2 . PRESCHEDULING EMAILS The ability to build multiple templates for different ministries lets Zapchenk preschedule various emails , giving her and her team the opportunity to work on the one thing they ’ re most passionate about : ministry . The team takes advantage of this functionality for events like Men ’ s Breakfasts and Women ’ s Bible Studies . “ This allows us to keep our content consistent , and we don ’ t let communication fall through the cracks ,” she explains . “ For our main church emails , we can create our content and push it out at the best time to suit our church attendees .”
Zapchenk with Community Care Pastor Greg Bowman
For Danielle Zapchenk , email is a way of life . As an important part of the communications strategy at West Ridge Community Church in Elgin , Ill ., email is enlisted to inform the congregation about many events and updates . But not all email delivery systems are created equal — something Zapchenk learned firsthand as the church transitioned from Mailchimp to the email functionalities within Churchteams , a church management software platform designed to streamline all of West Ridge ’ s communications efforts — not just email , but also texting , workflow automation and more . There ’ s good reason to embrace email , in particular : Zapchenk says it allows her to convey a larger vision and give more detail than a text reminder provides . It also lets the congregation follow along with each message series at West Ridge , as well as keep abreast of key events and even receive financial updates . Unlike Mailchimp , Churchteams offers database information , images and events all in one space when creating email communications . All graphics can be uploaded into Churchteams — gifs , videos , images , headings , stickers , and so on — so they are always right at the user ’ s fingertips . Designed to be intuitive and easy to use , Churchteams ’ email editor functionality uses a drag-and-drop approach to message design , which is far simpler than building code . The platform also includes readymade email templates . Finally , Zapchenk appreciates the ability to preview every email ( on both mobile and desktop platforms ) to ensure a great user experience . To this end , she creates unique email templates for different ministries and teams to ensure a consistent look to the church ’ s messaging , even while reaching different groups of people . “ I couldn ’ t be happier with the way the email editor functions ,” she says . “ And once email templates are set up , it truly becomes plug-and-play — no need to reinvent the wheel every time you set up an email .”
5 ESSENTIAL TASKS The communications team at West Ridge maximizes email functionalities in several ministry-critical ways .
1 . EMAIL TRACKING / HISTORY By tracking open rates , deliverability and other metrics of engagement , Zapchenk can determine the days and times when the congregation is most responsive . “ We can spend a lot of time putting the work into an email or a financial review , but if nobody sees it , it has no value ,” she points out . “ That ’ s a huge problem .”
3 . AUTOMATED EMAILS FOR VOLUNTEER REMINDERS Zapchenk and her team have recently begun to schedule automated emails to volunteers — an especially helpful function for the children ’ s ministry . “ With so many people who help in this ministry , this is yet another touchpoint to remind our busy volunteers of their commitment that weekend ,” she points out . “ Everyone needs a reminder from time to time , and it ’ s a time-saver for our church staff as well .”
4 . BUILDING TARGETED LISTS OF RECIPIENTS Within the past year , West Ridge has started taking advantage of the “ lists ” function in Churchteams , which ensures communications are intentional and relevant to the recipients , as it allows each person to subscribe to what interests them . “ For example , if you ’ re a young mom who keeps getting invited to the men ’ s breakfasts , it makes our church look unintentional ,” Zapchenk explains . For this reason , she and her team consistently use Churchteams to build out targeted lists for the general congregation , women ’ s ministry , men ’ s ministry , students , missions , and kids . In addition to lists , additional flexibility is available through the use of groups and report filters . These functionalities offer even more granularity by enabling Zapchenk and her team to target emails by any group or member demographic .
5 . MAXIMIZING WORKFLOWS TO CREATE A FOLLOW-UP COMMUNICATION SCHEDULE For maximum efficiency and effectiveness , the West Ridge communications team has recently started incorporating more workflows into its Churchteams database . It allows them to create a follow-up communication schedule by automating a series of tasks — surrounding pre- and post-Christmas and Easter devotionals , for example — or for reaching different groups of people at the same time , but with different content or tone . As the leader of the women ’ s ministry , Zapchenk says this functionality is crucial as she attempts to reach as many women as possible and keep them up to date . “ Any time a new lady pops into the database , she ’ s added into our women ’ s email list weekly ,” she explains . “ No need to comb through the database anymore and wonder , Did we get everybody ?” “ And there are so many other ways I ’ m looking to incorporate this more for upcoming events and first-time families ,” she adds .
Zapchenk is proof that church executives are learning how to get a lot more out of their email efforts by mobilizing a church-specific , holistic software platform which enables them to focus less on tasks and more on people . Instead of linking to a third-party app , Zapchenk — and others like her at the helm of church communications programs — have all their “ people data ” in one place . This helps them understand email recipients ’ behavior and develop truly effective campaigns .
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