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MAP OUT YOUR COURSE
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.~ Matthew 6:33

As Christians, our aim above all else, should be The Kingdom of God. We seek it above all things, and then all things will be added unto us. That’s because as Christian leaders, we are representatives of Christ. And, Christ is the headship of all.

What does that mean? The answer is more difficult than you think. It is diametrically opposed to much leadership advice you will ever hear anywhere, except one place … the Bible.

Here it goes. You have to remove yourself, your desires, your emotions and your attachment to certain plans from the navigational process. Only by emptying ourselves of all personal penchants can we truly love others as God intended, and lead them into everything God has for your company. This step usually takes awhile to get it right. The next step is even more difficult. Once you’ve emptied yourself, you show up, stand in place, a humble and empty vessel, and God does the rest.

TAKE STOCK

When taking stock of the people placed in your charge, you would do well to first examine the skills of the twelve disciples. As a Christian broadcasting entity, the content you broadcast will help make disciples of both your team andyour listeners. They will, in turn, then spread the Gospel to all nations.

Let’s look at the disciples. Andrew and Peter were fishermen. James and John not only made fishing nets, they owned their own business. Matthew was a tax collector, otherwise known as a publican. At the time, a publican was despised by the people and considered a traitor. A tax collector’s money couldn’t even be tithed at the temple. Simon the Canaanite was a zealot. He was fiercely loyal to his faith and Israel. Thomas, Bartholomew (Nathanael), Philip, James (the son of Alphaeus), and Judas (Thaddaeus) were either tradesmen or fishermen, but the records don’t reveal anything specific. You’ll want to take note that Judas Iscariot, whom Jesus entrusted as treasurer, is the only disciple who had financial security issues.

A CREW OF EXCELLENCE

Okay … You’ve analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of your current crew. Maybe you’ve even had them take a survey or two. Most companies and ministries stop there. But that’s not even half of the equation. According to the Bible, the gifts₁ are important. But they are small, small things, compared to a “more excellent way”. Paul nearly negates the gifts in his letters to the Corinthians.

“But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.”
~ 1 Corinthians 12:31

The Bible doesn’t stop at the gifts, and neither should you. Paul goes on to say that there is a more “excellent way” to operate as a Christian.

Of course, the dividing line is LOVE. Since we can’t see or judge an employee’s heart, we look for the Fruit of the Spiritas evidence of God’s love. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Bible says that if these are evident and increasing, they will keep a person from being ineffective in the Kingdom of God. (2 Peter 1:5-9).

Bearing fruit is NOT the same as exercising gifts (1 Corinthians 13:1). Only those who humble themselves and become empty vessels can truly do the will of God (2 Corinthians 4:7), (Matthew 7:21-23).

Pray and ask God to do His work in your life and in the life of your team.

Guest Blog by Dr. Paul Virts, Advocace

Has your gift income plateaued or even dropped a bit? Or, is it still increasing but the year-to-year increases have dropped significantly? You may have talked to other leaders and concluded that donors give to too many ministries and are simply tapped out.

So, is there evidence this is the likely culprit? Data from the latest Why Listen survey suggests this is not a significant problem. Be encouraged!

In Finney Media’s Why Listen 2018 study, Christian radio donors were asked how many ministries, aside from their local churches, they gave to in the last year. Here is a summary of their responses:

More than one-half (57%) of donors who give to other ministries say they donate to three or fewer ministries other than their local church.
More than three-quarters (81%) give to five or fewer ministries.

I need to note that these data were for all radio ministries combined and that the number of ministries donors give to varies by station format.

For a broader discussion of this topic by Advocace read Want to know why your gift income has stopped growing? >>

For more information on how you can be a ministry that donors are excited to give to—someone with deep heart impact and broad reach–contact Finney Media.

Thankful for You.

At Finney Media, we’re so thankful for you. Thankful that we get to work alongside hard-working, creative geniuses like you who are overwhelmed with life and work and yet still find the time to put together profound ways of communicating God’s Truth.

Episode 1: The Real Raw Creation Process (Oh, yes, this is a continuing series.)

