Pedro Carrion - Leadership, Travel, and International Affairs

10 Things You NEVER say to a Designer

Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with many Graphic Designers, Developers, Programmers, and Graphic Artists, and creative people in general. There’s a world of difference in how creative individuals work, and the way the rest of us work.

The best teams have found ways to merge the two.

Graphic design is hard work. What makes it especially hard, as far as I’m concerned, is that I can’t do it! To me, there’s a special reverence I have for those individuals who have a skill set that I could never have.

Here are 10 statements to avoid when talking with a Designer:

1. It’s ok, this job won’t take you very long. It’s pretty straight forward.

2. It just needs some “umph”, you know, the “wow” factor.

3. What’s that font that looks like crayons? Can we use that?

4. Here’s an image that I took on my phone, you shouldn’t have a problem blowing it up and putting it on the banner.

5. Make it pop.

6. This needs some text.

7. Just do whatever you want and then we’ll figure it out later.

8. Yes, the event is tomorrow, but this is fast, right?

9. Can you fill in the white space with some text?

10. Did you publish that on Word?

What would you never say to a designer?

11 Ways to Retain Volunteers

By Pedro Leave a Comment

If you’ve been leading in Children’s Ministry for very long, you’ve probably figured out that one of the best ways to build your volunteer team is to keep the ones you’ve already got!

Retaining volunteers is critical to continued health and growth in your ministry.

But sometimes it seems like we’ve got a revolving door with our volunteers, with many coming and going all the time. How do we stop that? In some cases, it’s just going to happen, but in most cases, volunteers leave because there’s some dissatisfaction – or lack of satisfaction, at best – with their involvement.

Here are some ways we can to offset that and keep the volunteers we have:

1. Make it matter

We all are short on time. When we give our time, we want it to matter. The best way to do this with your volunteers is
to focus on vision. Recruit them to vision. Talk vision constantly. Guide them toward fulfilling the vision of your ministry.

2. Care about them

This seems obvious, right? What I’ve experienced and observed, though, is that sometimes we care more about the role they play in our ministry than we care about them as individuals. We need to make sure we know them and care about them as individuals first.

3. Create community

Creating community can be a big part of caring for our volunteers. As we make sure they are connected, not only to us, but also to others within our ministry, we begin to create unique community with and for them. Creating shared experiences away from church can play a huge part in creating community with our team. And when someone has shared experiences and feels community with a group of people, they are far less likely to leave.

4. Give them breaks

Everyone needs a break now and then. My approach to this is two-fold. First, design your volunteer commitments with a built in break. This might be having them take the summer off, or taking the 5th weekend off when a month has 5 weeks, but you can easily build breaks in to the commitment. Second, I strongly communicate flexibility. I create a system to managing times when volunteers need to be gone, and I communicate that I understand this is OK – life happens!

5. Equip them

There is really no better way to lose a volunteer than to place them in a role that they don’t know how to do and leave them to figure it out. Design an equipping program that offers basic training/orientation and on-going training through various avenues (in person, online, email, etc.).

6. Solve problems for them

One of the best and quickest ways to gain influence (leadership) is to solve problems. It’s also one of the best ways retain volunteers. You don’t have to be the one who actually solves the problems, just be the one that makes sure the problem gets solved for your volunteers.

7. Resource them

One of my pet peeves is ministries that expect volunteers to a) create their own curriculum; b) pay for any supplies they need to do what we ask them to do, and/or c) not offer to reimburse them when they want to do something extra for their kids (within predefined guidelines)!

If a volunteer refuses reimbursement or insists on purchasing supplies, then great. But don’t make buying stuff necessary to serving in your ministry – some people simply can’t afford it and it won’t be long before they walk.

8. Appreciate them

It’s amazing how far a simple thank you will go! A simple note of appreciation can do wonders. A pat on the back in the hallway. A shout out in front of their team. A public recognition of over-and-above service. Appreciation goes a long, long way to retaining your team.

Need ideas? Here are 20 ways to SHOW appreciation.

9. Tell them stories

About the parents who told you how much their child likes this volunteers class. About the child who never liked coming to church until they got into that volunteers class. About the teenager who serves alongside them and seems to really be engaging in their faith now. You get the idea – we love to hear how we are making a difference in people’s lives. Listen for stories, have a method for collecting them, and be intentional about telling your volunteers what you are hearing. You might even ask parents to share their stories with their childs’ leaders.

