communication standards guide

2

why communication standards? How we communicate is just as important as what we are communicating. Good communications communicate two main ideas to the reader about Wedgwood Baptist Church, we are unified and that the message and the reader are important. Wedgwood’s mission is “Experiencing Christ together to transform our world!” To do this effectively, we have to be passionate about sending clear and simple messages about key priorities to our members, attendees and visitors.

Communications standards are guidelines for consistency and quality in our communication. They help ensure that we communicate with excellence across all ministry areas.

How we communicate (beyond the platform) with each other and our audience brings the message to life. A consistent stylistic approach will have a positive impact on the overall excellence of our church. • Effectiveness Requires a partnership with staff and ministry leaders to facilitate good stewardship of resources. It’s not about dogmatic ideas and rigid principles, but about harnessing the power of our message to enhance the experience. • Consistency Each communication piece is a valuable tool with the opportunity to unify or dilute all communications church-wide, depending on the quality of the information and how it is organized. • Clarity Simplify everything our audience sees or touches to make their life easier and more rewarding in every aspect of their engagement with Wedgwood. Help them connect with Jesus and others effortlessly.

3

thought starter questions

When developing any communication, think through these questions in advance. Answers to these questions guide what communication vehicles will be employed.

• What audience or demographic am I trying to reach? • What obstacles exist that may prevent my listeners from responding? • Do they have any pre-conceived opinions about what I’m communicating? • What other events, programs, or messages exist that I can work in concert with? • What is really going to motivate them to respond to what I’m communicating?

4

communication vehicles Depending on the scope, audience and strategy, the following communication vehicles may be used to communicate your message:

Web/electronic

· Announcement in all-church e-newsletter · Announcement in ministry

specific e- newsletter · Webpage within the

ministry’s area of website · Listing on website calendar

(i.e., description in ServiceU event details)

· Graphic for website · E-mail to desired audience

Print · Listing in Lifeline (print & web) · Custom brochure, flyer or postcard · Custom poster · Custom direct mail piece

In-person sign-up or promotion

· Promotion slide on internal TV’s · Table in Resource Area

Social Media

· Facebook announcement/reminder · Twitter announcement/reminder

5

event scheduling process

10-STEPS For Lifeline Requests in SERVICE-U

1 - Login into your ServiceU account and click  “New” on the top tool bar then click  “Event” 2 – On the event form, in the Event Name field, type the word "Publicity" and the name of your event in the first field. 3 – In the Event Dates sections, for any events or publicity that does not require room reservations, enter only the start date for your event in both fields of the date area. For events that do require rooms and other support services or resources then type the full date range and fill out all other relevant fields on this form. 4 – Leave description field blank and save your event description for the publicity form. 5 - Select a department 6 - Select a category - choose "Lifeline Articles" then click NEXT 7 - Click on "Resources/Support Services" link on the top of the next page. 8 - Uncheck the option for "Building entry doors..." and select "Event Publicity Request Form" then Click NEXT 9 - Fill in all relevant fields of the Event Publicity Request form then Click NEXT 10 - On the Summary page Click "Submit Event for Approval" and you're done!

2 – Type “publicity” + article name

1 – Login and click “New” then click “Event”

Leave blank

3 – Enter the event start date in BOTH fields. See notes for events with rooms.

4 – Leave blank

5 – Select department

6 – Select category: “Lifeline Articles” then click NEXT

Go to Event Publicity Form

Go to Summary page

Click on 7 – "Resources/Support Services" link

Uncheck 8 – building entry door option. Select “EventPublicity Request Form”

Fill in form, click NEXT9 –

Click "Submit Event 10 – for Approval"

6

guidelines for verbiage, writing, & grammar We use many terms at Wedgwood to refer to things unique to this church, including programs, building rooms, etc. In order to reflect excellence in all we do, we need to be consistent when referring to these terms in our communications.

Capitalization rules are reflected as they appear unless noted otherwise.

