PR Research Fall 2012

Research and Recommendations by

MASC 425 - Fall 2012 Daphne Abedayo Linda Argueta Annie Cocke Sarah Gannett Melissa Grady Paris Jackson Denaya Jones Kristen Klotzer

Erin LaBrake Samantha Merz Emily Pickering Tabitha Shannon Madelyn Silcox Instructor: Sean Stewart

Table of Contents 3

Executive Summary

4

Communications Audit 1

10

Communications Audit 2

16

Communications Audit 3

24

Communications Audit 4

33

Communications Audit 5

39

Focus Group 1

43

Focus Group 2

51

Focus Group 3

57

Survey 1

59

Survey 2

65

Survey 3

70

Appendix

Executive Summary Public Relations Research is a senior-level course in the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University. Between September and December of 2012, its students conducted content analyses, focus groups, communications audits and surveys to assist the communications efforts of Comfort Zone Camp.

The communications staff at Comfort Zone Camp provided seven research questions: 1. Comfort Zone has built a reputation as the “go-to” technical resource for child-focused bereavement programs.

Is the organization perceived this way by targeted groups and is that how the organization should be promoted?

2. How can our website better convey messages to campers, families, donors, partners, industry leaders and technical experts? What do target audiences think of the current CZC brand?

3. How do we encourage grieving children to find their voice through social media?



4. How should we communicate about our impact and the purpose of CZC to different groups? How can this be accomplished at current staffing and resource levels or show a model for

return on investment?

5. How do we engage new and existing communities to get prospective volunteers to sign-up for and attend volunteer training?

How can we generate more male volunteers for our camps?

6. What are the best methods for communicating with and getting a response from our volunteer community? How do we keep volunteers engaged when they may not always be matched for camp?

How do we help people stay engaged as their careers and lives progress?

7. How do we empower advocates on our behalf? How do we equip them to expand the organization and tell our story?

Key findings from the research include the following: - Comfort Zone Camp is loved among participants, but the current advertising strategy doesn’t always clearly communicate what the event is to newcomers. A more active social media campaign is needed to reach relevant publics for each event.

YouTube is a very useful tool for the organization to communicate their message and an initiative to get more of the public to view the YouTube channel is critical.

- The content on the Comfort Zone Camp website is useful but more

3

personal information should be added to give newcomers a better idea of what this camp does for the children.

- Redesigning Comfort Zone Camp’s Twitter page is essential in gaining more followers and retweets.

CZC Communications Audit Research Comm Audit 1 A Communications Audit is an evaluation of an organization’s conveyance of information. An audit of Comfort Zone Camp (CZC) will determine the organization’s internal and external capabilities as well as distinguishing the strengths and weaknesses and ways of possible improvements. The CZC Communications Audit will be focused on the following research question.

Research Question 3 How do we encourage grieving children to find their voice through social media?

Vision and Mission Alignment



Vision Comfort Zone envisions a world where grieving children are not forgotten or left to grieve alone, and are supported by a wide community that understands and appreciates them.

Vision Relevance CZC aims to give grieving children a

safe and supportive community where they have an outlet to communicate and grieve together with others who understand the struggle and process.

The research question is directly aligned with the organization’s vision to give these children a community and keep them from grieving alone.

Cost efficient and easily accessible social media platforms will enable these children to find the proper network of support needed.

Mission Comfort Zone provides grieving children with a voice, a place, and a community in which to heal, grow and lead more fulfilling lives.

Mission Relevance Not every child that loses someone is able to attend a camp to grieve in the CZC environment. CZC wants to utilize social media to ensure no child is alone at such a difficult time.

An online community can be as supportive and fulfilling as an external community. Such a community can give grieving children the outlet needed to communicate, gain knowledge, and properly grieve the death of a loved one.

Current Communications Practices Currently, in an attempt to encourage grieving children to find their voice through social media, CZC has created a website where campers can get information and resources about grief.

Hello Grief addresses bereavement for those who are helping others cope, as well as those who need support

4

during their own journey with grief.

See Figure 1 in the appendix. All other forms of social media presented

by CZC are aimed towards an adult audience, not grieving children.

Implementation Tactics (see above) The following Implementations Tactics will be used to analyze the maturity levels of CZC’s communications.

Develop effective materials- Materials are developed in attractive, accessible, and varied formats for maximum exposure and visibility



Build valuable partnerships- Linkages exist with internal and external stakeholders who can help align with and carry the message.

Train messengers- Internal and external messengers are trained in key

messages and are consistent in their delivery.

