at the idea of telling or knowing what others are doing and thinking, but aren’t these key components to relationship?

Twitter Encourages Intimacy and Deeper Relationship with One Another

I recently visited NW Oregon, where I grew up, and I had the opportunity to share Twitter with nearly my entire family, and several long lost friends. I am happy to say that my grandparents in their 70’s joined and are now regular users. I also introduced my church community group to twitter.

I am learning VALUABLE details about my family and friends that I would have never learned (unless I were living with them). This has given me the opportunity to pray specifically for them and given me cues when I should reach out and make a direct connection.

Twitter Combats Self-centered Thinking

I get so wrapped up in my own world. My wife and I are in the midst of making some pretty large life decisions and I often get lost thinking of myself, my plans, my designs and my life. Twitter reminds me that its not about me and that there are more important things to be thinking of than myself.

Twitter Helps Us to Open our Lives to Family and Friends in Tiny Digestible Chunks.

The problem with other tools for connecting is they require two way communication, which adds all sorts of social rules to the picture. With Twitter we can simply state what we are doing, how we are doing or what we are thinking without getting bogged down in pleasantries. I am not saying that two way communication is bad, its just not optimal if you want consistent regular updates from folks.

My grandma LOVES knowing what we are up to, but phone conversations are short because she doesn’t want to interrupt or burden us. The truth is I would love to tell her and I would also love to know what is going on in their lives as well. Twitter has given us way to connect better.

By opening up and sharing our lives with one another through Twitter we are fulfilling God’s call to love one another. I have a deeper more intimate connection with my family and friends because of Twitter.

What are other Spiritual Benefits of Twitter? Can “Twittering” be a Spiritual Discipline?

When I started to write this post, I thought it would be easy to come up with what God would Twitter. I eventually gave up trying to be theologically perfect and just cranked it out. The exercise of trying to figure it out turned out to be a pretty good meditation.

What do you think God would Twitter?

see also “What Would Jesus Tweet”

One technique I use for winning at games I’ve never played before is to intentionally lose. After a couple of games of being completely destroyed, I begin to see quite clearly what I need to do to win. (My wife can be a fierce competitor so I don’t always win).

I Learn More from Failure than I do from Success. Should I Purposely Fail?

If I am particularly talented this will mean I will have to bite off way more than I can chew. It’s easy for me to “Go Big” or be a “Risk Taker” yet secretly maintain control. The feeling security brings can be seductive… Unfortunately that means I will miss the greatest return of seeing miracles and growing in a trust relationship with my Creator.

God is More Interested in my Character Development than my Comfort.

Consider it pure joy when I face trials, rejoice in my sufferings, there is no condemnation, die to myself… These are not just “positive attitude” Scriptures, they are powerful challenges for me to live RADICALLY BROKEN and trust that I could not make a mess big enough that God could not clean it up.

The Worst Consequence of Living to Fail: People will Think I am a Failure.

The truth is I am a failure, without multiple miracles I would be dead. To hide that fact is to again be seduced by comfort and miss out on a satisfying relationship with Jesus. I confess this is deep issue for me.

Am I doing just enough for people to THINK they are seeing God’s glory, while in reality it is me just bolstering my personal brand?

A Series of Great Posts about Failure from Swerve