Viral Loops For Campus Ministry

So I'm mildly obsessed with understanding the systems behind viral marketing. Andrew Chen expertly blogs on this topic in relation to online gaming, but the parallels abound.

In my ministry context two realities keep my attention focused on this:

1. An extremely scarce amount of new people that come to check out the ministry
2. The tremendous challenge/reward of seeing a new person go from attending an event to becoming a central part of our ministry (turning lost-students into Christ-centered laborers is extremely compelling for me)

His recent post contained some great insights:

"This requires the viral loop designer to think through, step-by-step, how a user will come to find their product and how they will ultimately pass it along to their friends."

While I was on staff at UCLA we excelled at integrating new students into the ministry. Based on my experiences there and now at Chico State, here's my first pass at what a campus ministry viral loop looks like:

• New Student becomes exposed to ministry through three primary channels: 1--Direct advertising, 2-Personal Invitation, 3-Peer-to-Peer Interactions

• New Student attends a ministry event (weekly meeting, bible study, social event)

• Current Student and/or staff meet New Student and establish a relational connection between the ministry and the New Student.

• New Student then gets invited to other events as well as initiated to either meet with someone to get to them better or introduced to more people, facilitating the sense that they "belong" or "are a part of" the ministry.

• New Student continues to be challenged to experiences that integrate the ministry's mission, vision, and values into the person, the central one being the desire to "reach out to others."

• New Student becomes current student and begins inviting friends and creating experiences to reach out to New Students. 

A couple of reflections on this viral loop:

1. Those in blue happen right away for a New Student, while those in grey take much longer.
2. At least at Chico State, although our students go through these stages frequently, it seems students are much more distrustful/suspicious of not only our ministry but of the leaders (students and staff alike). Thus the steps of the loop happen but the viral process is often slowed down.

This is my first time taking a shot at defining a viral loop for ministry. Any changes you would make or elements you would add?

photo courtesy of twenty_questions