Dear Publicity Coordinator:

It is with great anticipation that I look forward to my visit to your ministry. I pray that God will use our team effort to expose thousands of people to the gospel! My hope is that many will come to know Christ and eventually become strong disciples as a result of these evangelistic meetings.

In John 4:38, Jesus told His disciples, "Other have labored and you have entered into their labor." That's how I feel: I will be entering into your labor. I want to be a servant to you, to help you accomplish your personal and ministry objectives, to help you grow in your faith.

Publicity is an essential part of preparing for this Lecture Series. Coupled with believing prayer, a creative and thorough publicity campaign can stimulate interest and motivate people to come. It will help create an atmosphere that is conducive for Christian students to invite others. The results: Many will hear the gospel, receive Christ, grow and become disciples; Jesus will be glorified!

This material has been carefully prepared to help your ministry gain the most from my visit. It includes ideas that have worked well at other locations. As you plan and prepare, please consider these guidelines carefully. You will want to work closely with the Lecture Series Coordinator. If you have additional ideas that will help maximize the impact of this outreach, please be sure to incorporate them.

I am thankful to God for you! Be confident of my love and prayers for you as we labor together in the Lord's harvest. To God be the glory!

Because He lives,


Rusty Wright


Publicity

How to Plan and Execute a Publicity Campaign for Your Ministry


A. Motivation: Benefits of Using these Guidelines

    1. You will help in reaching many people for Christ and building multiplying disciples to reach the world.

    2. You will be able to develop a publicity campaign for your ministry that can also be adapted for other
        future events.

    3. You will know how to serve a publicity coordinator and receive valuable experience for future
        responsibilities.

    4. You will see growth in the lives of those who participate (including yourself!).

    5. You will help to establish a positive public image for the Christian movement in your area.

Overview of Your Materials and Responsibilities

1. The next several pages contain three main items that are designed to help you accomplish your
        objectives. (Remember: This is your Lecture Series.)

    a. Responsibility description that highlights the main aspects of your job.

    b. An organizational chart to show lines of communication between the believers working on the project.

    c. Helpful guidelines with specific details and ideas for doing the best job possible.

These items contain ideas that have been used with success around the globe. Many have come from the ministries of Josh McDowell, Andre' Kole and the Paragon Experience, as well as from Rusty's own speaking ministry. We hope they will help you to glorify our Lord though this outreach.

2. Paul wrote, "Let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner" (I Corinthians 14:40).

    a. The Responsibility Description (RD) shows the purpose and scope of your job and lists your main
        responsibilities. It may seem somewhat cold and impersonal at first glance; but remember that its
        purpose is to briefly explain your job. Please understand that we (and, we hope, all involved in this
        ministry) love you and care for you as a person. We merely use this written material as a simple and
        accurate means of communication.

Most of the RD is self-explanatory. One aspect that is sometimes new to some is the "Authority" line under each item. This is a simple way of communicating how you should act on a given task. There are three main types of authority for our purposes:

        1) "Act" – This means you can act on the item without checking with your "supervisor" first.

        2) "Act and inform" – This means you can act without checking with your supervisor, but you should
            inform him/her of the action after you have done it.

        3) "Act after approval" – This means you should submit your plan of action to your supervisor and
            wait for  his/her approval before acting on that  item.

    b. The Organizational Chart shows how those involved relate to and communicate with each other. Most
        of your communication regarding the work of the lecture series should be with the person immediately
        above you or those immediately below you on the chart. This can help keep confusion to a minimum.

        1) The chart is not intended to convey positions of superiority or inferiority but simply working
            relationships. Everyone's job is significant. This is a team effort!

        2) Remember that the best leader is a servant. If ever anyone qualified to be the "man at the top" it
            was Jesus. Yet He turned the organizational chart upside down when He said, "Whoever wishes to
            become first among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be
            slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a
            ransom for many" (Mark 10:43-45).

