Fraternal, Community and Member Programs

Fraternal Programs > Visibility Toolkit > Picking the Right Tools!
Picking the Right Tools!

Who will come, and why?

The Visibility Toolkit is full of great tools to help you spread the news about your events. But which tool is right for the job? Here are some questions to help you decide.

Who should know about your activity?
The chapter, the community, the church, a specific neighborhood, elected officials? The local newspaper will help you reach the whole community, while a bulletin insert is great for specific churches, and postcards are perfect for reaching members in a certain geographic area.

What result are you looking for?
Do you need people to help with a project or people to contribute to a fund-raiser? Think about how many people you need to tell about your activity to get good attendance. Do you need to tell them once, twice or five times to get them to your activity?

How much time do you need?
What tools can you use to get to your target audience with the time you have available? No matter what tool you use, it requires a certain amount of time to prepare the message and get it to your audience. Some tools can be distributed quickly, while others take a longer amount of time.

What is your budget?
Can you afford to do a full-page newspaper ad? Can you produce fliers to put up all over town?
Thinking through the chapter’s whole year of events will help chapter leaders decide how much money (and time) can be spent on one event. For example, if you know a service team will be hosting a large Join Hands Day event in May, and want volunteers from throughout the community to help out, an ad may be perfect!

Knowing who you want to attract will help you pick the right tools— and invest the right amount of your time and energy. See Know Your Tools for a list of tools – when to use them, and the benefits and cautions when using them.

The nuts and bolts: How big a splash should you make?
Think about each activity in your chapter or congregation and ask:
•		Would this activity be of interest to those outside of my chapter or congregation?
•		If my chapter or congregation could only promote one activity, would this be it?
•		Have I seen similar activities in the newspaper or on TV news?

Examples of promotional opportunities for chapter or congregation members	Examples of promotional opportunities of interest to larger audiences
Chapter members’ attendance at training events	Join Hands Day (held each May)
Awarding honors to chapter members	National Volunteer Week (held each April)
Recognition for an activity or the efforts of a specific volunteer	Make a Difference Day (held each October)
Social events: Christmas parties, summer picnics, etc.	Chapter-hosted educational programs open to the community
Meeting notices	Thrivent Builds Homes fund-raisers
Chapter elections	Thrivent Builds Worldwide trips
Formation of service teams and other organizational activities	Financial impact of fund-raising activities: “Members of the Dane County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised $894 at Sunday’s chicken dinner to benefit the Jim Johnson family…”

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Proceed with care: Consider confidentiality of recipients!

Recipients must complete a Permission to Disclose Information form, granting Thrivent Financial permission to use, disclose and publish their name and other pertinent information for planning, conducting, advertising and communicating the results of a fund-raising activity.

Access this form from the Forms page on thrivent.com (www.thrivent.com > Members/Chapters > Volunteer Resources > Forms).

If the recipient is a qualified not-for-profit organization, the form does not require a signature, unless a volunteer or employee’s name or likeness is published.