10. Invest in their personal growth

One of our great privileges as children’s ministry leaders is investing in the personal and spiritual growth of our team. They are there not just to serve, but to grow. When we take time to individually and collectively invest in their lives to help them grow, they appreciate it.

11. Increase their responsibility

Many times (but not all), volunteers need new challenges, especially those who are more inclined to be leaders. When leaders continue to do the same thing (especially if we’ve brought them in on a pretty basic level), they can get bored. Many people need new and greater challenges, so make sure you identify the ones who are stepping up as leaders and find ways to give them new and great responsibilities in your ministry.

What do you do to retain volunteers in your ministry?

What does gaming eyewear or computer glasses do?

By Pedro Leave a Comment

Do gaming or computer glasses actually work? What do they do? This is the question I asked myself when I began seeing so many of my coworkers wearing gaming eyewear or computer glasses. Around the same time, I started getting this question from many of my friends and colleagues and I just wasn’t sure of the answer.

I was skeptical at first. So I asked coworkers who wore them regularly, and they all swore by them.

I was a little familiar with computer glasses but I thought they were only for people who spend all day in front of a computer. Surprise! I realized that I spend hours in front of a computer every day.

Not only do I tend to spend ALL DAY in front of a computer, but then I go home and work on projects that place me squarely in front of a computer for even more time.

I decided to give them a try. I bought a pair of Gunnar Optiks Intercept glasses (Amazon Link).

Gunnar Optiks Computer Glasses

Gunnar Optiks computer glasses are some of the highest rated and most durable computer glasses on the market. They’re specifically designed to protect your eyes when looking at screens for an extended amount of time. They prevent eye strain, stress, and dry eyes.

Their yellow tint reduces the effect that blue light from electronic devices has on your eyes. They also have glasses that have an Amber tint for you graphic designers!

I was skeptical as to whether computer or gamer glasses would have any benefit whatsoever. But now I’m a believer!

Overall, I found these glasses to be sturdy and comfortable. I don’t wear glasses at all, so it took some getting used to, however, I got used to these pretty quick.

There’s something else, though. I decided to start a website dedicated to reviewing Computer/Gamer glasses. I’ll release more info on that at another time!

As part of my new website though, a company called Spektrum Glasses did reach out to me and offered me a couple of their glasses in exchange for an unbiased product review.

After wearing and testing their glasses for some time, I published two reviews that I would like to recap here.

Spektrum Prospek Computer Glasses

Spektrum’s glasses are called Prospek. Basically, they come in two features, 50% blocking and 99% blocking.

50% blocking blocks 50% of all blue light, 99 block 99% of it.

I reviewed two models, the Artist and the Elite.

Spektrum Prospek Artist

Check price on Amazon

I really liked these glasses. Although they’re designed for women, I thought they looked good on me! I also thought they were really light and comfortable. I forgot I was wearing them within minutes of having them on. Also, the yellow tinted lens is so faint, that you don’t even notice it after some time, but it’s because it blocks blue light at 50%. I highly recommend these.

Spektrum Prospek Elite

Check price on Amazon

I thought this model was ok. I wasn’t a big fan of the style (I prefer larger glasses). It was comfortable but the strong yellow tint was just too much to get used to. It’s strong because it blocks blue light at 99%. Still, I had trouble even keeping them on for an extended period of time. I wouldn’t buy these.

Overall

I do believe that computer glasses will be beneficial to you if you spend all day in front of a computer. I didn’t realize that I was in that boat until I took an honest look at myself! I took a chance to test them out and my eyes have thanked me for it since.

Not sure? Let me know if you have any questions!

What are SMART Goals and how to set them

By Pedro Leave a Comment

pedrocarrion.com-smart-goal-setting

I’ve always struggled with setting goals. I think that most of my life, subconsciously, I’ve been afraid to fail and therefore, have erred on inaction. Part of taking no action means that you don’t really set goals or hold yourself accountable. There are numerous sayings that talk about aiming higher than you really want, so you can still achieve great things. Or aim and nothing and you’ll hit it every time. I think that’s true.

However, in the last 10 years or so I’ve learned that you must hold yourself to a higher standard and if you want to succeed in something, you have to take a chance, work hard, and aim high. Part of that process is setting goals for yourself and learning to stick with them.

Believe it or not, SMART goals have been around for decades. Not the idea of SMART goals, just the development of them.

