Prowlin' for the Catwalk Cure

I decided for my campaign evaluation that the local fundraising event, the Catwalk Cure, would be an interesting and fun topic to research and write about. Every year, in support of blood cancer awareness, people of the Greenville community flock to the Catwalk Cure event for fun, music and food.  

The annual event concludes a 10 week fundraising campaign in Greenville, S.C., for LLS (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and their national “Man and Woman of the Year” competition. During the selected weeks, funding is raised for blood cancer research. The individual who collects the largest amount of money during the campaign is recognized as Man or Woman of the Year at the Catwalk Cure event.

Other activities at the event include a silent auction, designer fashion show and celebratory party at a local Greenville restaurant. From the Catwalk Cure, awareness for a variety of blood cancers was raised and the donations toward research was striking.They were successful at developing a strategic communication plan that revolved around the goals of the LLS's "Man and Woman of the Year" competition and supported LLS's mission statement.

After reviewing the campaign, I thought they could have provided more informational materials to the public. Also, while their social media site is used diligently around the time of the event, they fail to continuously update it throughout the year. But, overall, the Catwalk Cure event had amazing results in increasing funding for research on blood cancers and promoting awareness within the community. I believe they offer a great resource to LLS by helping them excel in their mission of awareness and funding for blood cancers!

Governing Through Networks

OK, first let's define governance in the sense of organizational success. "It is the mechanism by which outsiders can train a critical eye on operations and provide expertise, connections, and financial support," as defined in the book The Networked Nonprofit. Governing boards provide organizations safe "plans-of-attack" for entering into the future, but lately, there has been dissatisfaction by board members that there is no longer any effectiveness to their strategies. But wait, social media can be the answer to all their problems! Allowing organizations to connect with people and allowing them be a part of the discussion, will allow for more constructive input and feedback.

What does an ineffective governing board look like, you ask?

• Repetitive meetings, no change
• Nothing spontaneous or surprising
• People just nod and agree
• Asking friends for money
• Closed culture, no outside input
• Lack of diversity
• Poor leadership

These governing boards are doomed to fail, in fact there are three specific types of these "doomed" organizations.

• Rubber Stamp Board: board expected to approve plans/wishes of staff
• Muddle-Through Boards: lack strong leadership at all levels
• Fiduciary Boards: focused solely on financial statements and budgets

On the total opposite end though, we have a highly effective governing board utilizing social media. Here's what it might look like:

• Online meetings allowing people from all over to participate (geographic diversity)
• Ongoing conversation on Twitter
• Energized attitudes/new ideas
• Using social media contacts to search for skills they need
• Mobile engagement strategies
• Transparency

And...every governance process must contain these key characteristics:

• Anticredentialism: anyone should be able to participate
• Collective choice system: democratically make decisions
• Communal validation: choices of group are open to public scrutiny
• Open development: transparency is a must

Governing organizations must take place at the "meta-organizational level" in order for them to be successful. Organizations need to communicate and interact with their ecosystems. Even though some organizations may be unfamiliar with many social media channels, they can always start with the ones they feel most comfortable with and then continue to branch to others.Social media channels allow organizations to hear what people are saying, learn about new perspectives, and grasp onto trends that may be forming.

Meaningful Friendship[$]

Friends are nice, but for nonprofit organizations, friends can be a potential financial advantage! Nonprofit organizations need to recognize that by making friends and turning them into successful, trustworthy relationships, they can gain much needed funds for their cause. Networked nonprofits have the potential to turn friends into funders by practicing the following rules:

• Transparency: everything should be out in the open, available to the public
• Simplicity: allowing a simple message to be easily communicated
• Engagement and listening: allow followers to volunteer in their own ways, conversation encouraged

Even by following these classic rules though, nonprofits must realize that new approaches to funding must be established to be effective in their endeavors. Many nonprofits have become set in their ways and produce little change in how they approach fundraising, but with the quick rise of social media, this is not efficient. By utilizing and combining social media with fundraising methods, more people will become aware of the importance of the cause. Since social media has become popular more and more with the younger audience, nonprofits have the ability to connect with them, which hopefully leads to more giving in their lifetime. Even though building a trusted online community may take several months, the end product is quite exceptional.
Raising money online may be the right path for your organization! Additional components you need to remember include:

• Social media is part of a multichannel strategy: use multiple mediums, such as email, Web site, Google, face-to-face events, Facebook, etc., don't just focus on one strategy
• Partners are not ATM machines: let people know that they are important partners in your work
• Storytelling for personalization: issues become real and urgent, brings a human face on ideas, they strengthen connections between people creating empathy and changed perspectives
• Thankfulness: needs to happen often so people feel truly connected, be sincere and personal
• Click for dollars: on Facebook or Web site, particularly engaging for the younger audience
• Online fundraising contests: started by America's Giving Challenge, sponsored by The Case Foundation, in 2007

So, you want to know how to successfully complete online fundraising? Of course you do, and I don't blame you! The benefits are striking for nonprofit organizations! To be successful though, fundraising efforts need the following characteristics:

• Credibility: establish trust, make appeals meaningful
• Compelling messages: short and easily understood
• Urgency: clear and short deadlines, don't set expectations too high, adds momentum 
• Spread out giving: use multichannel strategies, reach people of all ages
• Recognition to donors: highlighting influencers and encouraging others, creates momentum
• Storytelling: people remember personal stories, builds relationship and credibility

Being an animal lover, I found this great organization that utilizes just about everything I have mentioned above.Wildlife Direct, which encourages people to save endangered species, is a great example of a nonprofit organization becoming part of the social network and creating unique fundraising efforts through the help of their audience. Wildlife direct realized that the best opportunity for saving these endangered species came from the use of social media and building relationships online. Their main use of social media is through blogs, which allow people from all over the world to become active in their cause. All bloggers writing on behalf of the organization  are allowed and encouraged to link their blogs to fundraising sites. Also, on their website, Wildlife Direct has a link allowing people to donate of they wish. This organization has turned their friendships and connections into something highly valuable that will only continue to grow and prosper as time continues.

