More Effective Communication

. . . Or how to avoid being these people . .

Initial Goals

More Effective Member Communication More Effective Potential Member

Communication More Consistent Communication Less Paper

Educational Journey

Audience Active Members, New Members/Visitors,

Potential Visitors Generational Differences

Traditionals, Boomers, Xers, Millenials Who We Could Be in 2019?

Vehicles Paper, Current Electronic, Future Electronic

Survey of Congregational Readiness Planning

Audience: Ins and Outs

It’s Ok, even liberal, democratic, egalitarian, tolerant, compassionate groups have them

Audience: Bridging The Gap

Ins

If they were interested, they’d figure out how to get in.

It’s so easy to get involved!

This is so much work - how can we get more help?

We’re so friendly - why don’t they want to participate?

Key communication happens in informal channels or based on ‘inherent’ knowledge.

Outs

If they needed people, they’d make it easier to get in.

It’s so hard to get involved!

That looks like so much work - I don’t think I have enough time/energy to help

They’re so close - why would they want more people to get involved?

Rely on formal communication channels because they don’t have the ‘inherent’ knowledge or informal access.

Audience Bridge:* Ministry To All Members “Coffee servers and greeters today are from

the Bridge group, which meets every third Monday at 7:00 pm.”

Promotes the group and identifies members Gives Outs an informal, easy way into a

conversation People that know each other work together Group organizes duties, coverage People get cross-trained on tasks

* Pardon the pun

Generations

Traditionals: Age 65+, ‘Radio Generation,’ Loyalty

Boomers: Age 45-64, ‘TV Generation,’ Confidence

Xers: Age 28-44, ‘Computer Generation,’ Independence

Millennials: Age 10-27, ‘Internet Generation,’ Empowerment In 2020 . . . this generation will be 103 million strong,

representing 40 percent of the voting population.

Who We Could Be in 2019: Overall Attitude

Millennials: support gay marriage

take race and gender equality as givens

are tolerant of religious and family diversity,

have an open and positive attitude toward immigration

generally display little interest in fighting over the divisive social issues of the past

Almost two-thirds agree that religious faith should focus more on promoting tolerance, social justice, and peace in society, and less on opposing abortion or gay rights.

New Progressive America: The Millennial Generation David Madland and Ruy Teixeira May 2009

Who We Could Be in 2019: Attitude Toward Technology They personally own 8 devices (including MP3

player, PC, TV, DVD player, mobile phone, stereo, games console, and digital camera)

They frequently conduct over 5 activities whilst watching TV

A quarter of young people interviewed text or IM (instant message) friends they are physically with at the time

The first thing the majority of them do when they get home is turn on their PC

From the OTX Report “Technology, Telly, and Kids” on 12-24 year olds.http://www.millennialmarketing.com/2009/06/observing-teen-media-use-in-its-natural.html

Who We Could Be in 2019: Social Media

Social media is “Online applications, platforms and media which aim to facilitate interaction, collaboration and the sharing of content”. That includes blogs, photo and video sharing, podcasts, microblogs (Twitter), widgets, chat rooms and message boards, and more.

Social media's reach is surprisingly high. 83% of active Internet users watch videos, 73% read blogs. 39% have started their own blog. "As a collective, the blogosphere rivals any mass media in terms of reach, time spent and wider cultural, social and political impact.”

Social Networks have evolved into platforms to organize users’ internet experience. 74% use them to message friends. Social networks are becoming a 'one stop shop' for all Internet needs. Consequently, they are becoming one of the most powerful ways to disseminate information.

Social Media Tracking Report, McCann 2008 in The Millennial Handbook

Who We Could Be in 2019: Religious Diversity In 2006 combined Pew data:

44 percent of 18- to 25-year-old Millennials said they were Protestant

25 percent said they were Catholic

20 percent said they have no religious affiliation or are agnostic/atheist

Among those older than 25, the analogous numbers were 55/25/11. Note also that among 18- to 25-year-olds in 1988 (Gen X’ers), the numbers were 52/29/11. There is a clear trend away from Protestantism especially, and also toward religious disaffiliation.

Other surveys have the unaffiliated figure still higher. The 2008 Pew Religious Landscape survey measured the unaffiliated figure among 18- to 25-year-old Millennials at 25 percent. More recently, 28 percent of Millennials reported no religious affiliation in the PSP youth survey.

New Progressive America: The Millennial Generation David Madland and Ruy Teixeira May 2009

Who We Could Be in 2019: Organizational Expectations [Organizations] have not kept pace with the

millennials’ preference for interacting through newer, community-based technologies, as most continue to rely on telephone, email, and [face-to-face] points of contact.

This generation finds direct marketing to be less persuasive in shaping opinion than social consumer-to-consumer recommendations. To the extent that interaction is positive or poor, millennials can (and do) use their expertise with portable, real-time technologies to provide immediate feedback.

Maturing with the Millenials: Are organisations prepared for the millennial consumer?Economist Intelligence Unit, 2008

Who We Could Be in 2019: Going Beyond Communication If we can create a strategy that communicates

effectively with millennials, we need to make sure the community supports them and their needs. Otherwise, we are inviting people to a party that we aren’t actually hosting. Have a strong Young Adult and Young Family lifestage

presence, even if they aren’t at the services Follow through on the electronic identity of the church Solicit feedback and offer multiple interaction points

Survey

Determine level of ins and outs Understand gaps between involved and

uninvolved Know which technologies are influencers Know which technologies are used vs.

interesting Assess specific content elements Seed the idea of cooperative change -

Hawthorne Effect

Survey Actions

Make the most of self-perceived flexibility Approach Millennials as outsiders Focus first on more familiar technologies like

email, the website, and YouTube Conduct Technology Workshops Encourage simple, ‘one-click’ actions and

temporary organizations (carecalendar.org) Target communication to interest groups Increase public presence, particularly of social

justice topics

Objectives

Make sure all printed information is also electronic

Use the features of electronic media that are different from and better than print

Maximize ease of use Keep it fresh Maximize ease of updates by providing a

single source for information wherever possible

So Far….

Any linkable item should be supported with robust content (i.e., Calendar)

Need redundancy in communication but consistency in content.

More items should be actionable

Content should have provocative proposition or essential question that leads to action

Unigram Facebook

ExternalWebsites

Data

Paper Reduction

Voluntary Program to reduce the number of mailed Unigrams

Order of Service/Bulletin

reduced to 4 pages

Draft: Effective Communication for a Successful, Community Building Event

Procedure has been presented to staff and sent to church members for review.

* Don’t worry, this is not the procedure

Future

We have already made many changes and might need a breather to let folks catch up.Improve Member Website Create Specific Communications for GroupsConduct Technology WorkshopsFinish Communication Plan

Paper Electronic Current Members Potential Members