Wednesday, March 6, 2013

A Smarter Baby Bottle Campaign

Guest Blogger: John Ashford, Executive Director of the Pregnancy Resource Center in Naples, FL.

The ultimate: a bottle full of quarters
The bummer: a bottle full of pennies
The average: a bottle full of random change, pocket lint, buttons, and the occasional euro or Canadian quarter.

The baby bottle boomerang has become a standard and profitable enterprise for PRCs all over the country.  The typical pitch is a story  of a life transformed and an invitation to partner with the center by filling the baby bottle with change to keep the amazing work going.

Nice, vague and nebulous, but nice none the less.

People tip to things that are nice.  But I believe that The PRC ministry is worthy of more than the tip of spare change.  The PRC ministry by the grace of God (in a very David and Goliath scene) is stemming the tide of innocent blood.  As leaders, our hearts are broken for those yet to be born, and we want to truly mobilize the community into action.  To accomplish this we need to be S.M.A.R.T. about our baby bottle approach:

Specific: what does one baby bottle represent?  For our PRC, one baby bottle is one life saved through our ultrasound program.
Measurable: 80% of abortion minded women choose life when they see and hear their baby for the first time on an ultrasound.  One ultrasound costs $28.00.
Actionable: You can save a life by providing the resources  for one ultrasound
Reliable: Please fill the baby bottle with $28.00 (you will get more cash and raise your per bottle average as many will round up to $30.00)
Traceable: A check for $28.00 provides these vital resources (a check builds your donor base and those that give, give again)

This method is not the “right” way, just one way that regularly produces good results.


Have a great day and know that the Lord our God lives.

~John

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Encouragement from the Past

by Linda Keener Thomas

Some of us have been working in pregnancy center ministry, as my 13-year-old would say, since dirt! 

Sometimes when I want to say, “Really? Again?” it helps me to go back to a book that has been an encouragement to me for years, Third Time Around by George Grant. Come with me on a little time travel trip to meet some real people that will inspire you.

Way back in the Roman Empire there was a law called pater familias that gave every father the choice whether or not to take a baby into his family.  If he chose not to, the newborn was taken to a designated wall outside the city to die of exposure or be killed by wild animals.  It was illegal for anyone to interfere. But there were these crazy people, running for their own lives, living in the catacombs - Christians they called them - who would sneak out at night and rescue the abandoned babies, raising them as their own.

Sometimes we tend to feel we are alone in standing for the value of all life against a culture of death. But the killing of babies didn’t start with Roe V Wade. Abortion, infanticide, abandonment has been around “since dirt.”  By the end of the 1st century, we have records of the Apostles teaching, “Do not murder a child by abortion or kill a newborn infant.” This clear directive shows that the practices were a problem at that time, too. In the big picture we are part of a long and exciting line of saints standing together. Let me introduce you to a few.

Meet Basil. He was a well-liked pastor during the fourth century in Caesarea. He discovered a guild of abortionists using herbal potions and even surgical remedies. They were selling the bodies of the babies to Eygptians for beauty creams. Outraged, he preached, helped women in crisis pregnancies, educated the public, staged protests, and actually gathered a few men who with their bare hands dismantled one of the shrines where the babies were killed. As a result of his efforts, in 374 AD for the first time in history, laws were passed against abortion.

Meet Saint Nicholas (of Santa Claus fame) in Byzantium.  He also crusaded for pro-life laws which were passed and stood for 1,000 years.

Meet Dympna, a Celtic princess in the eighth century. In the Flemish lowland, she found that unwanted babies were being aborted and the handicapped were being killed.  She opened her home and at one point had sixty people living with her.  She became much loved and famous, and after her father killed her, others carried on her work which greatly impacted her culture to value all life.

Fast forward to meet Vincent DePaul, a minister in Paris during the 15th century.  After discovering midwives performing illicit abortions, he actually went undercover and exposed them. He lobbied government and set up programs to help moms and babies.

In the 1800’s as missionaries were taking the good news the world, guess what they found in lands that did not know God?  Yup - Africa, China, South America all had child killing practices. In China unwanted babies were thrown into slimy infested “baby ponds.”

Meet Anna Bowden, a proper Victorian English debutante called by God to India. She hadn’t been there long when she began to oppose the Hindu practices of abortion and infanticide. She set up rescue networks and was saving many lives. When told to stop and be content with her “missionary work,”  she replied that rescuing innocent human life was her mission work. Her work was so effective, the Hindu leaders formed an angry mob who burned her buildings, raped some of the girls she was sheltering, and tortured and killed Anna.