Loops of Learning

It has always been crucial for an organization to measure their efforts in order to see if they are succeeding, but with social media becoming a valuable tool in today's society, we need to utilize learning loops and social media measurements, as well. The process of learning loops includes the implementation of  planning, measuring engagement, tracking, metrics and reflection. First, organizations must think through what they want to learn from their project. They need to have a specific and narrow objective, which can be achieved by identifying a target audience.

Second, organizations need to understand that they need to start off with low-cost, low-risk experiments, also known as microplanning. Finally, key learning questions should be established so they can learn about them as the project unfolds, and then find relevant metrics to track. After the planning stage has been completed, an organization is now ready to move on to measuring engagement and connections. By following conversations people produce, organizations can better understand how to stimulate and broaden these conversations. Blogs are a great way for organizations to connect with people and other organizations. They offer the following measuring options:

• Number of subscribers-want a growing audience of people who care about blog
• Monthly trends-help understand how to better connect with and engage readers
• Engagement metrics-examine topics and styles driving the highest attention
• Bookmarking-allow for future reading and tends to attract additional readers
• Comments-each one is part of a larger conversation happening on blog
• Influence- each influential blog is part of larger conversation within the blogosphere
• Industry index- regularly review lists to understand their influence better and connect

The next important step for organizations is the reflection process. By reflecting on what the project has produced, can make the next effort even better. Valuing learning and receiving insight is key to getting tangible results. Also, organizations need to take time to review what their overall purpose is and how social media fits in. Examining return on investment can also be looked at as a way of reflecting. Return on investment includes benefits, costs and value of an effort, whether the results were tangible or intangible. The ultimate goal of social change for an organization is having people do something on their own for the organization. By using social media, change can be affected directly.

The Humane Society used the process of learning loops in their efforts to make people aware of the dog fights, Michael Vick, had been housing. By following the process, they were very successful in analyzing which topics received the most traction for discussion, specified which parts of the network responded frequently and determined who were the main influencers. By examining these metrics, they were able to create great awareness for animal cruelty through a YouTube contest This is a great example how the use of learning loops became a powerful way for the Humane Society to learn and improve their future efforts. Here is the winning YouTube video-how cute!

Round Up The Troops

Nonprofit organizations and crowds go together like PB and J! By allowing crowdsourcing, you can achieve greater results than you would ever reach with just one individual or organization alone. Crowdsourcing is the process of organizing many people to participate in a joint project. One of the best ways you can create and strengthen crowds is by utilizing social media. But, organizations must know how to manage and effectively use crowds in order for them to work to their full potential. Microplanning is the process of planning and implementation of crowd work into bite-size pieces, which is particularly applied to marketing, fundraising, communications and programs.  Crowdsourcing can come in many different styles and forms, with each having a specific goal.

• Collective intelligence/crowd wisdom: abundant information that can be distributed
• Crowd creation: original works of knowledge or art
• Crowd voting: determining temperature of crowd, what they like and don't like
• Crowd funding: want group to fund effort that benefits many people

Organizations need to remember though, baby steps! Smaller steps are likely to ass up to a big change than a quick call to action. Crowds engage in these small steps, which fit into the organizations larger strategy for change. Any organization should ask and answer the following questions before working with crowds:

• What should the crowd do? | break up the work into doable pieces 
• Who needs to be included in this crowd? | expertise v. enthusiasm/interest
• What will we do with the crowd's input? | decide early on exactly how they will use it

There are a few caution signs though an organization must look out for when beginning the crowdsourcing process. First, crowds are unpredictable, meaning they will come and go as they please. Second, they can become angry mobs. Crowds have the ability to put all their energy into punishing the organization when they are angry. Third, crowd contributions are 90 percent useless because it takes multiple missteps before gaining any advantages and building up the relationship. Finally, online crowds can fizzle out quickly, long before the organization is done with their work.

Working In Glass Houses

Organization + glass walls =  #winning

The issue of transparency has become increasingly popular in today's business world. Businesses who don't create "glass walls" are losing trust and essential interaction with its publics, even though they may think otherwise. Transparency, internally and externally, allows people to get a better understanding of an organization, such as their operations, strategies, difficulties they are facing and how they are improving. Nonprofits, especially, need transparency to develop the audience base they need to to prosper and grow. By broadening their networks of individuals and other organizations they become engaged in vital communication.

Unfortunately, not every organization realizes the benefits of transparency (sad, I know). There are two other types of organizations that are at a disadvantage. Fortresses, working on the "caution" operating philosophy, keep people out and don't share information freely. They keep people out by using plans only developed by staff, having closed meetings and unexplained decision making. Transactionals primarily care about obtaining money from their publics and that's about it. They provide services offered and selected by the public based on cost. Transparents, on the other hand, are clear about they do and what they want to accomplish. Organizations can become transparent when they achieve the following:

• Leadership is easily understood by publics
• Employees are available to reinforce the public view of the organization
• Values are easily seen and understood
• Culture and operations apparent inside and out
• Communicate all results, good and bad 

Every nonprofit would be smart to adopt the transparent philosophy before it becomes too late and publics begin to face away. First, working in transparent ways means you need to be findable. Author and blogger Jeff Jarvis makes a good point, "Living in public today is a matter of enlightened self-interest. You have to be public to be found...Publicness is also an ethic. The more public you are, the easier you can be found, the more opportunities you have." Using search engines, like Google, makes it easy for organizations to become noticed and easily found. Second, organizations need to free their information. Inform the audience of information, financial audits, strategic plans, etc. An organization doesn't have to be scared of losing control entirely of their content. Creative Commons is a great device to use, enabling creators to share content however they choose. Thirdly, internal sharing needs to be mandates, as well. The staff needs to feel like they are treated fairly and are "in the loop."

