Stop chasing fresh ideas. Start documenting what God is already doing.
Learning to create content at scale is the closest thing ministries have to a shortcut through a marketing world that will not sit still. New platforms, new formats, new algorithms, it changes faster than any team can track. This is Part 2 of our four-part series drawn from our podcast interview with Brittany Baker, Regional Director of Marketing for IJM. (You can read Part 1 here.) When I asked Brittany about a hard lesson she has learned marketing in ministry, this was her answer:
“My current role is direct marketing and digital marketing. The digital world is growing rapidly and it is always changing. I’m seeking to find my relationship with that world and how I can keep up with it. I’ve learned a lot trying to find the balance between making mistakes while making sure we’re succeeding.”
Table of Contents
Why the Digital Landscape Keeps Every Ministry Guessing
Read Brittany’s answer again, because it should encourage you. The Regional Director of Marketing for one of the most respected ministries in the world is saying, in effect, “This is hard, and we are still learning through trial and error.” It is easy to look at IJM and assume they have it all figured out. They do not, and neither does anyone else.
The internet is still new. This is the largest global culture shift in human history, and there is going to be a learning curve for all of us, especially those who remember life before it. So be encouraged: new media is new to everyone, including the “gurus.” What we do know is simple. New media rewards consistency, it demands attention, and it opens the door to growth that would have been impossible a generation ago. The ministries that win are not the ones with the answers. They are the ones willing to keep showing up.
What Creating Content at Scale Actually Means
When we say create content at scale, we do not mean a bigger budget or a full production team. We mean building a repeatable rhythm that lets you publish good, relevant content consistently, across the platforms where your people already are, without running dry.
Brittany’s advice for getting there started with people. Follow a handful of ministries you respect and watch how they handle new media. Sign up for their newsletters. Give to them so you can see how they care for donors. Study their social accounts. The lessons you learn by watching practitioners will outpace anything a course can teach you. Two voices I return to for the same reason are Gary Vaynerchuk and Seth Godin. Most marketing “specialists” are simply repackaging one of them.
How to Create Content at Scale: Three Lessons From Gary Vaynerchuk
With Gary, watch what he does more than what he says. His content output is staggering, and while he has a team behind it now, the principles that drive it are ones any ministry can borrow. Three stand out:
- Context is everything. As you tell stories online, be contextually relevant to the specific platform you are sharing on. What works on YouTube is not what works on Instagram.
- Content is king. The more good content you can put out, the more ground you cover.
- Document, don’t create. Gary is not inventing something new every day. He is documenting his life and work, and shaping it for each platform.
Context alone could fill an entire series, so let us focus on the two that change everything for ministries: content is king, and document, don’t create.
Document, Don’t Create
A ministry I point people to is Frontier Alliance International. FAI is one of the first organizations I found creating content at scale across multiple platforms and formats. Whether they would put it this way or not, they follow a Red Bull model: FAI operates like a media company that happens to be a ministry, the same way Red Bull is a media company that happens to sell an energy drink. Follow them and you will see something published almost every day, a YouTube video, a podcast episode, teaching shared on Instagram. That is storytelling at scale.
The obvious struggle is coming up with something new that often. This is exactly why Gary recommends documentation over creation. If you watch him closely, he says the same things over and over, in a keynote, on a podcast, in a meeting he happens to be filming. His stories repeat. On any given day there is little he says that he has not said before, and it still works.
Here is where it gets exciting for ministries. God is writing new stories every single day, because He is actively redeeming, rescuing, and restoring every single day. “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17, ESV). All we have to do is document what He is doing. There are endless accounts of His work happening all over the world, and any one of them is fresh content. Some will reach one person, some may reach thousands, but the point is to keep documenting and sharing the stories of God’s love, sowing the seeds. It is easy to document when you serve an infinite God.
A Content-at-Scale Plan for Your Ministry
In Part 1, I showed what IJM did with a single story over the course of a month, and how twelve stories of redemption can become a full year of weekly content. Now add what FAI does: fold in educational and informational content alongside those stories, and most ministries would find their yearly content pipeline overflowing.
That level of output changes your relationship with your audience, because you no longer have to make a financial ask every time you communicate. Sometimes you lead with value through user-centered marketing. Other times you simply document what God is already doing through your organization. Most ministry leaders are already speaking at churches or events; record it and repurpose it. Educate your audience on your cause. Walk them through the history of the region you serve. Share the geopolitical realities on the ground, explain a strategy change, and above all, inspire them with the stories of how God is moving.
I do not have all the answers for new media, and you should distrust anyone who claims they do. This is the largest communication shift in human history. But a few things are proven: create content at scale, stay contextually relevant on each channel, and document rather than create, because pure invention runs dry fast while documentation never does.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to create content at scale?
Creating content at scale means building a repeatable rhythm that lets you publish relevant content consistently across multiple platforms without running out of ideas. For ministries, the engine that makes it sustainable is documenting what God is already doing rather than inventing something new each time.
How can a small ministry create content at scale without a big team?
Start by documenting, not creating. Record the talks your leaders already give, capture the stories already unfolding in your work, and repurpose each one across formats. A year of twelve redemption stories, plus regular teaching, is enough to fill a consistent publishing calendar.
What is the “document, don’t create” approach?
Popularized by Gary Vaynerchuk, it means capturing what is already happening instead of manufacturing new material daily. For a ministry, that is a gift: God is at work every day, so there is always something true and fresh to document.
How often should a ministry post on social media?
As consistently as you can sustain. Consistency matters more than volume or polish. A steady, contextually relevant rhythm on the platforms your audience actually uses will outperform occasional, highly produced posts.
Do we have to ask for money every time we post?
No. When you create content at scale, most of what you share can lead with value, teaching, storytelling, and updates, so that when you do make an ask, it lands with an audience that already trusts you.
Resources Brittany and I Watch
- Delafe Testimonies (no one is using story more effectively in the Christian nonprofit and church space right now)
- World Vision
- Compassion International
- Pursuant
- Frontier Alliance International
- Gary Vaynerchuk
- YETI (excellent storytelling)
- Red Bull
Feeling the pressure to keep up with new media on your own? Reliant Creative helps ministries build a sustainable content strategy, one that documents what God is doing and keeps the people you serve at the center. If you want a content rhythm you can actually maintain, we would love to help you build it.
