If you’ve ever been a member of or involved with a church, you know they’re busy all year long. There are ceremonies to be held, different classes throughout the week, and special group get-togethers as well. Sometimes there are even camps and retreats. At the majority, if not all these events, there’s almost always something handed out for everyone to read or study along with.
Being busy all year long means that churches have a lot of things to focus on that don’t involve printing, so they usually turn to outsourcing their print jobs to an offsite print vendor or local print shops, which can become unreliable, and expensive.
As a local vendor of Xerox copiers and printers, we’ve seen firsthand how churches can enjoy having and utilizing their own machine, and we’re dedicated to helping members of our community take full advantage of their printing potential, so we’ve written this article to showcase three of the main reasons why having a printer can benefit not just a church, but it’s members as well.
Reason 1: Flexibility
There’s nothing worse than receiving your fresh stack of handout flyers from the print shop, just to see that someone’s misspelled the word “Redeemer”. Or that someone forgot to send in the updated version, so the agenda still has last week’s speakers listed.
Having a printer that’s accessible whenever you need it, whether it’s the middle of the night or right before a Sunday service, makes a world of difference for convenience and flexibility.
Outsourcing print jobs can mean that you’ll have to plan and create newsletters or bulletins weeks in advance- and leaves you with no backup plan in case things don’t go as expected. Designated speakers might change, important announcements might arise, and even the occasional typo can happen. Having a printer in-house allows you to be completely in control of what you’re printing, and when you’re printing it.
Reason 2: Savings
Outsourcing print jobs get expensive, especially when you’re printing numerous amounts of paper, such as weekly newsletters or bulletins to hand out to members. Most churches choose to offset these printing costs by including advertisements for some of their member’s businesses on the back of the handouts and allowing the printing company to collect the profits.
This system might work in the sense that it’s convenient and it’s easy to have the advertisement collected by someone else, but the profit margin from outsourcing print jobs to printing in-house can be a substantial amount for some churches.
Some organizations might be hesitant to make the initial investment, or others are unsure of how to properly utilize potentially intimidating technology. But when you work with an experienced print vendor, they can help you with your budget and make sure that you’re fully trained to print all of your church’s materials.
Instead of using advertisements to break even when it comes to outsourcing bulletins, your church could be collecting a profit used to fund other expenses such as mission trips or building upkeep.
Reason 3: Quality
Because there are so many different events and activities involved with a church, there are also endless opportunities to inspire members and guests through printouts and deliverables. And while having high-quality and colorful handouts might seem unrealistic for some churches, it’s more attainable than you might think.
With new advancements in entry-level production machines, you’re able to not only print a high volume of materials at a rapid pace, but you’re also able to ensure your printouts have the sharpest images, and the brightest colors, all for around the same price as a regular office multifunction printer.
Multifunction printers such as the Xerox PrimeLink C9070 are designed to function as the perfect balance between having a production-style machine (the big ones you see in print shops) and having a functional office-style printer. This means you’re not faced with a huge learning curve, because the PrimeLink C9070 operates much like your regular office device.
Not only can you expect excellent print quality, but there are a plethora of additional finishing options and adapter kits that can be added to make the machine even more versatile. For example, the CMYK+ color adapter kit makes it possible for your organization to print materials in fluorescents and metallics like gold and silver. This way you know your handouts will grab everyone’s attention, and keep your members engaged and excited.
Printing In-House Will Benefit You in the Long Run
Having the flexibility and advantages of an in-house printer might be something that you’ve overlooked in the past or decided was unnecessary. But now with technology changing, and the costs of outsourcing print jobs, the benefits have never been clearer.
If you’d like to learn more about entry-level production machines, you can read our in-depth review on the Xerox PrimeLink C9070, where we discuss all the pros, cons, and costs. If you’re more into learning about printing in metallics and fluorescents, check out our article What is CMYK+? As always, we’re here to assist with any questions that you might have.
