Creating Ambassadors (disciples) Leadership Conference 2016

Making disciples into ambassadors Ambassador: someone who is considered to represent an activity, organisation, company, nation! Disciple: Follower of the teachings of... An adherent to a movement or philosophy

Increased trust and participation with the organisation Increased motivation to give time, skills and finance to wider work The whole of society benefits because Mothers’ Union is active in communities Benefits of an engaged membership

Activity one As leaders within Mothers’ Union what improvements do you think we can achieve if we work together to improve Communication between members And Between the organisation and the member?

Goals to consider As soon as possible members will know through our communication how they make a difference By Dec 2016 we will have a three-year communications strategy that will ensure communications are timely, clear, accurate, pertinent, credible and play their part in creating membership engagement.

Goals to consider By 2018 every member in the UK will know that their contribution is recognised and valued by the organisation By 2020 every member should be able to speak confidently about Mothers’ Union to people outside the organisation and how we transform people’s lives By 2020 we will have improved two-way communication so that the motivation of members is understood and their needs met

Activity two Quick discussion – these are aspirational goals – do you think they are achievable? Would you commit to a set of communication goals as part of your strategic approach in your diocese? What might these look like?

Present the challenges and opportunities of Mothers’ Union Ensure they are adequately informed – they are the frontline of the organisation What will educate our members?

Share success stories and affirm what they are doing How can we show we value our members?

Create open channels of communication, and use the right communication tools. Create a consult and involve culture Listen to members and ask them questions Evaluate your messaging regularly to check members are receiving and understanding the messaging How can we listen to our members?

A REALLY USEFUL CHECKLIST for WRITING ENGAGING COPY Members need stories just as external audiences do. A Good Checklist for remembering to engage T.R.U.T.H TIMELY RELEVANT UNIQUE – we do better than anyone else TRIUMPH/TRAGEDY HUMAN INTEREST

What engagement barriers do we face? 1) What are the diocesan barriers to communicating with members? 2) What are the barriers to them communicating with the diocese? 3) What are the barriers between MSH and members (and vice versa)? Do these affect our membership numbers ?

SOME we hear at MSH Structural barriers “I’ve not heard that, or received that” “I got that information too late to add to my branch programme” Gatekeepers: “My members don’t need that information.” Mindset: “my Mothers’ Union will see me out” Demographics: common to our membership here – demographic breakdown can hinder ability to be really active.

Activity three What effect or impact does this have on membership numbers do you think ?

What can we already do to make improvements?

What resources do you already have to reach your members? What additional resources or tools can you identify that you could use immediately? Let’s map our resources

Activity four IN GROUPS OF FOURish Look at some membership communications – both our own and some from other organisations. Using what you already have, or can easily start using soon, what could we do differently? How can MSH help increase engagement? What innovative ideas have you seen in other organisation’s membership communications?

Activity four What innovative ideas have you seen in other organisation’s membership communications?

What solutions or recommendations do we have?

Key Messages to take home Let’s... Inspire members with beneficiary and volunteer stories Fight the “Chinese whispers” syndrome Find the most direct route to members Listen to them and pass it on Celebrate them!