Example of dashboard

It is highly recommended that organizations create a dashboard, which provides visual and compelling ways to get an insight of organizational performance. Allowing employees and publics to see and communicate on the dashboard shows you appreciate what they have to say. The dashboard invites employees and publics to work with them and understand them better. Also, using other tools  like, blogs, Twitter and Facebook, encourages interaction and provides information, as well. By following the transparency pathway, nonprofits will discover numerous ways of sharing information that reduces uncertainty and increases trust inside and outside the organization.

Friends With Benefits

Building and engaging relationships is crucial to any organization; social media can provide the right tools to accomplish this. Perhaps the first spot an organization would want to look at is their website. For instance, Safe Harbor shares information about their organization, explains issues they advocate and provides resources for people in need. Can you guess the next hot spot on the list? You're probably right; social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Organizations need to engage with their audience through open conversations on these sites, allowing a build up of trust and development of relationships. Also, these are great tools to use when trying to connect with a younger audience. In my class group, we are working with REP to ignite their social media efforts, seeing how they want to relate to teenagers and young adults. There are many outcomes that can come from building these connections on social media.

Listening is an important step to building these trusting relationships and an easy way to become comfortable within the new social scene. Seeing how REP will be new to social media, it will be easier for them to focus on their listening skills first to ease their way in. Listening should include identifying key influencers and finding key leverage points for spreading messages. Many organizations will use social media listening tools, like RSS readers, tags and Google alerts, to name a few. After listening is accomplished, organizations need to be smart about how they engage with the public. Smart ideas for engaging with the public could include online polls, thanking people for their efforts or simply initiate a conversation. Engagement also means dealing with criticism, whether it be a destructive attack or a honest disagreement. You can think of this as a way to let the public know you are actually hearing what they have to say and continuing the relationship building process. Yes, building relationships is great, but building strong relationships is even better. Building relationships that are powerful can be achieved by practicing the following:

• Be willing to lose control, people want to contribute in their own way
• Be authentic with your audience, do not have ulterior motives
• Send good into world without expectation of immediate return
• Believe in people and the good they bring to the table
• Follow and support the social media rhythm, do not create or dictate it (but you can use the model below to help predict!)

The ladder of engagement shows how to strategically increase supporter engagement and better understand their efforts towards this. Take a look at a similar engagement ladder showing additional information, from Bloomberg Businessweek.

• Level 1: Happy bystander-listen to content
• Level 2: Spreaders- share information about a cause
• Level 3: Donors- contribute financially
• Level 4: Evangelists- reach out to personal social networks and influence them towards the cause
• Level 5: Instigators- create their own content on behalf of the cause

People can start anywhere on this ladder, working their way up or down. By understanding these levels of engagement, organizations will better treasure their relationships and discover the value they offer.

Social Culture:The New Culture

Let's face it-in order to have a social media strategy developed for your organization, you need to have a social culture. The American Red Cross is a great example showing how an organization can become a social culture. Wendy Harman, a social media integrator, was hired at the American Red Cross to increase organizational transparency. From their goals, they increased internal adoption of social media and created a shift in the organization's relationships with their publics. Starting right there-they earn a gold star! There social media tactics allowed both positive and negative comments because you actually do need both! Negative comments provided them an opportunity to respond back to their audience and improve on what they were doing. Also, by developing a social media policy, they were allowing their social media to expand way past their expectations. It advised employees on how they could and couldn't use social media, meaning now they could actually use social media. Here is how you can write your own social media guide for your organization, provided by Inc.com.

Organizations with social cultures follow these strategies:

• Use social media to have two-way conversations
• Embrace mistakes and take risks
• Reward learning and reflection
• "Try it and fix it as you go" approach
• Have open discussions to avoid organization inertia
• Understand that individuality and informality do not indicate a lack of caring or quality
• Trust staff to make decisions and respond

By having a variety of open social media channels allowing you to spend a lot of time talking to people outside the organization, creates real conversations. You get to know what people truly think and believe, whether it be positive or negative. Like we said before, they are both good responses! Of course, fears of a social culture expand way beyond the point of negative comments. Organizations have always had the mindset that they need to control everything that happens inside and outside their territory for fear of making a public mistake. Organizations need to teach their leaders and staff that by living without these fears and learning to talk about these issues will produce a much more effective outcome in their social media world. Here is an example of how Kodak uses the power of social media to increase their PR efforts:

Kodak uses social media in all four areas of engagement, measures, content creation and distribution. Learn from them!

When considering a social strategy, organizations must consider the following questions:

• What are the appropriate boundaries between public and private information?
• How do we balance our interest in being open with the technical needs to safeguard against cyber attacks?
• How much do we have to be "on" with social media?
• Who should operate the channels?

Weaving the Web of Social Networking

Understanding social networks can be tricky for many organizations that don't embrace social media, but by utilizing them, they can expand and vocalize the organization's message in many ways. In the past, organizations have had a "organization-centric lens," which basically meant they thought they were the center of the universe. Other people and organizations provided them with funds and volunteers. Times have changed though with more organization's allowing individual's to help the organization based on their own needs, interests and time. Nonprofits are recognizing the influencers within their own social networks, which allow them to grow quickly and inexpensively. Social networks can be anything from personal to professional, and self-organized to specifically created for that nonprofit.

Here is some helpful social networking lingo:

• Nodes: people and organizations, part of the social network
• Ties: connections between people and organization
• Hubs: larger nodes within networks, have many connections, they are influencers, they make things go "viral," most efficient way to spread news and ideas, and raise awareness
• Cores: inner cluster of people who do most of the work
• Power law of distribution: imbalance of influence a person or organization has over another
• Clusters: groups who connect to one another, few connections to rest of network

There are two additional characteristics of networks that make them effective:

• Edge of periphery: people located here do not have much power or influence, yet they are likely to be participants, help network grow, bring energy and new ideas
• Combo of strong and loose ties: need both, move information through network quickly and effectively

By mapping an organization's social network, you can discover interesting data and insights about your connections. You might be able to find out the largest hub or which people make up the periphery. A nonprofit should create a map of their networks to recognize their strong ties from their weak ties. Another important aspect to networks is capital. We all love some capital ($), don't we? But sorry--not that kind of capital. We are talking about social capital. Social capital allows relationships to become meaningful and strong. By trusting one another, people are more likely to complete favors in the future. Social networks build these ties between people and organizations so when it comes time for a favor to be done, there will be no hesitation.