• Acronyms – Acronyms communicate exclusivity in harmful ways, as people

newer to the church don’t know what you are referring to. Therefore do not use acronyms unless you first use the full name with the acronym in parentheses.

• Bible • Bible study • biblical / godly • child care – lowercase; two words.

• church – Not capitalized in general uses; capitalize when used in official name

(Ex. We went to church today. We went to Wedgwood Baptist Church today.) • Community Life Center (CLC) – use full name first time used in

communications and abbreviate each following time used. • Dates – When listing dates, always use numbers only, without st, nd, rd or th

(See also Months). • e-mail – Lowercase except at the beginning of a sentence; only “E” needs

capitalization. o Always include a hyphen between “e” and “mail.”

• Gospel • Kids Hope • Leaders in Training (LITs) – Use full name first time used in communications

and abbreviate each following time used. • ministry / Ministry – Capitalize when used with the name of a specific

ministry (Ex. Children’s o Ministry, Women’s Ministry). Lowercase when using in general terms (Ex.

the ministry in which o I serve). Never use the plural “ministries/Ministries” unless referring to

more than one ministry.

7

• Monetary references - $ before figure. No zeros if even amount. E.g., $10 instead of $10.00.

• Months – Capitalize the names of months in all uses. When a month is used

with a specific date (Aug. 12), abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. Spell out when using alone or with a year alone. When a phrase lists only a month and a year, do not separate the year with a comma (Ex. July 2007). When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with a comma. (Ex. Aug. 4, 2007).

• Nehemiah Kids

• Numbers – No apostrophes, e.g., 4s and 5s. • online – one word, no hyphen • pastor – Capitalize if used before a name (Ex. Pastor Joe Bartemus); do

not capitalize in general use (Ex. Eric Anderson is the pastor who oversees worship.)

• Phone numbers – Phone numbers must include the area code and a period

between the first three and last four numbers, not a hyphen (Ex. 317.846.2884). • Preschool Park– Always uppercase to match our signage. The Park refers

to the entire preshool wing, primarily in the foyer area with the Children’s Welcome Desk.

• Resource Center – Match our signage. Do not use foyer, lobby, or narthex to

refer to this area. • Scripture – Capitalize when referring to the Bible as a whole. (Ex. The pastor

referred to various portions of Scripture in his sermon.) Lowercase when referring to a verse or passage, (Ex. scripture verse).

• Scripture references – To honor copyright laws, cite the translation

abbreviation at the end of the reference, outside the quotation marks. • Small Group – Use Small Group instead of “Flock Group.” Both words are

capitalized in all uses. • Sunday school groups – school is not capitalized

• Times – Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate

hours from minutes. Use a.m. and p.m. (Ex. 12:30 p.m.; 4 a.m.). Not AM, am or A.M. Do not use zeros at even times, e.g., 3 p.m. instead of 3:00 p.m. Avoid redundancies (Ex. 10 a.m. in the morning).

• the Wedg

• website – one word

8

• Worship Center - • Wedgwood Baptist Church – For the first reference, write the entire

name. All subsequent references, you can use “Wedgwood” or “WBC”. Use “WBC” sparingly and only after an initial reference to “Wedgwood Baptist Church” or “Wedgwood.”

When this guide does not cover an issue, WBC will default to AP Style for grammar and punctuation consistency. http://www.apstylebook.com/ask_editor.php

9

tips for effective digital communication digital = website, e-Newsletters, email

How to write effectively & clearly for digital readers

Less is more • This is the most important thing about writing for digital readers. • Web users are scanning and don’t like to read very long paragraphs.

The more concise the content, the easier it is to scan. • “Chunk” text (break into bite-sized pieces) for quick and easy consumption. • Break paragraph points into bulleted lists. • Use short phrases instead of full sentences to make a point. • Make one point per paragraph.

Use headlines and headings • Use headings within a document to make it easy to scan the document's

meaning. Good journalistic headings read like a bullet-point summary of the document's contents, so a reader can scan down the page, get a quick idea of what's on the page, and decide whether to read in more detail.