I first learned about them in a Business Administration class at Florida International University. Since then, I’ve put them into practice for myself. The concept of SMART goals originated with General Electric and is widely studied in business schools. So when it was brought up in that business class, it wasn’t new to anyone except for the few of us who were social science majors. I began putting SMART goals in to practice and then when I started working at Operation Christmas Child, I was pleased to learn that SMART goal setting is a constant practice.

Goal setting is an extremely valuable practice. Too often, people either don’t set any goals or set too many! I tend to set too many for myself and then end up abandoning most of them. In the last year though, I’ve been better about setting only a handful of goals for myself.

Before we get into the specifics of SMART goals, let’s look at DUMB goals.

DUMB Goals

Most people end up setting bad goals or DUMB goals. Here are some examples:

Lose weight
Start a new business
Work harder

These are all good things to achieve, these are honorable goals, but they’re dumb goals. Why are they dumb goals?

They’re vague, they’re not specific, and they’re not measurable.

Can you achieve goals like that? Maybe, maybe not. Does losing weight mean one pound or 10?

Goals like that tend to not work.

Dumb goals don’t work because they’re easy to make, easy to forget, and have no steps to help you achieve them, if you even know what you need to achieve.

GE developed the concept of SMART goal setting in the 1940s and by the time the 1960s came around, they had perfected it. By 1961, all GE employees wrote out their objectives for the following year and gave it to their manager.

The letter required the employee to indicate what the goals and time frame were for the next year, how the goals would be met, and what standards were to be expected. The manager would accept this letter, usually with some editing, and it became known as the work contract.

Next up – SMART Goals

SMART goals are:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time Based

The SMART goal system works so well because once you go through the thought process of creating a SMART goal, it’s much more clear how it will happen. You’re forced to think critically about the process of achieving these goals.

You know what the next steps are and when you need to do them. Dumb goal setting allows you to skip the steps of critical thinking.

It’s harder to set a SMART goal than a bad one. That’s purposeful. It takes longer to think through all the details to plan things out. It’s also ok to be agile and pivot midway through a plan. That’s actually a Project Management framework called… AGILE.

Setting a SMART Goal for losing weight

Using one of the most common goals, weight loss, as an example, let’s look at the SMART goal system in action.

Let’s think about setting a DUMB goal for this:

Lose weight

It’s easy to see that you can completely ignore that goal and never set out to do anything necessary to accomplish it. Some people can can lose weight without even trying, but not most of us!

Let’s turn it into a SMART Goal

Specific – Lose 10 pounds by March 1.

Measurable – That’s approximately 1.25 pounds a week.

Attainable – I can do cardio 3 times a week and lift weights 3 times a week, I can also lower my calories. Write out all the steps necessary to attain this goal.

Realistic – I can set aside time 5-6 times a week to make time for training. I can get up early in the mornings before work to train. I can trade in my work lunches for salad in order to cut calories. I can also cut out soda and sweets.

Time Based – I have 8 weeks to make this happen, I need to see these results by March 1. That means cutting calories by 10%, cardio 3 times a week, and weightlifting 3 times a week.

SMART Goals For The Win

What if things change or you see that by Week 3, you’re not hitting the 1.25 pounds per week mark? That’s why we’re flexible. Plans are here to serve you, you’re not here to serve your plan. If you need to change your plan, or your goal, then you have the flexibility to do that.

Adaptability is the greatest skill to have.

If you injure yourself while training and your doctor sidelines you for a couple weeks, you may have to push back or lower your goal, that’s not losing, that’s adapting.

On the flip side, if you find yourself losing 2 pounds per week, there’s nothing wrong with upping your goal! Be agile!

Don’t be afraid to adapt as needed.

SMART Goal Action Items

Think about a few short term goals that you’d like to accomplish in the next month.
Use the SMART Goal framework to set one of these goals for yourself.
Start working toward this goal. Document your steps toward your goal.
Build slack into the schedule and be realistic about how long tasks really take.
Work towards achieving your goal starting week.
Document your success and use that forward motion to push you toward bigger goals.

A few things you should know about Operation Christmas Child

By Pedro Leave a Comment

It’s that time of the year again. This is the time when people start buying school supplies, shoes, clothes, toys, and begin looking for that one Wow item for each one of their shoeboxes. Operation Christmas Child volunteers are gearing up for National Collection Week this November 13-20, 2017! This is the one week per year where millions of shoeboxes will be collected from millions of individuals all across the United States and then processed and shipped off to more than 100 countries around the world.

