Buying Data vs. Finding Engaging Moments for Your Church: Part 2

If you caught the first part of this blog post, let’s pick back up. (If not, go read it. It’s short and helpful. Promise.)

Yes, we’re a data company. No, data isn’t the answer to all of your problems. It might be the answer to a lot of your problems, but definitely not all. And only if it’s the right data. Got it?

Like so many parts of life, data is what you make it. The intention with which you gather and apply data matters. The “quick fix” of purchasing data may solve one problem (accessing a pool of data from which to make decisions), but raises a lot of other questions (privacy, ethics, data integrity, etc.). 

So, how do you navigate intentional data use? We have some ideas.

The Temptation of Third-Party Data

Church attendance is declining, so many churches are more open than ever to using data to reverse that trend. As a result, data gatherers and sellers have all kinds of data sets ranging from financial to geospatial to biological available today for the low, low price of $10.99. 

Many churches buy these datasets because they think they should. Church leaders have heard data matters, but they aren't sure what they need, so they guess. 

The whole point of purchasing third-party data is to be able to achieve better results than can be achieved with the organization's own data. What many churches fail to see, though, is that more data options are not always helpful. It is like trying to buy a ½” socket wrench and being forced to buy the entire 172-piece socket set. WAY more than you need and a waste of valuable investment.

Churches may purchase data from a dozen data providers only to use one attribute from each. Many of these datasets might even contain the same attributes, creating an overwhelming amount of potentially redundant data.

With thousands of attributes available, how do you choose which ones fill your gaps? And what are you trying to accomplish in the first place? It’s tempting to get more, more, more data, but if you don’t know what problem you’re really trying to solve, no amount of data is helpful. 

Behind the Data: Signals Matter More than Sets

Often, churches spend thousands on datasets they don’t really need in the first place. What they need is to understand how their guests and members engage with the church and to start collecting data about those engagement moments, not buy data based on random people not associated with their church. 

The goal is to identify specific ‘signals’ inside the moments of engagement that can be harmonized. What signals do you look for? Things like the number of services attended. Volunteer sign-ups. New visitors. Participation in a group or class. Requests for prayer. 

This approach - putting signals before datasets - transforms the use of data and analytics. Rather than being limited by internal systems or financial resources, suddenly a church can capture and access any signal it might need, allowing you to build any analysis you can imagine.

TL;DR

All of that to say: 

• Data can be incredibly valuable for churches, but the type of data gathered and analyzed matters.

• Data is only a bunch of numbers without expertise to interpret and align the data with overall objectives. 

• An organization’s own data and knowledge of its guests, members and community hold the answers for many of its challenges. 

• Ethics matter. Targeting potential guests based on their vulnerabilities is not a way to love people or grow your church. 

What do you think? We’d love to hear.

Looking to make your data more meaningful? Let’s get started.