Communications LRP

LONG RANGE PLAN FOR

PARISH COMMUNICATIONS


CHAIR: PATRICK RAMAGE
508-362-2052


LONG RANGE PLAN-COMMUNICATIONS DRAFT 3/09/06


WHERE WE ARE

St. Mary’s currently uses a number of vehicles to communicate with parishioners:
• Crosscurrents –a monthly bulletin to all active members
• Sunday Bulletin-used to communicate announcements
• Web site- has key information and church calendar
• Periodic announcements-sent to whole parish for special events, stewardship etc.
• Annual Report
• Members Directory
• Newcomers Packet
We also have channels of communication to the community at large.
• Public relations announcement
• Service advertising


While we believe we have many current vehicles for communication we believe there is an opportunity to have a more consistent and integrated process for communication. We also need to understand whether we are meeting the communication needs of the parish.
We also believe we could leverage external messaging opportunities to promote ST. Mary’s and its activities.


(Any other comments or info we received from the survey??)

Comments about change in leadership

GOALS
• . Develop and implement an integrated communications plan for St. Mary’s that reflects needs of all key constituencies and employs most effective and relevant channels of distribution.
• Consistently reinforce mission in all communications.
• Continue to promote St. Mary’s and its activities to the community at large.


STRATEGIES AND TACTICS
A. Integrated Communications plan (Channels)
• Complete audit of all communications vehicles being used for internal and external audiences.
• Contact all key constituencies to assess needs for communications in and out of parish (Clergy, Vestry, Committee Heads etc)
• Develop annualized plan to detail all planned communications.
• Improve current communications tools and add others as needed to insure that effective and two-way dialogue is facilitated. Develop point of view regarding current and additional vehicles for communication.
• Develop and implement a plan to more effectively make use of our web site and e-mail as communications tools.
• Recruit communications team to support goals.


B. Consistently reinforce mission in all communications (Content)

• Insure that there is an articulated and consistent messaging throughout communications process which reinforces overall mission and our goal to engage more members in St. Mary’s.


C. Promote St. Mary’s to Community at large (Public Relations)
• Develop comprehensive PR plan
• Assess and address communication requirements for all other areas of focus in long range plan.