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The Foster Letter — Religious Market Update

The FOSTER Letter is a bi-weekly e-mail publication targeted to Christian market channel and ministry leaders.  Each issue reports on news, trends, events and research that will directly or indirectly impact your audiences and businesses. Informed leaders make better choices!

Researched, Edited & Published by Gary D. Foster  

Typical Excerpt From a Single Edition

See the Archives on the left for all excerpts

State Of Giving 83% of U.S. adults donated money to one or more non-profit organizations last year. The rate has remained stable for the last 10 years. Barna Research Group found the least likely donors were under the age 25, never attended college, residents of the Northeast, atheists and agnostics, Asians and Hispanics. The average amount donated per person was $1232 indicating, the typical person gave away about 3% of their income. 65% donated some to a church or place of worship. A remarkable 97% of Evangelicals gave, followed by 85% of born again Christians, 80% of political conservatives, 76% of upscale adults and 76% of Protestants. Church giving averaged $895 per donor (up $89 from ’99); Protestants averaged $1304 while evangelical gave $3250 each. Catholics averaged $547 apiece. George Barna says there are 5 significant barriers to more generous giving; (1) Lack the motivation to give away money because the church has failed to provide a compelling vision for how it will make a difference. (2) Don’t see a sufficient return on investment. (3) Failure to realize the church needs our money to be effective. (4) Ignorance about biblical generosity. (5) Selfishness. Barna states, “The reality is that Americans are willing to give more generously than they typically do, but it takes a purposeful and well-executed approach to facilitate that generosity.” (Barna Online 4/25) 

A Legacy Person is someone who has been in the same job 3 to 4 years or more. They tend to not be innovative because they are protecting systems and products they’ve helped create. Robert Herbold, author of The Fiefdom Syndrome, (Currency 2004), encourages managers to fight legacy thinking, break down fiefdoms, and support creative thinking by looking at creativity and discipline along a spectrum. Activities like product development and marketing need a lot of creativity, and activities such as procurement, human resources and IT require more discipline. (Information Week 4/18) 

Self Publishing iUniverse is one of more than 100 “author services” companies in a fast-growing industry aimed at writers who can’t get the attention of traditional publishers. Even Amazon is getting into the act with its recent purchase of a print-on-demand company that makes it possible to guarantee a two-day turnaround to print a book, even if only one customer orders a copy. For the first time, print-on-demand companies are being perceived as respectable alternatives to mainstream publishing and erasing the stigma of old-fashioned vanity presses. AuthorHouse, with more than 23,000 titles, sold two million volumes in ’03, half through online retailers. The top three self-publishers—AuthorHouse, iUniverse and Xlibris—introduced 11,906 new titles last year, according to Books in Print. For as little as $459, iUniverse will turn a manuscript into a paperback with a custom cover, provide an ISBN and make it available at amazon.com, barnsandnobel.com and other online retailers. The majority of books produced by self-publishers sell a few hundred copies. Most bookstores are reluctant to stock self-published books because they carry the vanity press taint, aren’t returnable or discounted as much as traditional books. In a retail world increasingly dominated by national bookstore chains, it's hard to sell books by new authors without a track record,  (NY Times 4/24) 

Think Like A Customer? Most companies want to make life easier for themselves as opposed to the customer. I can uncover these “invisible barriers” to customer service excellence and increased profits for you. My audit and summary of findings will give you a roadmap to rooting out and resolving these unnecessary drags on your business or ministry. Contact me at 419-238-4082,

The Bible is being used as a textbook in classes taught in 300 school districts nationwide, according to the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools. 93% of all the school boards it has approached to implement the curriculum have accepted it, according to WorldNetDaily. (Pastor’s Weekly Briefing 4/29) 

Biblical Illiteracy A new Gallup Poll finds fewer than half of youths know that Jesus turned water into wine at the Cana wedding, and nearly two-thirds couldn’t identify a quote from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. About one in 10 thought Moses was one of the 12 apostles. Results from a comprehensive survey conducted by Professor Christian Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, reveal young people ages 13-17 have a broad fondness for religion, although their religious knowledge is labeled as “meager, nebulous and often fallacious.” Smith said, “God is something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist who is available when needed.” He credits parental tendencies of Baby Boomers, poor educational and youth programs, and responsibilities and activities that vie for teens’ time as reasons for their skewed view of the Almighty. (Pastor’s Weekly Briefing 5/6) 

Children Whose Parents Read to them become better readers and perform better in school. Other family activities, such as telling stories and singing songs, also encourage children’s acquisition of literacy skills. (The Welcome Mat 3/05)  

Who Belongs to a church? 31% are not Christians and 14% may not be Christians leaving just 55% who are Christians.  (The Rainer Group, Outreach Magazine  May/Jun/05) 

AspiringRetail is the name of CBA’s new industry trade journal to be launched in June. Replacing CBA Marketplace it is dedicated to helping Christian Retailers learn, understand and implement the best business practices for both enhanced ministry outreach and bottom line success. (Foster Network) 

Gift Shoppers An estimated 10% of today’s $2.6 trillion retail market is spent buying gifts. For retailers that means 1 out of every 10 customers in their store has a gift shopping need. This offers marketers the potential to expand their business by meeting gift buyer needs. (Unity Marketing Online 4/29) 

Online Marketing is growing faster than TV or print advertising due to a unique ability for online marketing to be fully measured, and its power to capture potential buyers when they are hunting for information products and services companies want to sell. (1 to 1 magazine 4/05) 

Senior Citizens will more than double by the year 2050, according to USA Today Snapshots. Last year, people ages 65 and older made up 12% of the U.S. population, by ‘50 they'll make up about 21% of an even larger population. (Pastor’s Weekly Briefing 4/29) 

Outside Point-of-View Does it seem like something is wrong, but you’re not quite sure what? Let me help you pinpoint problems and needed changes through a custom tailored management or operations audit. Contact 419-238-4082, gary@garydfoster.com or www.GaryDFoster.com.

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