Morristown Jewish Center

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DRAFT Communications Plan

  • First draft: 9/19/2024
  • Update: 11/1/24

Table of Contents

Introduction

  • We live in a time of decreasing synagogue membership and there is stiff competition among the local synagogues for new members — local Jews who are not affiliated but might be attracted to join a congregation.
  • Our website is our "front door" on the Internet and often how we make our first impressions.
  • Our website needs to look great and showcase the many activities we offer.
  • Promoting MJCBY is a responsibility shared by all members — everyone must lean in to this effort.
  • This document was revised on 11/1/24 to reflect decisions that have been made since the first draft was written.
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Intended Audience

  • Office staff and volunteers who publish/maintain our channels of communication, including: the Google calendar, online listings of public events, the monthly Newsletter, bi-weekly E-blasts, curators of our social media accounts
  • Community members who sponsors public events
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Issues to be Addressed

  • This plan is designed to address communications issues that exist in and among our various channels:
    • The Google calendar
    • The Events listing on the website (This was not being used prior to the website facelift project.)
    • The monthly Newsletter
    • The bi-weekly E-blasts
    • Our social media accounts
  • There is not a single "source of truth" about the events we have planned.
  • Not all public events have been listed in the calendar.
  • There are informal communications mechanisms whereby each channel gathers and publishes information.
  • Our publications often have typos or inconsistent spelling of transliterated Hebrew words.

This complicated communications web has evolved over time, with each change intended to address a need. None of the stakeholders in the current situation is to blame — this is no one's fault. Everyone has the best of intentions.

This is a systemic issue. This plan is the first step in creating a system. It is bound to need refinement as we learn about what is working and what needs improvement.

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Elements of the Plan

The plan establishes a new way of managing and publicizing MJCBY events. It will take time, encouragement, and reinforcement for this to become routine, so patience with one another is essential.

Once this draft plan is approved by the Executive Committee, the Executive Director will communicate with all stakeholders about the plan and address their questions or concerns.

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Roles

These roles are based on the RACI model. (RACI is widely used in organizational systems.) Anyone who has any of these roles is a stakeholder in the system.

  • Responsible: The staff and volunteers who manage the various channels of communication
  • Accountable: The Executive Director
  • Consulted: Sponsors of MJCBY events
  • Informed: The Executive Committee
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Stylesheets

  • An important aspect of our "branding" is that we use consistent styles for the same types of items that appear in public communications.
  • The styles should include graphical elements and text and convey standard information.
  • Flyers will not be the only format for displaying the key data about individul events.
  • The styles should be readable on mobile and desktop browsers.
  • An event depicted on all channels should have the same design elements (within practical limits).
  • The stylesheet is TBD.

Google Calendar

  • The Google calendar will only be used for internal, MJCBY business.
  • The Google calendar will be used for all MJCBY events.
  • The Office Manager (or their delegate) will maintain this calendar.
  • It will not be displayed on the website.
  • The full calendar will be displayed in "schedule" format under the Main Menu item: Calendar.
  • By the time an event gets publicized in any other channel, it should already be listed here.
  • Events will be tagged so that they can be displayed on "subset" calendars on individual pages; e.g., sisterhood events can be displayed on the Sisterhood page.
  • The "Promote an Event" form is the preferred mechanism to communicate a request to publish an event on the website. This form can be found in the Members' section of the website. [Action Needed1]
  • A concern in scheduling an internal meeting is that the intended location not already be committed by a public event.
  • On the one hand, most public events are not scheduled during regular business hours, so the chance of a room conflict are minimal.
  • On the other hand, our staff feels it is important to see all scheduled events on the Google calendar.
  • The proposed solution is to important Public Events into the Google calendar using a program called an "aggregator."
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Events on the Website

  • All public events will be listed here.
  • By the time an event gets publicized in any other channel, it should already be listed here.
  • Events on the website are created, managed, and displayed using the events manager application in WordPress.
  • The Office Manager (or their delegate) will maintain this information resource.
  • The aggregator will be run nightly to import all Public Events into the Google calendar, per the discussion above.
  • The "Promote an Event" form is the preferred mechanism to communicate a request to publish an event on the website. This form can be found in the Members' section of the website. [Action Needed1]
  • Any event sponsor or other stakeholder can submit this form.
  • Changes to an existing published event can be communicated to the Office Manager via email.
  • TBD: Stylesheet, how to manage registration, integration with ShulCloud, anything else?
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Biweekly E-blast

  • This publication is produced by the Office Manager and emailed to the members on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
  • The news items in the Tuesday issue will be in chronological order within the following sections: This Week, This Month, Next Month
  • The Thursday issue is typically focused on the upcoming Shabbat.
  • The first page will be a Table of Contents where each entry is hyperlinked to the appropriate page.
  • These publications may contain announcements in addition to public events.
  • The public events that are listed should have the same appearance as on the website.
  • The key information about each event (What, When, Where) should be displayed in text, not in a flyer. Flyers or other graphics may be used, but not to the exclusion of text.
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Monthly Newsletter

  • This publication is produced by Paula Cziesler.
  • It contains many news items that are not public events.
  • The public events that it does publicize should have the same appearance as on the public website.
  • The key information about each event (What, When, Where) should be displayed in text, not in a flyer. Flyers or other graphics may be used, but not to the exclusion of text.
  • The current issue of the Newsletter will be displayed in a reader on the Newsletter page. [This needs to be tested]
  • Previous issues are available for download on the Archive page.
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Social Media

  • MJCBY has an active Facebook page.
  • Miriam Loew has been actively adding photographs of Religious School events but the content is not being curated.
  • MJCBY does not have an Instagram or other social media account.
  • We need a tiger team to determine our Social Media strategy and how it can be implemented.
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1 These changes are in the Members section, which is controlled by ShulCloud — they will need to add the links.