That the [135th] General Assembly encourage congregations to join the Presbyterian Record’s Every Home Plan as an important way to stay informed about our church. —recommendation passed at the 135th General Assembly in Hamilton, 2009.
In 1953-54, the Presbyterian Record launched its first and only marketing plan: the Every Home Plan. It was hugely successful, with circulation jumping from 35,000 to 55,000 within a year and rising to a high of 92,449 by 1967. Since 1990, when circulation was about 66,000, the magazine has steadily lost about 2,200 subscribers each year.
Today, the Record’s circulation stands at 30,000—a drop already this year of 2,000 readers. Ironically, our 55-year-old marketing plan seems to have turned into the biggest cause for this decline. the main reasons congregations give for cancelling their group subscriptions is to pare down their budget. (Church members, hence subscribers, dying, is the other major reason.)
My understanding is that the plan was only ever intended to be an in-and-out budget line. We still send out envelopes to congregations so that they can collect from individual subscribers in the congregation and pass that along. over the
years, it seems to have become easier for congregations to not chase subscribers and just sign off on the line item. And it was easy for the Record to accept that cheque.
In recent years, not only have we upgraded our design and content, which you have been able to see each month, but we have also upgraded our subscription software. We can now take on the responsibility for monitoring and managing
all subscribers. All a congregation has to do is send us a list of at least half their membership plus one for everyone to benefit from the reduced rate. We’ll take care of the rest.
We believe we have a great denominational magazine at a very affordable price. It costs only $1.68 for a 52-page issue delivered each month (except this combined July/August issue) under the every home Plan and only $2.36 for individual
subscriptions.
We want Presbyterians to read this magazine.
The Record provides Presbyterians in canada with a unique perspective on their church and the world around them. No other publication has stories about the exciting things Presbyterians and their congregations are doing across canada.
The Record is also filled with fabulous stories about the church’s mission and development work around the world, about the justice and peace initiatives that are so sorely needed to bring wholeness and healing to broken and oppressed people.
No other publication provides a forum for the church’s leading thinkers to engage the wider church community in thoughtful discussions about their faith.
Our newly designed website not only lets you write letters to the editor but you can also post comments on stories for others to see and respond to. create the conversation online—www.pccweb.ca/presbyterianrecord—and talk to each other. conversation—encouraging voices—is our mantra. We want Presbyterians engaged with each other, sharing their incredible stories.
Quite frankly, I wish we had the financial resources so we could be across this nation and this world and tell the thousands of awe-inspiring stories of this church.
That is why we have redesigned the magazine, that is why we upgraded our subscription management software, that is why we have redesigned and upgraded our website, and that is why we will be launching a marketing campaign this fall:
so that we can reach more and more of you.
We want to tell more stories, reach more readers, encourage more conversations. As you can tell from our coverage of the 135th General Assembly in this issue, this church reaches around the planet, is involved in many missions and ministries,
and its representative stakeholders, the commissioners at assembly, are eager to continue fine-tuning every detail. that’s a church engaged; that’s the material that each month fills the Record and its website.
We need your support! encourage your friends to subscribe.
We also value your comments and feedback about what we publish and how we publish it. Please let me know what you think.
