Over on NetSquared, Alex Steed has been doing an interesting case study about the UCC and its use of social media (such as Facebook, MySpace etc.) to try to connect with younger audiences.
…the church is faced with the difficult project of reaching out to young people, engaging them spiritually, offering them opportunities for meaningful social action, and to do all of this via media where they will encounter the outreach effort. Further, they need to have an identity strong enough so that when they are reaching out to young people, they have something attractive and authentic to say.
Steed provides a fascinating critique of the UCC’s attempts at marketing itself as well as providing some strategies for reaching millenials. He also raises some interesting points about millenials and the reasons why some of the UCC’s efforts may/may not be working in attracting them . It would be interesting for local churches to consider some of his strategies and figure out how they would apply at the local level:
1. “[Millennials] place more emphasis on personal recommendations than on brands when deciding which products and services to buy.” [The Economist] This is to say that the UCC headquarters has little direct power in earning trust, interest, or investment from new members. Pouring all of the money in the world into advertising the church, designing newsletters, creating well-polished commercials, or publishing great copy, so long as this all is perceived as top-town marketing strategy, won’t buy an increase in youth participation. Because it is now in competition with the more-organic approach of word of mouth reputation cultivation and management, which is made possible by greater access to diverse methods for communication, top-down advertising and messaging is becoming steadily obsolete.
2. “Millennials value peer relationships over institutional loyalty. This has profound implications for activist organizations accustomed to support from their donors over long periods of time. Young people are unlikely to be lifelong donors to their local United Way or Sierra Club. They will engage enthusiastically in specific campaigns about which they feel passionate, but their institutional support is likely to vanish once that campaign ends.” [Allison Fine] This fact actually works in favor of the UCC, which reportedly faced decline in identification thanks in part to this trend: As participants became increasingly interested in social justice issues, they moved further away from the church towards social justice organizations / instutitons. However, as the organizations that worked in favor of these issues were limited in their ability to cultivate diverse and dynamic communities around singular issues, the UCC is now well poised to create a home for communities that honors the peer-to-peer networks held in high regard by Millennials, engage their humanist values, and create for them a sphere where they can work on, organize around, and advocate for various initiatives (by fundraising, organizing, and alliance-building) as they see fit.
Alex Steed’s blog posts have given me a whole lot to think about, as have many of the comments others have made on his blog. Check it out, I’d be interested to know your thoughts both on the specific issues he raises and the more general issues of connecting with millenials.
Related Resources:
Digg This Post 
Stumble This Post
