fpc communications guide

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (FPC) OF MARIETTA

Communications Guide

Original 7/18/2013

First Presbyterian Church of Marietta

CONTENTS

COMMUNICATIONS MISSION .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

STRATEGIES ................................................................................................................................................................ ............................ 3

COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY ................................................................................................................................................... 4

COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE .................................................................................................................................................. 5

PRIVACY GUIDELINES ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6

APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................................ ........................... 7

APPENDIX A: FPC MARIETTA – STYLE GUIDE (April 2010) .....................................................................................7-8

APPENDIX B: FPC MARIETTA – AUDIENCES ............................................................................................................... 9-10

APPENDIX C: EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS ................................................................................................................. 11

APPENDIX D: COMMUNICATIONS TRACKING FORM AND GUIDELINES ....................................................... 12-15

APPENDIX E: COMMUNICATIONS PRIORITIES ................................................................................................................ 16

APPENDIX F: POSTAGE GUIDELINES ................................................................................................................................... 17

APPENDIX G: COMMUNICATIONS POLICIES ..................................................................................................................... 18


COMMUNICATIONS MISSION

All communications should support the mission of First Presbyterian Church of Marietta by inviting, informing, including, instructing, and inspiring the congregation and community to learn about God and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We facilitate the mission through clear, concise, timely, and accurate communications.

STRATEGIES

All communications should:

A. Reflect the vision, mission, and values of FPC Marietta in appearance and presentation. Branding, church logo, and ministry logos should be intentional, consistent, and prominent on all communications (see Appendix A: Style Guide).

B. Focus on and identify the audience. Match communications channels to audiences. Make sure all of our audiences are covered appropriately by our communications channel choices (leave no one behind).

C. Prioritize communications channels by audience. (see Appendix B) Determine the most effective communications channel and location for the audience and the message being projected. Our primary (top three) communications channels for all communications are our website (http://www.fpcmarietta.org), bulletin and newsletter.

D. Focus on the message. The communications channel is not the message. The content should be clear, concise, timely, and accurate. It should suit the audience in content and tone.

E. Utilize multiple communications channels, frequency, and locations to effectively reach our audience. There should be synergy between communication channels and each should be complimentary to the others.

F. Utilize the “People Channel” -- our members are our greatest asset. Involve them in our communications by enlisting them to distribute postcards, invitation cards, and business cards. Also utilize other personal avenues of advertising such as personal contact, telephone calls and communicating from the pulpit, Sunday school classes, etc.

G. Link all communications, printed and verbal, to the FPC website. Our website should use words and phrases such as to increase the hit rate by internet search engines.

H. Equip (not automated recordings) and utilize volunteers for communications critical to our church.

I. Utilize current and cost-effective technology (i.e. E-communications where appropriate, postcards instead of letters, printing on site for cost savings, etc.).

J. Include, but not be limited to, the Marietta Daily Journal, the Atlanta Journal, the Brightside, and other local community newsletters and magazines for our external communications channels. Emphasis should be placed upon articles rather than advertisements, although ads might be used to guarantee timeliness. A regular schedule of press releases will be implemented to publicize the mission of FPC.

K. Develop and maintain a FPC Brand / Logo in order to reflect our mission in all visual communications.


COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY

A. All communications should be authorized by the Council responsible for the subject of the communications. Some actions or events may also require Session approval. Each Council is responsible for gaining Session approval as required.

B. All external communications will be submitted to the Publications Coordinator for approval by the Pastor or his designee. See Appendix C: External Communications Details.

C. All internal church wide communications will be approved by the Publications Coordinator as delegated by the Pastor.

1. The pastors and staff are responsible to ensure that all internal publicity is accurate and consistent with the church calendar.

2. Approval is required by the Publications Coordinator when a church group expands publicity to other groups or to a larger segment of the congregation.

3. Internal communications within existing groups --Bible studies, small groups, etc, require no approval through the Publications Coordinator.