Building social capital is easy to build through social media because...

• You can easily find people online
• Having conversations online is inexpensive
• You can search for people without the need for a formal introduction
• Reciprocity is extremely easy online

These factors can also be related to network weaving, which is a set of skills that help strengthen and build social networks. By using these tactics through social media, you are building sufficient social capital. Network weaving can also include sharing resources and information, treating all network members equally, and inviting people with different views into the conversation.

Golden Rule: Embrace Social Media

Ok, 3 questions for ya'll...

1. Do you like connecting with people, and staying connected?
2. Do you like to be organized and in-sync with the world?
3. Do you love to express yourself in a variety of ways?

If you answered "yes" to any of these, then social media can become your best friend!

Nonprofit organizations need to embrace the wonderful elements of social media and the spotlight they can shine on their cause. Most people love showing what they care about through following specific organizations and causes, whether it's "liking" the organization on Facebook or following a blog. For example, I am a huge animal lover, so from time to time I will read up on World Wildlife Foundation (WWF.) Also, I follow the organization on Twitter and Facebook. As you notice on the very first page of their website, they boldly list all of the mediums you can use to follow the organization.

As nonprofit organizations are rising in number, so should the social media use involved with those organizations.Unfortunately, in the past, many organizations pulled away from their key publics for the following reasons:

• Rise of the hired professional staff
• Growing number of private foundations that preferred these professional staff members
• They began to measure success based on staff and budget growth
• More direct mail initiatives to raise money without having interaction 

The result? Organizations didn't think they had to share how it worked or what they choose to do, which equals a big huge fail. People need to know the working's behind the organization, so they know what they are helping with and, most importantly, how they can help! Our generation, also known as Millennials, are refusing to take these overwhelming positions at organizations. Since growing up in technology, Millennials support the move to social media and volunteerism. In order for an organization to survive and adapt, they will have to become more educated and responsive to social media initiatives.

A friend of mine from Clemson, Michael Fitzgerald, created the nonprofit organization called MyCauseWater. Basically, every time you purchase a bottle of MyCauseWater, you will be able to donate a portion of the proceeds to the organization of your choice. Some of the most popular organizations that MyCauseWater donated to include American Red Cross, Teach for America and St. Jude Children's Hospital. With the huge variety of organizations listed on their website, you have the ability to support any one that is especially important to you. Being a milennial, Michael embraces social media by creating a blog, Facebook and Twitter for his organization, which builds a larger audience and support group. He has become an influencer who can attract large numbers of new people to support various causes.

Just remember these golden rules when working with free agents, in order to be successful:

• Say "Hi" and get to know them
• Break out of the cliques, not reinforce them
• Give them time to explore and learn about the organization's issues
• Don't ignore the newcomer-that would be a lost opportunity
• Always welcome them, since they will come and go
• Let them participate how they want and when they want
• Don't be afraid to follow their ideas, even if you the "professional"

Social Media, Social Networks, Social Change, Oh My!

 Get to Know Them


We all know that simplicity and transparency is important in many industries, but this can be especially important for a nonprofit organization. An organization that shares everything from it's strategic plan to financial statements is often called an inside-out organization in the PR world. Sharing this information with the public allows people to feel more connected and trusting of the organization. People need to have the opportunity to participate anyway they can without constant supervision, whether it be at superior level or even entry level. Everyone has their own way of making things happen and helping out, so why ruin their efforts when they really can make an impact in society?

For example, in the case of Safe Harbor, as a class we were independent in deciding ultimately what we could collaborate to help out the organization. So far, with our homecoming efforts of setting up a informational booth, distributing purple ribbons and promoting through social media, we have done a great job of raising domestic violence awareness! Congrats to us-we can now be called free agents (yay!)- for spreading the organization's message throughout numerous networks. Hint Hint: Free agents are individuals who "...combine their media savvy with their passion for social causes to accomplish amazing things."

Our class was even recognized on a recent Safe Harbor's blog post!

Embrace Social Media

The power and use of social media has increased rapidly in the past few years, providing marketing tools such as instant messaging, texts, blogs, videos and social networking sites. These tools allow people to share their own views or personal stories about a topic that is hot off the press. Nonprofits need to utilize these usually free tools to promote their causes since many nonprofits do not have a lot of extra cash to spend. Hello! Not using these tools, is like throwing away dollar bills! Many nonprofits will argue that they don't have the skills or knowledge to use these tools correctly, but overtime, anyone can become social media savvy. As it states in the book, "Social media use is a contact sport, not a spectator sport." The more time people spend creating, discovering, and planning with these tools, eventually  it will become second nature to them. As you can see, Safe Harbor has embraced numerous social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Social Media, Social Networks, Social Change

Human beings love connecting with other people, period! How do most people create these meaningful connections? Usually, through social networks. These social networks are then able to form the power to make social change within society. When organizations utilize social media, they are unwrapping conversations that are the key to successful change in society. "Conversations are the lifeblood of social change efforts." With these conversations, people have the ability to share information online, whether it be a picture or a news story. People have the opportunity to explore social issues, take a stand and map out their plan of how they would like to help these issues. Organizations need to be right there when people figure out what kind of help they want to distribute.

A Closer Look

Certainly we see social media influencing social change everywhere we look in today's technological world. For example, Occupy Wall Street has used Facebook and Twitter to win the support of thousands of people. What was once talk of an Egypt revolution has turned into Occupy Wall Street, with more than 450,000 Facebook followers.

