Celebrating the Communicator

Photo by Julius Drost on Unsplash

Thanksgiving tends to be a crazy, chaotic time. I get it because I am like you. I have been a church administrator rolling out the bulletin, slides and social media. Rain or shine, church is gonna happen!

Currently, I am a freelance contract designer and creating marketing items and strategy for several non-profit organizations. Some have interns and some have me. They have fundraisers, social goals, mailings and redesigns all happening at a busy time of year.

You have to do all you normally do in a two day week! Are people grateful? Yes, but do they really know what you face in your work?

Here is some well earned thanks for you and all you do to keep the good message going out, the communication up, and all the balls in the air at a very busy and sometimes personally stressful time. I mean, you have family and are they all coming to your house this year? Are you getting the car ready to travel a long distance at the same time you are helping us take advantage of this social holiday hub-bub?

Sit down for a minute or two. It will be worth it. Enjoy this Thanksgiving feast of thanks for YOU, the church and non-profit communicators.

1.  Thank you for your masterful planning. No program or event gets done without a number of details getting done first. Somehow, you keep all the pieces moving, making sure they’re delivered on time and ready for use in service or in email communications.2.   Thank you for your grace (under fire). We know you’ve been asked about Comic Sans font at least twice and have had to manage a sticky situation on the Facebook page. Thank you for treating people with grace and respect—even if you’re hot under the collar and don’t have the time to lead people to understanding best practices and good design.

3. Thank you for how you use the communications budget. No matter how big or small your budget, you make it do things we’d never thought possible. You are always looking for free and organic ways to stretch a dollar. Thank you for dreaming and making those dreams a reality while staying within budget.

4.  Thank you for using your talent. You could have headed to an agency or business with your creative talents and getting paid more for what you do. Instead, you’re using them to serve the church and equip the organization to serve the less fortunate. Thank you so, so much! May you be blessed beyond measure for your personal sacrifice.

5.  Thank you for sharing the love of Jesus. Your work helps us share the love of Jesus, inside and outside the church. But your work demonstrates the love of Jesus to us on an everyday basis, too. Thank you for showing us what it means to have a servant’s heart.

6.  Thank you for your encouragement. We know it took months and months of work to get everyone on board with communications request forms. Thank you for sticking with it and encouraging people with kindness rather than a rule of iron. And thank you for helping us hold hands and cheering for us as we hit milestones and goals!

7.  Thank you for teaching others. Thank you teaching the next generation how to use social media and online tools to communicate truth. Thank you, too, for teaching people why the online world matters to this organization. Thank you for being patient with the older generation with word pictures and metaphors as to why we need so many new ways to communicate to a younger generation.

8.  Thank you for asking people to get involved. We know getting people involved is like trying to herd cats. Thank you for doing it anyway. Your efforts remind us that everybody in the body of Christ matters and everyone has something of worth to give.

9.  Thank you for your contagious joy. We know what you’re like when a new idea strikes your fancy. Your enthusiasm is refreshing and inspiring! Thank you for how much you enjoy your work as a communicator. It brightens our day.

10. Thank you for your creativity. You operate on the same marketing calendar every year. Thank you for bringing creativity to the schedule so that people continue to get excited about the traditions, programs, fundraisers and the new “days of giving.” You have to tackle each one with a fresh new eye and stunning graphics and roll it out to be appealing, affective and inspiring.

Communicators, today, we give thanks for you and all that you do. Happy Thanksgiving!

Inspired by and adapted from  "A 10-Course Thanksgiving Thank You for Church Communicators"
November 22, 2017 by Erin Feldman