Last year I wrote an article called Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox! The year before that I wrote, 3 Reasons Pastor should encourage their Churches to Volunteer with Operation Christmas Child. If you didn’t already know, I’m on staff at Samaritan’s Purse, specifically on the Operation Christmas Child team. You might say that I’m biased, you’re right.

I didn’t end up at Samaritan’s Purse by accident, I specifically wanted to work here. So although I may be biased, it doesn’t mean that what I’m saying isn’t true.

My goal here is not to answer questions like, when is National Collection Week? What can I pack in my shoebox? How much is shipping? Or where’s the nearest drop off to me? You can find the answers to all of those questions at our website, https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/.

What I’m going to do is to talk about things at a little bit of a broader and more general level. I’m going to write some reasons why you should love Operation Christmas Child and why you should participate.

1. Operation Christmas Child is led by a volunteer in your community

Many times, when I hear someone complain about the Operation Christmas Child model, it’s really born out of a lack of understanding about how the organization works.

Although we distribute shoeboxes in over 100 countries around the world, we do not have staff in over 100 countries around the world.

This is how it really works. Highly dedicated volunteers in your local community in the United States are working all year long with churches, community organizations, Christian schools, and local media to promote Operation Christmas Child and get ready for National Collection Week.

Shoeboxes are packed by individuals, collected at churches, and then sent to warehouses we call Processing Centers where they’ll be prepped to ship internationally.

At over 100 countries around the world, local volunteers will receive these shoeboxes and then follow their predetermined plan of distribution by partnering with local pastors who have developed plans to use shoeboxes to engage their communities.

That means that local Pastors and Community leaders in the Philippines volunteer to work with churches in the Philippines to distribute shoeboxes in different communities throughout the Philippines.

The fact is that Operation Christmas Child is always led by a volunteer in his or her own community. It doesn’t matter if it’s Rochester or Rio.

2. Shoeboxes support local communities

The reality is that there is some small but vocal opposition to the impact Operation Christmas Child can have on a local community. Almost all of this opposition comes from a handful of upper middle class Americans who somehow, have a problem with children in need around the world receiving gifts.

It must be great to be in a situation where you’re wealthy enough to determine that others shouldn’t receive gifts.

Honestly, some of these individuals might mean well. They might have read a book like When Helping Hurts or Toxic Charity and now are looking for solutions to end the cycle of poverty. The problem is, Operation Christmas Child’s mission isn’t necessarily to end poverty. It’s to bring the Hope of Jesus Christ to children in need around the world.

Unfortunately, many people who read these books end up using these books as an excuse to sit back and do nothing. Sometimes these decisions are made based off of assumptions made in ignorance.

Each shoebox is used by a local Pastor or Community Leader to serve his or her community.

Do children in other countries actually need these things? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. There are children who need notebooks or shoes in order to attend school. There are others who don’t need a yoyo, but love receiving it anyway. Can a yoyo change a life? Absolutely, read Kojo’s story here.

Will it disrupt the local economy? No. The fact is that 50 or so shoeboxes going to 50 children who probably can’t afford much in a community of tens of thousands of people won’t negatively affect the local economy.

Is this an American program pushing American policies and ideals on others? No, each shoebox is a tool used by a local Pastor or Community Leader to serve his or her community. There are no Operation Christmas Child staff members living in Colombia trying to figure out how to distribute shoeboxes all year long. All that is done by an incredible team of Colombian leader volunteers who are called to bless their nation with the Gospel, and who want to do it in a practical way.

3. Samaritan’s Purse does it better

What is it that we do better? We bring the love of Jesus Christ to a hurting world in a real and practical way. We love to do things in excellence. Think about who your go-to charity is and then compare them to Samaritan’s Purse on Charity Navigator. We’ll likely have a higher star rating and a higher accountability rating. We’re able to respond to disasters in a lighting fast way. Not only does Samaritan’s Purse have the resources and expertise to respond, but we have the will. When our leadership says, “Go”, we go.

We bring the love of Jesus Christ to a hurting world in a real and practical way.

