Case study · Campaign strategy
A survey that held momentum for months.
Warren Bird's What's the Future of the Large Church? survey needed responses from hundreds of America's largest churches, across 3 partner brands and a campaign that ran for months. digifora built the system that kept it moving.
01 · The client
The benchmark study for America's largest churches.
Warren Bird has led What's the Future of the Large Church? since its first edition in 2000. Every 5 years, the survey gives pastors and researchers a clear snapshot of how the country's largest congregations are changing.
The 2025 edition carried extra weight. It was the first full look at large churches since the shift to hybrid and digital ministry. Ministry Solutions Group and Generis joined as partners. Ministry Solutions Group was already a digifora client, and that is how Warren and digifora met.
02 · The challenge
Three brands. Hundreds of churches. One timeline.
Many hands on one message
A researcher, a church consulting firm and a generosity firm, each with its own audience and voice. Every email had to sound like one campaign.
A long window
Recruiting ran for months. Long campaigns lose energy, inboxes get tired, and the people you need most stop opening.
The data was on the line
Too few responses would weaken the study itself. The campaign had to protect the research, not just promote it.
03 · The process
A system, not a string of sends.
digifora carried the strategy and the infrastructure, so Warren and his partners could focus on the research.
- 01
Plan the phases
4 phases with clear handoffs: recruit responses, close data collection, share a First Look, then promote the findings.
- 02
Build the front door
A dedicated landing page at largechurchtrends.com, designed by digifora, that changed with each phase.
- 03
Write for every phase
Email and social copy written to shift as each phase opened and closed, so leaders always knew what came next.
- 04
Recruit responses
Coordinated sends across partner audiences, timed to keep the survey in front of large church leaders without wearing them out.
- 05
Host the First Look
7 emails before, just before and after a live webinar where Warren Bird and Nathan Artt of Ministry Solutions Group shared early findings.
- 06
Promote the findings
Follow-up copy for Ministry Solutions Group's outreach to the new contacts the campaign produced.
Don't Miss the Insights.
One page, many jobs
The landing page recruited responses while the survey was open, then turned into a sign-up for the results once data collection closed. Every email and post pointed back to it.
Recreated from the live page at largechurchtrends.com.
04 · The results
Engagement that held to the last email.
6 survey emails to 500+ subscribers
Across the 5 emails with a call to action
For the entire campaign
Promoted with 7 webinar emails
For Ministry Solutions Group's outreach
The research, published
The findings were released in 2026 as Megachurch Resurgence by Warren Bird and Scott Thumma, through the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. The campaign's job was to get the responses that made it possible.
Research team
- Warren Bird, Survey lead
- Nathan Artt, Founder and Principal, Ministry Solutions Group
- Generis, Partner
digifora
- Campaign strategy and phase plan
- Project management across partners
- Campaign reporting
Deliverables
- Landing page
- 13 campaign and webinar emails
- Social copy for each phase
- First Look webinar promotion
- Post-survey outreach copy
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