Sharing Faith Digitally: How the Archdiocese of Hamburg Is Taking New Paths in Member Communication with the starmate EMS

Dialog campaigns to up to 290,000 Catholic households, with responses recorded in a structured way in the system.

• Members: around 380,000 Catholics
• Reach per dialog campaign: up to 290,000 households
• Response processing: digital, directly on the contact profile

As Germany's northernmost Catholic diocese, the archdiocese wants to maintain its bond with around 380,000 members across vast distances. As direct local contact declines, written and digital communication is becoming more important. Responses were managed with Excel lists.

• Declining membership numbers and diminishing personal contact
• Need for target group-specific outreach, especially to 25- to 35-year-olds
• Inadequate tools for response management
• Limited analog parish communication during the COVID-19 pandemic

The EMS laid the foundation for appreciative one-to-one communication:

• Address and profile management: A central, privacy-compliant CRM solution replaces fragmented data structures and enables targeted selection of age groups.
• Email marketing and response management: Accessible mailing templates in the archdiocese's design and interactive dialog campaigns. Responses come together directly in the system.
• Campaign automation: Automated, rule-based processes respond to inquiries or seasonal occasions such as Pentecost or Christmas.

Scattered contacts and anonymous letters became a structured space for dialog.

• The first large Pentecost letter reached around 290,000 households and generated more than 700 active responses, which were recorded in a structured way
• Younger members are addressed with topics relevant to their stage of life
• Eliminating confusing Excel spreadsheets saves administrative time
• Hosting in Germany for handling sensitive member data

“For a church that wants to reach people, personal, relevant dialog is indispensable. starmate helped us take the step from impersonal mass mailings to modern, segmented outreach. We can finally get in touch with younger age groups in a targeted way and handle responses systematically and promptly, instead of drowning in confusing Excel lists.”

Andreas Wöhrl, Archdiocese of Hamburg

The question was how the Church can stay approachable in a digital world. Young people in particular often lose their connection to the institution because traditional mail no longer speaks to their everyday lives.

The moment when, after the first Pentecost letter went out, hundreds of responses arrived in a structured way, assigned directly to the contact, was a goosebump moment. People want dialog when you give them a modern platform for it.

Consulting team

1. Kick-off & requirements analysis: Definition of use cases, age segments (focus on ages 25 to 35) and the privacy-compliant response workflow.
2. CRM setup & data security check: Provision of the EMS in a secure hosting environment and alignment with church data protection guidelines.
3. Data cleansing & import: Consolidation and privacy-compliant import of contact data.
4. Template development & proof of concept: Accessible email templates and a test run during the pandemic.
5. Go-live & campaign launch: Launch with the Pentecost letter and transition to independent operation.