Money Follows Ministry - Nathan Johnson of Turning Point Ministries
In episode 34 we spoke with Nathan Johnson, the Director of Online Marketing for Turning Point with David Jeremiah. Nathan grew up listening to David Jeremiah as a kid, and actually has the Joseph series on cassette tape, so his passion for the ministry runs deep personally. When he got to college age he decided to move out to San Diego, and started working in the warehouse are Turning Point Ministries, and over the years has moved into the marketing role he has now.
Do The Work and Let God Take Care of The Results
One of the biggest lessons Nathan has learned from the example of Dr. David Jeremiah, is to show up and do the work. You have to leave the results to God, He will provide the growth, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and expect things to just happen.
What is Your Approach to Building A Digital Presence?
Turning point has always been a traditional broadcast ministry, so the biggest challenge is to convert things to digital, while keeping the core of the ministry. They found that one of the best things they’ve done is to bring their website inhouse, and rely on a few key partnerships. While it’s not possible to do this for all ministries, they found it allowed them to build a cohesive strategy and become more creative.
Money Follows Ministry
It’s critical to keep the first things first, so everything they do at Turning Point to build their digital presence takes a ministry first approach. Money is important, but growing the kingdom is the most important work.
One Website or a Family of Websites?
While there are pros and cons to each model, they have taken the approach of building a family of websites. Having a website that acts as the ministry’s home base allows them to build a strong brand, and give users a place where they can really go deep in their interaction with the ministry. The other websites serve specific purposes, either as micro sites around specific sermon series or topics, or specific content such as a blog. These allow for testing new experiences and driving new energy into popular topics without interfering with the home base brand.
More is More on Social
As social media becomes more crowded, and organic reach continues to decline, particularly on Facebook, the quantity of messaging has changed. While historically you could get high visibility with only a handful of posts per day, however, now if you don’t have a higher volume of posts, the majority of your audience will not see it. Combining organic performance with paid advertising makes a strong combination for connecting with your audience.
Nathan shares more great insights, including leveraging apps and so much more. Be sure to listen to the full episode so you don’t miss out on a single tip.