Communications
Strategy

Intentional Communication is EVERYTHING

Great communication isn't about doing more. It's about saying the right thing to the right person at the right time. We live in the most distracted moment in human history, which means every word your church puts into the world either moves someone closer to Jesus or adds to the noise. At Foundations, every post, email, and announcement is built around one question:
does this move someone closer to Jesus? If it doesn't, it doesn't belong.

Our Goals

Promote Unity

Emphasize our collective effort towards a shared vision, operating as one church, not a conglomerate of independent ministries.

Outside-In Focus

Prioritize reaching individuals in our community and newcomers before our more committed members. There will be a heavier emphasis on communicating to those in the outside circles (community and crowd) and a progressively lighter emphasis on those in the inner circles (congregation, committed, and core).

Leverage Strengths

Most people will connect with Foundations for the first time through a weekend service; therefore, most of our resources will be focused on inviting people to the weekend service and then helping them take their next step from there.

Effectiveness Over Fairness

Allocate communication resources based on Foundations’ mission priorities rather than equal representation.

Guest-Centric

Address the needs and interests of our guests over ministry leaders, creating simple and engaging pathways.

Engage and Question

Foster a culture of curiosity and engagement by prompting questions and encouraging personal discovery.

Encourage WGT

(Weekends, Groups, Teams): Our communications will have a dedicated focus to encourage people to be a part of WGT.

Excellence in Execution

Every word we put into the world is an opportunity to move someone closer to Jesus. That means we don't communicate for the sake of communicating; we communicate with purpose, preparation, and the lost person in mind. Our standard isn't perfection. It's faithfulness to the mission.

Ensure all communication is timely, accurate, of high quality in design, layout, and ease of use.
Maintain simplicity and clarity, avoiding unnecessary complexity and ensuring accessibility for first-time guests.
Commit only to communication initiatives that can be maintained at a high standard, aiming for sustainability.

Branding & Identity

Our brand is more than a logo or visual style. It is the overall identity and experience of Foundations Church. It is reflected in our design, our environments, our events, the attitude of our staff and volunteers, and the consistency of every interaction people have with our church.
When done well, our brand creates a sense of connection and shared purpose. Individual ministries and departments speak with one voice as part of one church family.
That is why Foundations operates as a “branded house,” not a “house of brands.” Foundations Church is the primary brand, and every ministry, event, and initiative exists as an extension of that identity rather than as a separate standalone brand.
Our primary sub brands are Foundations Kids and Foundations Youth. Each has its own unique personality and audience focus while remaining clearly connected to the overall Foundations Church brand.

Our Branding Guide

Integration Rules

These aren't arbitrary rules; they exist because every person who encounters Foundations deserves a clear path forward. When our communication is consistent, focused, and story-driven, it stops being noise and starts being an invitation. These seven rules are how we protect that.

Rule #1: Measure Effectiveness by 'Next Steps'

Our primary metric for communication effectiveness is the facilitation and completion of 'Next Steps' by our congregation

Rule #2: Centralize Next Steps

Direct all church communications for Next Steps through either the Foundations App or a dedicated ‘Next Steps’ location in our lobbies.

Rule #3: Uniform Call-to-Action

Maintain consistency with a standardized script directing people to Next Steps for further information or action.

Rule #4: The 50% Rule

Church-wide announcements, social posts, or emails for promotions need to apply to at least 50% of the congregation.

Rule #5: The "1-in-5" Rule

Ensure that no more than 20% of our communications, especially on social media and emails, are promotional in nature; the remaining 80% should be focused on stories or our mission.

Rule #6: Sprint & Sprinkle

Implement 'Sprint Promotions' for key events and 'Sprinkle Promotions' for ongoing, less critical communications, allowing for flexibility within our strategy.

Rule #7: The Church Promo Formula

All church promotions will follow the formula: 1 Story + 1 Next Step, making our communications engaging, relatable, and action oriented.

Lobby Presence

In our commitment to maintain a focused and coherent approach to engaging our church, we underline the importance of the 'Next Steps' area and process, as the heart of our communication and engagement strategy. To avoid dilution of this focus and to prevent the emergence of competing distractions within our lobby space, we have decided not to host separate tables for ministries and their events. This decision is rooted in our desire to direct all inquiries and interests towards the 'Next Steps' area, ensuring that it remains the central point for everyone seeking information or looking to engage further with our church.

Recognizing the significance of special occasions/seasons that resonate with our church’s mission and community engagement, we may in exceptional cases, allow a limited lobby presence. This would be things such as high level “Tier Green” Initiatives such as Volunteer Fair, Rooted signups, or longer vision based initiatives such as a family ministries presence. These exceptions will be rare, and will require prior approval from the Ministry Lead Team to ensure they align with our overarching communication strategy and space usage policies.

We encourage all ministries to actively participate in the 'Next Steps' area when they have an upcoming event, as this will not only streamline our communication efforts but also provide a direct and effective way to connect with our congregation and visitors.

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