Strategic Communications Plan: Muncie Gives, Muncie Lives Table of Contents: 1. Cover Page 2. Table of Contents 3. Executive Summary: ○
Vision: Muncie Gives Muncie Lives strives for Muncie, Ind. to hold a positive reputation as a city where the people care. This is demonstrated through volunteerism and community involvement.
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Issue: The main issue in the Muncie community today is a lack of community involvement and recognition for those who are involved. If Muncie, Ind. continues to be a city with little community involvement, it will consequently continue to bear a negative reputation; this could lead to a decline in property values, skepticism among entrepreneurs and business owners, lost interest in real estate, economic turmoil and an ultimate lack of community pride.
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Benefits: Promoting community pride and volunteerism will greatly benefit Muncie. Businesses will benefit from free labor while volunteers will gain experience. Also, strong community pride will build loyalty between producer and consumer, giving businesses positive reputations and increased sales. Community pride will also strengthen the school systems, as people will be more willing to invest in their community; this will allow school districts to provide better education and resources to students.
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Method: The strategic communications plan will be used to increase volunteerism and community involvement. The plan will work to solve the issues stated above.
4. Secondary Research ○ Muncie Delaware County Chamber of Commerce Mission Statement: The MuncieDelaware County Chamber of Commerce strives to create a successful and interdependent community by uniting businesses, government, education, philanthropy and health care services. ○ Background: Muncie Gives Muncie Lives is a campaign that promotes community pride and respect in the city of Muncie, Ind. These key ideas are perpetuated through the celebration of volunteerism and those who are seldom recognized for their selfless service to their community. The MuncieDelaware County Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the Muncie Image Committee, established this ongoing multimedia
campaign in 2011 when they began compiling stories of unsung volunteers in the Muncie area. By April 2011, sponsor pledges exceeded $250,000, making it possible to document these stories and share them with citizens of Muncie. Stories have since been featured in the form of print, outdoor, radio, online and social media. The four original stories included the Animal Rescue Fund. Downtown Muncie’s Moped Posse, the Friends of Conley and LaLa’s Birthday Club. The spirit of altruism and thoughtful giving continues to flourish in the Muncie community. It is the goal of the campaign to recognize those that contribute so generously to this great city and to remind all citizens to be proud of the community they are a part of. SWOT Analysis Strengths: ● Muncie Gives Muncie Lives is a unique campaign in the Muncie community. ● There is little to no competition because of its uniqueness. ● The campaign is supported by the Chamber and its members. ● The campaign focuses on unsung volunteers instead of on major nonprofits, making it more relatable to the people of the Muncie community. Weaknesses: ● The campaign is not well known among the citizens of Muncie. ● The “Muncie Gives Muncie Lives” slogan can be misleading and confusing. ● There is not a strong web presence for the campaign. ● There is not a strong social media presence or following for the campaign. Opportunities: ● Currently building a social media and blog plan to expand social media presence and following. ● Include website and social media URLs on all promotional materials to direct people to find the campaign online. ● Plan and execute a communitywide event to promote volunteerism. ● Involve the young people of Muncie in volunteerism. ● Evolve the campaign slogan over a period of time to become simpler, recognizable and also make it identifiable in the community. Threats: ● Costs of promotional materials and the event may be high. ● The Muncie community may not identify with the current slogan for the campaign. ○
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If the slogan is changed, it may cause some confusion. Volunteers may not want to be recognized. Focus will remain on large organizations instead of on the unsung volunteers.
