hardly hormal

In another great post by Seth today he references a Fast Company article that reports when Ikea started charging a nickel for shopping bags, consumption went down by 50% (95% in the UK).

Seth commented “Clearly, it’s not the nickel. The way you charge for something changes the way people perceive it. If the dinner special includes dessert, people get dessert because it’s ‘free’. Of course, it’s not free. You paid extra for the special, remember?”
 
In Christian marketing I too want to believe that people are Kingdom minded but lets be real. Only 3% actually tithe and the average Christian spends more on dog food and Christmas wrapping paper then giving to charity! Price makes a difference!

In fundraising we try to collect data to find an average gift to establish a price point. The reason is because the data shows when you ask for more then the people are willing to give - you get nothing. Of course, there is always a catch 22, in a major donor ask, if you ask for too little, the person might be offended! The truth is most ministries and non-profits are funded by the average person with a big heart and your primary fundraising strategy needs to focus on Aunt Ruby and not Donald Trump.

Personally when I am involved in establishing a price point I would rather have a lower price point to increase the amount of sales and thus creating more profit. This is especially true if your target audience, such as youth, does not have a lot of disposable income. Plus you need to ask yourself is the objective to raise money, or give kids an alternative to finding trouble on a Saturday night? I strongly believe that in Christian marketing our primary objective is to get people into church. If a discounted item will get more people to visit then we should forget about any profit. Please understand that I am not downsizing the spiritual characteristic however, one tithing member is far better then a few dollars made on the sale of a CD. I never read anywhere that Jesus put a price point on the great commission. Start sharing the love of Jesus and God will supply the money! Dang, I must be feeling better I just chased a squirrel! 

Believe what you want – people are money focused! If the price point of a nickel can kill shopping bag sales at Ikea, it could also become a stumbling block for someone to know Christ. Anytime we put a $ on a poster or handbill we need to be careful of the perception it gives. The members of your church will probably not even notice however, your marketing should be external and not internal! People outside your church will notice!

I so love how Seth gives an amazing idea at the end of his post to help spread word of mouth. The next time you offer a premium for a love gift of any size, why not send two so the person can give one away.

Money is important to everyone. It is very easy to get sidetracked and allow money to distract us from what is really important. Think about it; instead of having a bake sale why not give away free cupcakes at every service. It might take a month or two but the word of mouth would spread and just one new tithing member would bring in more revenue then a gang of bake sales.

Bringing Seth’s comments into our world. “The way you charge for something could change the way people perceive Christ!”