From a church bulletin:
Do you bake? The UMW needs cakes for its upcoming fundraiser on October 30. Please contact Wilma Adams if you are able to donate. Wilma needs to know what you will be bringing. Please let her know exactly what you will be baking. Items need to be dropped off in the kitchen on October 29. Please put your name on your pans. Your help is appreciated. Thank you.
Church bulletins are filled with information requesting support—attend our spaghetti dinner; attend our Bible study; give to our food drive. A bulletin filled with lots of activities is a “happy” bulletin.
Within that “happiness” is a hyper-level of politeness. One bulletin I looked at had no less than 23 “pleases”. I asked a church member why all the pleases. She responded, “We want to be polite.”
Bulletin announcements are not requests that require begging. They let your congregation know about opportunities to be in ministry, to reach out, and to serve as Christ’s hands and feet.
Inserting and repeating “please” just comes off as begging. Please donate. Please help. Please call. Please pick up. Please!!!!
The example above may seem a little overboard, but it comes from an actual bulletin. There is an urgency with the above example. PLEASE!!! Whether the urgency is real or not, taking the “please” out, helps create more confidence.
When writing for your bulletin, eliminate the neediness and move forward with assurance.
Please!