Marketing Your Ministry

     

PIC No. 100: Pails in Comparison (April 28, 2025)

• Title: Marketing Your Ministry: Ten Critical Principles
• Authors: Robert D. Hisrich, Ph.D. (1944-2023) and John W. Pearson
• Publisher: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc. (Jan. 1, 1990, 116 pages)
• Management Bucket #6 of 20: The Program Bucket

Welcome to Issue No. 100 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

Give people the choice to say “no” to a few options—yet still say “yes.”

When our son, Jason, was about four, I taught him an important marketing principle I learned from Bob Hisrich, the co-author of the book Bob and I wrote, Marketing Your Ministry: Ten Critical Principles.

Late one afternoon, Jason asked his mom for a cookie. “No,” Joanne said. “It’s too close to dinner time.”

I took Jason aside and gave him my fatherly advice on effective marketing. “Here’s how to get your cookie, Jason,” I began. “Tomorrow, go into the kitchen and ask Mom this simple question, ‘Mom? Can I have one cookie or two cookies?’”

My street-smart kid learned fast and was patient. The next day he joined his mom in the kitchen and nonchalantly asked, “Mom? Can I have one cookie or two cookies?”

The answer was immediate. “Just one!”

Jason enjoyed his chocolate chip cookie that afternoon because he gave his mom the opportunity to say no and still say yes. He gave her choices. It’s a simple marketing rule of thumb, but it’s easy to overlook in the Program Bucket: “Give people the choice to say no to a few options—yet still say yes.” (For more examples, see Chapter 6, “The Program Bucket” in Mastering the Management Buckets.)
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Below are the 10 critical principles from the book, Marketing Your Ministry. It reads like a business novel, similar to The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey and other business fables. Suggestion: Identify the one principle that is most urgent for your organization to address:

#1. If you have $10,000 to spend, invest $5,000 in researching and understanding your audience.

#2. You can’t be all things to all people.

#3. Ask people what their real needs are—then listen, listen, listen.

#4. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.

#5. Know your strengths, roll out from them, and then make sure others know them, too.

#6. Don’t be the 8th lemonade stand in a row of 9.

#7. Don’t over-engineer. Your audience won’t pay extra for something they cannot appreciate.

#8. Caution! People are creatures of habit.

#9. Give people the choice to say “no” to a few options—but still say “yes.”

#10. One clever direct mail piece does not a marketing plan make. People buy a total package.

Robert D. Hisrich, Ph.D. (1944-2023), authored or co-authored more than 35 books and wrote more than 300 articles on entrepreneurship, international business management, and marketing. He served as the Bridgestone Chair of International Marketing, Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, at Kent State University, and was on the faculty at other universities including Boston College and Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Hisrich presented these 10 critical principles three times a year for several years in the 1980s at the Leadership Development Institute for executive directors of camps and conference centers. The program was organized by Bob Kobielush when we worked together at Christian Camping International/USA (now CCCA). Marketing Your Ministry was born out of these day-long sessions taught by Bob Hisrich. (Note: I also featured this book in Issue #52 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews on Sept. 3, 2007.)

Note: When the book was published in 1990 (35 years ago!), videotape teaching series were the hot new thing! Read the eight questions that Skip (the consultant) asked Brooks (the nonprofit CEO) regarding how much he knew about his customers. Learn why the organization should have invested $5,000 in researching and understanding their audience FIRST! While the example is out-of-date (videotapes!), the principle is as relevant as the corporate missteps in today's Wall Street Journal.
 

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Program Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies.

[   ] Entrepreneurship, by Robert D. Hisrich, Michael P. Peters, and Dean A. Shepherd. (Order from Amazon.)

[  ] Corporate Entrepreneurship: How to Create a Thriving Entrepreneurial Spirit Throughout Your Company, by Robert D. Hisrich and Claudine Kearney. (Read my review.)

[  ] “Entrepreneurial Wisdom: 5 Career-saving Principles for Ministry Entrepreneurs,” by John Pearson (from Outcomes Magazine, Winter 2010) – (Read the article.)

Note! The 10 critical principles in Marketing Your Ministry are also summarized in the following book and workbook:

[  ] BOOK. See Chapter 6, “The Program Bucket,” in Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit, by John Pearson. (Order from Amazon and visit the 20 buckets here.)

[  ] WORKBOOK. See Chapter 6, “The Program Bucket,” Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook: Management Tools, Templates and Tips from John Pearson, with commentary by Jason Pearson (2nd Edition, 2018) – (Order from Amazon.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Marketing Your Ministry: Ten Critical Principles, by Robert D. Hisrich and John W. Pearson. For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews.

MORE RESOURCES:

   • John Pearson’s Buckets Blog
   • Subscribe: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
   • John Pearson’s book reviews on Amazon
   • Management Buckets website
   • Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog

Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. 