4. New groups/ministries, during their organization phase, will coordinate their communications through the Publications Coordinator.

5. The Publications Coordinator may delegate communication responsibilities to members of a smaller group / ministry after they have received training and when they understand the FPC communications policies.

6. The schedule of deadlines is printed on the Communications Tracking Form. See Appendix D


COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

MEMBERSHIP

1. Two (2) Elders; nominated by the Senior Pastor & approved by the Session

2. One (1) Deacon; nominated by the Senior Pastor & approved by the Session

3. Two (2) Church-at-large members; nominated by the Committee Chair and approved by the Session

4. Senior Pastor or Representative

5. Publications Coordinator

6. Director of Information Technology and Web Media

7. Director of Administration

TERMS

1. Staff members have no term limits.

2. All other members are appointed to a two year term minimum and are eligible for reappointment each year. Experience and background in Communications is very important in the selection process to this committee.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. To ensure all communications support the mission of the First Presbyterian Church of Marietta Marietta by inviting, informing, including, instructing, and inspiring the congregation and community to learn about God and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We facilitate the mission through clear, concise, timely, and accurate communications.

2. The Communications Committee shall manage the content of the Communications Guide shall conduct a review of the FPC Communications Guide annually, at a minimum; or more frequently as technology, economic conditions, or communications’ concepts dictate.

3. All additions, corrections, and changes to this Guide should be directed to the Communications Committee.

FUNCTION

4. The Communications Committee falls under the direction of the FP C Session.

5. The Committee will ensure that all members of the FPC staff, officers, and ministry chairs, have access to this guide and that it is maintained on the FPC website.

6. All personal information will be kept confidential and secure, and in accordance with the Privacy Guidelines contained in the FPC Communications Guide located on the FPC Marietta website (www.fpcmarietta.org).

7. Adherence to the FPC Communications Authority as defined in the Communications Guide shall be followed at all times.


PRIVACY GUIDELINES

First Presbyterian Church is committed to keeping all personal information which we may have about our members, confidential and secure. A copy of the privacy guidelines is included in the new member packages.

OUR PRIVACY PLEDGE

Our ministry includes offering opportunities for Christian service and growth. We only use member information to conduct the ministries at FPC. We do not sell or share lists of our member information. We require all employees to keep member information confidential.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may collect personal information from you to maintain a mailing database. Some information may be collected in order to share service or group data to further the various ministries of the church. Pictures of activities may be taken to advertise the programs and ministries of the church.

INFORMATION WE SHARE

We may use personal information for various communication and advertising opportunities. Unless a member has notified the Publications Coordinator, pictures of church programs and ministries may include a member picture and may be used for advertising of the programs and ministries of the church. Any personal financial or contribution information will not be shared beyond the Director of Accounting and the elected Treasurers.

HOW WE PROTECT INFORMATION

The FPC Privacy Policy allows employees and other church leaders to access personal information in order to:

• Communicate effectively to FPC members,

• Advertise appropriate ministry activities to FPC members,

• Match members to appropriate ministry opportunities.

Employees or church leaders who misuse personal information are subject to disciplinary action. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect personal information.

We make every effort to maintain privacy in all email communications and encourage the use of the blind copy option for all mass emails.

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you have questions or comments about this privacy policy, contact the Director of Administration at FPC by calling 770-427-0293.


APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: FPC MARIETTA – STYLE GUIDE (April 2010)

Style Guide Sources: The Associated Press Stylebook 2010

The First Presbyterian Church of Marietta’s Style Guide will be used to effectively and consistently convey all manners of communication in regard to the mission of the church. It will set the standards to comply with the Godly and Christ-centered nature of First Presbyterian and its ministry to its congregation, community, and world. We are aware that communication is not a static entity. Therefore, this style guide will be reviewed and amended as needed.

Branding, church logo and ministry logo:

Branding: Standards of branding must comply with First Presbyterian’s mission statement. All branding will seek to further enhance FPC’s presence in the community and church at-large. Images must be used responsibly and represent the Godly and

Christ-centered message of the church.