The holiday focus on thankfulness got us thinking of a way to highlight how the holiday itself began. Using Abraham Lincoln’s original 1863 proclamation – yes he really did begin our Thanksgiving Day tradition while the Civil War was still raging – and combining it with Cindy Morgan’s How Could I Ask For More.

And, the first edit sounds like this:

We say first edit because we’re diving into ideas capitalizing on the speed of technology such as:

Take a creative idea.
Use it to create a first version and quite possibly a second version.
Test it with listeners. A/B test it if we have two versions.
Continue to edit and test until we’ve reached the point that listeners LOVE the piece.

Here’s the thing. We’ve now tested this audio piece with some listeners and here’s what we found.

They love the idea of a sound piece about gratitude.
They think there are too many big words in this one, hard to understand, and just too long.

This is a good thing. Listener feedback points us to an improved version. It’s GREAT that they didn’t like elements of the first version. This helps us learn how to craft the second! Stay tuned for the next version that we’ll reveal next week!

P.S. This audio is not available for airing—it’s not ready to genuinely connect with a listener.

Guest blog by Dr. Paul Virts, Advocace

Several years ago, when I led a Christian radio ministry, I had lunch with the head of a cluster of public radio stations. When comparing the fundraising of our stations with his, he remarked, “I wish I had your cause—I could raise a lot more money!” With these comments he referred to the passion Christian radio listeners have for their favorite radio stations.

That listeners are passionate about Christian radio stations and programs is undisputed. In a recent nationwide study (Why Listen 2018, Finney Media), listeners (seven in ten of which were donors) gave Christian radio a Net Promoter Score of 73 (on a scale of -100 to +100). That’s just below the perennial “winner” Costco (79) but well ahead of other well-known brands such as Chick-Fil-A (58), Microsoft (45) and Amazon (25).

One way to measure donors’ passion for your ministry is to ask them, other than giving to their local church, what priority they assign to giving to the radio ministry that sent them the Why Listen 2018 survey. Here’s how listeners responded to that question:

One can make the case that high priority for giving reflects deeper passion for the ministry. In this study, more than three in four (77%) donors said giving to the ministry was among their top three priorities for donating.

For a fuller discussion of this finding as well as recommendations on how to ignite donor passion, read How can you get your donors more excited about your station?—Part 2 >>

Read more on the Why Listen?® national survey here or feel free to send us your question at whylisten@whylisten.com.

Increasingly, your website is becoming a home base for your broadcast ministry. You didn’t get into this ministry to become a techie, and the idea of getting your site up to snuff may seem like a daunting task from both a time and financial perspective. The good news is, you don’t have to spend like a media mogul or dedicate an entire multimedia team to ensure a welcoming presence that connects your visitors to the what they need to go deeper with your ministry and your Maker.

Here are 5 “must haves” for your ministry’s website – none of which will break the bank (or your spirit).

“Listen Live” buttons, links and banners

For most of you, your live audio content is the most important part of your ministry. If that’s the case, then listening to the livestream of your broadcast should be your primary call to action. We recommend having a live stream button in the header as well as multiple links and graphics highlighting your livestream placed throughout your website. For our teaching ministry friends, the lesson is similar – get them linked into a podcast of your audio and keep them coming back for more.

Donate Button

For those of you that are charitable stations / ministries, another primary call to action on your website is to donate. It also is a primary reason people will come to your site, so make it easy for them! Again, in the header, as a main menu item and as appropriate on other pages of your website are all good practices. Ensure your donation experience takes as few clicks as possible.

Install a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificate on your site

While this sounds technical (and it is!) it is easy, inexpensive and important! You know a site has an SSL Certificate when you see the little “Lock” up in the address bar of a website. In the past, it was only important to have this function on pages where collecting personal information, processing donations/sales, etc. However, now many web browsers and popular search engines will make your site hard to reach if you are found without SSL in place. The good news is, a call to your hosting company and a small fee will put you on good footing.