Use active voice • English grammar uses two 'voices': active and passive. Active voice is

when something does something (actively). Passive voice is when something is done to something.

• Passive voice uses more words than active, and takes slightly more decoding. o E.g., "Sign up on the registration page." is better than "Sign-up

can be done on the registration page." Use a friendly, conversation tone • · People make impressions about our church by what they read on the

website. Therefore, use a tone is friendly, conversational, and inviting • · Use language welcoming to new attenders or guests, with little to no

“church” language or hard-to-understand terms or acronyms used (unless good explanations are provided), especially on the visitor-targeted pages

• · Refer to the verbiage and grammar guidelines above for tools to ensure consistency in grammar and punctuation.

Give readers all the information they need to learn more or take the next step • · This may sound obvious, but many writers ask people to sign-up but

don’t include a link to register. • · Always include contact information (name, phone, & email) or a link

for registration (if applicable). • § When providing contact information, provide a hyperlink from the

person’s name to their e- mail. “Contact [name and number].” Links to Resources for Writing for the Web • Helpful comparison of print vs. online content:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.html • Introduction and overview of writing for the Web:

http://webdesignfromscratch.com/writing-for- the-web.php • Helpful articles on many different aspects of the Web:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs- online-content.html

10

• An online library of links to Web site resources, including how to write for the Web: http://websitetips.com/webcontent/

Sample well-structured e-mail:

Hi all,

Curious about the plan for our staff lunch tomorrow? Here are the details about our schedule for tomorrow:

Staff AM Meeting · Meet at 9 a.m. in the east room · Will be a time of staff prayer

Staff Lunch ‐ Meet at 11 a.m. in the east room ‐ Eat at 11:15 a.m. ‐ We’ll eat a tasty meal served by Brother Al and watch the inauguration ceremony (11:30)

Thanks,Mitch

Sample of poorly-structured e-mail:

Hi all, As we usually do for staff meetings and on our Tuesday schedule, we’ll be doing a couple of things as a staff tomorrow. Hopefully you’ll be able to join us for what we’ll be doing as a staff. We’ll be in the fellowship hall in the morning for both of the meetings. At our regular staff meeting we’ll be praying for the needs in our staff and church family and we’ll be meeting at 9 a.m. We’ll be doing our every third-Tuesday staff lunch also, when we’ll be meeting to each a meal served by the Staff Elders and then we’ll be watching a cool video. The meeting time will be 11 am and later we’ll eat at 11:15 a.m.

Thanks, Paul

Sample well-structured web event:

JumpStart Prayer Now Starting for Women

Due to the great response to the Men's JumpStart Prayer, the Rebound ministry team is now starting a JumpStart Prayer for women!

This prayer time is for women who are currently unemployed and it is designed to give them support and encouragement to keep them persevering through the job search process.

Here are the details:

• Starts Thursday, March 26 and continues through Thursday, May 7 (may

11

continue after May 7 if interest continues). • Meets 12-1 p.m. at Wedgwood Baptist Church in the Prayer Room. • A light lunch will be provided each week. • Meetings will be led by staff as well as other College Park members.

Please join us for this great time of prayer, encouragement, and practical help!

REMEMBER

• You may be the first and only contact that someone has with the church. • Your goal is to connect people directly with a resource and not necessarily another person. Avoid the middleman.

ASK YOURSELF

• Instead of connecting people to the church staff, how can we connect them with each other? • Instead of making people wait for us, how can we give them tools that empower them to do things themselves?

12

formatting for webpages

• See Wordpress template for branding style.

formatting for e-Newsletters Beyond the digital communication guideline above, follow these specific guidelines for e-newsletters: • Right justify all images and graphics. • Limit your image size to 151 pixels wide for two-column templates and 200 pixels

wide for one- column templates. • Always have a second person proofread your e-newsletter draft. • Always double-check your recipient list segment. It is very easy to inadvertently

send to the entire all-church distribution list.

photography usage • All photos to be used on the Wedgwood website must be reviewed with the

Communication Team. • People clearly seen in all photos used on the Wedgwood website must have signed a

written photo waiver (legality issues). • Whenever possible for photos of children: Use stock photography or large group

photos taken from behind without a focus on faces (legality issues).