Occupy Wall Street-Utilizing Social Media for Social Change

Since Occupy Wall Street has taken over numerous channels of social media by protesters, the idea for social change here has blown up! More and more people are joining together through social media to protest and share their idea's and view's on the situation. This example just goes to show you that social networks have a great ability to get attention from mainstream media, with an extreme potential to create social change.

 Occupy Wall Street information from Huffington Post

Power Through Partnerships

Organizations have a strong media tool by capitalizing on the power of partnerships. Partnerships can strengthen organization's work and provide a vast array of opportunities that would usually not be available. When considering partnerships, know that there are two kinds.

• Collaborations: for short-term efforts
• Coalitions: for ongoing or long-term efforts

Finding a partnership where you both have shared goals will allow for a more powerful way of coordinating a range of efforts and developing a highly influential message to your audience. Many nonprofits have found that by working with educational or media outreach strategies, they can improve their chances of receiving funding. Safe Harbor could form partnerships with groups focusing on issues, such as nonviolence, domestic violence, teen and women help, health, and education. For example, the Allstate Foundation and National Network to End Domestic Violence worked together to promote awareness for domestic violence. In the article from Yahoo Finance, they state, "The results of the Allstate-NNEDV partnership are not only impressive, but they also meet an incredible social need while increasing financial literacy and independence for women." They were able to partner together to inform survivors of domestic violence that there are resources available to them to rebuild their lives.

Since my team is working with the REP program that will be installed in numerous high schools in the state, if we needed funding, we could possibly find organizations dealing with educational and teen issues. When choosing a partner in a communications program though, we need to consider the following:

• Does the organization have a past or continuing collaboration in some area?
• Do they have a positive reputation among targeted audiences?
• Do they have the ability to commit a fair share of resources?
• Do they have a track record of working with others successfully?

When communicating with partners and building solidarity, you need to make sure everyone has current information about your issues so they stay "in the loop." This can be done by sending out message memos, emails, letters and reports. It it beneficial to communicate within your own nonprofit organization, as well. All employees should have a mutual understanding and a full briefing on the process-they are a marketing force who knows your vision, values, and mission better than anyone!

Media partnerships are also something nonprofits, like Safe Harbor, could benefit highly from. One of the best partners to associate with is broadcast stations. Recently, many broadcasts operate public affairs programs to help build audiences and bridges to organizations that can help make them a success. For example, Lifetime Television Network became "Television for Women," in 1995. They built strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations around issues like, child care, breast cancer awareness, women sports, and women in politics. This is great news for Safe Harbor! Since Lifetime is dedicated to women issues, maybe in the near future, Safe Harbor could recruit them for a partnership. Lifetime has also produced a movie, Reviving Ophelia, addressing teen domestic violence. This movie makes a powerful impact with young girls and the threat of domestic violence. Together, Safe Harbor and Lifetime, would have the power to strengthen the voices of women and their families. They would create a powerful voice for all women who have suffered and are still suffering from domestic violence.

Who You Gonna Call? Spokespeople!

We all know that by adding a face and name to a message, it raises the trust and credibility people associate with that message. But you can't just randomly choose a spokesperson to speak for your organization, you must recruit someone who matches the demographics of the targeted audience. "It is critically important to choose the right spokespeople , as the messenger may be even more important than the message in establishing trust and credibility...," as stated in Strategic Communications for Nonprofits. For example, why would Safe Harbor recruit a 65-year old married woman to talk to a room full of 16-25 year old girls, being the largest age group for domestic violence issues? Uh, random-I know. For Safe Harbor, I would suggest finding a past victim of domestic violence and having them share their personal story, as long as ground rules are established. For example, the following video from Avon tells personal stories in order to gain awareness for domestic violence:

Asking people to tell their stories of domestic violence is a touchy and sensitive subject, but they can "put a face" on the issue that many women try to ignore and hide. Since I am working on the REP program for Safe Harbor, I would love to implement personal stories within the video that they show high school students. The ground rules that we would need to follow in order to actually make this a reality are the following:

• Make sure individuals and families are prepared to talk to the media and understand the possible implications of going public
• Tell them the purpose of the interview and give some information about the reporter
• Give some sense of the questions that will be asked
• Make sure they understand that made-up names can be provided, and pictures can be covered up
• Make sure they know their rights, even after they agreed to do the interview

These ground rules will ensure that the individual speaking will feel comfortable and in control of what they are saying. Personal stories will help build support, reach those who need help, and can help policymakers and the public understand people who are working to improve their lives.

Interviews can be a tough situation for anyone, especially when you do not have professional media training. Professional media training can be quite expensive, but Safe Harbor and other non-profit organizations have options! We all love options! By pooling the costs with other local nonprofits dealing with domestic violence or other women issues, media professionals might be willing to offer small sessions for cheap. Also,Safe Harbor can try approaching a college communications department or try to receive pro bono coaching.

Lastly, I wanted to repeat a few interview tips for spokespeople that I found most helpful. Safe Harbor might be able to have a meeting with current clients, sharing all the tips covered in the book-just in case personal stories are up for grabs.

• State your message more than once
• Be memorable, do not fake anything
• State organization's full name
• Do not say more than you planned to say, be sure to stay comfortable
• Use the interview to say what you want to get across, revise as you go
• Be animated, but do not play or fidget

Earning Good Media Coverage

We all know that in public relations it is crucial to maintain mutually beneficial relationships between the organization and it's clients, but what about maintaining good relationships with reporters. To have a successful media strategy in this constantly changing industry of public relations, you must have good relationships with your media contacts.Though it make take several years for the relationship to evolve, once you obtain that connection, you have the ability to reach numerous media outlets. In order to find the appropriate reporter for the topic you are covering, be sure to read their previous articles so you know what interests them. This idea is especially useful for nonprofit organizations, since they are usually promoting a main cause, like Safe Harbor and domestic violence. Safe Harbor should maintain press lists that are up to date, as well as finding reporters who specialize in specific areas like, women health and issues.