We want to represent Jesus

Samaritan’s Purse is not affiliated with a particular church, movement, political affiliation, or even a specific culture. Children who receive shoeboxes are freely invited to events where shoeboxes are handed out and are not screened by their faith or culture. We don’t promote a religion or a cause. We want to show God’s love in a tangible way and give others an opportunity to follow Jesus Christ. That’s it.

Below are all of the Samaritan’s Purse articles I’ve written over the years.

20 Tips on Recruiting Volunteers

By Pedro Leave a Comment

20 tips on recruiting volunteers

Have you ever been “recruited” for something? What was that thing? Was it a ministry? A job? The military?

In ministry, we use the term “recruiting” when referring to volunteers all the time. Honestly, I don’t like it very much. I think the word carries negative connotations for many people. I think recruiting can turn people away unless those people are already highly interested.

I’ll give you an example. I knew a church who used to hold recruiting meetings for missions trips. No one ever attended those. They switched it to info meetings and attendance skyrocketed. You see, most people don’t want to be recruited but a lot of people do want to know more information about what’s going on. That one simple change of a word had a dramatic change on their ministry.

Looking back on my own life, as I was thinking about attending graduate school, I attended a TON of info sessions for different universities before I settled on the University of Miami.

What exactly is recruiting?

As a Children’s Ministry Pastor, my primary responsibility was to serve my volunteers as they serve kids. Recruiting was a big part of that. At first, I viewed volunteers as a means to an end. Meaning that I needed volunteers to accomplish my mission. That was a HUGE mistake. That led me to tend to use volunteers without really caring for them.

Things changed, though. I began to view volunteers as individuals with unique gifts and skills who were called by God to serve in a specific way. My responsibility was to recruit and select those individuals who were called to serve in Children’s Ministry. It was at this time that I really began to see fruit in the ministry I was leading. Not only did we begin to develop leaders but those leaders began to develop leaders.

Recruiting Volunteers is never about begging

Begging for volunteers is never acceptable. Begging or guilting people into serving puts the individual in an awkward position and ultimately sets up your ministry for failure. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem convincing someone to serve, but I will never beg someone to serve and I’ll never beg someone to stay. Honestly, I’m more likely to overestimate the work required for the job. I don’t ever want to put someone in a spot where they felt misled about what they’ve accepted.

Succeed in Recruiting Volunteers with these 20 tips

1. It’s all about vision

A big, compelling vision that’s well defined and engaging. I believe that’s what makes so many volunteers join us at Operation Christmas Child, a clear vision.

2. It’s not all about the need

Vision trumps need every single time. You may not think it’s fair, but that’s the way it is.

3. Make the ask

Have you made the ask? It’s not enough to talk about what your vision or needs are. If you haven’t actually asked someone to serve, then you’re likely missing out on a lot of people who think that you’re already good to go.

4. Fully define your structure

What would happen if you received an influx of applicants? Would you know where you need them or will you have to makeup spots? Know what your structure is and where the holes are. Just like a business can clearly identify what the vacancies are, your ministry should be the same. Where are the holes?

5. Don’t be a one man (or woman) show

Here’s an oxymoron. Some leaders are so high capacity that it seems like they have it all together. They’ll have to be a lot more intentional about recruiting other leaders. On the flip side, people view someone who’s doing great things but is obviously dropping the ball sometimes and want to support that person.

6. Stop typecasting people

Don’t be afraid to take a chance on someone and don’t typecast people. Regardless of how that individual has served in the past, God can certainly work in people and equip individuals for new roles.

7. Empower others

The fastest way to lose leaders is not empower them to make decisions. I’m not talking about decisions where you have the final say, that’s not really empowering. I’m talking about decisions where your volunteer has the authority to say yes or no to something. When volunteers realize that you hand out authority coupled with responsibility, you’ll hardly ever lose a leader and it’ll be easier to recruit leaders.

8. Create efficient systems

How do you take someone from interested in volunteering with you to fully onboarded and trained? That’s what systems are for and the larger you are (or want to be) the more efficient system you need.

9. Be clear about volunteer opportunities

When I was a Children’s Ministry Pastor I was notorious for closing down a classroom if we didn’t have a teacher for it. This was an obvious decision for me but it confounded parents and others. I also realized it was something that very few Pastors do.

Why did I do it? If there’s not teacher available, then there’s no trained individual to teach and take care of the kids, so it’s better for kids to stay with their parents. It also lets all those parents know that we have staffing shortages. Very often, parents themselves would want to become volunteers when they realized there are opportunities to serve.

