Strategic Communication: Promoting Your Faith in Good Faith Presented by L B Wellington

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
PROMOTING YOUR FAITH IN GOOD FAITH Presented by L B Wellington

Communication Director Inter American Division.
Adapted from Article by Donn James Tilson Speaking Faith p. 83
As a faith group, Seventh day Adventists have information we want to communicate to various audiences. These audiences include :1. 2. 3. 4.
Its own active members Those on the inactive list Those of other Faith communities Those in the general communities
The Church will sometimes use local media as its preferred method. With that information the church may seek to persuade:-1. 2.
3.
A given audience to change an attitude or behavior Its active members to grow in their faith and stewardship Its inactive members to become more involved
The Church seeks to provide answers about itself, its belief and practices, its activities, or questions from those who are not of its persuasion. Strategic Communication establishes and maintains quality relations between the Church and its publics, which can either be relational or promotional. The desire to be both relational and promotional need not be mutually exclusive. One may in fact enhance the other.
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION PUBLIC RELATIONS
Religion and Public Relations have a long history - Virginia Randall Public Relations as a communication discipline, is the work of telling an organizations story to different publics in order to foster understanding and goodwill.
There are different types of Public Relations including : Community relations, Media relations, Special events, Crisis communication and Employee communication.
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public Relations can be quite intentional, but also unintentional. The appearance of your buildings it tell a story good or bad, about your faith/congregation. One difficulty with Public Relations is the lack of control over how your story gets covered, or if it gets covered at all.
Four Ways to Shape and Maintain Your Churchs Reputation in the Community:
1. Research and Planning
2. Action
3. Communication 4. Evaluation
RESEARCH AND PLANNING If we liken the process to a trip, then the first thing we must determine is: 1. Where we are now/starting point. 2. What will we do or say to get from here to our destination.
Answers to the following questions should help not only to clarify purpose, but provide the basis for a mission statement. 1. What is our organizations reason for being? 2. What public/publics does our organization serve? 3. What distinctive services does/can our organization provide the community?
Once your mission is clear, continue research with a communications audit which helps you discover how you communicate with others, and how others communicate with you. You should determine the following: 1. What does people in your service area know about your Church? 2. How did they find out what they know?
1. What do your members know and think about themselves? 2. What do you want people to know about your Church? 3. How do people you want to influence receive information? To get this information you will have to gather information from sources inside your organization, and from your communities.
ACTION The old saying Action speak louder than words is true. If your actions contradict your words, you loose credibility, and the ability to be effective examples of your faith. In continuing the trip analogy; both members and leaders must be going in the same direction on the same road.
COMMUNICATION Christians usually call this step of the process witnessing. Communication lets people in your target audiences know what your faith group is doing as distinct from others. This step should address; what messages will be sent; by what means; to what audiences before, during and after an event.
In planning religious activities, we should not concentrate solely on advance publicity. EVALUATION Evaluate your work. Were you : Within your time frame? Your Budget?
1. 2.
EVALUATION
An overall evaluation will answer? How well did you implement the plan? What results did your plan generate? How did your effort influence your target audience?
MEDIA RELATIONS In order to increase coverage about your faith community, develop personal relationships with media staff that cover religious activities. You may become the expert the reporter turns to for particular faith-based issues. Help leaders in your organization understand how to handle questions from the media in an interview.
Remember media people are different (as we all are). Some are more inclined to publish news about mosque, synagogue, temple, or church activities. Others are more interested in religious issues that span many faith groups. Know the editorthe person who decides how much space a given story is worth if any. Know someone you can contact if the religion writer is out.
People are motivated by selfinterest. News people have space and broadcast time to fill; they need an unending flow of material. Learn how to help them see the value in what you have to offer in relation to other things competing for their attention.
Newspapers, for example, use news stories, but also letters to the editor, editorials, Sunday supplements, and special-interest sections. Broadcast media have news programs, talk shows, call-in programs, community bulletin boards, and other programs.
News is what journalists of a particular publication or station consider as timely, interesting, and important. Around news offices, the saying is, News is what the editor says it is.
Many secular media persons recoil from contact by religious organization, not because they are anti-religious, but because they have been badgered and manipulated by religious representatives who did not try to:

learn their preferences, treat them respectfully, deal honestly with them, produce competently prepared news releases, fact sheets or press kits, practice the key to good media relations helpfulness.
News media do not exist to do publicity for youno matter how important it is to you to make your information available to the public. News media exist to report news. If the news publicizes your event as a side effect, that is okay.
Discover the varying meanings of news in your locale. News for one type of medium may not be news to others. A weekly newspaper may put your article on page one, that a metropolitan daily would omit. Television and radio have different standards. Significance and interest varies between size, type, scope, format, audience, and location of the medium.
You may be as open and prolific with your news as you wish, but if you feel the need to face every issue with too much information or a ready news release, your media relations will become laughable and perish from overexposure.
Editors will admit that mail from certain organizations end up in the trash because the sources have long since outworn their welcome with a series of trivial news releases. That includes overuse of news conferences.
News conferences sound like a glamorous way to do business, but too many of them not only waste time, but can make you sound like the boy who cried wolf if you call conferences indiscriminately.
Once you have placed information with a member of the media, do not call immediately unless you have a legitimate reason to add information or clarify an item. If in doubt, do not call.
Follow up phone calls to see if busy reporters have received material or will run your story will soon wear out your welcome. Avoid embarrassing reporters or chipping away at their credibility, but do not be afraid to tell them in a diplomatic way about serious errors not minor ones.
Send thank you letters with copies to supervisors. If you must point our errors, it is best to talk to the reporter, rather than putting it in print. Good media and human relations must go on after a given incident has faded away
Seizing the moment is a principle to use any time the moment is right to generate news before an opportunity evaporates, but it has a special significance to religion communicators.
The secular news medias purpose is not to communicate your messages or beliefs, so do not thrust it upon them. But, occasionally, there are moments when the content of your message intersects with their idea of news.
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

PROMOTING YOUR FAITH IN GOOD FAITH Presented by L B Wellington

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION PUBLIC RELATIONS

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION PUBLIC RELATIONS

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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