13

fonts This document provides guidelines for designing print and/or web promotional applications for Wedgwood Baptist Church. A consistent stylistic approach will positively impact the efficiency, consistency, clarity, growth, and overall excellence of our church.

On this page you will find the approved fonts for usage in Wedgwood Baptist Church communications.

the Wedgwood font: Gotham Book The Gotham Book font is Wedgwood’s primary typeface and should be used across the board in all communications (letters, postcards, brochures) to establish a consistent look and feel.

the secondary font: Russo One The Russo One font is included here for usage in headlines or sub headlines. Russo One is not approved for usage in body copy or paragraph texts.

approved type styles Gotham Book Regular ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 Gotham Book Italic ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 Gotham Bold ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 Gotham Bold Italic ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 approved type styles Russo One Regular ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 Russo One Extra Bold ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890

-The ONLY exception to these fonts is special event/sermon logos that utilize a word or words in their event/sermon logo. If a special event/sermon (kids play, DNow, Facets, etc.) uses a font because that word(s) is part of that special event/sermon logo/graphic, then it does not have to be one of the approved branding fonts. This should still not be something done often.

14

colors

The Wedgwood color palette reflects our mission and the unique DNA that characterizes our church. The primary & secondary colors below can be used as accents to any basic document. Text should appear in black. These colors can be used as a color heading (see example below), in a box behind a photograph or graphic, or as colors in bulleted lists. Remember the principle that color used sparingly, yet consistently, can add just the right amount of emphasis and impact. primary colors: Web

81bc00

76777b

54565b

2a5135

510c76

003e52

7aa4dd

ee7624

dc0032

fed857

seconday colors:

15

logo

standard logo

secondary logo (stacked version)

When using the Wedgwood logo in any document and when printing in color, please use the standard logo. Always include the Wedgwood logo on every external/public piece.

You can access these files/logos in the ‘Publicity’ folder on the server.

If the standard logo is not used in your application for some reason, you may use the secondary logo.

one-color version

secondary logo / one-color version (stacked version)

filename: logo_secondary_one_color.png

There are many situations in which it may be necessary to use a one-color version of the Wedgwood logo (e.g., a white background is being used or you cannot use a color printer). Because there is so much variance in black and white printer quality, the logo must appear in black. If the standard logo is not used in your application for some reason, you may use the secondary logo.

white version (reversed)

NEVER put a box around the

Logo under any circumstance,

this is just an example to see the

white.

When reversing the Wedgwood logo out of an image (that is, the logo appears in white) make sure there is enough contrast in the background color for maximum legibility.

logos — examples of correct & incorrect usage

16

standard logo shown unaltered, left or center justified suggested

secondary logo shown unaltered, left or center justified suggested

one-color logo shown

unaltered left or center justified suggested

Do not:

stretch logo horizontally or vertically

recolor the logo

place the logo over a complicated background

reversed logo shown unaltered, good contrast for maximum legibility

NEVER put a

box around the Logo under any circumstance, this is just an example to see the white.

place the logo at an angle

17

minimum logo size & usage Reminders:

• Smallest approved print size for the Wedgwood logo is 2 inches • When any communication is sent from Wedgwood that uses any proprietary logo or event logo

please include the Wedgwood Logo somewhere on the document. • Use the ‘Shift’ key when dragging an image handle in order to maintain the aspect ratio. • Try to leave white space around the logo, about the height of the “W” (note, this may not always be

possible). • For Primary and Secondary colors (above):

o CMYK color numbers are used for print documents o RGB color numbers are used for digital graphics/images o Spot/PMS color numbers are used by printing businesses for placing logos/graphics on

products such as banners, cups, shirts, etc… o Web color numbers are used by websites and other website creation software.