5. Problem Statement: The Muncie Gives Muncie Lives campaign faces low awareness and low involvement throughout Muncie and Delaware County. 6. Target Audience/Key Publics: ○ External: Muncie citizens, specifically those involved with volunteerism ○ External: Muncie businesses and nonprofits that have connections to the Chamber and to volunteerism ○ Internal: Muncie Delaware County Chamber of Commerce members ○ See attached resource list for a full list of Key Publics 7. Key Messages: ● Muncie, Ind. is a wonderful place to live. ○ Compared to the rest of the country, Muncie's cost of living is 20.80 percent lower than the U.S. average (Best Places to Live in Muncie, IN) ● There are many opportunities to volunteer. ○ There are more than 500 nonprofit organizations and associations in and near Muncie, Ind. (Muncie, IN Associations/Nonprofits) ● Volunteering is rewarding. ○ Allows volunteers to learn and develop skills and experiences specific to the area where they are working ○ Gain motivation and sense of accomplishment ○ Expand career opportunities through the experience gained ■ 73 percent of employers would recruit a candidate with volunteering experience over one without ■ 94 percent of employers believe that volunteering can add to skills ■ 94 percent of employees who volunteered to learn new skills had benefited either by getting their first job, improving their salary, or being promoted (World Volunteer Web) 8. Goals/Objectives: Goal 1: To increase awareness of the campaign throughout the Muncie community Objective 1: Increase awareness in the community by 75 percent in 12 months Strategy 1: Create, introduce and implement a new slogan/title for the campaign Tactic 1: Decide on the campaign slogan Tactic 2: Create teaser ad campaigns combined with ad campaigns discussed in the next tactic that include the new slogan/title
Tactic 3: Utilize the new slogan throughout the website, social media sites and distribution materials along with the old slogan until it is phased out. Strategy 2: Drive traffic to website/blog/social media Tactic 1: Distribute flyers featuring the URLs of the website, blog and social media sites. Tactic 2: Request that Chamber members post flyers in their businesses Tactic 3: Create teaser ads for billboards around Muncie to build curiosity and encourage the audience to go to the blog, website and social media sites Strategy 3: Create and maintain a social media plan Tactic 1: Implement the attached Social Media Plan Strategy 4: Create and maintain blog plan Tactic 1: Invite guest bloggers (volunteers, organizations) to participate Tactic 2: Post at least once a week to maintain interest Tactic 3: Post about events, volunteers, etc. Objective 2: Increase community interest by 1,000 website viewers in 12 months Strategy 1: Illustrate what volunteering can do for a community Tactic 1: Incorporate emotional appeals in promotional materials Tactic 2: Integrate promotional video into social media, website and advertisements Tactic 3: Create videos of events such as “Feed my Sheep” and show how they impact Muncie with guests’ reactions Tactic 4: Create infographics that show how many people are being fed from organization such as Second Harvest Tactic 5: Gather information about volunteer hours spent at each nonprofit every year and display this information in an infographic Goal 2: To increase community involvement and volunteerism Objective 1: Increase amount of recognized volunteers per year from 4 to 12. Strategy 1: Recognize unsung volunteers in the Muncie community Tactic 1: Contact any organization/service in the Muncie community that has volunteers and ask for the names/contact information about those volunteers Tactic 2: Feature volunteer stories in photo slideshows instead of videos to save time, money and allow more stories to be posted Tactic 3: Interview volunteers and feature interview conversations on Muncie Gives Muncie Lives website Tactic 4: Match BSU Student Voluntary Services students with volunteers within the Muncie community to complete a service project Strategy 2: Hold a communitywide event to promote volunteerism
Tactic 1: Encourage several nonprofits throughout the community host volunteers during a specific time on a specific day Tactic 2: Record all hours for the day to present at a rally to be hosted in the afternoon Tactic 3: Host a rally downtown for all volunteers to come together Tactic 4: During this rally present hours for the day as well as hours for the year. Objective 2: Reach out to 50 percent of young people in Muncie in 6 months Strategy 1: Connect BSU with Muncie Gives Muncie Lives Tactic 1: Hold events at BSU sponsored by Muncie Gives Muncie Lives Tactic 2: Ask Student Voluntary Services to recognize Muncie Gives Muncie Lives Tactic 3: Create a “Muncie Gives Muncie Lives” Scholarship, awarding ‘x’ amount of money to students actively involved with volunteer work within the Muncie community Tactic 4: Ask the Big 4 Multicultural Organizations (BSA, LSU, AASA, and Spectrum) to further their volunteer efforts in the Muncie Community (focusing on these minorities within Muncie) Tactic 5: Contact Greek life & the multicultural organizations about speaking to them about Muncie Gives Muncie Lives Strategy 2: Connect schools in the Delaware County District with Muncie Gives Muncie Lives Tactic 1: Hold events at various schools within the Delaware County district sponsored by Muncie Gives Muncie Lives Tactic 2: Ask schools within the Delaware County district to provide more opportunities to volunteer Tactic 3: Ask schools within the Delaware County district to create a “Muncie Gives Muncie Lives” award, presented to a student(s) that has demonstrated a significant amount of volunteer work within the Muncie Community Tactic 4: Utilize Bella/her story to encourage the volunteerism of youth and establish teachers/faculty that help students achieve their volunteer goals Strategy 3: Host a contest among Muncie schools and tutoring centers to promote volunteerism Tactic 1: Have younger students draw a picture of what volunteerism and caring means to them Tactic 2: Have older students choose a form of media to express their
