CHURCH MARKETING: THE EFFECT OF PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES ON CHURCH GROWTH IN MANADO

Abstract

Abstract: The common concept of marketing that is typically using by the profit organization, has also been applied to the nonprofit organization. In North Sulawesi specifically in Manado, one of the nonprofit organizations that started to apply a business-like technique by the promotional strategies is church organization, following by a gradual development and competition in attracting more congregations. This study aims to test the effect of promotional strategies which are advertising, personal selling, public relation/publicity, direct marketing and sales promotion towards church growth. This research applied causal type with quantitative research method. Population of this study are 300 respondents from Gereja Masehi Injili di Minahasa (GMIM), Gereja Bethany Indonesia and Gereja Tiberias Indonesia. Findings indicate that advertising, personal selling and sales promotion are significantly influence the church growth. Meanwhile, public relation and direct marketing are insignificantly influence the church growth. As the recommendations, church needs to empower the existing promotional resources for the better way of communicating and attracting people to get involved in church activities.

Keywords: church marketing, promotional strategies, church growth