Church Outreach Ideas

Parking Lot Marketing

What happens when someone drives in to your parking lot? Ever thought about it? Unfortunately, most churches don't think much of their parking lot. Here are some tips for a good impression.

1. Is your parking area clean? The obvious is sometimes the easiest to overlook. First impressions can mean the difference in a guest returning to your church.

2. Signage - Is it easy for guest to find the correct entrance? How about the path through your parking lot, or the exit? Simple signs notating entrances and exits will help in guiding your guests into your facility. Do you share a parking lot with other businesses or a school? Think about portable signs that you can set up on Sunday morning and take down after the service. Have you checked the strips marking the parking places or guidance arrows on the pavement lately? New paint may be in order.

3. Special Parking - It is unfortunate that at most churches I visit, the staff and members take the spots nearest the building and delegate the guest to the back forty. Reserve spaces at the guest entrance to your building specifically for guests. Are you making it easy for your families with small children? Consider special parking near the preschool entrance. Also, don't forget to provide for your senior adults and those with handicap parking placards. Encourage your staff to set the example by parking in the least desirable spaces.

4. Greeters - Place greeters at the entrances to your parking lot to assist in directing guest to your best parking. To help your greeters out in knowing the difference between guests and members, issue your members and regular attendees a sticker with your church logo or initials for placement on their windshield. Station greeters at the guest parking area to issue maps or to guide visitors into your facility. Don't forget the greeters at your preschool entrance. Parents will appreciate the help with all the extras they need with the children.

5. Transportation - The golf cart ministry is not for just the golf course! Do people have to hike in from the back lot? A good use for a golf cart with extra seats is hauling people in from the back lot! We've rented extra golf carts for major events such as our Fall Carnival. As we cart people back to their cars, it gives us another opportunity to share Christ.

6. Collateral materials - I mentioned maps and brochures for your guest under number four, but how about a cassette tape or CD? Find the average drive time for people attending your church and have the pastor tape a message recapping what your church is all about. Give your guests a CD or cassette, depending on what is in their car, and ask them to play it on their way home! .

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