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5 tests for an effective communication thread
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityImagine if your church maintained focus on a solution to its community. Something that instantly got the community's attention and made the church relevant and needed. And then used those content "fences" to make the congregation known for something. That's what I call a communication thread. This is a brand promise or brand story that is maintained and controlled so that it unites ministries and tears down the ministry silos within our local churches. Some people call it a tagline, slogan, or positioning statement. But those concepts sound so temporary. A long-term thread works as long as it's "effective." What are those criteria? Here's a five-question test to prove your thread will work over several years.
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10 church communicator personalities: Check the mirror for yours
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityI've always been fascinated by people. In fact, my college psychology courses established the understanding that we mostly tend to do similar things while being resistant to changing our ways. Accountability meetings declare that understanding and recognition are huge steps towards improvement. From decades of working with comms, here are the personalities I see.
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Tips for onboarding new employees
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityFor many churches, by the time you're able to hire someone, you're already feeling the strain of not having anyone in that role. While it's tempting to toss a mile-long to-do list at a new employee as soon as he arrives for his first day in the office, that's not going to set him up to win long-term. Instead, it's best to complete an organized onboarding process for each new team member. Here are several steps to consider when planning to get a new employee fully on board.
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Church communication must show you care: Here’s how
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityI recently spoke to a church about effective church communication. In my talk, I reminded the congregation that Jesus told His disciples that we're to be known for loving those around us. However, when the world is asked about the Church, most of them know what we're against (and not for love and caring). We've become really good at being salt while our "light" skills haven't broken through. Church communication must tackle this since it's the voice of ministries to our communities (and not just an internal reminder voice to our congregations). Here's how to truly care for a group (as God's called us to) using communication.
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The retention secret every volunteer coordinator should know
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityWe all know how challenging it can be to get and keep volunteers. There are a variety of strategies for how to communicate the need and invite more people to serve. However, we also want to pay attention to how we keep volunteers on the team. There’s one tool you may not have considered yet when it comes to retaining volunteers (and adding to their ranks). That tool is conducting a volunteer survey.
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Stop abbreviating — and 7 other content no-no’s
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityEffective communication relies on the content more than the channels. But many churches want to talk about their social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) or the CMS system for their website (Wordpress, Joomla, Clover, etc.) rather than what their content should be. Let’s concentrate on the important things! Often, if the content is correct, an audience will endure a subpar channel to discover it. Sure, once you have the content honed for an audience, you should eliminate channel barriers and choose delivery tools that enhance the experience of receiving it. But only after the content is right. To get started on great content, here are eight things to STOP doing; and what you should START.
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3 ways accounting is vital to ministry vision
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityIf your job responsibilities include keeping track of the church’s finances, you know that your role is frequently overlooked as part of ministry. After all, you ask other staff members to submit requests by a set date, fill out forms, turn in receipts, and manage their departmental budgets. If you don't work in your church's accounting department, please note that those individuals love the church just as much as the front-line folks. They just show their commitment in different ways. Here are three ways accounting is vital to a church's ministry.
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Stop! 5 things to never do with your church logo
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityYour church logo is a visual representation of your church’s brand. It’s not your brand. Your brand is the emotional aftertaste once someone has experienced your church. The story they remember, the benefit of attending, or description of who you actually are down deep. It’s their real answer to the question, "why do you attend your church?" Your church logo should be a simple, professional, representation of your church. When people see it, they should quickly remember everything that’s relevant to them. Your logo is important. Therefore it should be protected, controlled, and promoted properly. Here are five things you should never do with your church logo.
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Are you ready for Easter Sunday?
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityYes, I realize it's several weeks away, but it’s almost never too early to start preparing for one of the highest attended Sundays of the year. If you haven't started planning, or have but have a nagging feeling you're forgetting something, here are a few steps to consider. For example, don’t wait until the week before to start asking your regular attendees to serve on Easter Sunday. Some people might travel over Easter, while others will have family visiting that afternoon. Make sure you get on their calendar now so they can plan accordingly.
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3 steps to editing church website content
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityPeople want to discover the information they’re looking for, when they need it, and in the easiest format preference possible. That’s why we’ve all grown attached to websites. We want some information and then quickly pickup our phones to find it online. But there’s nothing worse than getting to a webpage that has too much information when we only want a quick answer. In fact, most people only want a simple answer! Does your church website deliver more than the facts? Here are three steps to making your website content the size and structure that most people will enjoy.
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