! Communication!Policy!&!Frequently!Asked!Questions! First!United!Methodist!Church! St.!Petersburg,!FL!! The$ Communications$ Committee$ at$ First$

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1 CommunicationPolicy&FrequentlyAskedQuestions FirstUnitedMethodistChurch St.Petersburg,FL The Communications Committee at First United Methodist Church has been charged with the stewardship of our communications and marketing resources. It is our goal to provide the most effective communication tools for sharing messages both within our church family and with the communityaroundus.thecommitteeiscommittedtoensuringthatthemessagesandtoolsweuseto communicateareofstandardqualityandimagingsothatwearetakingthemaximumadvantageofthe FirstChurch Brand. Weunderstandthatthecarewetakewithouroverallimageandcommunication formsalargepartofthefirstimpressionwemakeonnewcomers.itisourgoaltoprovideguidelines andsuggestionstoensurethatallofourimportantministrieshaveaccesstoappropriateandeffective communicationsopportunitiesthatareinlinewiththeprioritiessetbytheleadershipofthischurch family. 1. Why/WhenshouldIcontacttheCommunicationsCommittee? a. The Communications Committee should be contacted anytime you are considering a new ministry,planninganevent,oremphasis,orhaveamessageyouwouldliketosharewiththe churchfamilyorthecommunitythroughmeansbeyondtheweeklyannouncements. b. The committee can help you develop a communications strategy for your ministry or event basedonthepastsuccessesandfailuresofothercommunicationefforts.thecommitteecan also help you estimate the time and budget requirements for advertising your event or ministry. c. The communications committee can be contacted directly through contacting any of the members of the committee. The church office can also help you get in contact with the committee. 2. DoestheCommunicationCommitteehavefundstoprovideadvertising? a. Thecommunicationscommitteedoesnothavefundsavailabletocommunicateeventsand ministries.weareheretohelpyoubudgetforthecommunicationseffortsyouhaveplanned, andyourbudgetisusedeffectively. 3. HowdoIgetmyannouncementincludedintheweeklyannouncements? a. Beforeaneventcanbeadvertisedinanyofourcommunicationtools,itmustfirstbeputonthe church calendar in the church office. This applies to events on the church campus as well as eventsthattakeplaceoffcampus.

2 b. CopyFreadyannouncementsshouldbesubmittedtotheCommunicationsTeamby5pmonthe Monday before the Sunday the announcement is to be run.submit your announcement by: ingittothechurchofficeorCallingDonaMullaneyinthechurchoffice(894F4661ext.102) c. Oncewehavetheinformationforyoureventwewillmakedecisionsaboutwhichoftheweekly communicationmethodswouldbebestforyourannouncement.priorityandplacementwillbe decidedbasedupontheprioritiessetbychurchcouncilaswellasthespaceandtimeavailable. Thecommunicationtoolsthatareusedforweeklyannouncementsare: 1. SundayAMServicesspokenannouncements 2. SundaySchool&BibleStudyclasshandouts 3. Digitalslidespriortoworshipservices 4. Weekly 5. WorshipBulletin 6. TVmonitors 4. Canwecreateabulletininsertforourupcomingeventorministry? a. Bulletin inserts must be approved by the communication committee. The committee will consider the insert based on the amount of information included, the priorities of church leadership, and the space available in the worship bulletin. Experience shows that multiple pieces of paper in our worship bulletin only serve to distract so bulletin inserts are not encouraged. 5. Canwesendan tothechurchdistributionlist? a. Welimit toourchurchdistributionlisttooneeachweek.Thisisdoneoutofrespectfor ourmembership stime.weunderstandthattoomany messagesbecomedistractingand ourmembershipislesslikelytoread fromthechurch.thechurchfwide isusually sentonthursdayafternoon,withexceptions. b. Thecommunicationcommitteemayapproveadditional sbasedonchurchwidepriorities orlastminutechangesinpreviousannouncements. 6. Canweprintabrochureorflyerforourministry? a. Flyers and brochures must be approved by the Communication Committee prior to being printed.tokeepourfacilityorderly,thesemeansofcommunicationswillbelimited. b. Flyersandbrochuresmaynotbeleftfollowinganeventormeetingonchurchpropertywithout theapprovalofthecommunicationscommittee.aplanfordisplayandreplenishmentofthe brochureorflyerwillberequestedbythecommitteeasapartoftheapprovalprocess. c. Any ministry flyer or brochure must include the church logo, church name, Sunday worship times,mainofficephonenumber,andchurchwebsiteaddress.