To ensure that information is readily available to reporters, every nonprofit organization should have a Web site that includes a  press room section. I've noticed that on the contact page of Safe Harbor's website there are no links for visiting press or reporters. Safe Harbor would benefit by making a press room section, and adding the following:

• Contact information
• Press releases
• Fact sheets
• Photos, charts, graphs, and video clips

For example, I found this YouTube video on another domestic violence awareness website. This video allows the audience to become emotionally involved with the situation, and hopefully be memorable in the future when someone mentions domestic violence.

Another influential way the media can cover your story is by developing an interview. Whether the interview is on print or online, television or video, this is a great way to get a spokesperson involved and tell their story. The following video clip is an example of a domestic violence survivor sharing her story with the news program, "20/20":

Obviously, this interview probably had great results at getting the word out on domestic violence, but there are a few things you need to follow to ensure a successful interview. Be sure to participate in pre-interview briefing where you rehearse answers, review past stories, review message points, and brief reporter on organization goals.

I know in class we have talked about organizing a big event, such as the homecoming event, for Safe Harbor. First, we will need to produce the Safe Harbor event. If we were planning a huge event, it would be valuable to hire an event planning organization, but with our class has more than the knowledge and experience needed. After the producing is done, we need to use all the media options we have available, such as press conferences, interviews, and media briefings. Here is an example of a town press conference that was geared toward domestic violence:

We need to be able to have the appropriate amount of time to create a memorable event, as well. Everything needs to be planned out and given great effort in order to build a professional-quality event. Even though I have only mentioned a few options of media outlets, there are many more one could choose from. Just know that when choosing a media outlet, be sure that it will be advantageous to the organization, as well as their audience.

The Ever-Changing Industry

Keeping up with the latest media trends in a particular industry is crucial for success. Public relations is one of those fields that is always changing, so it is essential to be continuously updated on different ways you can get your message out to the public. There are many different media outlets a nonprofit organization can utilize, but knowing which ones will benefit them the most is key.

The impact of the internet and the new technology it provides means individuals have more control, as well as responsibility, in getting their message out. I believe the internet would be a great tool to take advantage of when promoting Safe Harbor and domestic violence awareness. Not only can the internet reach millions of people, it is also more affordable than many other media outlets out there. Since being a nonprofit means not a lot of extra cash to spend on marketing and promoting, the internet would be a great solution, especially the use of blogs. Bloggers, known sometimes as "citizen journalists", are changing the way news is being viewed and covered.

The chapter in the book mentions developing a good relationship with local wire services. I noticed that one of the wire services highlighted in the book was Women's eNews. This wire service would be beneficial to Safe Harbor, since they deal with stories of particular concern to women. Anything from religion to economics, to health and science, they offer a story on it. On the website, they offer a section devoted to domestic violence awareness. Safe Harbor could have an article published on the wire service, so not only would they be contributing to the cause, but they would earn recognition. Women's eNews also offers a YouTube channel, which I thought would be a strong and powerful way of sending the message to the audience. 

Another great media outlet I believe could benefit Safe Harbor, would be the use of magazines, especially articles found on their website. Many articles that are on a magazine's website are not found in print, and they tend to offer more opinion, commentary, and analysis. On Cosmopolitan's website, I found this article about domestic violence. Underneath the article, they offer a place where you can comment on the article and even email the editor asking questions. This is a great way to spread the word and see what other people are saying about a topic, as well.

I was surprised to find out that radio has progressed even further than television over the years. With the latest technology of i Pods, MP3 players, and satellite radio, messages can be sent to numerous people through audio platforms. There has even been an expanding audiences, since radio shows will usually direct their audience to their website for more information. By finding a local radio station willing to work with us, we could produce messages about Safe Harbor and the events we have planned for them. This particular satellite radio station I found online is based around women topics, so it would be ideal to find a similar radio station offering the same kind of views for Safe Harbor.

Decisions, Decisions!

After reviewing the many creative and diverse ideas we came up with, I believe we have a great start to achieving our goals for Safe Harbor. All the ideas look great, but I could definitely see myself working on the purple drink night at a local bar, brand/social media guide, and the Chick-Fill-A fundraiser. Even though I could see myself working in any of these! I really love all the ideas, so I think it would be fun to work on any of them.

Being involved in my internship has taught me that event planning to promote a service or product is a significant step in the process. It takes time and organization to get everything under control. I love many aspects of event planning and I have great organization skills that could be utilized to get our planning underway. Also, I am involved and familiar with many social media sites, through my internship and my own personal use. I will not mind completing research for this project, as well. While researching, I can learn new strategies for social media sites, just like Safe Harbor can learn too!

Framing and Developing Messages

We all know that even by selecting a targeted audience, some of those people will probably ignore your message. This can get frustrating, but by framing messages appropriately, you can develop messages that fit their existing beliefs and values. When creating a value-based message, you need to understand an individual's primary values, as well as their secondary values. Primary values include things like, responsibility to care for one's family, personal liberty, and work. Secondary values encompass things like, responsibility to care for others, personal fulfillment, and respect for authority. This is a very important step when developing messages about a concept, organization, or campaign. When you start down the right path, you produce more support for your cause. There are three "levels of thinking" based on research when framing elements:

• Level One Audiences: attracted to broad concept, reflects own personal values, the public
• Level Two Audiences: more details, issue-oriented organizations, activists
• Level Three Audiences: people who are experts in their field

When planning how to communicate to a specific audience, you need to craft your messages and operate at their level of thinking. Since we will be raising money for Safe Harbor through mainly college students, we need to use the language and conversation that college students use. By implementing marketing plans with Facebook and Twitter, we can reach many college students who use these social media sites daily. Also, since we are college students ourselves, we present familiar faces. Our professors will provide trusted voices. Since we are all part of the Clemson circle, we can have great influence on our audience. Communications that come from familiar faces and personally trusted sources are usually more effective.

