Final Report – June 27,
2006
The purpose of the
First Church Marketing & Communications Strategic Plan is to build a
faith-based, organized and coordinated method for internal and external
communications at
a.
Target Audience
i.
The First Church Congregation across
both campuses – Immediate
ii.
Those in need of Christ and a church
home – Long term
iii.
b.
What
i.
The development of a mindset of
communications within
ii.
The development of a consistent,
welcoming and communicative Church
iii.
The foundation of a functional One
Church Two Campus ministry
iv.
The creation of effective community
outreach to the
The following is a
situational analysis of
a.
Strengths
i.
Willing to take on challenge of 2
campuses
ii.
Open & accepting
iii.
Variety of worship opportunities
iv.
Email communication, “Tom’s Tidbits”
v.
Church newsletter, “1st Edition”
vi.
Small group activities
vii.
Special programs
viii.
United Methodist Women/United Methodist
Men
ix.
Music program
x.
Jubilee café & Christmas dinner
xi.
Community use of facilities (e.g. Civic
choir)
xii.
Variety of fellowship opportunities
xiii.
Website
b.
Weaknesses
i.
Congregation is divided into small
pockets
ii.
Variety of worship opportunities
segregates congregation
iii.
Need wider variety of worship
opportunities than only Sunday morning
iv.
Monthly newsletter vs. bi-monthly
v.
Organization
vi.
Consistency of communication
vii.
Lack of communication in LJWorld “Faith
Briefs”
viii.
Marketing
ix.
Welcoming
x.
Missed opportunities to connect with
people (e.g. Farmer’s Market)
xi.
Lack of coordinated communication
xii.
Church members not made aware of our
marketing efforts (e.g.. movie theatre ad)
xiii.
No plan for the publicity
xiv.
Poor sound quality of Sunday morning
radio broadcast
c.
Opportunities
i.
Evangelize—new campus
ii.
Website expansion
iii.
Master calendar
iv.
Programming that integrates both
campuses
v.
Tie into Methodist national advertising
vi.
Help us understand ourselves as a
2-campus church
vii.
Minister to the whole
viii.
Youth & children’s ministry
ix.
Significant growth
x.
Tie into social events/causes in the
community (e.g.. food drive)
xi.
Focused events to promote cross-campus
involvement
xii.
Targeted marketing based on
interest/category
xiii.
Effective categorization of events and
activities
xiv.
Engage youth and campus ministry in
communications needs
xv.
Additional broadcast opportunities
including Cable TV and Internet Webcast
xvi.
Multiple timelines for marketing
delivery
xvii.
Adopt a family/foster parent/grandparent
program for visitors/new members/lost members
d.
Threats
i.
Static existing groups—where do new
members fit?
ii.
Understanding/mis-understanding of 2
campuses
iii.
Poor internal communication
iv.
Fear of change
v.
Expense of 2 campuses
vi.
Competition (for lack of a better word)
from other churches for attention, particularly in
e.
What’s Working and What’s Not Working at
i.
What’s Working
1.
Positive publicity in the newspaper
2.
PowerPoint presentations in sanctuary
before worship highlighting events
3.
Lots of excitement in the congregation
about new leadership and new campus
4.
Campus ministries (i.e. Tues night
event)
ii.
What’s Not Working
1.
Lack of marketing to the
congregation—1st group we need to educate is ourselves
2.
No coordinated marketing plan
3.
No plan for releasing info to public
(public relations)
4.
Lack of leadership in marketing and
public relations—need equivalent of a PR dept
5.
No coordination of PowerPoint
presentation between the 2 campuses
6.
No coordination of marketing and
programming
The following are the
goals of the Marketing & Communications Strategic Plan along with the
area(s) of Influence identified in section I. b. that each Goal targets.
a.
Visitors should not leave empty handed
(2)
b.
Master Calendar in use (1, 3)
c.
Good communication of that calendar
within the congregation (1, 3)
d.
Cross campus communication coordination
(C4) (1, 3)
e.
New form of Fisherman/Doorstep visitor
welcome (2)
f.
Easy to use communications
infrastructure for church groups (1, 2, 3)
g.
Effective, consistent public relations
(1, 2, 3, 4)
h.
Consistency in communications/messages
(1, 2, 3)
i.
Awareness (in the community) of Tom and
Nancy (new youth director) (4)
j.
Awareness of the new frontiers of west
campus & downtown campus (3, 4)
k.
Increased involvement of present
membership (2, 3)
l.
Effective marketing of ministry
opportunities (1, 2, 3, 4)
The following
mechanisms will be implemented to achieve our goals along with the goal(s)
identified in section III that each mechanism is intended to address.
a.
Establish a Coordinator of
Communications at
b.
Consistent Branding (d, f, g, h, j)
c.
Brochure (a, e, j, k, l)
d.
Regular news releases (f, i, j, k)
e.
Church newsletter (a, c, f, g, h, k, l)
f.
Church website (b, c, d, h, j, k, l)
g.
Advertisements (g, h, j, l)
i.
Newspaper
ii.
Cable TV
iii.
Movie theater
iv.
Radio
v.
Direct mail
h.
Easy to use communications
infrastructure for church groups (d, f, k, l)
i.
Announcements (c, d, f, h, k, l)
j.
Activity board (with info cards) (a, k,
l)
k.
Telephone tree (c, f, k, l)
l.
Pictorial directory (d, k)
m.
Signage (j, l)
n.
Organized and trained
greeting/greeters/info center volunteers (a, e, g, k)
The following
performance measurements will be tracked and monitored by the Communications
Team to determine our progress toward building a faith-based, organized and
coordinated method for internal and external communications at
a.
Baseline Survey – need to know current
perceptions of the congregation
b.
Progress Surveys – conducted at
predetermined intervals to gauge change in perceptions
c.
Survey Questions:
i.
I am/feel well-informed about the
activities at the church.
Strongly agree ___ Agree ___
Neutral ___ Disagree ___ Strongly disagree ___
ii.
I understand the plan for “One Church/Two Campuses.”
Strongly agree ___ Agree ___
Neutral ___ Disagree ___ Strongly disagree ___
iii.
In the past 6 months I have attended church:
Downtown: 8:30 ___ 9:40 ___
11:00 ___ West ___ Both ___
Neither ___
iv.
In the next 6 months I plan to attend church:
Downtown: 8:30 ___ 9:40 ___
11:00 ___ West ___ Both ___
Neither ___
v.
I feel accepted and welcomed at church.
Strongly agree ___ Agree ___
Neutral ___ Disagree ___ Strongly disagree ___
vi.
I feel the church is meeting my spiritual needs.
Strongly agree ___ Agree ___
Neutral ___ Disagree ___ Strongly disagree ___
vii.
Demographic
questions: Age ___ Years attending
viii.
Comments:
d.
___ % increase in worship
attendance
e.
___ % increase in Sunday School
attendance
f.
___ % increase in non-worship ministry
activity attendance
g.
___ % increase in annual budget