Updated 12:47 pm.EST, Sun November 22, 2009

Missions > Non-Profit|Wed, Oct. 21 2009 06:15 PM EDT

United Methodists Win Best Tagline Award

By Audrey Barrick|Christian Post Reporter

The United Methodist Church's "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors." was awarded best nonprofit tagline among religious organizations.

The annual Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards announced the winners on Tuesday and recognized the Methodists for delivering "a tagline trinity that supports its applied faith mission and is warm, enthusiastic and embracing."

Nonprofit marketing expert Nancy E. Schwartz says a nonprofit's tagline is "hands down the briefest, easiest and most effective way to communicate its identity and impact."

"But this high-impact, low-cost marketing tactic is often overlooked or under-emphasized by nonprofits," she adds.

Schwartz found that most nonprofits are not utilizing taglines effectively or are skipping it altogether. A 2008 GettingAttention.org survey revealed that 7 in 10 nonprofits rated their tagline as poor or didn’t use one at all. The annual Nonprofit Tagline Awards was designed to address what Schwartz considers a missed opportunity.

The United Methodist Church won the award under the Religion & Spiritual Development category. The denomination began an "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors." welcoming and advertising campaign in 2001 to raise awareness and draw new people amid declining membership.

Research conducted in 2008 by The Barna Group for The United Methodist Church showed that a majority of people who were exposed to UMC's ads recall the "Open hearts" tagline. Thirty-nine percent said they were fairly certain or extremely certain that they recalled the phrase and 12 percent said they thought they heard the phrase but were not certain of it.

This year, Methodists launched a new campaign urging the world to "rethink Church" and see it not as a building but as a movement of people empowered to transform the world. It is considered the next evolution of the original ad campaign.

In total, 1,702 nonprofit taglines were submitted to the Nonprofit Tagline Awards competition and more than 4,800 nonprofit professionals cast votes in the final selection round.

Other winners include Earthjustice ("Because the earth needs a good lawyer") and Nothing But Nets ("Send a Net. Save a Life.").

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  • Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:14 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

    Thanks, believer! :)

  • Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:14 am Agree: 1   Disagree: 2

    Booboo, I don't think anybody misunderstood you, but they buy into the lie that there is more than one way to God and/or heaven then through the person and the finished work of Christ alone!!

  • Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:50 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

    I wanted to explain since I saw so many "disagree" on me:

    My problem with the tagline is - many liberals say they have an "open mind." In other words, they tell us Christians that anyone can get to heaven. You can believe in Jesus, but if someone doesn't, that doesn't mean they're going to hell.

    I'm not saying I agree with what I said. I'm saying this is what I've heard from liberals, non-Christians saying. Just wanted to clarify.

  • Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:27 am Agree: 1   Disagree: 5

    My problem with the tagline is - many liberals say they have an "open mind." In other words, they tell us Christians that anyone can get to heaven. You can believe in Jesus, but if someone doesn't, that doesn't mean they're going to hell.
    That UMC church I left also does mission trips to Haiti. In the year and a half I was going there and watching their presentations about 2 of their trips, I never heard they say they spread the Gospel. Doing good things like that is nice. But without Jesus, what does it matter? If your Methodist church is spreading the Gospel, then I say that's awesome. Please send missionaries to other Methodist churches who aren't really following Him. (that's not sarcastic)

  • Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:19 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

    ifeelfine, helping meet peoples physical and material needs might be used in conjunction with meeting their spiritual needs as well, but many mainline denominations have lost sight of intentional evangelism, bringing people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and their need to be saved. And all they are focused on doing is meeting the physical and material needs of people and are ignoring meeting their need to hear God's plan of salvation.

  • Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:30 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 1

    believer: Here in West Michigan, the UMC helps the people of Haiti and sponsors some African missionaries.

  • Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:04 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 4

    bujo, just a statement with regards to the UMC and there apparent lack of intentional evangelism in many of their churches. Plus, like many of the moderates and liberals in the SBC, many in the UMC tend to believe there is more than one means of salvation other than through the Cross of Christ. Fortunately many of those moderates and liberals who believe that have left the SBC.

  • Fri Oct 23, 2009 3:33 pm Agree: 3   Disagree: 2

    Bujo: I'm with you, I don't get that at all.

  • Bujo »
    Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:56 am Agree: 3   Disagree: 1

    And weekenderman, how in the world can you call the UMC apostate?!

  • Bujo »
    Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:55 am Agree: 4   Disagree: 1

    beliver,

    What kind of statement was that? With out open hearts, minds and doors how is anyone going to minister to another?

  • Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:50 pm Agree: 3   Disagree: 7

    I take it this award has nothing to do with joining God in fulfilling His Great Commission of reaching the lost for Christ and discipling Christians to serve Him!!

  • Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:19 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 5

    "Umm, I can't speak for anyone else but the UMC as a denomination is basically apostate these days. Before you know it, it will have some sort of pagan "God is still speaking" motto as they move further and further away from believing in the the inerrancy of God's Word."

    Please explain how my statement is libelous or defamatory before you delete it again. Thanks.

  • Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:04 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 5

    Umm, I can't speak for anyone else but the UMC as a denomination is basically apostate these days. Before you know it, it will have some sort of pagan "God is still speaking" motto as they move further and further away from believing in the the inerrancy of God's Word.

    (There was nothing libelous or offensive in this post of mine that was deleted earlier, was there?)

  • Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:50 pm Agree: 3   Disagree: 8

    Open hearts (to allow any emotion to direct them)
    Open minds (so their brain matter can leak out)
    Open doors (so Bible-believing Christians can leave)

  • Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:40 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 11

    Umm, I can't speak for anyone else but the UMC as a denomination is basically apostate these days. Before you know it, it will have some sort of pagan "God is still speaking" motto as they move further and further away from believing in the the inerrancy of God's Word.

  • Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:46 am Agree: 6   Disagree: 1

    gordineer: The UMC does a lot of good things. I go to a small country UMC and the congregation as a whole does a great job of ministering to each other and to the community as a whole. Why do you have such contempt for the UMC?

  • Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:44 am Agree: 2   Disagree: 5

    oh yeah... you gotta have a good tagline if you want to be a successful business... oh wait, wasn't The Methodist Company once a church or something? hmmm... maybe they should start running it like a church and not like a business... maybe perhaps get back to teaching the Word of God AS the Word of God and maybe just maybe souls will be saved.

  • Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:05 pm Agree: 8   Disagree: 5

    Unfortunately it is not true of most of our churches. The UCC as a great motto: GOD IS STILL SPEAKING.

    The Rethink campaign is virtually unknown to the average church member. It is a good idea but we are so bogged down with procedural rules that much change is hampered.

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