Greyhound Group Public Relations Acts4Youth – Harvesting Authentic Manhood SUMMARY: As occurs in any major city in America, Baltimore has a major issue with at-risk children. For example, poverty in the Baltimore area is directly linked to its high school dropout rates and youth violence rates. Acts4Youth, a Christian organization based out of Baltimore City, works tirelessly to provide an after-school program to help "at-risk" boys develop useful life skills and learn how to be better students and citizens. Greyhound Group partnered with Acts4Youth to create deliverables such as brochures and staff and board member biographies to increase awareness about the program and to generate donations. The first phase of the project included drafting three different brochures to disseminate to parents of program participants, potential volunteers and donors. The second phase of the project focused on interviewing Acts4Youth executive board and staff members to create biographies to substantiate the credibility of the nonprofit and its leadership. SITUATION ANALYSIS: The term “at-risk” is an adjective used in reference to someone or something that is particularly vulnerable, especially to abuse or delinquency. As occurs in any major city in America, Baltimore has a major issue with at-risk children. In Baltimore City, over 25 percent of residents currently live under the poverty line — 13.3 percent of whom are children. In addition, poverty in the Baltimore area is directly linked to its high school dropout rates and youth violence rates. But, these statistics can be changed. Acts4Youth, a Christian organization based out of Baltimore City, works tirelessly to provide an after-school program to help "at-risk" boys develop useful life skills and learn how to be better students and citizens. The organization encourages each youth to set his own goals and develop Christian values, so that each boy may improve his quality of life and succeed further in his education or career. To generate donations for and increase positive community awareness about the organization, Greyhound Group’s objective over the course of 12 weeks was to assist Act4Youth with deliverables such as brochures plus staff and board member biographies. RESEARCH: The eight-week campaign relied on primary and secondary research to form objectives aligned with the nonprofit mission and strategically targeted to key stakeholders and publics. Primary research included various site visits to Guilford Elementary/Middle School, which provided first-hand information and experience with the after-school program that would have been inaccessible otherwise. Additionally, interview data was collected from both select organizational staff members as well as executive board members. While conducting this research, Greyhound Group found that interactions with
Greyhound Group Public Relations board members required unusual diligence in comparison with staff outreach and response, which proved more compliant. Secondary research was paramount, informing the context within which the nonprofit functions. For instance, understanding high school dropout rates within underprivileged Baltimore communities from various governmental and other websites provided needed insight for this project. Additional research included: • Furthering our knowledge of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop to create brochures • Researching what type of language should be used in the specific brochures for each public PLANNING: The campaign targeted parents of young males who participate in Acts4Youth as well as other students of the target schools. In addition, potential donors were also a target public as well as potential volunteers. Each of the publics is interested in a children’s well-being and development, especially in the high-risk environments that many of them live and work in: •
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Parents of students at both Guilford Elementary/Middle School and Walter P. Carter Elementary/Middle School o Encourage the participation in the Acts4Youth program through creating interest surrounding the program, explaining program benefits and enticing students to want to participate All members of the Baltimore community, with emphasis on members of Christian churches who may have the means to donate to Acts4Youth o Increase awareness of the importance of mentoring young at-risk men in Baltimore o Create relationships with potential donors and encourage continuing support of Acts4Youth via donations Potential male volunteers in the Baltimore community and surrounding universities o Target men who are willing to lead and mentor at-risk youth of Baltimore through the Acts4Youth program
STRATEGIES: • • •
Created deliverables to assist Acts4Youth in garnering future student participants Developed deliverables to assist Acts4Youth in reaching target publics, such as potential donors, to generate more donations for the organization Worked with Acts4Youth staff and executive board members to create comprehensive biographies for display on the organization’s website
OBJECTIVES:
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To produce three different brochures for three different key publics to be distributed in 2015 To produce biographies for each member of the Acts4Youth executive board to be distributed in 2015 To produce biographies for each member of the Acts4Youth staff to be distributed in 2015
TACTICS: • • • • •
Produced three brochures for future participants’ parents, donors and volunteers Developed an email questionnaire to Acts4Youth board members to compile biographies Attended Acts4Youth board meeting to peak members’ interest in filling out a questionnaire as well as to take any needed headshots Sent out follow-up emails to board members to encourage biography data completion Held face-to-face interviews with Acts4Youth staff to compile staff biography information as well as to take any needed headshots
EXECUTION: After meeting with Acts4Youth and learning its needs, Greyhound Group launched a creative 8-week campaign to generate necessary and effective marketing tools that the organization would use to attract new members, volunteers and donors. Members of Greyhound Group visited the Guilford Elementary/Middle School for partner update meetings on two occasions: Oct. 6, 2014 and Nov. 17, 2014. The members also attended an Acts4Youth board meeting on Nov. 3, 2014, to meet board members; take headshots of board members for the executive biographies; talk through Greyhound Group’s planned deliverables; remind board members to respond to the team’s interview requests; and, learn about the inner workings of the board. Once a consent form and an interview protocol were designed, Greyhound Group conducted interviews with nine Acts4Youth executive board members through email questionnaires designed to solicit information for writing executive biographies that would be proposed as marketing tools for the organization. Additionally, Greyhound Group sent follow-up emails to all nine members of the Acts4Youth executive board requesting that they reply to the questionnaire previously sent. Once an interview protocol was designed, Greyhound Group also conducted interviews with four Acts4Youth staff members to write staff biographies to be used as marketing tools for the organization. Some were conducted in person and some were conducted via email.
Greyhound Group Public Relations  Finally, Greyhound Group drafted and designed brochures for three Acts4Youth publics, including parents of potential student participants, potential donors and potential volunteers. The team visited both the Guilford Elementary/Middle School and the Walter P. Carter Elementary/Middle School to take photographs for the brochures and become familiar with each school’s surroundings and respective neighborhoods. EVALUATION: All tactics were reviewed, approved and finalized by Acts4Youth in preparation for organization adoption and use beginning January 2015. Although in a preliminary phase, the campaign is considered a success, since the tactics have been accepted for us. Were the campaign to be conducted again, Greyhound Group would be more conscious and time sensitive with regard to deadlines for deliverables. In addition, Greyhound Group would have aimed to meet in person with board members to interview for their biographies instead of relying solely on email communication.