idea of volunteerism could be a blog, an essay, a work of art, an audio piece, etc. Tactic 3: Send information about the project, volunteerism and Muncie Gives Muncie Lives home with the children to give to their parents Tactic 3: Feature winners on social media sites and the website Tactic 4: Reach out to Muncie Star Press about posting winners in the paper
Goal 3: To increase community pride in Muncie Objective 1: Decrease citizens’ negative views of the community by 50 percent in 12 months Strategy 1: Reconnect Muncie citizens with what makes Muncie great Tactic 1: Have table tents and flyers of facts and information describing why Muncie is a great place Tactic 2: Create a video of Muncie residents sharing what they love about Muncie and their favorite memory of Muncie Tactic 3: Make a section in the Muncie Gives Muncie Lives website for testimonials of Muncie citizens Strategy 2: Build awareness for Muncie’s successes Tactic 1: Shoot and post video of the best local attractions in Muncie Tactic 2: Create more content for the “Why Muncie” page on the Chamber website with quotes from local citizens stating what they like best about Muncie Strategy 3: Drive traffic to Muncie Gives Muncie Lives website Tactic 1: Include URL on promotional materials Tactic 2: Distribute flyers with URL on them at scramble light Tactic 3: Partner with local businesses to have URL posted in stores Tactic 4: Continue to promote unsung volunteers on the Muncie Gives Muncie Lives website
Objective 2: Increase citizens’ knowledge of core values by 25 percent in 12 months Strategy 1: Establish a core list of community values Tactic 1: Survey citizens about what they value in a community Tactic 2: Survey businesses about priorities and goals Strategy 2: Create a page on the current Muncie Gives Muncie Lives website containing the core list of Muncie values Tactic 1: Include a link on the Chamber website Tactic 2: Provide quotes from Muncie citizens for each value listed
Tactic 3: Include a synopsis of the Muncie Gives Muncie Lives campaign and how it relates to the values of the community Tactic 4: Include previously created videos about Muncie Gives Muncie Lives campaign and interviews of Muncie residents showing pride in their community 9. Measuring How Goals and Objectives Were Achieved ● Conduct a survey in 1218 months ○ 500 citizens ○ Ask a variety of questions similar to those asked on first survey ■ Questions include asking if the subject has heard of the campaign, how they heard about it, and what they think of the campaign. ○ Ask specific questions concerning negative images and core values ● Track Social Media statistics through analytics ● Track website statistics 10. Estimated Budget Social Media: Provided by Cardinal Communications Video: Provided by Cardinal Communications Handout Materials: Table Tents: $450 for 600 Flyers: $490 for 1000 Advertisement: UPB Movie Night: Free Star Press: Not yet determined 104.1:Not yet determined Billboards: Provided by Burkhardt not yet determined 11. Estimated Timeline ● Phase I: Create, introduce and implement new campaign title/slogan ● Phase II: Increase awareness and drive traffic to website, social media and bog (beginning January 2013) ○ Goal 1, Objective 1, Strategy 2, Tactic 13 ○ Goal 1, Objective 1, Strategy 3, Tactic 1 ○ Goal 1, Objective 1, Strategy 4, Tactic 13 ● Phase III: Increase community involvement through an event (Spring 2013) ○ Goal 2, Objective 1, Strategy 2, Tactic 14 ● Phase III: Establish a positive reputation in the community (beginning Spring 2013) ○ Goal 1, Objective 2, Strategy 1, Tactic 15 ○ Goal 2, Objective 1, Strategy 1, Tactic 13 ○ Goal 2, Objective 2, Strategy 2, Tactic 3
Goal 3, Objective 1, Strategy 1, Tactic 13 ○ Goal 3, Objective 1, Strategy 23 ○ Goal 3, Objective 2, Strategy 13 Phase VI: Continue to build a positive relationship with the community (Fall 2014) ○ Choose Goals and Objectives ○
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12. Proposed Responsibility and Future Recommendations ●
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Several parts of this plan can be improved by delegating a spokesperson from the Chamber of Commerce to talk to schools and create awareness of the campaign through the use of radio, speeches and attending volunteer events and monthly community meetings with promotional materials. Specific people need to be found to seek out weekly interviews within the Muncie community. An alliance with the photojournalism and news departments needs to be made to do this. A person within the department at Ball State University needs to be in charge of the delegating these task and interviews. The plan needs to have a long list of people to interview in Muncie. To do this, designated reporters who will find stories in the community and seek out interesting perspectives need to be hired. Lastly the Chamber of Commerce should hire Cardinal Communications for the next two academic years. Cardinal Communications can provide improvements on the websites, promotional materials, future audio, video and photography for the campaign. The studentrun firm can also help with event planning, social media and media relations
13. Appendices "Best Places to Live in Muncie, Indiana." Best Places to Live in Muncie, Indiana. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. "Muncie, IN Associations/Nonprofits." Associations/Nonprofits in Muncie, Indiana (IN). N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. "World Volunteer Web:Â Benefits of Volunteering." World Volunteer Web:Â Benefits of Volunteering. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.