A simple way of developing messages is by using a chart called a message box. First, there is your core message that is a simple one-liner stating your overall goals. This core message is usually short and memorable. After this has been developed, you can move on to stating your values, problem, solution to the problem, and the action to be taken. This message box can help when you deliver your message by allowing you to move back and forth from each section throughout the conversation.

After reading the Chapter 4, I was better able to understand the case study explained at the end. I realized just how much of an impact using the right words could have on an audience. Since "day care" and "child care" seemed more like "babysitting" to the audience, advocates searched for other names like, " early learning" and "early childhood development." The education community began using these new words because it linked school readiness with better performance in the early grades. This is important information to know when developing messages, since this could also be used when dealing with search engine optimization. We use SEO numerous times at work when creating websites for clients. By choosing the right keywords for the specific audience, that client could produce more visitors to his website and ultimately an increased profit.

Research and Targeting Audiences

After the goals of a strategic communication plan are determined, it is time to conduct research and select the audience on which you hope to target. When choosing your target audience, you need to be sure on what you expect out of them. Anderson Adult Education, a client I have recently worked with, were looking for funding for their education programs. Since they were mostly looking for large donors, my team tried to market the cause to larger corporations or people, who had larger incomes and a history of donating in the past. You need to know your audience in order to obtain the best results. Another good strategy to follow is planning brainstorming sessions on the target audience to better understand their interests and group them into smaller groups. For example, Safe Harbor is trying to target many people, but especially high school students. Safe Harbor categorizes this group by education, age, and possibly even gender.

As we move on to conducting research, we should use media trend analysis to enhance our communication plan. By examining press coverage that has been done before on a certain topic, you will more than likely be able to find a trend. Review past stories by looking at dates, placement, tone, length, reporter, blogger interest, key words and phrases used to describe issue, and names. By looking at past press coverage of Safe Harbor, we can figure out what things have been working for them, along with things that have not. Using this information, will help our team produce better results for the organization.

Since there are two types of research that can be done, you have to pick the right one to provide the data you need. Quantitative research would cover public opinion polls or surveys, while qualitative research would be more centered around focus groups and interviews. I believe the best research method to approach Safe Harbor would be the focus group (seeing how we already conducted the meeting.) During our meeting, we had a chance to see certain views and attitudes on the organization. Also, we were able to receive valuable feedback on many of our ideas. Of course, there is always lower-cost alternatives to research, such as online resources, internet -based public opinion research, and omnibus polls.

During my internship, we have to know our target audience in order to reach them effectively. Before every meeting, we would have to research the company and just get a feel for what kind of environment they work in. Since my internship was at a design firm, this research helped a lot when we had to brainstorm ideas for their newly purchased logo and website. Also, going into a meeting with a closer look at the company's trends and work ethic, we were able to communicate effectively and efficiently.

Elements of a Strategic Communications Plan

This chapter comes at such a great time! There are many things in Chapter 2 that will help us when working with our client, Safe Harbor. Everyone needs to know the elements of a strategic plan before they even begin to work on one. In order to have a successful strategic communication plan, you need to build on the foundation of the organization's goals and values, target the appropriate audience after abundant research, and plan day-to-day activities that will help you reach your end product.

The importance of understanding and identifying the organization's goals and vision is so big that it must come first before you plan your daily work activities. Once you have achieved this, your ready to move on to planning your daily plan. The following are a list of the critical elements of a communication plan:

• Identify target audience
• Conduct research
• Develop messages
• Produce materials
• Assess resources
• Write work plan

Throughout my summer internship at Locke Design, I have implemented a communication plan similar to the steps above. You need to know your target audience in order for your messages to be understood and recognized. There are many different media outlets, so it is important that you choose correct ones that have the same concern for what you are dealing with. Since, Locke Design is a graphic design/advertising, I had to research many media outlets that specialize in design, marketing, and small business. Another step I find to be very significant is the development of your messages. You need to know every aspect of the story you are covering, because you have a reputation to uphold with the public relations field. Stating your company's goals correctly and generating tag lines is essential. You need to "latch" a person onto your story quickly, while still being informative to the key publics. A work plan is also an important step in the process. The following are some of the functions you can complete for ongoing reach:

• Ensure positive media coverage
• Build media partnerships
• Develop a crisis control and backlash plan

I just names a few, but I believe these to be highly important. For my internship, it was essential that I developed media partnerships. Many of our press releases and events are located in newspapers across the state of South Carolina. This is also a great way to reach your targeted audience and enhance your organization's name recognition.

Bright Ideas

I think these are some of the best, creative ideas our class has mentioned:

• Purple drink night at a local bar/restaurant to raise awareness 
• Event on campus where we could have informative speakers and booths
• "Purple Out" during a sport event or even for a day on campus

I believe by participating in these activities, we could raise awareness campus-wide. There are so many different strategies we could utilize to benefit Safe Harbor, but these are definitely ones that are reasonable and will be effective. I especially like the idea of the purple drink night! Someone had said we could tell people to wear purple out at night in order to receive the discounted price on the drink. I know, as a class, we can pull of these events in order to provide significant results to our client, Safe Harbor.

Reactions to Safe Harbor

After visiting the organization, I felt Safe Harbor would be an excellent way for our class to provide our services and education, while making a difference in many people's lives. Before visiting, I assumed the shelter would just provide the minimal amenities a shelter usually provides, but I was definitely wrong! This shelter was like a home-actually it was a home! Clients were provided their own beds, a kitchen to make their own meals, and even a playground outside for children.I was so happy to see that this place not only provided women and children an escape from troubled lives, but also a comfy and warm atmosphere. Julie Meredith was very touching and knowledgeable with the information she presented our class. You can tell that she is very passionate with her work and Safe Harbor, which is exactly the type of person I was hoping to work for!