Optimized for Mobile

Optimizing your site for mobile earlier may have seemed like a luxury, but the story has quickly changed. Today over half of all website traffic is consumed via mobile devices. If your site is not mobile responsive, then it’s time for an upgrade. The good news is, these days most website templates have mobile responsiveness built in. Review your site on several types of mobile devices to ensure you are giving your audience a quality experience.

Clear presentation of the Gospel

We are blessed by Grace with a saving Faith. We are further humbled to participate in His story of transcendent Love by pointing others toward Him. People come to your website for a variety of reasons and through a variety of methods. If someone comes to your site seeking answers, make it clear and easy for them to learn about the Ultimate Answer.

If you would like help implementing any of these ideas, or an App or and Alexa Skill – or to receive a free 10-point Website Inspection, please contact us today.

If you want creative air talent, master this one-word coaching style.

The coaching style is “Encouragement.”

Your air talent is not a technician or engineer whose job is to analyze problems, write code, or tighten screws.

Air talents are artists. They create—with words. They make people feel something.

Consider this: Artists do not create better art because they were criticized or scolded. In fact, criticism shuts down the artist’s creativity.

Artists must have courage and release parts of themselves into a nasty world just waiting to criticize and reject.

You, as talent coach must help them be brave, shield them from inappropriate criticism, and be a friendly, but truth-telling, filter that they can trust. You are the one who will protect them from doing something that just doesn’t connect.

This means the coach must be an artist, too, one who honors the truth of these words from Paul Tournier, Swiss psychologist:

In all fields, even those of culture and art, other people’s judgment exercises a paralyzing effect.  Fear of criticism kills spontaneity; it prevents men from showing themselves and expressing themselves freely, as they are . . . Much courage is needed to paint a picture, to write a book, to erect a building designed along new architectural lines, or to formulate an independent opinion or original idea.

And finally, Francis Ford Coppola on the biggest barrier to being such an artist:

Self-confidence always. The artist always battles his own/her own feeling of inadequacy.

Be the artist for the artist.

And see creativity blossom.

NOTE: Our Talent Coaches believe in this one-word style. Learn more about them on Our Team page.

See Part 1 HERE

FIRST THINGS FIRST

First … the bad news. Being on top can beat you up mentally, physically, and spiritually. You may see a straight path before you, but it’s fraught with pitfalls and landmines. Christian Broadcast Ministry leadership is tough. In part one LINK HERE of this series, we prepped for leadership spiritually by checking sin at the door. Now it’s time for the “Gird Your Loins” portion of our discussion. The Bible uses that odd phrase here:

“Therefore prepare yourself [gird your loins] and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them.”
Jeremiah 1:17-19 New King James Version (NKJV)

Jeremiah had a very tough message to deliver. He was charged with telling sinful people to surrender and live among their enemies. It was about speaking the truth in love. As we put on the Armor of God every day, the thing that we gird our very loins with is the Belt of Truth.

Why? So that we may withstand.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth …”
Ephesians 6:13-14 English Standard Version (ESV)

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: ROD AND STAFF – LEARN TO USE THEM

As a leader, people look to you for guidance. Your tools for guidance are the rod and staff. The rod and the staff are meant to “comfort” the sheep, not beat them. Yes, the staff of a strong leader is a comfort. Sheep are able to relax when they know what their boundaries are.

Rods are a bit different. Shepherds use rods as weapons of defense or as a walking stick, but they also use it to whack disobedient sheep on the head. The Hebrew word shebet, or rod, is actually more like a club. When Solomon wrote Proverbs 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him”, he was not sharing an easy message. So as a leader, you must be a guardian of the truth, stickler for submission to authority (as was God), and prayerfully seeking the way for your broadcast ministry, so that you don’t let flock go astray.

The rod, staff and prayer are your mandatory tools. As you course-correct and discipline, prayerfully be sure that your agenda is not your own but something that the Lord would have your ministry pursue. Not easy, by the way.

STEPPING INTO THE HARD STUFF

As a leader, people will try to undermine you.

With that said, if your authority is well-established, the staff will perceive and understand your role. If your authoritative role is undefined, he might not think that he has to heed your correction. And what’s the best way to establish your role if you’re a new leader? Same way Jesus did … in love. He declared his authority over and over, but he did it in love.

