Marketing Unitarian Universalism: A Collaboration for Growth
September 7, 2007
“Imagine a religion where people with different beliefs worship as one faith.”Over the past four years the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), in collaboration with geographic “clusters” of congregations, has used innovative advertising strategies to make Unitarian Universalism (UUism) more widely known. While evangelizing has historically been uncomfortable for Unitarian Universalists (UUs), these campaigns have been successful and are now an integral part of the UUA’s growth plans. UUA leaders recognize that now is the time to spread the word of our progressive faith!
The largest regional advertising campaign, in both geographic scope and dollars raised, is starting this fall. Seventeen congregations in the San Francisco bay area have partnered with the fundraising and marketing experts on the UUA staff for nearly two years to make this campaign a reality.
This campaign raised $300,000, well surpassing the initial goal of $260,000. The success of the fund-raising was a result of collaboration with the District staff, local volunteers and the UUA. “Nearly 600 UU households—which represents over 20% of the UUs in the bay area—made a contribution. When you think about it, that’s really incredible and a true testimony to the generosity, belief and vision of UUs that we can grow our faith in the progressive bay area,” states Rev. Terry Sweetser, Vice President of Stewardship and Development for the UUA.
The six week campaign, starting in mid-September includes radio spots on KQED (NPR) and KQKE (Air America), 400,000 inserts in major newspapers, two direct mail pieces to 250,000 households, TV commercials on the Daily Show and Colbert Report (both popular Comedy Central programs), print ads in the local GLBT publication, 100 BART station transit billboards, Google Adwords and website banner ads, and ads in the regional editions of four national parenting magazines. A local UU volunteer marketing group targeted many additional niche magazines and other “guerrilla marketing” activities and designed a parallel public relations campaign.
“The ads are targeted to those seeking a faith that is open-minded, inclusive, diverse and committed to social justice,” states Valerie Holton, Marketing Outreach Director for the UUA. “We continue to use the headline ‘Imagine a Religion that embraces many beliefs…including yours’. This message has tested well with various focus groups. Swardlick Marketing Group, the ad agency for the UUA, has re-designed the ‘Imagine a Religion’ campaign with a more contemporary look.”
The congregations also spent 18 months getting ready to welcome visitors. This effort was championed by the District staff. Cilla Raughley, District Executive for the Pacific Central District explains, "We know that advertising will bring people to our doors. After that, it's up to us to make them feel comfortable. We owe our donors our best efforts to do our part in helping others find this faith.” To that end, all the congregations attended workshops throughout the year on hospitality and welcoming, website design, public relations tips, and more.
The next regional marketing campaign using this well-tested and successful model will occur in the Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota markets in January 2008. Local UUA district and lay leaders have established a funding goal of $300,000 to finance the multiple media and direct mail efforts, with one third of the funds already raised as of August 2007.
As more congregations commit to working together to spread the good news of Unitarian Universalism, it is clear that our faith will continue to grow in response. Even without the financial resources needed to execute a large-scale marketing campaign, there is much that groups of congregations working collectively can accomplish. Clusters of congregations in Chicago, Albany, Philadelphia, Dallas/Ft.Worth and Baltimore/Washington, DC, are learning that “we’re better together.” Surely that is worth working toward!
For further information: Unitarian Universalist marketing materials and information are available through the UUA’s Congregational Services staff group: marketing_outreach @ uua.org.
For more information contact marketing_outreach @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