           

    c. The Guidelines are intended to help you carry out your responsibilities You will want to use them to
        develop a strategy for your area of responsibility that is personalized to your ministry location. Go
        over your strategy with your supervisor to get his or her input and feedback.

    d. You probably will not be able to do your job without helpers. Consult your supervisor and the
        Lecture Series Personnel Coordinator for assistants. Once you have your helpers, consider them as
        teammates. Practice "Growth Delegation": Delegate responsibility not just to get the job done, but to
        help that person grow and develop in their job skills and their walk with God.

    e. Continue to emphasize "Relational Thinking" rather than "Terminal Thinking." Relational Thinking
        considers every activity in light of how it contributes to the overall objective. Terminal Thinking sees
        activities only as ends in themselves.

    f. Our overall objective is to glorify God by reaching people for Christ and building committed
        multiplying disciplers to help reach the world. If you can evaluate everything you do in light of your
        objectives, your motivation and effectiveness will most often increase. Your committee members need
        you to help remind them of this.

    g. Besides your encouragement, several items will help your team members see how they fit into the overall team.
       
    You should give them each:

        1) A copy of Rusty's letter, so they can see his heart-desire to be a co-laborer with them.

        2) A list of the benefits for their tasks.

        3) A copy of this "Overview of Your Material" (Section B).

        4) A written responsibility description.

        5) A copy of the organizational chart.

        6) A clear statement of your committee's objectives, their individual objectives and how both help
            accomplish the overall objective.

If copies of these are not provided for you, photocopy them. In some cases, you may need to write them yourself, which will be a good learning experience. It is best to assemble the material in some sort of binder cover before you give it to the committee member. This conveys your desire to be sharp and do a good job as well as your concern for them.

Special note on distributing sections of the manual: You may find it best simply to print out sections of the lecture series manual and distribute hard copies to the appropriate workers. Or you may wish to distribute the material in digital form, so each worker can read and use their material on a computer. (There are many sample letters and charts that workers can adapt to their needs, so having digital versions may make their jobs easier.) Please realize, though, that if you divide and distribute the digital manual by “cutting-and-pasting” manual subsections into separate Word files, the page numbers will not appear in the new files and the valuable hyperlink navigation feature of the Table of Contents can be lost. Alternatively, you may find it simplest to give each worker a digital version of the entire manual (it should fit on one diskette, 1.44 MB size), show them the hyperlink navigation feature (explained at the top of the and encourage them to read their own subsection.

3. In order for you and your co-workers to be really motivated in your work, it is important to have a vision for how Rusty can be used on your campus. One of the best ways to do this is to circulate copies of his evangelistic articles among your volunteers. The Lecture Series Coordinator should have access to these. Take the initiative to get them and expose your committee members to them, perhaps at a committee meeting. Consider it your responsibility to "keep the vision before them."

4. Be sure that individually and as a group, you bathe everything you do in prayer. A well-organized effort without constant dependence upon the Lord can have greatly diminished effectiveness.

5. A priority for you and everyone involved in this project should be to continue to develop your personal relationship with God. Never let activity keep you from seeking the Lord often through prayer and Bible study. Our desire is that this be a growing experience for you that you are built up (not burned out) through your involvement. Strive mightily to keep this perspective in your personal life and to impart it to those with whom you work.

Publicity Coordinator

Responsibility Description


"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." (Colossians 3:23-24)

"Serve the Lord with gladness." (Psalm 100:2)

I Purpose: To saturate your campus and/or community with the news of the Lecture Series so as to motivate a maximum number of people to attend.

II. Scope: Your university and/or surrounding community.

III. Responsibilities:

    A. To be thoroughly familiar with all aspects of the publicity campaign as described in this manual.

        Authority: Act.

    B. To develop an overall plan for publicity that will establish general guidelines for the publicity
        committee members (i.e., extent of budget, major dates of Phases I and II, etc.).

        Authority: Act and submit for approval.

    C. To lead and coordinate the various publicity and public relations activities of your committee
        members as described in or adapted from this manual.

        Authority: Act and inform.

    D. To submit upon completion a written report and evaluation of your job (see enclosed form). Submit it
        to the Lecture Series Coordinator. Use the evaluations from your committee heads as guides.

        Authority: Act.

IV. Working Relationships:

    A. You report to the Lecture Series Coordinator.

    B. Reporting to you are the committee heads you recruit through the Lec-ture Series Personnel
        Coordinator.

    C. You work closely with all other coordinators.


 

Organizational Chart and Lines of Communication

C. Guidelines and Responsibilities

As Publicity Coordinator, your primary responsibility is to focus all existing resources into a unified effort to motivate large numbers of students on your campus or people in your area of ministry to consider the person of Christ.

