How Revival Today ignites generosity by engaging new givers on Facebook
Integrating the Christian tradition tithing into Facebook Live to engage new and young givers
Revival Today is a large Evangelical church with a global television presence on the Dish Network. With 32,979 Facebook fans and 7,685 Twitter followers, they also have a substantial and growing audience online. In addition to putting televised worship services online, they have added individual prayer sessions, informal chats, and youth-oriented musical programming to engage their online audience. To integrate the Christian tradition of tithing into their online presence, Pastor Johnathan Shuttlesworth and his church use Facebook fundraising tool #donate.
Here’s the magic formulae for driving donations:
- In this informal video, pastor Jonathan Shuttlesworth doesn’t even mention donations until someone happens to give — then calls out the unprompted donations as an example of the best motivations for charity.
- In another video, he pins a comment encouraging the use of #donate to the top of the discussion, so that anyone arriving at any point sees it first.
- Adalis Shuttlesworth mentions the #donate function repeatedly during a discussion of the nature of faith. Both the promotion and the donation itself can be quick and spontaneous, minimizing interruption in the ecclesiastical message.
- Revival Today also has significant success combining the classic premium gift with the hashtag-driven donation. In this “Get it Together!” segment, donors get immediate public acknowledgement as their gifts are recorded.
All four of these techniques have helped them carry their fundraising capability online and offline.
Low Budget, No Problem
Revival Today is a big church with a global reach and thousands of people attending weekly services. Their big events have lighting, music, guest speakers, audience participation, and careful timing.
But their social media videos, particularly the daily inspiration and devotion ones, aren’t fancy. A well-lit couch or desk and Facebook Live are all that Jonathan and Adalis need to communicate with their audience.
The readings don’t feel meticulously rehearsed, and although both are fantastic public speakers and orators, both Jonathan and Adalis occasionally stumble or pause as they seek exactly the right phrases. This is less of a performance and it shows. It’s more like joining the pastor during his own daily prayers, or hearing what he’d have to say if he spoke with you in person after services.
The resulting videos are intimate and conversational, and have the feel of a quick video chat with a bible study group the viewer can’t attend in person. They’re also faster and more cost-effective to produce, so Revival Today can have several videos every week to sustain viewer engagement and keep donations coming.
To find out more or sign up for #donate here: https://goodworld.me/for-nonprofits