© 2026 John W. Pearson. All rights reserved. New blogs for Pails in Comparison are posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. 

Transforming Church Boards

    

PIC No. 55: Pails in Comparison (Nov. 27, 2023)
Book #3 of 3 in the Churches in Transition Series

• Title: Transforming Church Boards: For Churches in Transition (Book 3 of 3)
• Authors: Dr. Dennis Baker, Dr. David C. Fisher, and Dr. John Vawter
• Publisher: ChurchSmart Resources/IPM (Jan. 1, 2020, 70 pages)
• Management Bucket #14 of 20: The Board Bucket

Welcome to Issue No. 55 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

8 Questions to Ask Current Board Members

If I had to pick the most helpful book of the three resource-rich books in the “Churches in Transition” series—I’d urge you to read all three! While written especially for interim pastors and the gargantuan challenge of leading a church in the period between pastors, each book is a stand-alone resource that will make good church boards better, and unhealthy church boards healthy. Really.

Read my reviews of Book #1 of 3 and #2 of 3. Here are my favorite insights from Book #3:

News Flash! “It is important to accept the fact not all board members are motivated by the Spirit of God and do not seek the unity of the Spirit. Sadly, the interim pastor must deal with such people.” (This reminded me of a pastor friend’s shocking story from a church board meeting a few years ago. Read “Lesson 34: Break Bread, Not Relationships” from Lessons From the Church Boardroom.)

Problem or Project? Have you segmented your board challenges into these two helpful groups? “If you see a difficult person ascertain if he is a ‘problem or a project.’ Most would be the latter. The interim pastor must be careful not to judge motives.”

What a Church Board Is and Does. The page, “Evaluating Past Board Training,” includes eight important questions to ask current board members. “1) Did you fill out an application or questionnaire before joining the board? And 2) Was there a Biblical explanation of what a church board is and what it does?”

Transformation. The authors reference numerous board governance resources including four pages of church board training outlines. “Transformation begins by putting first things first. The church doesn’t have a mission; the mission has a church.” (I love that!)

Discernment. “Perhaps the most important difference between corporate governance and church board leadership is the task of discernment.”

10-15 Minutes. “Use the first 10-15 minutes of the board meeting for ongoing training and refocusing on the mission and vision.” Preach it! (See the resource below on “10 Minutes for Governance.”)

Church Life Cycle. In the helpful 12-month plan of monthly board training sessions, the authors include a sobering one-page chart, “The Life Cycle of Too Many Churches.” The list  includes 10 periods in six stages: Birth, Growth, Maturity, Maintenance, Decline, and Death. Yikes. Must-read.

Honest—every page has valuable takeaways, including: 
   • A one-page chart on the four social styles (Analytical, Driver, Amiable, Expressive). Are you a student of your board chair, pastor, and board colleagues?
   • A sample board member recruitment letter.
   • Plus, very helpful resources on enriching your listening skills.

I mentioned in my review of Book #2 that if Interim Pastor Ministries had priced these incredible resources on a value-per-page basis, you could not afford these books. Gratefully, the are priced for church budgets. Order all three and enrich your church board’s work and ministry.  

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Board Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies.

[   ] Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. (Read the commentary by 40 guest bloggers!) Order from Amazon.

[   ] More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! by Dan Busby and John Pearson - Read the 40 guest blogs here. Order the book.

[   ] The Council: A Biblical Perspective on Board Governance, by Gary G. Hoag, Wesley K. Willmer, and Gregory J. Henson. (Read my review.)

[   ] Stewards of a Sacred Trust: CEO Selection, Transition and Development for Boards of Christ-centered Organizations, by David L. McKenna (Read my review.)

[   ] Serving as a Board Member: Practical Guidance for Directors of Christian Ministries, by John Pellowe (Read my review.)

[   ] Read John Walling’s guest blog, “Lesson 39, Invest ‘10 Minutes for Governance’ in Every Board Meeting” from Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. (Read the blog here.)

Read my previous reviews:

[   ] Church Board Training Manual (For Churches in Transition, Book 1 of 3), by Dennis Baker and John Vawter (Read my review.)

[  ] Unhealthy Church Boards: Bringing Health to Unhealthy Ministries (For Churches in Transition, Book 2 of 3), by Dennis Baker, David C. Fisher, and John Vawter. (Read my review.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Transforming Church Boards: For Churches in Transition (Book 3 of 3, by Dennis Baker, David Fisher, and John Vawter. And thanks to John Vawter for sending me a review copy. For more information on IPM, visit the website. For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews.

MORE RESOURCES:

   • John Pearson’s Buckets Blog
   • Subscribe: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
   • John Pearson’s book reviews on Amazon
   • Management Buckets website
   • Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog

Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. 

© 2026 John W. Pearson. All rights reserved. New blogs for Pails in Comparison are posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.