New Ad Campaign Brings Visitors; New Members
Seven months after the last media campaign event, the four participating
congregations in the Kansas City metro area have shown increases in
Sunday attendance from 10 to 24 percent. Total membership has increased
by 92, or 11 percent, going from 711 to 803.
Not all of that can be attributed directly to the campaign. One
congregation called a new minister last fall. But the campaign, as well
as the changes that congregations made in welcoming and integration
practices, is likely responsible for a good part of the increase.
The campaign itself was never intended to draw in large numbers
of people because of the ads alone. It was intended to raise community
awareness, to expose people outside the faith to references to Unitarian
Universalism so that it wouldn’t be a totally foreign term if
it came up in conversation with friends, neighbors, and coworkers. And
it was intended to make those conversations easier.
The Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris,
director of the UUA’s Congregational Services staff group and
the coordinator of the Kansas City media campaign, said, “Our
goal was to raise the awareness of Unitarian Universalism in Kansas
City and we did that. We raised it 6 percentage points, a significant
amount. But any congregation that wants to grow should remember that
advertising is only part of the answer. Growth depends on how active
and visible the congregation is in the community, whether members invite
their friends, and how welcoming the congregation is. That has to go
along with advertising.”
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