Social Media and The Catholic Church

1. Social Media and The Catholic Church A Special Report for The Most Reverend  William Patrick Callahan, Bishop of the Diocese of LaCrosse

2. Disclaimer This report was developed for general informational purposes only. It is not meant to be a comprehensive guide, nor should it be construed as containing authoritative legal or tax advice. Please consult a tax or legal professional for any such advice.This report was developed by VMR Communications, LLC. 

3. Dedication This report and the work that went into compiling it are dedicated to the honor of Our Lady of Guadelupe, Patroness of the Americas and in thanksgiving to God for His Providence in blessing the faithful of the Diocese of LaCrosse with our new Bishop, His Excellency, The Most Reverend William Patrick Callahan.

4. Fundamental Questions Questions to address • What is social media? • Is social media a fad or is it here to stay? • Is social media a tool or is it a fundamental shift in the media ecosystem? • Can Churches raise money on Facebook? •  What are the user demographics of sites like Facebook and Youtube?

5. Fundamental Questions Questions to address 6. What are some principles for effectively communicating on social networking sites?  7. What are the reputational, legal & tax risks associated with the use of social media by priests, youth ministers, and parishioners?  8. What are some privacy risks that diocese should consider? 9. How should our diocese frame our social media strategy discussions? 10. What points should be included in our diocesan social media policy?

6. Defining Social Media

7. Definitely Not A Fad

8. What is Social Media? In layman's terms, social media refers to websites such as those included on the following slide that are used by the masses to communicate with the masses, one to many, many to one, or many to many.

9. Facebook, Youtube & Many More...

10. Social Media User Demographics

11. The Big 4 "The best way to discover what’s new in your world." 175 Million users worldwide 2% login daily Most popular among young adults aged 18-29  "The world’s largest professional network." Over 100 million members including executives from every 2010 Fortune 500 company. "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life." 149 Million users in US 70% login daily The top visited website in US Popular among all ages 13- 59. "The largest worldwide video-sharing community." In 2010, over 700 billion video playbacks with 35 hours of video uploaded every minute.

12. The Big 2 In Wisconsin* # of Users: 119,365 professional members within 100 mile radius of Marshfield, WI # of Users: 2,800,000 Approx. 60% female Approx 64% over 25 years of age Approx 27% Married * Estimates based on Advertising demographic data from Linkedin and Facebook, respectively.

13. Facebook Source:  Google Double Click Ad  Planner, Feb 2011

14. Linkedin Source:  Google Double Click Ad  Planner, Feb 2011

15. Twitter Source:  Google Double Click Ad  Planner, Feb 2011

16. Youtube Source:  Google Double Click Ad  Planner, Feb 2011

17. Fundraising using Facebook Causes

19. By the Numbers... The 
world’s
 largest
 platform for activism and philanthropy • 95 Million Users •  $19 Million Raised •  350,000 Causes • Most Nonprofits that raise money through Facebook Causes have DOZENS of Causes supporting them • The Causes are often not started by the Non profit • Causes = Online grassroots communities that come together to raise awareness and/or money

20. Bottom-up Influence? It's not just about who has the biggest checkbook. It's about who has the most influence. - Marc Benioff, Billionaire & CEO of Salesforce.com

21. An Example

22. The results

23. "Route 66"

24. Influence Unleashed

25. Everyday people can start raising money for a non profit even if the non-profit is not active on Facebook!

26. The Shrine of Our Lady of GuadelupeCan Raise Money using Facebook

27. ...But so far, has not done so

28. A few Principles to Keep in Mind

29. Social Media Success is About High Touch, Not Hi-Tech  “Social Media is about sociology and psychology more than technology.”                  Brian Solis Principal of FutureWorks                  @briansolis  <- (Twitter username) “New marketing is about the relationships, not the medium.”                  Ben Grossman, founder of BiGMarK                                               @BenGrossman

30. "Be Transparent" “Engaging in an authentic, meaningful conversation with consumers will be the key to marketing success and growth, even if that means acknowledging negative feedback; transparency is paramount.” – Ron Blake, president and CEO of Rewards Network

31. "Engage" “To utilize social media tools effectively and properly, you must absolutely generate spontaneous communications in direct response to what others are saying or to what is happening in that moment. Be yourself. Be conversational. Be engaged.” – Aliza Sherman, co-owner of social marketing firm Conversify

32. Risks

33. VERY IMPORTANT: A Risk no matter what Organizational risk can actually be greater for organizations that choose to ignore social media and to demand that its employees refrain altogether from using such media to communicate online. The best policy is to take social media very seriously by developing a strategy, a policy and training program to ensure the opportunities are captured and the risks are mitigated. Consider this... There is no possible way any organization can stop people over whom it has no control from communicating things online about the people and organizations over which it does have control using such social channels.

