Religion Communicators Council

What Religion Communicators Council does

The Religion Communicators Council (RCC), founded in 1929 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional association serving communications professionals who work for and with faith-based organizations. RCC's core functions include professional networking, professional development (via annual conventions, monthly 'Third Thursday Talk' webinars, and chapter-based events), and excellence recognition through three award programs: the Wilbur Awards (for secular media, since 1949), DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards (for members), and the newly launched Struchen Award (inaugurated 2026 with Rainn Wilson). The organization operates three local chapters — Nashville, New York, and Washington DC — and runs annual conventions in rotating cities (2025 Salt Lake City, 2026 Cincinnati, 2027 Salt Lake City).

RCC's technology stack is standard, off-the-shelf SaaS: Wild Apricot for membership management, MailChimp for email newsletters, and WordPress (maintained by partner Faithlab) for its website. There is no proprietary technology, AI/ML infrastructure, or application product. The organization earns revenue through membership dues (Professional, Associate, Student, New Professional tiers), convention registration fees, and awards program entry fees. It is governed by a volunteer Board of Governors representing major faith-based organizations including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jewish Life Television, Baha'i National Center, Church of Scientology, and Friends Committee on National Legislation.

The go-to-market motion is community-led: growth is driven by word-of-mouth among faith-based communications professionals, chapter events, annual conventions, and a referral program offering $20-25 discounts. In 2026, RCC announced strategic partnerships with Religion News Association and International Association of Religious Journalists to co-host the 2027 convention, extending its reach into the broader religion journalism ecosystem. The organization operates with a lean staff of 1-10 employees (including a part-time executive administrator at approximately 10 hours per week), with governance provided by the elected Board of Governors.

Name

Religion Communicators Council

Legal name

Religion Communicators Council

Website

https://religioncommunicators.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1929

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Religion Communicators Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional association founded in 1929 that provides networking, professional development, and awards recognition for communications professionals working with faith-based organizations and secular media covering religion.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Communications Professional Association

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Interfaith & Ecumenical Councils and Dialogue Organizations (BPAGAJAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

Keywords

• Interfaith communications
• Religious media awards
• Faith-based networking
• Professional association
• Religion communications

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from communications professionals working for and with faith-based organizations. Membership categories include Professional, Associate, Student, and New Professional tiers.
2. Convention Registration: Revenue from convention registration fees including full convention passes, single-day passes, and group rates. Special pricing offered for members, students, and first-time attendees.
3. Awards Program Fees: Entry fees for DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards (for members) and Wilbur Awards (for secular media outlets). Wilbur Award ceremony tickets sold at $125 per person.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Religion Communicators Council (RCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional association founded in 1929 that provides networking, professional development, and awards recognition for communications professionals working for and with faith-based organizations. It delivers its value through annual conventions, local chapters, monthly webinars, three annual awards programs (Wilbur Awards, DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards, and the Struchen Award), and curated member resources including APR accreditation support, religious literacy materials, and AI resources for communicators.

Product overview

Religion Communicators Council (RCC) is a professional association offering a portfolio of services centered on professional development, recognition programs, and community building for faith-based communications professionals. The core offerings include three award programs: the Wilbur Awards (for secular media excellence since 1949), DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards (for RCC members), and the newly launched Struchen Award (2025). RCC provides annual conventions, professional development through webinars and the Third Thursday Talk series, local chapter networks (New York, Washington DC, Nashville), membership services, APR accreditation support, AI resources, and publications. The organization functions as a membership-based professional network rather than a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wilbur Awards: Annual award program recognizing excellence in communication of religious issues, values, and themes in public secular media, presented since 1949.
• DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards
• Struchen Award

Products and services

• Wilbur Awards Annual recognition program for secular media outlets (newspapers, magazines, podcasts, radio, television, film, online journalism) producing outstanding work on religious themes. Open to non-member media organizations; entries evaluated on content, creativity, impact, and excellence across Audio, Audio-Visual, Images, and Written categories. Includes Award of Excellence, Award of Merit, and Wilbur Award tiers plus a public ceremony at $125 per ticket.
• DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards

Quantifiable outcome

• Record-breaking number of Wilbur Award entries in 2026 competition
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Religion News AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 June 2026Collaboration on annual conventions starting 2027. The Religion News Association works with RCC on conventions including joint programming beginning April 14, with collaboration on panels and networking opportunities for members of both organizations.
• International Association of Religious JournalistscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 June 2026Collaboration on annual conventions starting 2027. Joint programming beginning April 14 alongside Religion News Association for the 2027 Salt Lake City convention.
• Religion News AssociationcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 February 2026Co-hosting monthly webinars including 'Beyond the Pitch: Building Productive Relationships between Journalists and PR Professionals'. Joint professional development programming for religion journalists and communication professionals.
• National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAB is spearheading an initiative to provide a toolkit for local television and radio stations when reporting on religion. Presented to RCC DC Chapter members.
• National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnering with NAB on 'Reporting on Religion' project toolkit for local TV/radio stations and university journalism schools.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Public Relations Society of America (PRSA): PRSA is the largest US professional association for public relations practitioners. RCC defers to PRSA on APR accreditation, positioning PRSA as the broader incumbent in the same communications professional space RCC targets.
• International Association of Business Communicators (IABC): IABC is a global association for business communicators. It operates a similar membership, chapter, awards, and professional development model as RCC but serves the broader corporate communicator market rather than the faith-based niche.
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ): SPJ is the most established US journalism professional association. While its mission centers on journalism ethics broadly, it overlaps with RCC where members of faith-based media engage journalism ethics and professional development programming.

Direct peers

• International Association of Religious Journalists: IARJ is a global association of religion journalists and communicators. Like RCC, it advances professional standards in religion reporting and is confirmed as a co-programming partner for RCC's 2027 Salt Lake City convention.
• Religion News Association: RNA is a journalism association serving religion reporters and editors, with direct overlap to RCC on religion communication coverage. RNA is a confirmed strategic partner of RCC for the 2027 convention, sharing the same faith-media professional audience.

Regional players

• Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada: Catholic Press Association serves Catholic media professionals across North America. It mirrors RCC's professional association model but is denominational, focused exclusively on Catholic communicators rather than an interfaith constituency.
• Evangelical Press Association: EPA serves journalists and publications in the evangelical Christian community. It competes for the same religion-communicator membership dollars as RCC but is denominational rather than interfaith, and primarily serves US evangelical media.

Emerging players

• Interfaith America (formerly Interfaith Youth Core): Interfaith America promotes interfaith cooperation across higher education and civic life. While not a communicator-specific association, it operates in the same interfaith dialogue space and overlaps with RCC's interfaith professional networking mission.
• National Council of Churches: The National Council of Churches is a US ecumenical body of Christian denominations. Its communications work (including prior RCC-related programming) overlaps with RCC's interfaith mission, making it a related body rather than a direct competitor.

Others

• Arthur W. Page Society: Page Society is a senior communications executive association. It operates in the same professional communications space as RCC and its board members but focuses on C-suite corporate communicators rather than faith-based practitioners.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ReligionComm
• YouTubeyoutube.com/ReligionComm
• Facebookfacebook.com/ReligionCommunicatorsCouncil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/religion-communicators-council
• Instagraminstagram.com/religioncommunicators

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Religion Communicators Council