Assessing the Outreach Needs of Your Members

When a church is considering embarking on a new outreach initiative, the input of the congregation is crucial. After all, it is the church members who will be expected to carry out the outreach program. A simple solution to this issue is to survey the congregation on the types of community outreach programs that they would like to conduct. The following steps will help you to design a brief survey instrument that will assess the needs of your congregation.

• Surveying your Congregation:

1.  
   1. Find out which causes they would like to help.
      1. List suggestions and provide room for an open-ended response. For example:
         • If the church were to embark on a new outreach program, which would you prefer to take on?

• 1. Reading program
• 2. Financial Management Program
• 3. Afterschool Program
• 4. Single-mothers program
• 5. Other

1.  
   1. Find out how much time they are willing to give to the outreach program. Do they plan to volunteer daily, weekly, monthly, etc.?
   2. Are they willing to support the program financially? An extra program means that additional funding may be needed. While your church can apply for grant funding for outreach programs, it will also need the financial support of the congregation to ensure that the program is sustainable.
   3. Solicit Assistance from the congregation. Are they willing to serve on the outreach committee? You will need a few dedicated volunteers to ensure that the program's administrative processes are designed and implemented effectively.
   4. Give them a due date and place for submission.

For example, "We're performing the survey during the following two weeks. We have placed trays at the entrance for you to return the survey."

1.  
   1. Select the need that you are most able to meet given the resources that are available. If the top two choices were a Saturday Breakfast program and an after school program, but your church only has a very limited budget, the Saturday breakfast program may be the best decision.
   2. Update the congregation with the survey results! This is an important aspect of surveying your congregation that is often left out. Keep the congregation involved by letting them know of the top choice. Announce the names of the members who will serve on the outreach committee.

By surveying your congregation, you are getting them excited about the outreach program and garnering support for the program early-on. The survey will not only shed light on the desires of the congregation but it will also identify an outreach committee, help in program design (you now know the hours that "work" for your congregation), and secure volunteers. These are major factors in the success of an outreach program.