Why Churches Ignore Their Neighborhood, But Nonprofits Can’t

I work a lot with churches and nonprofits. These two organizations share a lot in common. They both are sometimes described as a mission-based organization, for example. I also carefully watch why some organizations (whether churches or nonprofits) succeed, and others shrivel and die. 

Today, I want to share a few observations about why many churches die. It isn’t inevitable. There is a narrative that “churches are shrinking.” It’s true, overall church attendance is declining in the USA. At the same time, many churches are growing. And that’s not just megachurches: many small and mid-sized churches are growing.

But there is a curious fact: we do not see many nonprofits ignoring external communications, but most churches ignore their external audiences. That is, nonprofits work to connect with program participants and donors, while most churches more or less ignore their local community. Why is that?

When nonprofits stop communicating with external audiences, they generally die. They stop meeting the needs of their constituents, or (more to the point) they stop communicating their work to donors, and they die. Naturally, their funding dries up.  It usually doesn’t even take very long, depending on the size of their endowments. 

However, when churches stop communicating with external audiences (ie their local community), they often continue to exist for decades. Why the difference?

Churches endure this problem because they can do something nonprofits cannot do: self-sustain. A nonprofit almost always depends on external actors to fund their work. That is, it’s rare for a nonprofit staff to be able to fund the work of a nonprofit. So most nonprofits must effectively conduct their programs and communicate to the public about their good work. You must serve your audience, and also tell others about it. If you don’t, you won’t be long for this world.

Churches are different. Churches are financially self-sustaining. Their funding largely comes from their members, their “internal audience.” Where most nonprofits absolutely must go outside itself, at least for funding, churches are not obligated to do the same. 

That is why most churches do not serve their community: they just don’t have to. It’s why churches often make decisions that serve attendees at the expense of the people who might like to attend. Nonprofits that don’t serve their community, and then communicate it effectively to donors? Those organizations shrivel and die, rather quickly. Therefore, there just aren’t that many around because they die. But if a church does that, they can continue to exist for decades. 

This leads to clarity in the one big differentiator of thriving (or vital, or whatever word you use) churches: they both serve their community well, and  communicate about it well. If you are not meeting the needs of the people who might grow your church (ie your neighborhood), then they will never join your church. But if you are potentially meeting their needs, but not communicating it effectively…you’re not meeting their needs. I hope it’s clear that communication is a fundamental part of serving your community.

We love this stuff at Capital Hope Media. If you want to talk about how your church can more effectively serve your community and communicate about it, schedule a meeting! Let’s see if we are a good match for effective work together.