Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
– Des Moines, Iowa
“Communications Audit”
Situation
Established in 1844, the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (IUMC) is one of the oldest organized religions in the state of Iowa. In recent years, the IUMC recognized that its communication vehicles have not been as effective as they could be, yet struggled to determine which vehicles were ineffective and how they could be changed. As a result, the Bishop’s Task Force on Communication retained Hanser & Associates to improve communication among United Methodists across Iowa by conducting a communications audit of church members, pastors, local church leadership and district superintendents and implementing desired changes.
PR Action
To reach church members, 10,000 questionnaires were distributed in pews throughout six IUMC districts, reflecting a proportionate amount of small, medium and large congregations in rural areas, towns and cities. More than 1,000 usable questionnaires were returned and used to compile the evaluation and recommendations. Hanser & Associates also conducted focus groups in three districts, and conducted phone interviews with district superintendents and 22 representatives identified by the Annual Conference as church leaders.
Respondents to the communications audit were generally positive about the IUMC, but expressed a strong interest in updating communications methods so they could obtain current information in a portable form. Based on these findings, Hanser & Associates recommended that the Bishop’s Task Force implement a media relations program, update the IUMC’s communications technology and revise Conference publications.
Discontinuation of United Methodist Life and development of a Web-based insert, called CONNECT, into Sunday bulletins was implemented first, since it was one of the most commonly requested improvements uncovered by the audit. CONNECT was intended to inform local members and drive traffic to the Web site for additional information. Prior to its launch, a three-part mailing was distributed to local church pastors, district superintendents and United Methodist Life subscribers to help them understand reasons behind the publication changes. Redesign of the IUMC Web site was also implemented.
Result
Overall, CONNECT has been “well-received” by local congregations, and the publication will continue to evolve to meet the needs of its members. Redesign of the IUMC Web site, launched in January 2001, has received significant positive response from church leaders and lay members. The average number of daily visitors increased more than 21 percent, and the average number of daily page views jumped from 8,526 to 30,950.
One visitor commented:
“I just visited your web site to look for some information, and it’s my first visit to your new wonderful design. The page is a delight to view, it was easy to find what I wanted, and I spent several extra minutes just looking around. Just wanted to let you know it was a pleasure to visit. ”
These implementations have improved communications within the Annual Conference, saved the church printing costs, improved the timeliness of news and increased traffic to the Web site.