Funny, when I read this I thought of:
" If you don't see it with your own eyes or hear it with your own ears, don't invent it with your small mind and share it with your big mouth."

However, this is not a policy at our church and definitely not a practice.

:-(

The church I came from did ask for signed releases for photos in brochures and on the website.

Excellent policy mrs.anteater!  Sounds like the kind of thing a wise mom would say :-) 

Hmmm - 85 views - and really 2 responses - so shall I assume this isn't common in most churches? 

Carolla,
Seems our communication skills are lacking. LMAO

Carolla, when I hear policy, I hear rules.   You need rules, absolutely; however, I am curious, do you have a communication strategy?

Without a strategy, a policy can tend to stop communication practices from moving forward.

Also, be careful that your policy does not include operating procedures.  Policies should live through most changes in technology and roles. Operating procedures adapt to shifting needs.

I don't know if my church has such a thing.  Our office staff send out announcements for funeral services and milestone birthdays... but I think that's it.  Everything else I tend to hear through the grapevine.

Excellent distinction pinga - strategy and/or policy?  I don't think we have either at the moment - at least not formally.   I think we're more after 'guidelines'  (am I wimping out on wording?)   So that I guess is more of a strategy as opposed to hard and fast rules - but a framework to guide our communication activities.

 We don't want to overload people's inboxes to the point they tune out or start autodeleting without reading; nor do we want to overly impose restrictions - finding those balance points & appropriate 'vehicles' are important.  

An interesting area of discussion for us as we evolve into a community hub -  Do we publicize/advertise events for those who rent our building - e.g. make details known to our congregation?  What about signs on the church lawn or property, advertising events of those who rent our building?  Okay?  Not okay?  How big?  For how long?  Vetted by whom?   Just a few meandering thoughts ... 

For sure the irony is not lost on me either SG!!   Oh we communicate - and as Hilary mentions 'the grapevine' is alive in most churches - not always accurate, or inclusive but definitely alive!  

Ok, Carolla, then I would start with strategy, then work to plan, and as you work to plan, develop a policy.

So: develop a communication strategy:

Think of use cases, ie typical things you want to communicate

Consider the why, who (sender & receiver), what, when, where, how of your plan.

There are tools that will help you, ConstantContact is a great tool, inexpensive, and useful for allowing list management for different groups, with distributed privileges without exposure to personal information.

ps, this is awesome thing to do, happy to answer any questions.

Thanks pinga!  ConstantContact is a good idea - will look into that for sure.  We haven't harnessed technology to work for us as much as we might.  I'm sure my church is not the only one in that category.  I know our office is presesently exploring different calendar platforms to be able mesh itineraries & identify conflicts easily.