Julie explained many outcomes she would like from our work, and they all seemed reasonable and incredibly useful for the organization. One goal Julie had mentioned to our class was the re-branding of the Meghan project into the R.E.P. (Relationship Education Project.) She would love to have  R.E.P. be useful for teachers and schools when trying to teach students about domestic violence. I believe we could help Julie by enabling many social media outlets for teachers and students to log on to, and explore more in depth. We could also try to implement interactive stories on the website, that would allow students to identify when domestic violence is happening.

Another goal mentioned was an event on Clemson campus that would provide information on domestic violence. I think a great way to do this would be to partner with society's on campus with the same goals, and even fraternities and sororities. Also, many professors make it mandatory that students attend at least one seminar a semester outside the classroom. This would be a perfect seminar to attend, especially for the studies of psychology, sociology, health majors, and education majors.

One last goal-actually being my favorite idea- is to have an event during the month of October to raise awareness for domestic violence and possibly even donations for Safe Harbor. A classmate had mentioned having a night at one the the bars in Clemson where drinks are purple! I think this would attract so many students. They'll wonder why drinks are purple, then have to ask questions, leading them to learn about domestic violence. We could even decorate the bar with purple balloons and banners, with our team wearing purple. For another idea, we could promote a bake sale or candy sale on the library bridge, with all the goodies being ONLY purple! When they purchase one of the items, we could give them a pamphlet or handout on domestic violence.

I hope I have generated some unique, fun, and reasonable ideas we could use in order to promote and raise awareness for Safe Harbor!

Basics of Strategic Communications

Many nonprofit groups use a well planned communication strategy to expand coverage and raise awareness. But an effective strategy goes far beyond the basics of public relations. Organizations need to incorporate many other key points into their efforts, such as, an understanding of the targeted audience, being alert to news updates and examining how issues move through the media. Obviously though, there is an advantage for simply being a nonprofit organization, since stories that are pitched are usually meant to make the world a better place. For example, Safe Harbor is a nonprofit organization that plays a special and rewarding role in society. There stories, personal or not, benefit society as a whole, so journalist are more inclined to lean towards them. Working together in teams is an equally important aspect of nonprofits, especially with groups that share the same goals and culture. I believe this is a very significant part of  the organization's success, since you would not want conflicting idea when you are trying to produce a message for your audience. Bringing two organizations together, that have the same goals, can multiply the resources they can work with! And like the saying, two heads are better than one!

I think one of the worst things nonprofits can do, is ignore the communication tools that are readily available for them! Why would someone refuse to use such beneficial tools that can only progress the organization's goals? I understand that within the book they list numerous reasons why nonprofits resist these tools, such as, (1) believing investment in these tools would be a waste of time and money, (2) negative past experiences, (3) false assumptions that media will eventually come to them, and (4) inexperience with the new technology and dealing with reporters.I believe with the right mindset and cooperation from everyone in the organization, this negativity would be turned around. Imagine how much more efficient a nonprofit could run with these negative outlooks gone. I work for a small graphic design firm, Locke Design, located in Anderson, SC. The business is very small, having only about 10 full-time workers. Even within this small, yet booming business, we still have time and dedication to being media savvy. In fact, Locke Design has grown tremendously (profit, clients) over the past years, by incorporating more effective communication tools. Even though Locke Design is not a nonprofit organization, they are small and still know the tactics to achieving great media attention.

As the chapter moves on, it discusses how building a communication team is the first concrete-step in the process of "going strategic." This is almost very similar in how our class will be conducting projects for Safe Harbor. Instead of working in isolation, we will be in groups of intelligent and creative minds who will all share their experiences and ideas with each other. After organizing our groups, teams will layout what needs to be accomplished for the organization. For example, Safe Harbor would like to raise awareness in the month of October for domestic violence. Teams will base their work off of this mission statement. Next, teams will choose goals that will be effective in getting the word out and receiving recognition. Goals may include, fund-raising to donate to Safe Harbor, or calling influential people that may have the ability to help significantly. Also, groups will need to be proactive on reaching the media, have numerous brainstorming meetings, and be dedicated to their work. With all these tips and steps to follow, Safe Harbor will be very satisfied, as well as the class feeling accomplished and successful!

Reality of Domestic Violence

OK, so we all hear about domestic violence through many media outlets, but do we really know the facts? Many people don't want to deal with the facts, in fear of the truth that may be revealed. As a student in a social change class, as well as a soon to be graduate searching for a career in public relations, it is my responsibility to dig deep into stories and news to uncover the facts. After reviewing numerous sources on domestic violence, I have realized that this is a terror that people face all across the world! Domestic violence can happen to you, me, anyone! It is scary to think about, but there are people everywhere who have struggled and have been true survivors through the recovery process.

Many people who are abused, do not see themselves as being harmed or as a victim. It's crazy to think that a person could not see the evil behind the abuse, but like the individual being abused, an abuser does not see themselves as hurting anyone. Don't think you could point out an abuser in a crowd, because in most cases, you can't! There is no "typical" abuser that has all the suggested signs and traits. The abused may not know they are actually being harmed, since abuse comes in many forms. Usually people just think of physical abuse, but it can also be emotional, sexual and psychological.

The client that our class will soon be working with, Safe Harbor, provides a nurturing and safe environment for abused women and children. All the comforts of home are provided for these individuals. As a Safe Harbor client once said, "My life is peaceful now. I can spread my wings and fly." This is exactly what this home provides, a way to find yourself again and live a confident life. I look forward to working with Safe Harbor, knowing that I'm not only helping the organization, but I'm helping thousands of women and children get back on their feet and move towards a brighter future!

The questions I would ask, in order to provide sufficient services to the organization would be:

• What kinds of changes would you like to see happen in the organization?
• What could our team implement to benefit both the organization and the clients you serve?
• At the end of this project, what would you like to see happen for the organization? What are your expectations from us?
• What things are not working for the organization at this point? What things aren't?
• What is the most effective marketing tool you are using now? What is the least effective?

Domestic Violence.Org
SC Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault
Safe Harbor