The church’s logo will be used on all materials that are published externally.

Ministry logos will be used when individual ministries publicize their news, events or pursue fundraising.

Quoting Scripture:

Scriptural references will be taken from the NIV translation unless otherwise noted in reference. There will be no edits made to the quotation, such as capitalization of the Godhead or pronouns.

When two non-consecutive verses are listed, a comma and a space, not the symbol “&,” will be used between them Matthew 4:8, 11

When consecutive verses are listed, a hyphen will be used between them Matthew 4:1-7

Small caps will be used when referencing versions of the Bible, such as NIV, KJV.

Punctuation:

Capitalization of ministry names will be used per the examples below unless the ministry specifically uses a name for identity that is not capitalized.

Tuesday Ladies Bible Study, Women on the Run, Presbyterian Women Today.

Single spaces are used in print between sentences, after colons, etc.

Titles of sermons, books, curriculum, movies, video and TV series, etc. will be italicized.

Pronouns referring to any part of the Godhead will be capitalized unless quoting from a source that does not do this, such as NIV.


APPENDIX A: FPC MARIETTA – STYLE GUIDE (April 2010 – continued)

Technological terminology will be based upon the current usage, such as email is not hyphenated and iPod.

Commas are used in a series, before the last item and the word “and.”

Ending punctuation is not used on vertical lists except when each excerpt completes a sentence that is started at the beginning of the list. If items are fragments, do not use a period. The first words of the listed items are not capitalized.

Numbers:

Books of the Bible will have Arabic numbers, not Roman numerals: I Corinthians.

Spell out numbers one to nine.

Numbers which start sequences should be spelled out.

Ninety-five members came to the annual picnic, compared to 55 last year!

Time, day and date: When publishing the time it should always include hours and minutes with lowercase a.m. or p.m., such 4 p.m. No zeros will follow an hour without minutes, such as 4 p.m. instead of 4:00 p.m.

Time periods will be published using “to” not “through” 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Days will be spelled out: Monday through Friday.

Running lists shall use commas between words and phrases.

Dates will have a comma between day and year, such as January 2, 2009.

Templates for documents:

Standard poster size is 11” X 17”.

Large poster format is used sparingly, 18” X 24”.

Bi-monthly newsletter and weekly Order of Worship are currently printed on 11” X 17,” two-page spreads.

The Insert is currently printed on 8.5” x 11,” bi-fold.

Flyers are printed on 8.5” x 11”.


APPENDIX B: FPC MARIETTA – AUDIENCES

Our audiences are defined by our strategic mission at First Presbyterian Church, Marietta and must be reviewed and updated by the FPC Communications Board periodically. As we identify our current audiences, we must ask how each fits with our mission and are there groups or individuals that we are overlooking. By continually identifying and matching our audiences with our church mission, we are better able to address our communications messages and our means of disseminating that message. Our current Internal and External audiences as identified by the FPC Communications Committee are listed below.

Internal Congregation as a whole

First time visitors

Long term visitors

Adults

Staff

Seniors

Prime time

Home Bound

Home Bound non-senior citizens

Parents

Sunday school classes

Session

Diaconate

Small Groups

Bible Study

Commission Members

Choir members

Singles of all ages

Guild members

Alpha

Committee members

All others


APPENDIX B: FPC MARIETTA – AUDIENCES (continued)

College age young adults

Youth

Ventures

Senior Highs

Junior Highs

Sunday school classes

Mexico Mission

Youth not attending other groups

Younger Children

External Visitors and Seekers

For special events/outreach

Music programs

Bible School

Alpha

Boy Scouts

Pre-school

Mother’s morning out

Club 330

Agencies we support through missions

News Media


APPENDIX C: EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

A. External Communications

1. Media Coverage

i. The event or feature should be submitted to the Publications Coordinator and Director of Administration with as much advance notice as possible.

ii. The Publications Coordinator and Director of Administration will review the content with the originator and the appropriate staff as soon as possible and write the press release (see 2 below). If the information comes in the form of a press release, the Publications Coordinator will proof and edit as necessary.

iii. The Publications Coordinator will send the release to the appropriate media outlet and follow-up as necessary. If the ministry contact is the best person for the media to work with, that person’s name should be included on the release along with that of the Publications Coordinator.

iv. If there is a news story, the Publications Coordinator will capture the coverage for the church archive and for the web site as appropriate.

