To the Point: Get Ready to Rummage

We're calling a new rector for my church. This entails creating a detailed profile of our institution, assessing our ministries, analyzing our finances, and praying and reflecting on our next "calling." It also entails letting some ministries go.

It's like a big rummage sale. We're giving away some programs (on the cheap!) because they no longer work. At the same time, old dreams, long forgotten, have reappeared at the bottom of the rubbish pile.

The hardest part about holding a rummage sale is that it challenges us to change — to realize that we can't do it all and must make tough decisions about what to give away going forward. Here are my six suggestions for stepping up your marketing game in 2010. All of these require you first to let go, so you can make space for new miracles to take place. Good luck, and get ready to rummage!

1. Stop thinking tactics.
You wouldn't start to build a house by picking up a hammer; why start your marketing plan by creating a Facebook page? Stop thinking tactics. Develop a strategy before choosing which fundraising tools to use. Strategic planning sounds intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. All it means is putting goals and objectives ahead of techniques or tools.

2. Stop being passive about press coverage.
Wes "Scoop" Nisker is famous for his book, "If You Don't Like the News … Go Out and Make Some of Your Own." This is great advice in the "connected age." I'm not saying you should start a blog tomorrow (that would contradict point No. 1), but you should stop waiting for The Times to come knocking on your door. Invest now in creating and showcasing your own content online, and dive into the discourse around your issue. There are myriad services you can use to highlight your organizational research, reports, articles, white papers, photos, webinars, speaking ?engagements and videos. And who knows, that could lead to mainstream coverage.