When correction time came, he always gave a warning. He also offered to reason through the problem. Isaiah said, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isaiah 1:18

This is challenging talk. But being a leader is challenging! Let us know if we can come along side at any time. Contact us HERE.

Guest Blog by Dr. Paul Virts, Advocace

There is little doubt about Christian radio listeners’ passion for their favorite radio stations and programs. In Finney Media’s recent nationwide study of all major Christian radio station formats as well as individual talk and teaching programs (Why Listen 2018, Finney Media), listeners gave their stations and programs a Net Promoter Score of +73 (on a scale of -100 to +100). That’s well ahead of other well-known “brands” such as Samsung (+67), Apple (+47) and Amazon (+25).

The major challenge for noncommercial radio programs and talk/teaching programs is how to translate listening passion into donor passion. One way to measure donor passion is determine by how frequently they give to their favorite station or program.

In the Why Listen 2018 study, donors were asked how frequently in the last two years they had donated to the station or program that sent them the survey. The data for all listeners is summarized in the chart below.

One can make the case that the more frequently one gives to a broadcast ministry the deeper is her or his passion for the ministry. It’s clear from this data that donor passion isn’t as strong as listening passion.

For a fuller discussion of this finding as well as recommendations on how to increase donation frequency, read “How can you get your donors more excited about your ministry?”

Read Part 1 of this series.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

First … the bad news. Being on top can beat you up mentally, physically, and spiritually. You may see a straight path before you, but it’s fraught with pitfalls and landmines. Christian Broadcast Ministry leadership is tough. In part one of this series, we prepped for leadership spiritually by checking sin at the door. Now it’s time for the “Gird Your Loins” portion of our discussion. The Bible uses that odd phrase here:

Why? So that we may withstand.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: ROD AND STAFF – LEARN TO USE THEM

STEPPING INTO THE HARD STUFF

As a leader, people will try to undermine you.

This is challenging talk. But being a leader is challenging! Let us know if we can come along side at any time. Contact us.

The Finney Media Why Listen?® national survey of Christian radio listeners took place in the spring of 2018, with 26,800 respondents filling in a survey. Once the results were compiled and tabulated, with results sent to participating stations and programs, we led numerous conversations and group presentations. Within these conversations and after presentations, we’ve received questions asking for clarification or additional reflection.

In this blog, we’ll cover several of those questions. The full presentation that today’s questions came from can be found HERE/Momentum PowerPoint. The chart that captures the key point in this presentation is this (scatter) chart.

The upper right shows media groups that received high Findex™ scores, showing high listener heart connection, and observationally a large audience.

Question: How important is imaging for stations with a high Findex? Or put another way, what part does imaging play in developing a heart connective relationship?

Answer: Within Why Listen, we see that providing spiritual encouragement is the key summation of how to best engage with your listener. This is true around the clock, and with every type of content. Imaging all by itself can’t do a complete job, but it should, indeed, reflect the spiritual encouragement that is found within the total station sound. It is part of the station, part of what draws a listener in.

Question: Is having fun part of creating a relational connection on a station? Do games qualify?

Answer:Yes, to both. Humor is part of life, and is certainly part of engagement. But a caution sign needs to be hung here. Humor can be a very personal thing, so assess what you are doing and run it by different types of folks. It’s crucial that humor for Christian radio stations not be funny at someone’s expense. The second part of the caution sign is this: Don’t overdo it. This is part of life, but listeners who want a lot of comedy will tune in to a comedy program.

Question: How do highly successful stations make the spiritual accessible?

Answer:This is one of the programming areas that Finney Media specializes in. For starters, how about using accessible language? Everyday language? Talk like you talk to your friends about spiritual matters. Stay away from cliché words. Say what you mean so that if I’m not in the inner circle, I’ll get it. Tone is important here, of course. And vulnerability is the glue.

If you need more help with any of these areas, contact us today!

Broadcast Leadership Series: Part Three

Guest blog by Dr. Paul Virts, Advocace

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