Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Social Expansion: An Analysis of the FCA Brand Architecture

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a non-profit ministry organization that began in Oklahoma in 1954 with 15 members, and has now grown to 2,000+ staff and reaches 100+ countries worldwide (FCA Timeline, 2024). Its mission is, “To lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church,” (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, 2012). Before social media, though, 56 years passed, and the organization still grew through its strategic marketing tactics. How did such a small organization with a specific niche, grow financially and geographically to be a global ministry? For this thesis, I will be researching how the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) non-profit organization built its brand to be worldwide pre and post-digital media through marketing and communications. To investigate my topic, I plan to research the organization's history (FCA), and its methods of gaining awareness for its brand before social media (flyers, holding events, etc). I then plan to research its presence on Instagram, and the analytics behind how the brand grew exponentially after social media. After gathering this research, my work in the field will involve interviewing FCA staff members who work with social media and oversee its current tactics for gaining financial support and engagement. At the end of my research, I hope to discover how social media has brought brand recognition to the organization, and I will end the thesis with a playbook for organizations like this one, with information on specific tactics proven to work to expand their brand awareness and involvement. The overall significance of this project is to assist nonprofit organizations in marketing themselves effectively through social media platforms such as Instagram, by using proven tactics that worked based on studies done through FCA’s growth pre and post-social media.