Many churches do church communication on a shoestring budget and the best way to deal is to learn how others do it. What works for you? Last week the #cmschat on Twitter covered church communication on the cheap.
How Cheap?
We asked, “Does your church have a budget and what percentage is for communication?” The responses ranged from “change in my pocket” and “operates on Doritos and barbecue” to churches that actually have line items for budgets. Of those that had budgets, a low range of .02% to 3% was reported. So a discussion about church communication on the cheap is surely relevant to most of us.
What About Free?
When it comes to free options, stock photos, crowd-sourcing photos from members with smartphones, and social media scheduling were all mentioned as time and money savers.
A6: Just because its free doesn't mean its the best solution. Investigate all options. #cmschat
— Steven Fogg (@Stevefogg) May 1, 2015
Below is a list of what some church communication leaders shared:
Free Websites, Apps & Tools
- Social media tools: YouTube, Twitter, Tweetdeck, SocialBro, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, HootSuite, Pinterest, Snapchat, Periscope, Meerkat. We also try to share free social graphics for holidays.
- Music/audio tools: Audacity, SoundCloud, Vimeo’s Music Store.
- Graphic tools: Canva, GIMP, PicMonkey.
- Photos: CreationSwap, Unsplash, The Stocks, Death to the Stock Photo, Creative Commons images.
- Organizational tools: Google Apps for Nonprofits, Asana, Podio, Evernote, Dropbox, Trello.
- Email: MailChimp.
- Fonts: Font Squirrel, Typekit (often included with Adobe Suite subscription).
- Smartphone apps: Over, Socialcam, Splice, Chromic.
- Web: WordPress.
Cheap But Not Free
- Social media tools: Buffer.
- Photos: Lightstock, Mopho.to, Shutterstock, Dollar Photo Club, Death to the Stock Photo.
- Printing: Coupons for Overnight Prints.
- Music/Audio: Vimeo’s Music Store.
What Did We Miss?
There are probably lots of resources we missed, so share yours in the comments. You can also check out the #cmschat transcript for more details, tips and ideas.
Join the #cmschat every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Twitter.
Sheryl
May 8, 2015
Depositphotos.com is my go-to site for stock photos. Every now and again, Mightydeals.com runs a Depositphotos special of $100 for 100 images or $160 for 200. The selection is huge and it’s way cheaper than Lightstock or Shutterstock. Lightstock does have some really nice faith-based images that you won’t find anywhere else, so I will sometimes browse there for special occasions. It’s pricey, though.
Eric Dye
May 13, 2015
Great roundup. Deciding to switch to premium apps is always a tough one. For me, it all comes down to time vs. money.