3 7. Canwedistributeacardorflyerinthesanctuarypews? a. PewinsertsmustbeapprovedbytheCommunicationCommitteepriortobeingprinted.Aplan for replenishment of the insert and removal following the conclusion of the event will be requestedbythecommitteeasapartoftheirapprovalprocess. 8. WhattypeofprintingcanwedoinShouseandwhatcan/mustbesettoaprinter? a. TheCommunicationCommitteecanhelpyoudeterminewhetheryourprintjobisbesthandled byourequipmentorsentouttoaprintshop.thisdecisionwillbemadebasedonthetypeof printing required, the quantity required, and the work already in the queueforourinfhouse equipment. The provision of volunteers is strongly encouraged to help with infhouse publications. b. If the decision is made that your print job would be best handled by an outside printer the CommunicationsCommitteewillhelpyoudeterminewheretosendit.Wehaverelationships withlocalprintshopsthatmayleadtoabetterpricebasedontheotherprintinginourqueue. 9. Canwecreatealogoforourministry/event? a. Wehavealogoforourchurch.Itshouldbeusedonallbrochures,flyersandpublicationsand inaccordancewiththelogostyleguide.acopyofthestyleguideisavailablefromthechurch office. If another logo is to be used with the church s logo, it must be approved by the CommunicationsCommittee.Furthermore,theCommunicationCoordinatorisavailabletohelp with the design of printed material. Allow 4 weeks to include your project with the other workloadofthecommunicationscoordinator. 10. WhatisourpolicyaboutadvertisingfornonSchurchsponsoredevents? a. Eventsrelateddirectlytothischurchwillhavepriority.CommunityeventssponsoredbynonF profitsforcausesthechurchsupportswillbeincludedonaspaceavailablebasis. 11. HowfarinadvancecanIadvertisemyeventorministry? a. OurlongFstandingpolicyisaneventistobeadvertisedfornomorethan3consecutiveweeks. 12. Canmyministryhangposters,bannersorflyersaroundthechurchfacility? a. Postersarediscouragedastheyarenotinkeepingwiththeneatlookweexpectofourchurch. Ministriesareencouragedtousethedigitalmedia(TV s,slides,website)andthesunday morningbulletintocommunicateimportantinformation.contactthechurchoffice. b. Nopostersorflyersaretobeplacedinrestroomsortapedtowallsordoors. c. FlyersplacedontablesonWed.eveningsandSundaymorningsmustbeapprovedbythe CommunicationsCommitteeChair. d. ExteriorbannersmustbeapprovedbytheCommunicationsCommitteebeforepurchasing.

