Why US Businesses (and Churches) Should Embrace Generation G
Reinier Evers of Trendwatching.com just released a very insightful article on Generation G. What is Generation G about?
“Generation G captures the growing importance of ‘generosity’ as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy—and while that same upheaval has them longing more than ever for institutions that care—the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate in large numbers.
In fact, for many, sharing a passion and receiving recognition have replaced ‘taking’ as the new status symbol. Businesses should follow this societal/behavioral shift, however much it may oppose their decades-old devotion to me, myself and I.”
People are rejecting and distancing themselves from companies and organization that exhibit greed, and are coming to companies that are “more willing and able to give, to share, to collaborate; to be more ‘generous’ in many ways.”
He points to the success of generous/collaborative companies like Wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr, and others to prove his point.
So what do we do with this information? Joseph Michelli, author of The Starbucks Experience, points to this culture of generosity (values-driven business model) in the company as a reason for the extreme loyalty of so many Starbucks customers. He gives examples of Starbucks having unannounced free coffee and ice-cream days and going (way) out of the way to surprise and delight customers.
What can a church do to connect to the high value of generosity? Nelson Searcy, pastor of the Journey Church has tried several things. First-time guests get a free book, as well as a gift that’s mailed to them a few days later. During a recent series on biblical finance, he gave away hundreds of free copies of The Total Money Makeover (a $15) book to those that attended.
They also give away lots of free resources and DVD’s, not to mention having a vision to connect with one million people through servant evangelism in the city of NY.
One would think that this kind of generosity will just make a company or church go broke, but those that have implemented systems of generosity have noticed the exact opposite. Instead of cultivating a mentality in the people of consumerism, they people are taught a valuable lesson on sacrificial giving and biblical generosity, which they learn and return on.
How are you modeling generosity? What has worked for you?
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I’m waiting for the comments on this post. We’re not doing anything right now in my three churches, but would like to. Tim (up in Louisville) is doing polycarbonate water bottles with the church’s logo printed on them as well as inexpensive backpacks. These are given to second-time guests. In the past, he has also done coffee mugs which was a big hit out in the Seattle area.
So, I’m waiting for others to comment to hear what they have been doing……
Hey Jon. Comments are like baptisms. Some comments produce other comments, so it’s always good to jump in first to get the ball rolling! I remember going to Tim’s presentation and hearing about his system. Let me say this first: a system is better than no system. I would start off with something simple and go from there. Secondly, the simpler the system you have, the more likely it will be implemented and used. My only question about Tim’s system is how much it all costs. At Carrollwood, we’re using the basic system as outlined in the book “Fusion.” A first time guests gets a follow up email/call on monday, and by thursday of that week they get a hand-written thank you card with a $5 gas card inviting them back. The next week is similar, but they then get a $5 subway card. I think there’s a million different ways to do it. In the next few weeks I’ll be putting up some posts on these topics in more detail. But definitely, I would start with something. Call me if you have any questions!!
Rodlie, are you going to have a post about the tracking software you use? I think you told me once that you use Fellowship One. It would be nice to see a post about it. How it's used, how it's helped, etc… There is another website that offers free tracking – it's not as in-depth I'm sure of Fellowship One, but is useful for simple things such as membership, baptisms, giving, and attendance – -” target=”_blank”>http://www.churchmetrics.com- just thought I'd share! Blessings!
Hey Jon. Yeah, it just depends what kind of tracking you're referring to. I use churchmetrics to track attendance and giving, and baptisms. My first post was actually on church metrics: http://www.modernekklesia.com/2008/11/tracking-ch… But yeah, there's some other software out there fellowship one, connection power, etc. that are used for church management like keeping membership databases, and other uses. I think that's a great idea to post on one. I'll get to work on it and see if I can post something by next wednesday. By the way, if you ever have a post suggestion, you can use the little tool I added to the right called "Skribit." Thanks, again.