One of the most important functions you will have will be to establish and implement an effective “Operation Andrew” strategy to motivate Christians to bring their nonChristian friends to the lecture series. Materials and ideas on how to do this are included below.

Personal invitations from friends are a major reason why many nonChristians attend outreach meetings. Do not overlook this important emphasis. You may be tempted to rely on publicity alone to gather crowds. You may become preoccupied with the many fun and creative publicity ideas included in this manual and neglect Operation Andrew. But do not forget “Operation Andrew.” It is a great opportunity for the believers in your ministry to personally link up with and minister to people whom they encounter every day.

In your publicity campaign, you will be responsible for stimulating a creative thrust designed to add “sugar and spice” to your publicity. While it is true that you can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink, there is nothing that says you can't feed him salt along the way.

The overall area of publicity is very extensive. Depending on the scope of the goals for your outreach, seek to involve as many available volunteers as appropriate in some phase of promotion. In addition, you will have the responsibility of supervising seven committees, all with goals of creating awareness of the lecture series (see organizational chart).

Publicity is divided into two phases, Phase I and Phase II:

    1. Phase I spans from 3-4 weeks before Rusty's arrival to one week before his arrival. It is designed to
        make the students or prospective audience members wonder just what in the world is going to
        happen! Your teasers and publicity create awareness of the intriguing topics but do not indicate who,
        when, where and what.

    2. Phase II spans from 7-8 days before Rusty arrives to the day he leaves. This phase is designed to
        give the students or prospective attendees all the information necessary to make a decision about
        coming: topic, time, place, speaker and sponsor. As a general rule, every time we publicize the
        speaker and topic, we need to indicate the sponsor. We do not want to mislead anyone.

A major purpose of the publicity, besides drawing the crowd, is to create an atmosphere that is conducive to Christian students/volunteers personally inviting people to the lectures.

As you consider this area of responsibility, keep in mind the following points:

    1. This is a unique opportunity not only to reach people with the gospel, but also to create awareness of
        a movement on your campus or in your community.

    2. The type of awareness you create will depend on the way you relate to the public. Promote and
        advertise with appealing, creative methods.

    3. Remember that you cannot please all the people all of the time.

    4. You have a genuine opportunity to demonstrate real community to the nonChristian. Do things as a
        group. Commit yourselves to one another in a unified effort to achieve a common goal.

    5. You have an opportunity to involve students or adults who might otherwise remain stagnant.
        Involvement is an  integral part of the discipleship process. (Rusty first became involved in Campus
        Crusade as a freshman by  helping put up posters for a traveling speaker.)

    6. Trust the Lord, not the publicity. We are convinced that God wants us to publicize Rusty's lecture and
        trust Him with the results.

    7. The publicity guidelines are packed with ideas. Most host ministries will not be able to carry them all
        out. You should help your committee heads select several of the ideas contained in their sections and
        then concentrate on doing these well.

D. Directions

    1. Design and implement your “Operation Andrew” strategy (see materials below). Print “Bring Your
        Friends to Hear Rusty!” cards (print on card stock) and Operation Andrew guideline sheets.
        Introduce the strategy at your largest Christian meeting eight weeks before the lecture series begins.
        Give materials to each small group leader in your ministry and encourage them to implement the plan
        in their groups (Bible studies, discipleship groups, etc.). Include weekly reminders at your weekly
        meetings and reminders to group leaders to keep the plan before their group members.


        a. Note that you, as Publicity Coordinator, should assume full responsibility for making Operation
            Andrew happen. But feel free to enlist the help of the Special Promotions Chairperson, whose
            responsibilities include helping you with Operation Andrew. You will need to show to the Special
            Promotions Chairperson the two Operation Andrew tools “the “Bring Your Friends to Hear
            Rusty!” cards and the “Operation Andrew: Help Your Friends Find Christ!” guideline sheets,
            originals included below) as those materials are not included in the Special Promotions section.

        b. Be sure to coordinate your Operation Andrew efforts with the Prayer Coordinator, since the
            project involves prayer. You will also need to show the Operation Andrew materials to the Prayer
            Coordinator, as they are not duplicated in the Prayer Coordinator’s guidelines.

