According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, there are over 3,000 pregnancy center locations in the United States. Pregnancy centers easily outnumber abortion clinics.
Even though there are a large number of centers, how well do you know the other centers in your area? Do you commonly collaborate or do you stay in your own lanes?
While some centers collaborate often, others operate independently without much interaction. Even with the variation in services and approaches, pregnancy centers work toward the same mission: to serve women and save lives. Pregnancy centers truly are better together.
The “Why” Behind Collaboration
By working together you will more successfully fulfill your shared mission. You can increase the local service availability and variety for women, while also sharing strategic insights with each other. Collaboration enables you to offer more services, referrals, and meet more needs. Ultimately, if done correctly, you will serve more women and save more lives.
Collaboration is key. Here are a few basic ways to collaborate with other centers.
1. Be Available for More Women
Abortion-minded women come from all kinds of backgrounds. Perhaps one attends high school during the day and another woman works as a waitress in the evenings. Pregnancy centers must be able to accommodate all kinds of lifestyles and schedules. If you coordinate hours with other local centers in your area, you can be available to serve more women in need.
ACTION ITEM: Coordinate your hours with other centers.
2. Share Strategic Insights
What’s working? What’s not? What have you learned? These questions not only help you, but also other centers who haven’t yet reached the same conclusions. By gathering together to share insights, you can elevate and fine-tune your strategies. You can avoid mistakes other centers have made, while helping others at the same time.
ACTION ITEM: Gather with other directors monthly to discuss wins, losses, and learnings.
3. Offer More Referrals
Every center is different, but this isn’t a negative. Your center might have a different philosophy, but that doesn’t mean other centers are wrong. Like the parts of the body, you each offer unique specialties.
If you are more medical in nature, you can refer a woman to a resource-focused center when she’s in dire need of formula or diapers. Centers that aim to equip with supplies and have a heavier focus on parenting, can refer to a more medical center for ultrasound or STI services. This is a win-win situation.
Your center doesn’t have to be the one-stop-shop to solve an abortion-minded woman’s every need. You can make sure she’s fully taken care of without changing your specialty through collaboration.
ACTION ITEM: Build out your referral network by learning what other local centers offer.
4. Fill Gaps in Your Community
If you know what the other local centers around you are doing, you will also know what they’re not doing. If you realize that none of the other centers around you are offering STI testing and treatment, this is a gap you could fill for women.
You can work with other centers to figure out which center can fill which gaps. Maybe your center has the budget to focus on STI testing and hiring another nurse, while another center can focus on offering professional licensed counseling. This is one way to make sure your community is completely covered with all the necessary life-affirming services.
ACTION ITEM: Identify gaps in your community and determine if your center is best equipped to fill them.
5. Be Aware of Center Needs
As centers working for the same mission, knowing each other’s needs will help you support one another effectively. For instance, if your center is running out of marketing dollars, you can call on another center to help you through referrals. Maybe you have an extra piece of equipment you no longer need, or you’re upgrading your waiting room and have some furniture another center could use.
When you step in and help each other, more women will receive the care they need, more lives will be saved, and you will exemplify the love of Christ.
ACTION ITEM: Share your center’s needs during regular conversation.
Accomplish Your Shared Mission Together
By carrying out these action items, you will be more likely to accomplish your mission. Women and babies need your centers now more than ever. With legal changes happening across the country, many women will need the support of pregnancy centers through more intense fear and confusion. Thank you for the life-saving work you’re doing during a challenging time in history!
How Do You Begin?
First, understand that you are all called by the Lord to serve women facing unexpected pregnancies. It’s ok if you accomplish this in different ways. Next, pick up the phone and call directors within your city (or state) and get to know them. In the end, working together might be the greatest blessing to you as you encourage one another in the work that you do.
Complement Instead of Compete
While it’s easy to become competitive with centers in your area, try to complement instead of compete. With different personalities, leadership, and philosophies, work together to find common ground in your shared mission. You all want the same things!
Remember the Real Competition
Instead of competing with each other, focus on how you can work together to compete with abortion clinics and abortion pill providers serving and advertising in your area. Choose Life Marketing can help. We have all the tools and marketing tactics you need to reach more abortion-minded women with messaging that works.
If you want more appointments and calls, reach out to us today! We’re here to support all pregnancy centers as they serve women and save lives in communities across the country.