18

email signatures

Email is used extensively to communicate internally and externally. Email signatures should be consistent with all staff. Simplicity is very important because different email systems render messages differently, and images/fonts often do not work with mobile devices.

Effective email signatures should contain a person’s name, title, phone number, and link to the College Park website. Optionally, you may add the standard (horizontal) logo, your blog address, or a unique font or signature to personalize your name. For all other words in your signature and the body of the email, use Myriad Pro or the Microsoft standard font Calibri.

For consistency across staff, do not use stylized, textured background template. Email systems and mobile devices to not handle backgrounds and images well (sometimes completely obscuring the message or marking it as spam).

Format:

{Name} {Title} {Phone # of church or direct line} | www.wedgwoodbc.org {blog address – optional} {mission statement – optional) {standard horizontal logo – optional}

example

John Doe Pastor of e-mail Signatures 317.875.0282 x123 | www.wedgwoodbc.org

 

19

file format usage

.tiff, large, raster file type, easy to use with software that deals with page layout and publishing. However, tiff is not compatible for all systems. Tiff’s file size can be very large, take up lots of disk space and have slow loading times, not a good format for anything web related. TIFF is a good choice when images are intended for print. Its ability to read CMYK and YcbCr color, plus its ability to store such high pixel intensity makes it the only choice for designers, photographers and publishers

Best use = images and photographs for high quality print. Remember CMYK format!

.eps, is a vector file type of a graphic, text or illustration. Because it is vector it can be resized to any size it needs to be. It can also be reopened and edited.

Best use = master logo files, graphics and print designs

.ai, is a proprietary, vector file type created by Adobe that can only be opened and edited using Adobe Illustrator.

Best use = creating logos, graphics and illustrations.

.jpeg, raster file type, web friendly, rich color for photos, great compatibility, be careful compressing as it tends to create artifacts. PEG is great for images when you need to keep the size small, such as when you need to upload it online. If you don’t mind compromising the quality of the image a bit, use JPEG.

Best use = rectangle or square photos and photographs displayed on web, monitor/screen

.png, raster file type, 256 colors maximum, preserves transparency, specifically designed for the web, If you want to keep the size small, but still retain the image quality, use PNG. can be used for some images and graphics/logos showing on displays/monitors/computers. It is ideal for saving logo files for websites because they can be placed over a colored background.

Best use = logos, icons and other images where transparent background is preferred.

.bmp, DO NOT USE, they are not great, not popular, oversized files, and are not very “web” friendly. Nor are they compatible with all platforms and they do not scale well.

.giff, raster file type, 256 color maximum, oldest format on the web, suitable for graphics, diagrams, cartoons and logos with relatively few solid colors and don’t have gradients or natural shades. You wouldn’t want to use a .giff for a photograph.

Best use = simple web graphics such as web buttons, charts and icons.

 

20

file format usage

Raster Images: use many colored pixels or individual building blocks to form a complete image.

Vector Images: constructed using mathematical formulas rather than individual colored blocks.

PC & Mac Compatibility:

• .tiff, .eps, .jpeg, .png, .giff are good choices. .bmp is not a good choice.

Logos & Line Art:

• JPEG is the worst choice, it tends to add artifacts and blur the text, line and edges. JPEG also cannot support transparency, which is often a need for logos or icons. GIF is a good choice, but it pales in comparison to TIF, PNG and EPS. These three image formats are lossless, store as much image information, and are not limited to 256 colors, unlike GIF. They also don’t add artifacts (the downfall of JPEG) and keep the logo or line art sharp and concise.

Clip Art:

• GIF is best for clipart and drawn graphics that only use few colors, precise lines & shapes.

Printing

• Remember any file(s) created specifically for print need to be either in the .tiff or .eps format AND use the CMYK color spectrum. An image may still be in the RGB color spectrum even though it is a .tiff or .eps format. Easiest way to remember, CMYK for printing and RGB for screens.