Free Publicity Opportunities for Your Church
Is your church making news? Your church may have a number of events or programs that are newsworthy to your community. Below are some possible newsworthy stories that might be of interest to the local media and could be a stepping stone to attracting newcomers to your church.
1) Public Events
Any event open to the public can be newsworthy. A grand opening, concert, guest speaker, special service, special message series, carnival, festival, bazaar, Christmas pageant or M.O.P.S. (Mothers of Preschoolers) program are all examples of events that can be interesting to the public.
2) The Pastor
Pastors are considered leaders in the community, and as such, are newsworthy. Does you pastor have an interesting background? Has he/she had any milestone events in their past including book releases, speaking engagements? Or is he/she involved in community leadership or other public activities? Any of these could be a great springboard for a feature or profile article.
3) Missions and Missionaries
Are you sponsoring someone from your church on a missions trip? Are any of your members preparing to leave on a humanitarian missions trip? These kinds of activities make great "human interest" stories.
4) Unique Outreach Efforts
The public is interested in the new and creative ways churches are doing outreach. For example, did you know that blanketing your community with ImpactCards or DoorHangers from Outreach Marketing is news? It was for one church in Hoboken, New Jersey. Under the headline, "Yo, Yo, Yo, Come To Church: Using hip outreach to reach Hoboken," the Hoboken Reporter ran a front-page story on Hoboken Fellowship’s unique approach to outreach.
5) Civic Projects
Are any of your ministries (youth, men’s or women’s groups) doing a community service project? Is your church funding a beautification project? Do you operate a food pantry, soup kitchen or shelter? How is your church making a positive impact on those outside your congregation? Even a presentation from your food, toy or clothing drive to a local charity may be considered a good "photo opportunity" by the local media.
6) Lay Leader or Church Member Features
Every congregation has a wealth of human interest stories. Ask your members if they’d be willing to share their stories, and let the press in on it.>
Example:
"World War II veteran speaks to local children"
"Local women offer Creative Memories exhibit"
If you’re always on the lookout for a good media story, the media will be grateful to you for giving them a good tip. Just be sure to evaluate the news value of the story from the READER'S point of view — NOT from yours — before giving the press a call. Keep in mind that smaller local media will be more open to giving you coverage than "the big guys" will.