Conducting a Communications Audit

But You Were Close! (BYWC!) is always looking to better the storytelling and communications of faith communities and non-profits. When I enter into a partnership, one of the very first steps we take is doing an audit of all your current communication channels, particularly your digital communications and social media channels. Today, we’re going to take a look at how we help Breath of God Lutheran Church - and associated organizations - take stock of their communication efforts.

Breath of God Lutheran Church is more than just a place of worship. It is the “church home” for the entire neighborhood, where folks from all walks of life come to find community, seek safety, and be fed (sometimes spiritually, often physically). The building is home to the Church and The Highlandtown Preschool, and the building is SOON to be home of the Clinton Street Community Center after recent expansion efforts. It is a place where everyone is welcome and no one is turned away, so let’s make sure the community knows it!

An audit from But You Were Close! is going to focus on three key areas.

Leadership Interviews

In the first step, BYWC! is going to work with our organizational contact to identify those in leadership positions who hold keys to the communication efforts. Having grown up in the church and spent much of my life working for non-profits, I have a keen understanding of the power structures of these communities, and the roles that exist on paper and how they might be different than the roles that are actually held. I’ve seen volunteers with a surprising amount of influence on the mission and storytelling of an organization, and Communication Directors who have little say in how their communities are sharing their story. We’re going to work hard to identify who is in charge of your information.

In the case of the Breath of God, I was able to have two wonderful interviews. Though a huge reach, this technically small congregation is led by Pastor Mark Parker. The only full time staff member of the church, most of the public facing communication efforts can trace back to him. Whether it’s writing the weekly e-newsletters, putting together the bulletin, or scheduling social media efforts, Pastor Mark really does it all. Our hour-plus interview laid a strong foundation and thorough understanding of the communication needs, capacities, and limitations present at Breath of God.

I also had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Carnesha Banks - Director of The Highlandtown Preschool. Ms. Banks is an amazing educator of young people, and in daily contact with the families of her students. Though her communication style and day-to-day is much more one-on-one, we were able to talk about how that can be used to the school's advantage and discuss the ability for more public-focused content for the school.

Social Listening

While setting up time to talk with Pastor Parker and Ms. Banks, I also set up some intentional time to just observe and listen to the story being told by the organization. First, I identified how information was getting out to folks. For Breath of God, that consisted of a Facebook Page, a Facebook Group, a Preschool Facebook Page, Pastor Mark’s Personal and Public Facebook page, a Preschool Instagram Account, two different mailing lists using Mailchimp, a dormant physical newsletter, as well as weekly bulletins that coincided with Sunday morning worship.

In this COVID era, I took to tracking all the digital channels. Paying close attention to social media engagement (reactions, shares, comments, and reach) as well as paying attention to basic, but important, differences in the content, I was able to have a sense of what is working well (in the case of Breath of God - video and Spanish language posts got a lot of reach), what is superfluous (very little engagement on Pastor Mark’s personal posts), and what could use some work (Preschool engagement is super high, but content is infrequent).

Community Feedback

The final step in our audit is sourcing general feedback from the community. I work with every community to find the best path for this as I'm seeking simple and quantifiable feedback from your community.

In the case of the Breath of God, I was able to give anyone connected to their communication channels the opportunity to complete an anonymous online survey. I asked about people’s preferences for receiving information, how they value the current communication efforts provided by the Breath of God, and where there is room for improvement and growth.

In the case of Breath of God, I was able to celebrate the quality of the communication information being provided while also identifying some growing areas. For instance, one key question on the survey about service opportunities identified that the community doesn’t quite know where to turn to for that specific information - and with that, we have an easy opportunity to communicate more clearly! Success!

I look forward to working with you to assess your current communications, and are also ready to take the next stop… a Communication Strategy! Stay tuned :)