It was also common for us to announce openings in services, within other ministries, and on social media.

10. Equip others to recruit other volunteers

Recruiting is not only your responsibility! It’s also the responsibility of all of your volunteers. Equip them to recruit!

11. Personally recruit

On the other hand, recruiting is not only the responsibility of others, it’s also yours. You need to personally recruit!

12. Don’t rely on mass invitations or social media only

It’s so easy nowadays to rely on social media campaigns, email campaigns, or announcements. Don’t rely on these. At the end of the day, the most effective recruiting is face to face. Nothing will ever replace that.

13. Start showing appreciation to your current volunteers

Stop saying “Thank you” and start showing appreciation to your volunteers. It’s far easier to keep the volunteers you have than to constantly replace them with new ones.

14. Train your volunteers better than ever

A trained volunteer is a happy volunteer. Not only will they do better in their roles, but they’ll tell others about how they’re valued and trained.

15. Learn to be flexible with people

Ministry is about people, once you start prioritizing processes over people, you’ll start to experience problems. If one of your leaders needs a month off, do it. People appreciate it and flexibility breeds goodwill and increases volunteer capital.

16. Don’t focus on your problems

It’s great to communicate vision and it’s good to communicate need, but that doesn’t mean that you should communicate all of your problems. I promise you, communicating your problems to potential volunteers won’t get them to start serving.

17. Start sharing stories

It’s not only about sharing vision, but it’s also about sharing how God is moving in your ministry. Share stories not only in person but all over your social media.

18. Stop going beyond your capacity

If you’re constantly redlining it then honestly, you don’t have the capacity to bring on someone else. You just won’t have the time to properly onboard and train them. Therefore, in this self fulfilling prophecy, you’ll keep redlining it.

Break the cycle by slowing down. That will give you the capacity to properly invest in others.

19. Stop making excuses

I’ve heard all kinds of excuses. People in the city don’t serve. People in this country don’t serve. Millennials don’t serve. We ask too much. I’ve heard it all and I’ve seen ministries that have countered every excuse possible. I’ve seen young professionals serve in New York city, Latinos serve in Latin America, and Millennials serve all across the country. There’s really no excuse to not have a dynamic volunteer ministry. If you’re not attracting and retaining volunteers the problem is you or your ministry.

20. Start praying

Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, and to pray that the Lord sends more workers. So do that, start praying for more volunteers.

YouTube or Vimeo and what’s Ooyala: Which is better for your Ministry?

By Pedro Leave a Comment

If you’ve been in ministry in the Western world for any length of time, you’ve already asked yourself this questions. Which is better for my ministry, YouTube or Vimeo? Or, is there a third option?

The debate has raged on since Vimeo came on the scene. It seemed to provide an alternative to YouTube. The YouTube versus Vimeo debate is kind of like the debate between Mac and PC. Who wins? Macs may seem “cooler” but by sheer volume, PCs outpace Macs in every single way. As far as volume, PCs are the winner. Is that the only category, though?

When it comes to technology, volume doesn’t usually matter. I declare Macs the winner because of their reliability, durability, and resiliency. Not to mention their simplicity, which is important for ministry. Right now, I’m writing this on a 7 year old Macbook Pro. That kind of longevity is impossible on a PC.

Does volume matter when it comes to YouTube versus Vimeo?

Yes. And no.

YouTube’s volume is incredible. It reaches 1 Billion unique viewers per month, and growing. Vimeo gets 60 million.

Many ministry leaders like to use Vimeo because it’s cleaner and sleeker. However, YouTube’s reach and impact far exceeds Vimeo’s, and that gap is increasing in YouTube’s every month.

Ministry leaders are called to reach and impact people with the Gospel, so why use a platform that is much more limited? YouTube is where the people are so shouldn’t that be we ministries are at? Yes.

Staying away from YouTube is like deciding to remove your ministry website from Google because you like the Bing experience better. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?

So does that mean that you should stay away from Vimeo and stay exclusive to YouTube? Not necessarily.

Let me explain.

Vimeo provides a much better and cleaner viewer experience. Vimeo’s strength comes when it’s videos are imbedded in your website or when you drive someone there for the sole purpose of viewing a video. I know ministries that do their entire Volunteer training exclusively through Vimeo.

On the other hand, YouTube is great for people searching and finding your videos.

So what should my ministry use?