    2. Read individual job descriptions and related material and pray before appointing your committee
        heads. Select them at least eight weeks before Rusty arrives. Work through the Lecture Series
        Personnel Director.

    3. Assign students/volunteers (men or women) as chairpersons. Make sure they pray about their job
        before  accepting and that they have enough time to perform their job effectively. Consider the
        following suggestions:

            a. Handouts and Poster Chairperson – Select someone who can mobilize people.

            b. Banner Chairperson – Select someone with artistic talent.

            c. Media Chairperson – Select a qualified person with poise and an ability to communicate.

            d. Blackboard Chairperson – Select a person who is able to mobilize volunteers.

            e. Special Invitations – Select a person who can motivate students/volunteers.

            f. Special Promotions – Select the most creative, outgoing person in your ministry

            g. Church Relations – Select a qualified person.

    4. Meet with each committee head to go over the appropriate responsibility description and material and
        review their responsibilities.

    5. Have each chairperson submit a detailed plan or strategy for their area of responsibility. Be sure it
        includes deadlines. Incorporate this into your overall plan.

    6. Give each committee head a copy of their checklist (see examples in each committee head's section).
        Go over  their checklist with them each week until one week after Rusty leaves.

    7. Supervise your chairpersons.

    8. Coordinate activities to present a unified approach to the campus. For example, both the Handouts
        Chairperson and the Banner Chairperson may need to secure permission to pass out handbills and
        hang banners. Sometimes the same university official is in charge of giving approval for both. He or
        she could feel hassled if several of your committee heads contact him/her at various times. You should
        help coordinate the contacts and have it all done in one presentation.

    9. Brainstorm with your committee on publicity ideas. It can be lots of fun!

    10. Maintain an ongoing ministry in the lives of your chairpersons.

    11. Report to the Lecture Series Coordinator.


Operation Andrew: Help Your Friends Find Christ!

God can use you to reach your friends and coworkers to Christ. Rusty Wright wants to help you in this effort. Being invited to a Christian outreach event played a significant part in his coming to know Jesus. Now, as he is privileged to present Christ on university campuses, among executives, diplomats and professional athletes, he teams up with thousands of believers to spread the Gospel to those who need God.

As related in John 1:40-42, Andrew brought his brother, Simon Peter, to Jesus. In the same way, you can be an “Andrew” to your friends. Many people who attend outreach events come because they were invited personally.

There are four steps to being an Andrew:

1. Make a list of those without Christ whom you can invite to the lecture series. Use the “Bring Your Friends to Hear Rusty!” card.

2. Pray for your friends, for openings to cultivate your friendships and for God to work in their lives.

3. Invite your friends to the lecture.

4. Bring them personally to the lecture. Plan to meet together beforehand and attend together.

Involve Other Believers:

Help your Christian friends to also become involved in “Operation Andrew”. Patterned after the strategy of the same name used so effectively by the Billy Graham organization, this plan works. For example, one woman prayed for 15 members of her social group to attend Rusty’s lecture. 27 showed up, half of them wanted to know more and six became invloved in a Bible study group. On one campus, three students brought 25 friends from their dormitory. In another city, one man helped round up 80 to attend. 25 indicated decisions to trust Christ and 15 became regular church attenders. Often large crowds are the combined result of prayer and many faithful individual efforts.

Present Operation Andrew at Christian training meetings, Bible studies and discipleship groups. Eight weeks before the lecture series, introduce the plan. Use the material above to show how God can use each person to have an influence for Christ. Distribute the cards, encourage each person to prayerfully list names of friends they might invite, and allow 3-4 minutes for them to list the names right then.

Each week at subsequent meetings, mention Operation Andrew and take time to pray for everyone’s friends to attend. As appropriate, have participants share experiences they have had with inviting their friends, so as to encourage the entire group.

Encourage believers to, on the night of each lecture, have dinner with the people they invited and then all go together to the lecture. If dinner together beforehand is impractical, they can meet and go to the lecture together and then go out for refreshments afterwards. After the lectures, Christians can individually follow up each person they brought.

Do all that you can to keep Operation Andrew before the Christian community. Together, we can help reach those on your campus or in your city for Christ!

Publicity Coordinator

Checklist

(Work with the Lecture Series Coordinator to plan out "target dates" for each responsibility. Then check them off as you complete them.)