The Facts about New Mover Outreach

Would you believe us if we did? No one knows better than the local church that no method or strategy is guaranteed to work everywhere, all the time. Instead of a guarantee, we simply offer you our word: If we didn’t believe ConnectFirst was dollar-for-dollar the best way for you to spend money to reach a highly receptive audience – new movers – we would start over or quit offering the service. We believe in the church, and our goal is to help you extend hope to your new neighbors by effectively introducing yourself to them. For eight years ConnectFirst has been a valuable, highly productive tool for local churches to do that simply and affordably. We’d love to help you determine if we can do the same for you.

Our experience suggests there is no single best way to identify new movers, so we use multiple "types" of sources. These include credit card updates, public records (new homeowner deed filings), magazine subscription address changes, and new phone connections. By accessing many sources and retaining only the best of each, we maximize both quantity and quality. All data is ethically obtained, and virtually all comparable mailing services utilize the same sources of information.

The US Census indicates 17% of households move annually, which means roughly 18 million families nationwide move each year. We average about 1.5 million names per month, which puts us in line with the Census numbers. We’re probably missing some here and there, but we believe our methods put us in touch with virtually every new mover who can be identified reasonably.

US Census and our own historical statistics lead us to believe that approximately 80% of new moves occur within the same metro area; 13% within the same zip code; 50% within the same county; 90% within the same state and only 10% move out of state.

We identify the new movers within 3 to 12 weeks of their move. Most records we compile are between 30 and 90 days of the move.

ConnectFirst invitations include your church’s name, logo, map, and individualized message – all the information you would include if you produced them in-house. The invitations are addressed to the recipients and can even be personalized to embed the recipients’ names within the copy itself (e.g., “Hi Robert, welcome to town!”)

Only if you want to. If you have your church map and logo in a high resolution format (300 dpi) then we suggest using them. Some churches just use their church name rather than their logo. Some churches opt to give directions rather than use a map. The program is for you to introduce yourself in a simple, personal way, so you do what makes the most sense for you. We are happy to provide maps and logos at an additional cost.

ConnectFirst offers the most mailing options of any mover program out there. Our Account Executives can help you decide which mailing option is best for your needs.

Radius (distance): Define a distance radius around your church and only mail to the movers in that area.

Radius (people): Mail to a certain number of people in a radius around your church.

Zip Code: Mail only to movers in the zip codes you specify.

No. Your church does need a valid non-profit postal permit to be able to participate in the ConnectFirst Program at a non-profit rate of 70 cents. If your church doesn't have one you can still participate in the program but at a higher rate of 82 cents.

Yes. We can create as many as two additional mailings to reach movers in your area. The first mailing goes out during the second full week of the month and the additional mailings follow every two weeks after the first. We even have “A Place Where…” series of designs that are perfect for communicating a three-part welcome message.

ConnectFirst is a month-to-month service and can be cancelled anytime with a 30 day notice.

We will charge the $80 set up fee up front via credit card. Once you begin mailing, you will receive an email invoice around the 15th of the month. You will be invoiced for the exact number of cards that we mailed out on your churches behalf. All payments have 10 day terms and are payable online by credit card or check.