COMMUNICATIONS

COMMITTEE

IDENTIFY

BUILDING COMMUNITY

What We Communicate

Marketing is the Management of Perception.

Management is not about manipulating the truth, but effectively presenting reality. It is simply the ability to know where you are today, to know where you would like to be in the future, and to make adjustments along the way.

Perception is how people feel about things. Perception is framed from two major components: (1) what people see and hear about us, and (2) where they are in life.

Marketing comes from :(1) knowing how people perceive your organization; (2) having a vision for how you would like them to perceive you within reality; and(3) making decisive strides and adjustments in your way of doing and communicating things to ensure that people ultimately perceive you as a you desire.

If your audience

can’t verbalize

your concept,

you’ve failed to

communicate.

PROCESS I

Identifying Communication

How do people perceive us?How would we like people to perceive us?How are we communicating our perception?

Elements that can form someone’s perception of our church:

The concept of the church in generalThe denomination Curb appealExternal promotionLocationWebsiteWorship styleMinistry styleMinistry focusVocabularySignageDécor Attire of leadership or members Type and number of cars in the lotDoctrine Church historyPrinted materials Leadership teamGreetersChildren’s ministryYouth ministry Current and Past members

Expectations do

not only influence

our responses;

they actually

influence what we

feel.

The Burger King Whopper

EXPLORE

SEEKING THE SPIRIT

How We Communicate

We should always focus on whom we are trying to reach and the ways we create their perception of us.

What are the main components that make up our church’s marketing efforts, the main areas that contribute to how we are perceived.

EXPLORE

SEEKING THE SPIRIT

Vocabulary – We all develop verbal shortcuts among groups we are involved in. How many times do you use words that non-churchgoers cannot comprehend without proper explanation?

Décor – Sets the tone . It might be traditional, contemporary, or worse, historic contemporary. Conservative, traditional, or extravagant …it says volumes about your church culture.

Printed Materials – All printed materials that are available to communicate essential details about your church make up your church’s personality in printed form.

Attire of Leadership and Members – Visitors will quickly compare how they look against the church members. The leadership of the church is a vivid confirmation of what is valued by the congregation.

Ministers – The more points of connection people see with the minister from attire to lifestyle habits, the more they will feel connected.

Supporting Ministries (Children’s, Youth, Nursery, etc) – What visitors are looking for when they drop their children off is a strong sense their child will be safe and secure and warmly and sincerely accepted into the class as an individual. They want to hear you say the child’s name and see you help the child become part of the group.

How Communicate | Discussion

Curb Appeal – conveys, without words, a number of things about your priorities, social connections, and financial status.

External Promotions – gets the word out by effectively communicating to your audience. Style and design breeds a coherent sense of self.

Website – People will likely review six to twelve websites before making a decision. Internet presence has become the primary way people evaluate churches. Does it give potential visitors a glimpse of life inside and make visitors comfortable?

Greeters, Ushers, and Leadership Team Members – People who stand out as official representatives of a church serves as an immediate indicator for visitors. How a greeter treats them is a huge factor in determining what their future relationship with the church will be. Who is making the first impression?

Signage - Would I know where the main entrance is? Could I find the restrooms without asking?

Logo – What your church logo says to your congregation can be very different than what it says to the outside world. Their frequency and consistency of use conveys a deeper sense that the church knows itself well. What is the purpose of the logo?

What could you do to make them feel as if you built the whole experience just for them?

If people hear you

talk about change

and don’t see it,

your credibility is

shot.

CONNECTING AND

COMMUNICATING

Connecting and Communication

Collect samples of current communication modules.

Collect examples of other organization’s communication modules.

Add any additional communication modules necessary to complete a full list of platforms.

Identify any immediate changes that can be made easily.

Is everything cohesively branded and does each communication module leave an impression on the end-user about what and who the organization is and what the organization does:

PROCESS II

Exploring How We Communicate

What can we do to make the experience more valuable for each visitor?

The concept of the church in generalThe denomination Curb appealExternal promotionLocationWebsiteWorship styleMinistry styleMinistry focusVocabularySignageDécor Attire of leadership or members Type and number of cars in the lotDoctrine Church historyPrinted materials Leadership teamGreetersChildren’s ministryYouth ministry Current and Past members

Handouts

+

Resources

Identifying Communication

1. How do people perceive your organization?

2. How would we like people to perceive this organization?

3. How are we communicating our perception?

Mission

Mission statements should explain why your organization exists.

If it has been more than five years, now is probably a good time to review and, if necessary, adjust or even rewrite your mission statement.

At the very least, mission statements should address these key questions: What does the organization do? Who does it serve?How does it serve the needs? What values guide the work?

Vision

A vision statement is sometimes called a picture of your company in the future , reminding you of what you are trying to build – not how you are going to get there. Your vision statement is your inspiration, the framework for all your strategic planning.