Meet reporter Augustus St. Clair.  In 1871 he and a lady friend were given the dangerous undercover investigative assignment for the New York Times. They went to abortion clinics - which were professional, rich, lavish offices- and posed as a couple in a crisis pregnancy. He published an article with all the shocking details titled “The Evil of the Age”. He concluded, “Thousands of human beings are thus murdered before they have seen the light of this world.” The article galvanized public concern. The American Medical Association came out with a statement that “the unborn child is human and its destruction is homicide.” Pastors began to preach against abortion. By 1880 every state had passed laws against abortion - until Roe V Wade reversed them.

You are not alone in this battle of life and death.  We are each called to be faithful in our own little field, but we stand together with the church through the ages - and we will be victorious in the end.  I am looking forward to meeting Basil, Dympna, Vincent, and Anna someday as we celebrate together the triumph of life.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Photo Feedback

We love to see our materials in action. We feel so privileged to be a part of your ministry and your photos help us feel more connected. Thanks for letting us share in your story.


Check out a few of the photos we've received:


Our friends at Raffa Clinic put their own tasty twist on our "Celebrate Life" banquet design.










Care Net Pregnancy Center of Rhode Island sent us a photo of the bus stop ad we designed for them.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Care Net Conference

I find myself looking forward to the Care Net Conference all year. There is no other week in the life of Keener Marketing that gives me so much time to interact with you - our heart and soul. We love hearing what is going on in your centers and in your hearts and catching up on what God is doing through you.


I feel so blessed to be invited to participate in such a meaningful gathering of God's army. You guys are truly inspirational. We were honestly over-whelmed by all the nice things you had to say about us. Your enthusiasm and joy make our job an absolute pleasure. I came home recharged and ready to tackle another year of creating materials to make your work more effective. What an honor to be partners with you as you tackle this mission field in every corner of our great nation.

Thanks for all the kind words you had to say and for telling your friends about us. Nothing makes us happier than to heart that something we did was a part of making your center more successful. If you want to share your encouragement with the rest of our staff that didn't get to hear it face-to-face, post it here as a comment or leave a review on RatePoint or Yelp.

-Mary

Monday, March 21, 2011

Spring Time = New life

God is really blessing us here in Tennessee with some amazing spring weather. Right now it's sunny and 64ยบ with the promise of a perfect afternoon of warm sunshine. Flowers are coming up, trees are blooming and we find ourselves itching to get out in the yard.

As new life sprouts up all around me, I'm reminded of the promise of new life for every believer:


"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the New Creation has come: The old has gone, the New is here!"
- 2 Corinthians 5:17  (NIV, emphasis added)

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a New Life."
- Romans 6:4 (NIV, emphasis added)

I can't help but thank God for the blessings of life and renewal at this time of year.

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Is it time to breathe new life into your marketing strategy? Get inspired by springtime to start a new creative direction for 2011.

What's next on your calendar? Annual Report? Walk for Life? Fundraising Banquet?

Check out our new line of "Celebrate Life" gifts here >>

Friday, November 5, 2010

Good News!

How exciting it is to finally see so much good news for the pro-life movement. We are so encouraged by the recent elections and all that has happened over the last few weeks. Thanks for all you do to educate people around you of the value of life. People are listening! Keep up the good work.

Here are a few of our favorite articles that have been an encouragement to us recently:

Hope you are as thankful as we this time of year. God is good and we are blessed.

Friday, October 22, 2010

We're Thankful!

We are thankful for the cooler weather and beautiful colors on the trees, but most of all we are thankful for YOU! We thank God for the opportunity to work with some of the most faithful and humble servants in the kingdom of God and that we get to do it every day! To all our wonderful contacts at pregnancy resource centers around the country, thank you so much for all you do to continue the fight for life.

In this season of Thanksgiving we want to let you know how truly thankful we are that hurting men and women have caring people to show them the love of Christ in their most desperate hour. We are so privileged to play a small role in the life of your pregnancy center.

We would like to offer our thanks in a tangible way so please be sure to fill out your application for our monthly $500 donations, and pre-register your center to receive 10% of all stock Pro-Life Christmas card purchases made based on your referrals. See the links below for more details.

Donation Application

Pro-Life Christmas Card Details