Communications Policies
Association of Unity Churches International
Updated September, 2008
A number of communications policies have been created to address situations concerning how our Association communicates with constituents. Here are hyperlinks to policies in this document:
Online Privacy Policy Statement
Policy on Personal Contact Information
Policy & Plan for Association Bulk Email
Policy for Endorsements and Advertising
The Association Style Guide for printed pieces is a separate document.
ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY STATEMENT
This is the web site of Association of Unity Churches International.
Our postal address is
PO Box 610
Lee's Summit, MO 64063
We can be reached via e-mail at info@unity.org
or you can reach us by telephone at 816-524-7414
For each visitor to our Web page, our Web server automatically recognizes only your domain name, but not the e-mail address (where possible).
We collect the e-mail addresses of those who communicate with us via e-mail, aggregate information on what pages visitors access, information volunteered by the visitor, such as survey information and/or site registrations.
The information we collect is used to improve the content of our Web page and update our database at your request. We do not share our e-mail list with anyone. Your mailing address may be provided to a third party under limited circumstances, and then only by paper label, not via electronic media.
With respect to cookies: We use cookies to record session information, such as items that you add to your shopping cart.
If you do not want to receive e-mail from us in the future, please let us know via e-mail at the address given above.
If you supply us with your postal address on-line you may receive periodic mailings from us with information on new products and services or upcoming events. If you do not wish to receive such mailings, please let us know via e-mail at the address given above. Please provide us with your exact name and address. We will code your record to receive no such communications.
Persons who supply us with their telephone numbers on-line may receive telephone contact from us with information regarding on-line transactions. You may also receive telephone contact from us with information regarding new products and services or upcoming events. If you do not wish to receive such telephone calls, please let us know by sending us e-mail at the above address. Please provide us with your name and phone number. We will code your record to receive no such communications.
With respect to Ad Servers: We do not partner with or have special relationships with any ad server companies.
From time to time, we may use your information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at some time in the future we will post the policy changes to our Web site to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our Web site periodically.
You may prevent your information from being used for purposes other than those for which it was originally collected by e-mailing us at the above address.
Upon request we provide you with access to all information [including proprietary information] that we maintain about you.
You can access this information by e-mailing us at the above address.
Upon request we offer visitors the ability to have inaccuracies corrected in contact information.
You can have this information corrected by sending us e-mail at the above address.
With respect to security: When we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information such as financial, we redirect visitors to a secure server. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of information that we have collected from you at our site.
If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us at the above addresses or phone number.
POLICY ON PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION
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This policy covers situations where individuals are seeking contact information about our constituents.
• We do not list names and contact info of staff, ministers, licensed teachers, spiritual leaders or any individual in our online directory without the express written permission of the individual.
• We give only church contact information in response to requests for contact information of individuals, unless it is already listed in our online directory through express permission of the individual.
POLICY FOR ASSOCIATION BULK EMAIL
Following are hyperlinks for this section:
Rules
Requests for Email Communications
Requests from Others
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Introduction
We respect the privacy of our constituents. With the proliferation of email, people are finding bulk email invasive. We want people to receive only information they truly want, this ensures that they are better served. We also want to avoid bulk email use that leads to a negative reaction by recipients such that they refuse to either read or receive our transmissions. It may only take a few complaints by a recipient to their ISP for our entire domain to be blacklisted, meaning nothing from our domain (***@unity.org) will go to that domain (i.e., ***@aol.com).
Additional goals for this policy are:
• to create consistency in how we treat our email list
• to build relationships with constituents
• to drive people to the website so that we can build a relationship with them there.
The key to understanding this policy is the requirement to keep our email strictly "permission-based."
This means that we strictly limit information sent without the recipients' specific permission. By doing this, we are sure that people are getting what they really want, and allowing them to customize their experience with us. With our web site, we are able to select email lists so that only those giving permission will receive a given bulk email. For example, people who have signed up to receive Just in Time have not given us permission to email them news from Unity® or a blast about a specific church's program.
In order to be placed on one of our e-letter lists, one must go to unity.org, select Publications, then E-newsletters, and sign up for each eletter separately (www.unity.org/enews). This method best ensures people get exactly what they want from us.
For any questions or comments about this policy and plan, please see the VP of Communications.
RULES
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These items must be followed by all staff and those representing the Association.
- All bulk email must have the permission of our VP Communications.
- Any requests to unsubscribe will be honored, no matter the perceived importance of the material. We will honor requests to send hard copy of information where appropriate.
- We use only an opt-in method.
- We do not repeat email items verbatim.
- The sender of eletters will include footers with the following:
a. Feel free to forward this email to a friend.
b. To subscribe www.unity.org/enews.
c. To unsubscribe, email info@unity.org.
d. Our physical address and phone at the bottom.
e. Link to privacy policy.
- Every e-letter should have a regular schedule. This should be at least once a month, or make it inactive until it can be.