The vision statement answers the question:Where do we want to go?

Unlike the mission statement, a vision statement is for you and the other members of your company, not for your customers or clients.

If your audience

can’t verbalize

your concept,

you’ve failed to

communicate it.

Vision and Mission

Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington

Vision Statement Assesment:

Seeking the Spirit Does the Vision Statement clearly identify the organization in the future?

Building Community Does the Vision Statement identify what the organization is wanting to build?

Changing the World Is the Vision Statement written for people inside the organization?

Mission Statement Assesment:

In this liberal religious community of inspiration, love and action: What does the organization do?

we celebrate life Who does it serve?

we nurture one another How does it serve the needs?

we welcome all What values guide the work?

we care for the earth and

we work for the common good

Identifying Perception

Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington

OFFLINE OFFLINE

Website Print Materials

DVD/Sermons and Services Committee Brochures

Podcasting Sermons

Music Music/Copyright

Voicemail Letter from Ministers to visitors/Letterhead Stationery

Pubic Relations/News Media Order of Service

Social Media Newsletter

E-Calender Name Tags

Email Administration/Agendas, Job Descriptions, Memos

Accessibility Presentations

Symbols Physical Plant

Conditions/Color

Entrance and Accessibility

Landscaping and Maintenance

Parking

External Promotion

Yellow Pages

Information Centers

Signage - Inside and Outside

Wayfinding

Public Relations/News Media

Greeters, Welcomers and Leadership

Ministry

Vocabulary

Doctrine

Attire of Leadership/Members

Current Members

Other Church Members

Community Action AlertsThe Center for Congregations wants to keep you informed.

What Are Community Action Alerts?Community Action Alerts let you know about events and happenings in the community that we feel are of interest to congregations. The email newsletter is sent monthly. Items are also posted on this webpage. The news items in Community Alert are not Center-sponsored programs. The information posted here does not imply a Center for Congregations endorsement of those products, companies, or services.

Deadline for SubmissionsThe Community Action Alert newsletter is sent on the third Wednesday of each month. The deadline for submission of news is the previous Friday.

How to Submit News Items and AnnouncementsPlease submit announcements for the webpage and the email newsletter using this form. We do not accept submissions by phone or email. We can only accept one item per congregation per month, and announcements must have a broad, general public interest.

What Information to IncludeDon't forget to include important dates, times, location, cost, and contact information. We encourage each contributor to provide a web link to a photo, logo, or artwork, which will accompany the announcement. Please keep the description to 150 words or less. We will consider each submission, but not all can be included due to space, timing, and content.

Social Media Networks

One characteristic shared by both social media and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach zero people or millions of people. The properties that help describe the differences between social media and industrial media depend on the study. Some of these properties are:

Reach - both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and enable anyone to reach a global audience.

Accessibility - the means of production for industrial media are typically owned privately or by government; social media tools are generally available to anyone at little or no cost.

Usability - industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Most social media does not, or in some cases reinvent skills, so anyone can operate the means of production.

Recency - the time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response). As industrial media are currently adopting social media tools, this feature may well not be distinctive anymore in some time.

Permanence - industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.

Over 50% of the

worlds population

is under 30 years

old and 96% of

them have joined

a social media

network.

Social Media Platforms

There are three types of business owners: “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Social media is a complete waste of time, both for myself and my employees. We don’t need a social media strategy.”

My business has an integrated and effective social media strategy and it has been really helpful for the growth of our business.’

Why get involved in Social Media? It’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate:

NetworkPromoteShare

As of 2008, if you

are not on a

social networking

site – you’re not

on the Internet.

Social Media Platforms

65,000 new videos and 83% watching video clips

200,000,000 blogs with 73% active readers

57% have joined a social network site

Only 14% of people trust advertisements. 78% trust the recommendation of other users. 34% of people post experiences with organizations and brands. 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs.

If Facebook were

a country it would

be the 3rd most

populated in the

world, ahead of

the United States.

Social Media Target Audience

Baby Boomers born 1943-1960 Generation X born 1961-1980 Generation Y born 1982-2002

Millenials spend 16 hours a week online.96% have joined a social network. They have an average of 52 online friends.

AND THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR ADTHEY CARE WHAT THEIR FRIENDS THINK.

By 2010,

Millenials/Gen

Y-ers will

outnumber Baby

Boomers.

Do not promise

change and settle

for a result that is

anything less than

the vision.

Center for Congregation Workshops: http://editor.des08.com/vo/?FileID=e5452eb9-a801-453f-97ac-7d07aada3ed4&m=f76aa978d5df3b428d81e0c07267160f&MailID=20053929

ChurchMarketing 101: Preparing Your Church for Greater Growth by Richard L. Reising

100 Questions that Non-Members Ask About Unitarian Universalism by John Sias

Marketing Workbook by GK Rowe:http://www.slideshare.net/gkrowe/marketing-uucb

Resources