34. Risks that must be managed PR     Reputational Risk         For example, a priest at a Superbowl party is tagged in a photo on Facebook in which he appears to be intoxicated or otherwise behaving in an inappropriate manner. Legal     Misrepresentation / Agency Risk         Very few Diocesan employees are authorized to speak as "Agents" in an official capacity on behalf on the Diocese. If the employee does not take proper steps to protect the Diocese, he or she may make statements that misrepresent the Diocese.

35. Risks that must be managed Taxation  Churches generally fall under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As a result, they cannot participate or intervene in any political campaign and are prohibited from giving any hint of supporting specific candidates. According to Revenue Ruling 2007-41, 2007-25 I.R.B. 1421 (June 18,2007) (page 10-11) such participation or intervention may include but is not limited to linking to other websites containing political content that you may or may not have any control over.  Source:  http://www.equipthem.info/2010/03/23/dangers-social-media-churches-nonprofits/.

36. Taxation: Red Flag Make sure priests do not "like" political candidates or parties on Facebook. In doing our analysis, VMR noticed one priest whose profile listed politician "Sean Duffy" in his interests and activities section.

37. Risks that must be managed Practical     Noise         Perhaps the youth minister has a blog, the pastor has his         own Youtube channel, the social outreach team has a          Facebook page and the parish council oversees a                         website.         If the Diocese and each Church does not have a strategy,          policy and basic training in place, the Church will have a          disjointed web presence that those inside and outside of          the Church will find confusing. 

38. You're officially not in control “If you think you are in control, you’re fooling yourself. As soon as you start listening, you realize you’re not in control. And letting go will yield more and better results.” – Charlene Li, author and principal, Altimeter Group.

39. Social Media Strategy 101

40. The Webster Matrix This matrix, courtesy of Edison Research, provides an excellent guide for framing strategy and policy discussions related to both social and non-social online media and dealing with the issue of Control and Policy Compliance

41. Privacy?

42. Privacy: An essential component of Policy. But... “Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smoking gun.”                  Pete Cashmore, Mashable CEO                 @mashable

43. Facebook Privacy Settings Lessen Risk

44. Current Privacy Settings PracticeAmong Priests in Diocese of LaCrosse Most priests in the Diocese whose whose personal Facebook profiles were evaluated for this report are using the Facebook standard privacy settings, which is not recommended by privacy experts.  Such settings (which can easily be modified by the user) allow those who are not direct "friends" of the priest to view all of the following:  • Status, photos and all wall posts. • Bio • Favorite Quotations • Family members and Facebook Friends • All photos and videos in which the priest is tagged by another individual on Facebook • Religious and Political Views • Birthday (including Month, Date and Year)

45. Sample Parish Use Cases of Facebook

46. Sacred Heart and Corpus Christ Parishes Facebook Page

47. Homilies can be posted, listened to and shared right on Facebook!

48. Diocesan Social Media Policy

49. Sample Policies Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Washington, DC http://www.holytrinitydc.org/communications/socialmediapolicy Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut http://www.ctepiscopal.org/Content/Safe_Church_guidelines_for_social_media.asp

50. Policy Considerations 1. Be clear. Many priests may not understand the term "social media." Make sure this is clearly defined and explained. 2. Set time limit guidelines. Define how much time is too much time on social networks. See: http://churchcrunch.com/how-much-ministry-doesnt-get-done-thanks-to-social-networks/ 3. Be upfront in explaining the reason for having a policy. Expect questions and have an answer ready. Better yet, include the answer in the policy document. 4. Innumerate the benefits of responsible social media usage.