Saturday, August 25, 2012

Importance of Websites as a Key Method of Communication
A few years ago, Dr. Charles Zech, Executive Director of the Villanova University Center for the Study of Church Management, completed a survey for the International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC). The survey looked at best practices in parish stewardship. What worked and what didn't?

Dr. Zech found that parishes using five or more methods of communication to teach stewardship experienced significant increases in critical areas of parish life: 14% increase in treasure, 19% increase in volunteer time, 10% increase in spiritual time, and a 30% increase in outreach time. That's amazing! The study also found that the majority of parishes relied on the bulletin for stewardship communications (93% of parishes surveyed), while only 41% employed a website containing similar messages. Websites and newsletters were the most effective ways to communicate stewardship.

According to a survey released on May 30, 2012 by GreyMatter Research Consulting on church websites (www.greymatterresesarch.com/index_files/Online_Church.htm), there are three types of visitors to church websites. In the 30 days before the survey, those who:
1. Regularly attend that particular church looked at the church website. (64% of visitors)
2. Attend another church regularly looked at another church's website. (31% of visitors)
3. Do not attend any church regularly looked at a church website. (5% of visitors)

Pages commonly visited on church websites are times of services, activities offered, map/directions to the church, available videos, audio clips and those defining the churches' beliefs. What is your church's web address? Does your church offer these services on it's website? How easy are they to find for someone who has never visited or heard of your church? Enlist someone unfamiliar with your church to analyze the website for you to give you ideas for improvement.

My next post will look at ideas and sample websites for drawing new visitors into the website. Check back soon!

Blessings, Julie

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

To Post or Not to Post...

More Catholic parishes are embracing the internet and digital communications as another form of communicating with parishioners, anyone interested in the Catholic faith, and those who might be "church shopping" in the area. Whether a parish is revamping their website, starting a Facebook page, blogging, and/or tweeting, social media has become something parishes find critical, especially when trying to reach youth and young adults.

Our Sunday Visitor recently held a webinar called Social Media for Pastors and Parishes: More Than Friends, Creating Meaningful Relationships, and it was one of the best attended yet. Our speaker, Domenico Bettinelli, Jr., Creative Director for Pilot Media Group with the Archdiocese of Boston, answered several questions from participants about security, guidelines, protecting the parish from liability issues, and more. Those are questions Our Sunday Visitor frequently hears as well when we work with parishes to launch new websites .

For those wanting some guidance on terminology, setting appropriate boundaries, dealing with difficult "fans", examples of codes of conduct, and other helpful tips, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department of Communications issued a document called Social Media Guidelines. It was published in 2010, and is full of good information. http://www.usccb.org/about/communications/social-media-guidelines.cfm

For those reading this who are located outside the States, check to see if your Bishops have issued a similar set of guidelines. If not, there are certainly some good rules to follow at the link above.

Over the next couple of posts, I'll pass along some links to great parish websites, Facebook pages, other social media examples, and good resources for accomplishing this in the limited time of a parish staff person. I also address why a parish should incorporate multiple media forms in their communication plan.
Stay tuned...I'm heading back to the vineyard. See you there!