Marketing for Ministries? Here’s Your 30-Day, Mid-Year Operating Plan
June can be a wilderness when you’re marketing for ministries: You’ve made it through a holiday-packed winter and spring, and it’s common to feel scattered when summer hits.
But we think June is the perfect time to refocus and regroup. Put in a little intention now (especially before your team starts heading out on much-needed summer vacations), and you’ll set yourself up for real traction come fall.
Here’s your four-week operating plan to build that mid-year momentum, using tried-and-tested best nonprofit marketing practices.
The plan is designed for small teams who want to do a lot of good … but who may feel more like taking a nap right now. With some smart strategy and boundary-setting, you can keep moving toward your ministry goals without burning your people out.
Week 1: Choose one thing.
We’re going to do the hardest work in week one. If your team is like every single ministry team we’ve ever met, you have too many priorities. You know this. The needs are huge, and it’s easy to have trouble choosing which Very Important Thing to tackle first.
But that’s your task for Week 1: Choose one measurable goal that matters to prioritize for the next 90 days.
Let’s break that down by Ms:
- Measurable: You’re looking for a concrete, trackable goal. “Love people better” is way too squishy. “Recruit and train five more leaders for this specific arm of our ministry” — that’s way more like it.
- Matters: Your goal should work toward your purpose (why you exist), help deliver on your promise (how people should feel when engaging with you) and capitalize on your pillars (what makes you different). And if you don’t have a messaging map to work from yet … making one is a great mid-year goal!
- Months: Your goal should have a timeline of three months. Don’t pick something that needs to wrap up in a week or has a years-long horizon. We’re going for 90 days.
Got your goal? OK! Now this is the hardest part, but we promise you can do it: Write down what you’re going to stop or pause so you can accomplish this goal before the fall. What can you say no to, or no-for-now? What’s distracting you from your calling? Say it. Then stop it.
Week 2: Keep score.
You have your goal. How will you know when you’ve reached it? Yep, we’re focusing on that “measurable” piece now. Week 2’s job is to: Build a scoreboard that tracks weekly progress toward your goal.
What numbers or feedback show you’re moving toward purpose? We’re looking for stats that prove you’re building trust and strengthening relationships, not just logging hours or views. Find the signals with emotional heft.
If eyes start to glaze over just talking about certain numbers, keep looking. But if you can imagine folks jumping up to high-five when you pull up your scoreboard, then you’re onto a meaningful measurement.
Make sure your scoreboard is:
- Simple: You’re doing weekly progress checks, not prepping a peer-reviewed clinical trial study. Don’t get so far into the score-keeping weeds that it distracts from your work. What’s the bare minimum you need to know to confirm you’re moving forward?
- Accessible: Choose something you already track or can easily pull the data for. You want to spend your time on your ministry, not building a whole new measurement system (unless that’s your one goal, of course)!
- Assigned: Who will gather the data, and how will they communicate it to the team. Keep ownership clear, and you’ll have a better picture of your progress.
Week 3: Loop your learning.
Now that you know what you’re working toward —and how you’re going to track it — let’s get into a good feedback rhythm. Week 3’s to-do? Set up a weekly learning loop. It’s just enough time to stay nimble without tiring everyone out.
Your ministry team is probably already meeting regularly, and, yes, you can make this learning loop part of an existing meeting. Just remember to have all the key players there: Who needs to green-light any pivots? Who has the latest on-the-ground feedback? Who owns the scorecard? They all need to be in the room.
Your learning loop agenda is just four questions long:
- What’s the score?
- What did we try?
- What did we learn?
- What will we change?
It’s a simple loop to implement, but it promises big learning returns if you practice it weekly.
Week 4: Keep pruning.
By now, you should have eyes on the horizon and a steady pace established. You’re one month in with two months to go to your goal. Week 4’s mission is all about maintenance: Stay disciplined and keep pruning.
What work is competing with or interrupting your progress toward your goal? Can you delegate those tasks or find a way to put them on ice until the end of these 90 days? Do you need to have some hard conversations about priorities with stakeholders or partners?
Speaking of collaboration, have there been any dropped batons in the first few weeks? Have you had any communication fails or confusion points? What handoffs need to be tightened? What questions need to be clarified?
Finally, what’s working well? Take a beat to celebrate your early wins — and build on them, too. Are there any new behaviors, processes or attitudes that need to be folded into your standard way of working?
Weeks 5+
If you follow this four-week kickoff, you’ll have a lightweight, repeatable system you can put into play every quarter. Don’t limit this strategy to just mid-year!
We’ve seen how this plan helps teams get aligned, execute with clarity and build a culture where progress is both visible and sustainable. And we want to know how it works for you. What did you choose to work on, and how did it go?
Tell us your mid-year success stories!