- Only the designated staff member(s) will send bulk email. Currently, that is Susan Velasquez, IT Coordinator.
REQUESTS FOR BULK EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS, ENDORSEMENTS & ADVERTISING
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For individuals or organizations wanting to reach our churches, we have the following vehicles available, shown below with guidelines. Since we do not have the staff to perform due diligence, we do not generally endorse any product, program or organization outside of our own. We also cannot distribute our email lists to anyone nor send email blasts to our full email list for any reason.
Following are alternative suggestions. Our VP Communications will determine permission for these vehicles based on the following key questions:
1. Does it support our mission and focus of the development of enlightened leaders?
2. Does our inclusion of it add value for our ministries?
3. Does it serve a large proportion of our constituents?
4. Has it been recommended by one or more of our constituents?
Event bookstores and booths
• Items should be connected to our mission focus stated above.
• All event bookstore requests go through the Director of Event Planning.
• Organizations may submit their request for a booth at our convention, to be reviewed by the Director of Event Planning.
Mailing labels
The mailing list is not available, however, requests for mailing labels are handled as follows:
• Labels show church name and address only—no individual names.
• Association regions may request mailing labels for region business at any time.
• Member churches/ministers/licensed teachers may request mailing labels once a year, as long as it does not solicit funds or promote a product or service. When the request is received, we ask for the purpose of the mailing. For current giving members, there is no charge. For those who are not current givers, the charge is $50. A current giver is one that has given a gift in the last 12 months.
Contact
We allow external organizations and individuals, internal departments, Unity, ministers, and licensed teachers to advertise in Contact Magazine. Except for internal departments, all must pay the going rate for advertising. Advertising is subject to review for appropriateness and internal standards.
Electronic means
- The eletter called Field Xchange will allow for all ministers and licensed teachers in good standing to promote anything, as long as it is not objectionable material or a solicitation for funds. We will not edit, format or make any other changes except possibly to cut for length. The Field Xchange will be sent every Wednesday that our office is open, unless there are no items. The eletter is strictly permission-based. To submit an item, send it to susan@unity.org.
- Website—in general, only Association items are allowed. However, since we are also a clearinghouse for information, if other sites are connected to our mission to support enlightened leaders, we may consider a link, to be determined by the VP Communications. Ministers and ministries can have links, but not outside organizations, unless they have been recommended to us by at least 2 ministries or ministers in good standing.
- E-letters—see also the Bulk Email Guidelines for specifics. We may occasionally highlight an outside resource based on our selection, in the context of our chosen topic. We highlight our own items in the same way. We do not send out bulk email or share our list with anyone other than Association or regional business. All bulk email is permission based.
- Website calendar—we welcome the following:
- SEE class listings
- Church events open to audiences beyond the congregation
- Regions are encouraged to list events
- Directory on website: A disclaimer will be included pertaining to any product/service listings.
- Because of our plans to enroll partners in future projects, these would receive our due diligence before forming a partnership. Therefore, they would be eligible to be listed as recommended by us. Each will be considered by the Leadership Team before inclusion.
- Maintain a speaker/facilitator/author list for our churches online, which does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement.
- Churches/ministers/licensed teachers may include their product in their directory listing under the notes section.
- Maintain the "Info Xchange" page (www.unity.org/infoxchange) for church-related items, for 30 days at a time. These are for one time items that can be free or for sale, but not an ongoing product or service. Examples are a spiritual trip sponsored by a church or hymnal giveaways.
We do not accept incoming solicitation phone calls from outside vendors. Congregants, ministers and licensed teachers are the exception to this, in which case we can offer the above options. When calls come in to our receptionists, they should always ask for a name and church name. They can pass this along when transferring the call so that staff know whether they are dealing with a "member" or not. This allows them to accept a call or not.
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Special Policy for Adjunct Groups
Adjunct groups are ministry and other teams doing Association business. We do not currently have the production staff to create media (print or electronic) on behalf of these groups. However, they should be identified as part of the Association in so far as their work is Association business.
This does not include projects that team members are doing in their own ministry—only what the team does as a whole on behalf of the Association.
The key question is, "Does it support our mission of empowering leaders and ministries in thriving?" A corollary to that is, "Is this Association business?"
Logo
For any materials created for use with multiple ministries, we request that each adjunct group:
- Use the Association logo, with the words, "A ministry team of" before them. A "ministry team logo" will be created to this specification and made available at our website.
- Do not use this logo next to any other art. It may be at the bottom or the back of a page.
Eletters
Association eletters other than the Field Xchange may include short (2 lines) items directing readers to other sites or contact persons. Ministry teams should plan ahead so that these may be scheduled in order to avoid more than one such message in any given eletter.
Contact
Ministry teams may request articles, short items or ads in Contact, however, we do not accept regular columns. All items submitted are subject to review and editing.
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