December 31 is just nine short months away, and with it will come year-end giving decisions for many of your parishioners. In addition to reminding them of the tax benefits and various ways they can support the parish, you also need to give them food for thought so their giving is in line with their […]
Facebook Live is a powerful tool that parishes and schools can use to share live video from events, ceremonies, and speakers. One major benefit to using Facebook Live is that Facebook will track which people watch your event, and then make sure those people see your content at the top of their feed in the […]
There are just so many saints. Everyone has their patrons, their favorites, and the ones they don’t understand. There’s an easy way to systematically introduce parishioners to lesser-known saints or saints with a local connection. Choose four or five who you think are particularly special, order a few hundred prayer cards of each, and mix them […]
St. Simon Sylites is one of the strangest saints we have. He lived on top of a pillar in the middle of a city for decades so he could be “in the world, but not of the world.” He basically had it all – all the joys of city life, but at a bit of […]
We are living in a time where community bonds are growing weaker, with churches and membership-based organizations losing members at an alarming rate. But Christ has called us to be a Church, a visible community of faith that reaches your neighborhood and across the world. The answer? Commit to creating a radical community at your parish. […]
It’s a website admin’s worst nightmare: old broken links that frustrate your site’s visitors, but that you don’t know about. Every day, people are making judgments about your parish community based on your website, and nothing will turn them off faster than the dreaded broken link. But there is hope! There’s an easy way to […]
At CSM we are always encouraging our clients to optimize technology. Part of the optimization we recommend to our clients is having an easy-to-use, donor-centric way to allow your parishioners and supporters to give online. As parishioners are becoming more comfortable with donating online, churches are expanding when they launch calls to action. This means […]
Every Catholic has experienced the Sunday to Monday gap. You hear a soul-stirring homily on Sunday that edifies and challenges you, and then Monday morning rolls around and you go back to your normal life. So, what can a parish do to bridge that gap? Here are a few tactics for overcoming the Sunday to […]
By now, most Catholic churches have staked out their territory online and claimed a catchy web address and Facebook username (for example, “SaintMaryDallas” for a church in Texas). But don’t stop at your website and Facebook – take a moment to register a similar Twitter and Instagram handle for your parish. You may not intend […]
This era of big data can be overwhelming, but surveys and polls can help your parish in its evangelization efforts. One of the best religious research organizations in America is the Barna Group, which regularly conducts large and well-regarded polls about religious belief. Here’s an interesting graphic from a 2018 poll they conducted about generational barriers […]