2. Press Release

i. See the Style Guide for the press release template.

ii. The press release should be written in inverted pyramid format beginning with a lead paragraph that contains essential information.

iii. The press release should be kept to one page whenever possible.

iv. The press release should end with a message sentence or two that captures the essence of the church. It should not be the church’s mission statement, although it could contain some elements as well as the web site, location and phone number.

v. The headline should be written last, knowing the editors will write their own. All information should be in the article with none solely in the headline.


APPENDIX D: COMMUNICATIONS TRACKING FORM & GUIDELINES


APPENDIX E: COMMUNICATIONS PRIORITIES

Communications needs will be filled using the Communications and Publicity Lead Times Guidelines (Appendix within the framework of priorities outlined below.

Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3

Event Announcements within 3 weeks

Event Announcements within 6 weeks

Event Announcements more than 6 weeks out

Church-wide communications Ministry specific

Pastors communications Celebration of past events

Pastoral communications

Invitational communications

Educational communications


APPENDIX F: POSTAGE GUIDELINES

Postal regulations of a church/ non-profit: (See: USPS Publication 417 – http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/pubs/Pub417/Pub417.pdf)

The church will follow mailing guidelines for first, second, and third class postage provided by the USPS Postmaster.

Postal mailing deadlines dictate the schedule of deadlines reflected on the Communications Lead Time Guidelines in Appendix D.

http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/pubs/Pub417/Pub417.pdf


APPENDIX G: COMMUNICATIONS POLICIES

All Church Communications will be conducted through the Director of Information Technology and Web Media and the Publications Coordinator who are guided by the following policies:

1. The church website will be updated as soon as possible to maintain accurate information. The website will be the central source for information available in other printed forms.

2. The church will include website reference on all printed material.

3. Each week the staff will review and update the official calendar of events.

4. Brochures, as needed or desired, will be developed for each ministry and department, with consistent style for display in a central information center. Information should be refreshed annually, or more frequently, as needed.

5. The newsletter will be mailed or emailed to subscribers on a bi-monthly basis.

6. The Wednesday Night Dinner video announcements will include information from the newsletter.

7. Emails or other electronic communications channels are encouraged to communicate within specific groups (i.e. committees, councils, ministry meeting notices, etc.), rather than mailings.

8. Posters and displays will normally be allowed, as needed, in approved areas for three weeks before any event and will reflect the style approved for publications.

9. Event material, and any other time-sensitive material, should be removed by the originator from all communications channels the day following the event or end date.

10. Pulpit announcements will be minimized to 2 per Sunday, limited to two minutes or less, as determined by the pastors and Worship Council.

11. Banners will only be used for temporary external advertising for events which invite the greater community.

12. The video monitor in the gathering space should be used as an additional communications channel for event announcements which are appealing to members and guests.

13. Communications volunteers should be trained by the office of the Publications Coordinator.

14. FPC Marietta should always investigate new technologies and potential communications channels, i.e. Constant Contact, blogs, Facebook, YouTube, etc.

15. Refer to the Communications Tracking Form latest version to request new or changed communications.

16. Copies of sermons will only be available through the website and digital CD’s.

17. The list of official church communications channels, as currently identified, will be maintained in Appendix D of this Communications Guide.

18. Request forms will be maintained until the communication is completed.

19. All communications should include the source and a date on the document to ensure the recipients have the most current copy and know who to contact for more information.

fpc communications guide

Documents

accurate communications

external communications

communications priorities

communications policies

communications authority

communications committee

match communications

communications tracking