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Quote about website being important - NEXT SLIDE Comm. pyramid theory explained 1. Organizational Big Idea.This is what your organization is all about. You have to gure this out before you go anywhere else. 2. Communications Strategy (Print & Digital). This is how you get the word out about your organization, both internally and externally; digital and print. 3. Website Strategy. This is one component of your communications strategy. How do you harness the power of your website? Who's responsible for the content ow? Updating it? Tending to it? Etc. 4. Social Media Strategy. Social media are your outposts. The website has been, and always will be, homebase. For your social media strategy to be sound, you have to have a solid homebase to send people to.

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This is how communication pyramid should ow This is what it looks like in most churches/organizations 1. 2. 3. 4. Website Strategy Social Media Strategy No Comm Strategy to speak of Big Idea (Usually tacked on for good measure)

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Not all churches/ministries are this misaligned, but the majority, in our experience our 1. Here's why: Technology adoption lifecycle slide

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Here are the results of a misaligned communications pyramid 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Departmental strife - aka "Siloed Ministry" In- ghting amongst sta Lack of focused vision Role confusion/lack of role clarity Decreased attendance Decreased growth

COMMUNICATIONS PYRAMID EXPLAINED

1. Organizational Big Idea This is what your organization is all about. You have to gure this out before you go anywhere else. NEXT SLIDE For churches, more than just "preaching the Gospel" or "making disciples" Encourage people we work with to dig beneath that blanket calling Find unique niche, what is your organization about? One church we worked with had adoption as their organizational big idea Another church was situated next to a University, so their big idea involved reaching that community When we worked with Village Church down in Dallas area, their big idea was building small sustainable communities/small groups within the larger context of the church. Felt drawn towards evangelism in the context of discipleship. Big ideas can focus on evangelism, people groups, lifestyle situations, missions, The most important point is having a big idea to start with, even if it changes on down the road - NEXT SLIDE Big Win: Moving from shotgun to a laser beam

2. Communications Strategy - Print and Digital How are you going to get the word out about your big idea, both internally and externally? Internally: How are you communicating the vision to your sta? How are you facilitating discussion between departments? Externally: How are you communicating the vision to the congregation? To your donors? Volunteers? This, in my experience, is the most dicult piece in this whole diagram In a sense, all roles within an organization are involved in communications We're all communicating something when we show up to work everyday, right? NEXT SLIDE

A colleague developed a communications matrix of sorts Every announcement was passed through Comm Grid Objectively determined what would be announced and what wouldn't

Another organization we worked with had no conception of communications as a position or role within the church There was no strategy to speak of Each department simply turned on the re hydrant and blasted everyone and anyone they could with their information NEXT SLIDE

Big Win: Church we worked with in San Diego let their communications director go and started search for a new one

3. Web Strategy Web strategy must be built on the larger communications strategy for the church Most churches are driven by print, but this is actually starting to reverse Churches and organizations will increasingly be driven by web-based communications Website is one of the primary ways that your organizational big idea is communicated to the waiting, watching world - NEXT SLIDE Willowbrook Baptist Church Strong emphasis on evangelism; incorporating new people into the church When we started working with them, their site looked like this This is what it looked like afterwards NEXT SLIDE

Big Win:People visiting the New Visitor info more than doubled. (420 to 903 an 115% increase Page views of new visitors)

4. Social Media Strategy Social media are your outposts Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, blogs serve as mini-homebases for your website A strategic relay point Website has been, and always will be, your home base For your social media to be eective, they have to be aligned with your website strategy, which has to be aligned with comm strategy, which has to be aligned with org big idea - NEXT SLIDE

Big Win:University Christian Church in Ft. Worth added a social media coordinator to their sta after we worked with them Before we worked with them, their social media were simply "info dumps", online bulletin boards, announcements and nothing more. Afterwards, saw the tremendous value and potential in cultivating their social media presence - NEXT SLIDE