4 13. HowdoIadvertiseintheQuarterlyTower? Deadlines for submission of articles and information to the Quarterly Tower will be communicated annually to the Church Council and Pillar Leaders. It is each ministry s responsibility to submit their articles with Pillar approval by the due date. Articles must be submittedbythestateddeadlineincopyreadyformat. 14. Canmyministrysendaletterormailer? AnyletterormailingsenttoourchurchmembershipmustbeapprovedbytheCommunications CommitteeortheSr.Pastor. 15. CanIsetupaboothortableadvertisingmyeventinthebuildingonSunday morningorwednesdaynight? a. Space for tables and booths on Wednesday Night or Sunday morning to share information about your event or ministry, or collect items or volunteers, must be on put on the church calendarinthemainofficebycompletingafacilityuseform.spaceislimited,andisgivenona firstcomefirstservebasis. b. Whenyoureserveyourtimeyouwillbegivenalocationtosetup.Duetotrafficflowissuesin ourbuildingthelocationsavailableforboothsandtablesislimitedto: Vestibule(1setup) FirstFloorHall(1setupwiththeexceptionofhightrafficdays) FellowshipHall(2setups) 16. HowdoIgetmyministryonthewebsite? a. HowdoIadvertisemyministryonthewebsite? Departmentandheadsandministrydirectorswillberesponsibleforaddingcontentto theirpagesonthewebsite.ifyouneedhelpwecansetupatimetomeetandshow youorarepresentativeofyourministryhowtomakeupdatestothewebsite. b. Canmyministryhaveitsownwebsite? No,forsecurityreasonsallchurchrelatedwebsitesmustbehousedwithinourchurch website.thecommunicationscoordinatorcanworkwithyoutohelpdeveloppageson ourwebsitetomeetyourneeds.wecanworkwithyoutodetermineifyourministry needs a separate URL. If so, we can help you acquire one that points to the ministry specificpagesonourwebsite. c. HowdoIgetmyministryoreventadvertisedonthehomepage? Placement of information on the church homepage is determined by the CommunicationsCommitteebasedontheprioritiessetbychurchleadership. d. CanIputpicturesonthewebsiteandothercommunicationtools?

5 Allgraphicsorpicturesshouldbe edasjpegs,orbroughtinonCD s.releaseforms forchildrenandyouthmustbeobtained. 17. DataProtectionPolicy a. The Communications Committee and Administration at First United Methodist Church take seriously the trust people give us when they share with us their personal information. This includesthecontactinformationtheysharewithus.wewillupholdandprotectthattrustfirst andforemost. b. Personal Contact Information: (included but not excluded to phone number, address, mailing address) will be shared ONLY with members of the church. This information is to be used to communicate church information only and should never be used for any personal or businessbeyondtheministriesoffirstchurch. c. PhotographsandVideos: We understand that photos and videos of adults provided to First Churcharegivenwithpermissiontobeusedinourmanycommunicationoutlets.Werequire writtenpermissionfromaparentbeforesharingaphotoofachildbeyondthemembershipof thischurchfamily. d. PersonalContactInformationandtheInternet:Nopersonalcontactinformationwillbelisted onthewebsitewithoutpermission.any addressthatneedstobesharedonthechurch websiteshouldbesetupasalink,notlisteddirectlyinthetextofthewebsite. e. Mass Any senttoamassdistributionlistofchurchmembershipshouldbesentas a blind copy. That action protects the addresses of our church membership. In no circumstance should an be sent in such a way that give away the addresses that haveentrustedtothechurch. 18. HowdoIputavideoontheFUMCwebsiteorothervideowebsites? ContacttheCommunicationsCoordinator. 21.SocialMedia: FUMCwillsetupforthePage/Account.AFUMCemployeemustalsobean administratoroneveryfumcsocialmediaaccount.theministryadministrator willdothepostings.fillouttheformonthewebsiteandsubmitittotheofficeto establishanewsocialmediaaccount. 19. TextMessaging: ContacttheCommunicationsCoordinator. 20. Dowehaveaphonetree? Currentlywedonothavephonetreecapabilities.

6 21. TVAds/RadioAds: ContacttheCommunicationsCommittee.TheCommunicationsCommitteedoes nothaveabudgettosupportyourtv/radioads.costmustbecoveredbyyour ministrybudget. 22. Newspaper Generally newspaper ads are developed by the Communications Committee. In all circumstances, printed ads must be reviewed by the Communications Committee before submitting.everyexternaladshouldincludetheeventdate,churchnameandaddress,church logoandcontactinformation.