The concept

The idea for the magnets is pretty simple. You distribute magnets that include a printed message expressing your interest in your community with one or more contact method. This can be said in many ways, but a proven way is, "Need Prayer? We Care!"

Obviously a magnet including a point of contact is a custom product that needs to be produced just for your local assembly, and cannot be mass-produced. Some samples similar to actual magnets we have designed and produced for groups of Christians are pictured below:

What to include on the magnet?

A magnet of this kind needs to have contact information for the local assembly. The most common are email, phone and/or web site, but some include the address of a meeting place as well. Remember the small size of the magnet necessitates only the very ESSENTIAL information be included. 

One idea some groups of Christians who are doing a lot of evangelism and follow-up find effective is to set up a basic mobile phone for purposes of interacting with the community, rather than printing personal numbers or the assembly building number (if that number is not checked constantly or at least regularly during the week). If the main point of contact is away for any reason, the "prayer line" phone can be left with another person in fellowship.

If you don't have a web site that includes an email for your local fellowship, setting up a separate free email address from the likes of Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or other email services for the fellowship is quite easy.

Some people want to include a photo of their meeting place, but this really has only one benefit—if people live nearby and they are looking to visit, they might recognize the building where you meet. This is a very remote possibility. We have to be careful not to send a conflicting message that we say we care about them, when we promote our place where we hold meetings. Consider beautiful photography showing scenic places around your local area. These are more likely to encourage the recipient to post the magnet on their fridge door or elsewhere. The look and feel of the magnet can be customized to your area. 
 

Where to get them and what do they cost?

A magnet is a custom product, it needs to be designed and produced just for your local assembly. We can suggest several vendors who produce good quality magnets. One such vendor in the USA is here and another is here. An option for within CANADA is here. Often, local printing companies offer this service as well, but be aware magnets come in different thicknesses which affect cost. We order magnets with .025 thickness (25 mil). Magnets that are the size and shape of a business card (2" X 3.5") are usually the most economical.

In most cases we encourage you to pay the printing and shipping cost to the printer directly, but we can assist with setting up the order. The per unit cost becomes more economical as the quantity increases (usually to a certain point, then the unit price levels out), so carefully consider how many magnets could be used for both covering houses in the area plus some to share with any visitors, etc.

You can come up with your own design, but we often assist with the preparation. The magnets can be professionally designed by us, then sent to you for review, and then revised with any necessary changes. Some minor costs are incurred with the time to prepare the artwork, and to look for and buy economical, but suitable photos that work well for your project. Contact us for more information.

How long do they take to get ready?

Time needed to prepare the magnets is approximately two weeks for design and approximately another two weeks for production and shipping, but sometimes more time is needed because of workloads. Please contact us as early as possible to ensure we can meet deadlines. We reserve the right to decline or postpone work on any project because of workload or any other constraints.