Back in December, Paul wrote about the importance of Dreaming for your organization. Once you dream big, it is important to set goals. So in January, I wrote about the importance of establishing goals for your website. Without goals, you will never know if your website is successful or not.
But reaching your goals will never happen if you don’t create a detailed plan on how you will reach your goals.
We wrote about the importance of planning here, however, I felt like we could have been more helpful in providing insight on how to properly plan. Too many times, I hear churches say something like, “Our plan is to grow website traffic by 20%, have 50% of VBS registration be online, and have 30% of the church’s giving be online.” Is this a plan?
No. In the above example, what was stated are goals. In contrast, a plan:
- Should include detailed, step by step action items.
- Should include “If/then” steps depending on how some things go within the plan.
- Will take a fair amount of time to create, so don’t try to rush it.
- May require input from other people within your organization.
Next week, I will give an example of a well-thought-out plan and a poorly created plan. But in the mean time, I would love to get your feedback below: Does your organization create plans or does it just set goals (or does it do neither)?
President at OurChurch.Com
Mark has served as the President of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, leading the Custom Website and Sales departments with dedication and expertise.
Over the years, he has managed hundreds of custom website, graphic design, and marketing projects for churches, non-profits, businesses, and schools.
Beyond his professional work, Mark is deeply committed to serving his community. He coordinates and packs over 700 meals each week for children through One Community Now’s Pack A Sack for Kids program, volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at Generations Christian Church, and participates in a weekly Bible study.
1 Comment
Hi Mark, your question… Do we create plans or do we just set goals? we don't create plans. and goals are very loose. for instance the goal of our web page is to distribute information and communicate activity/event details. but it isn't always up to date and we miss events. another problem is that we don't track activity. when we use forms for sign up it has mixed response.
Lewis