Both and.

1. YouTube beats Vimeo when it comes to volume

YouTube is the hands down winner over Vimeo when it comes to volume.

Right now Vimeo gets 60 million unique visitors per month. YouTube gets over 1 billion unique visitors. That’s 1,566% more visitors per month. YouTube is where the people are.

2. YouTube’s search capabilities beat Vimeo’s

Having a powerful search feature is what made Google the undisputed King of search engines. It’s no coincidence then, that Google owns YouTube. It also means that your website is likely to receive more visitors through Google if you have a YouTube channel pointing to it.

It also means that your videos are more likely to show up on page 1 of Google if you have a lot of videos on YouTube that point to your website and vice versa. Google likes cross contamination. I can’t think of any other way to say it. Use all Google platforms and you’re more likely to receive visitors through Google.

3. Sharing is caring – YouTube beats Vimeo again

Sharing videos you enjoy is a strength of YouTube’s. It’s also a platform that everyone knows and everyone trusts. You can send anyone a YouTube link to your favorite cat video and people will watch it. Vimeo isn’t nearly as known and therefore, not as trusted, especially outside of the United States. Because of this and its search feature, it’s possible to receive views on a video for years to come. Social sharing is also optimized on YouTube, making it easy to share across all major social media platforms.

4. Easy to use – YouTube wins again

They both have great features and both have pros and cons. However, YouTube is SO EASY to use that anyone can do it, and everyone does do it. It has a subscription feature that allows viewers to see subscribe to your channel, it allows you to promote on other people’s channels, it makes uploading and editing videos a cinch, and if you get a ton of traffic, you can even bring in some serious money from YouTube!

5. User Experience – Vimeo wins!

I admit, it depends what you mean by user experience. Assuming that since you’re leading a ministry, you don’t want your viewers to be redirected to Adult content or questionable content. Because of that, Vimeo wins.

You can embed a Vimeo video on your website and it can be a great user experience. YouTube won’t give you the same benefit.

Both YouTube and Vimeo are social networks. Both have integrated commenting systems, as well as legitimate communities. However, YouTube is much larger and a much more social, social network than Vimeo.

6. How much is YouTube and/or Vimeo? – YouTube wins

You can upload unlimited HD videos of any length or stream HD content on YouTube for free. Vimeo has a monthly or yearly membership fee that increase if you add more content than you are allowed. Therefore, many ministries choose YouTube as their main video channel.

7. Censorship? – Vimeo will NOT censor your videos (maybe)

Censorship of Christianity and/or Conservative thought is becoming more and more common. Unfortunately, both Vimeo and YouTube have been found guilty of this type of censorship.

YouTube has been known to censor videos that embrace Libertarian and Conservative points of view. YouTube has even censored videos that talk about how the US Constitution is relevant to Americans today! YouTube is currently censoring 34 PragerU videos!

Vimeo has censored videos that speak of homosexuality as being a sin, although, in Vimeo’s defense, they cited it was because of a copyright infringement.

Is there a third option? Kind of.

Vimeo may be great to embed on your site – and I recommend that you do that. YouTube may be great if you wish to reach people outside of your circle – and I recommend that you do that. Both of these platforms should be your go to budget solution for delivering video content.

However, for ministries who have a healthy budget and a couple tech savvy individuals on staff, start displaying your own videos using Ooyala. Ooyala was started by a couple YouTube employees. They wanted to provide a better experience for companies seeking to display videos.

Still, YouTube is a great way to reach outside of your circle and possibly grow your church or ministry. However, because of YouTube’s history of censorship, don’t upload any videos that you don’t have copies of somewhere else!

What’s your experience been with YouTube and Vimeo?

4 Lessons from 4 Years at Samaritan’s Purse International Relief

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4 Lessons from 4 Years at Samaritan's Purse

In July, I celebrated my four years of working at Samaritan’s Purse International Relief. Congratulations to me! In addition to that, a couple months ago I received a promotion. Congratulations to myself again! Before I get into what that means, let me say a few words about Samaritan’s Purse in general.

What’s Samaritan’s Purse International Relief?

In the Christian world, Samaritan’s Purse is often looked at as a legendary type of organization. Our leader, Franklin Graham, makes the news quite often. Whether it’s Facing the Darkness of Ebola in West Africa or being asked to comment on how a political decision affects people of faith in the United States, he’s outspoken and unashamed.