Women in Philanthropy Episode 8 with Amy Kawula

Hosted by Tara Doyon, Director of Client Services and Sarah Rose, Director of Communications.

In this episode Tara and Sarah are joined by Amy Kawula, the Advertising & Marketing Manager of The Compass at the Diocese of Green Bay. They discuss the importance of communication in your development work through the wide range of Amy's experience. Learn how development officers can approach communication offices in the diocese for great success. Amy also gives us fantastic advice for women who would like to work in the church in a leadership position. 

Show Notes:

Amy Kawula has served the Diocese of Green Bay the past 35 years and is currently the advertising and marketing manager at The Compass. During this time, she has served in nearly every department of the diocese. 

This has allowed her to develop relationships with staff, parishes, schools and the community that have contributed to successful marketing strategies and increased revenue for The Compass. In addition to being the only advertising sales person, she manages circulation and annual pilgrimages for the paper, along with several annual diocesan events. 

She currently serves as the President of the Catholic Media Association, where she was elected after serving 2 years as Vice President.  In addition, for the past 4 years, she has served as the national chair for the Catholic Media Conference. 

Amy was instrumental in implementing and launching the website for The Compass via the creation of the site’s advertising rate card, implementing its online ad sizes and following through with online sales. Revenue from print/online advertising sales and pilgrimages has increased annually over the 14 years she has served in her current position. In 2014, she received First Place, Individual Excellence – Advertising, Business & Marketing Professional from the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada. Since 2014, she has been a presenter at the Catholic Media Conference in the Business Track.

In 2019, she completed a year-long Leadership Development Training (for the Diocese of Green Bay) with The Utech Group, experts in change management and organizational development. Following this training, she has served on The Culture Implementation Team for the Diocese of Green Bay which fosters a culture of missionary discipleship and strives to implement the cultural values across the diocese.

In 2020, a time when the pandemic changed how we are called to accompany one another through life’s joys and struggles, she served on the Spiritual Accompaniment Task Force which led weekly virtual Parish Life Line discussions for parish staff; virtual retreat events for all people with Bishop Ricken and she began “Christ, Communication, and Coffee”, a weekly virtual conversation with Catholic and parish communicators to talk about how parishes are communicating with their parish communities. 

She believes that honesty, integrity and genuine care for the unique needs of each person are critical in leading a successful team.

If you would like to connect with Amy, you can find her at The Compass at [email protected], or call her at 920-272-8212 or you can visit the Catholic Media Association website at www.catholicpress.org.

Take-Aways:

 1. The relationships that we have are the foundation of these stories that we tell. Specifically, the relationships of women leadership in the church. And how important it is to invite people; to extend the invitation and to be prepared to accompany that person through the journey that you've invited them to join. 

2. Working with the diocesan news outlets. What are some practical ways that we can connect with them as a development officer. It's so important to invite them to your event, and to give them time and notice for them to have a reporter available. And if their isn't a reporter available, what can you do to get information to them for publication. It also helps you to have a clear plan in your event and mission execution. 

3. Don't forget about the local news outlets that want to share your story as well. 

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If you have any questions, email us at [email protected]. Please reach out and we would love to connect. God bless you and your work and we will continue to pray for your success.