Conduct steady outreach- Outreach and dissemination to audiences through multiple outlets is regular and sustained.

Monitor and evaluate- Activities and outcomes are regularly monitored and evaluated for purposes of accountability and continuous improvement.

Maturity of Communications The included “Practice Maturity Scale” can be seen on the next page and is used to measure the Implementation Tactics. CZC’s performance in each of the categories, above and in Figure 6 of the appendix, will be evaluated based on materials provided by the organization as well as information on the website and social media sites. Each Implementation Tactic will receive a score according to the

5



Practice Maturity Scale. The Practice Maturity Scale will rate how advanced the communications practices are on a scale ranging from 0-5: 0) Not Performed; 1) Ad Hoc; 2) Planned; 3) Institutionalized; 4) Evaluated; 5) Optimized. Improvements needed to propel CZC communications to a higher level will be suggested.

environment, the communications practice may be implemented successfully, but because it is uncoordinated, efforts are often inefficient and go over budget and schedule. They have social media and an outlook for children to grieve, but they are not using it in a way to communicate with the public.

Develop Effective Materials CZC’s implementation to develop effective materials currently rates at stage one, or the “Ad Hoc” stage, on the Practice Maturity Scale. The communications practice is ad hoc and unorganized. Few, if any staff and financial resources are dedicated to it.

Success is based on the competence and efforts of one or two “heroic” individuals. Despite this chaotic

Effective and efficient social media jobs will benefit CZC’s strive towards increasingly developed and organized network communications. Using Twitter for example, CZC’s Twitter posts are mostly articles about sad stories. They do not communicate with people who tweet at them or retweet others who may be interested in their organization. By reaching out to the public with social media, CZC

6

will be able to help more children grieve and learn about what they do as an organization.

Build Valuable Partnerships CZC currently rates at stage one, or the “Ad Hoc” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale in regards to building valuable partnerships. While the organization has partnerships and some in the media, it is not currently coordinating with the partners to spread the mission and spread the word about their grieving sites for children and teens who have lost a parents, sibling or guardian. The resources are there, but are not being used to their ability yet.

CZC has put forward its interest in finding more supporters and volunteers. By using social media and grieving sites, CZC has an opportunity to build partnerships. The organization promotes its need for volunteers, but not the need to have a working reliable and comforting social media outlook.



Train Messengers CZC currently rates at stage three, or the “Institutionalized” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale. The practice is routine and part of the organization’s “fabric.” The organization has qualitatively determined the “best” way to approach the practice and has institutionalized it. Practices are known and coordinated both within and outside of the organization.

In addition to CZC being reaching out to young adults to be mentors for younger children who are grieving, they also have to be able to train them. With the information received, if someone is interested in becoming a Volunteer, CZC sends out an automatic message explaining the organization and what potential volunteers can sign up for. Since the research question asks how to encourage children to find their voice, CZC should have someone voluntee to do just that. To be able to sit down on social media sites with the children and show them exactly how the sites work; especially their Hello Grief website. With people well-trained for this situation, they can spread the word.

Conduct Steady Outreach CZC currently rates at stage two, or the “Planned” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale.

CZC has tried to conduct a steady outreach to inform its audience of the new goals through different outlets. Their current strategy is to find a way to help grieving children connect through social media. There does not seem to be a method of the timing and consistency of which these messages gets sent out.

CZC has all of the social media outlooks they need, but are not consistent with using it for grieving children to find their voice. This is why they fit in at a stage

7

two - because they are not regularly performed or available through multiple outlets.

improvement. This also provided an accurate account of what things are being properly implemented.

Monitor and Evaluate CZC currently rates at a stage zero, or “Not Preformed” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale. CZC does not have regularly monitored or evaluated communication efforts and the most pressing concern is the disconnect between the publics and CZC. Messages are often not met by the intended audiences. The organization is not creating a connected family environment - the original goal of CZC, and a necessity for grieving children to find their voice. CZC must establish a method to monitor and evaluate situations through the social media platforms.

Internal Factor

Practice Maturity Scale Score CZC’s communications relating to research question three averages to reflect stage two, or the “Planned” stage, on the Practice Maturity Scale.

Its messages related to how grieving children can find a voice through social media are deliberated and planned, instead of being simply responsive.



SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis details the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. Analyzing both internal and external aspects of the organization and the current situation can perform a SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis allows for an objective view of what requires

Strengths Strengths include the internal critique of what the organization is excelling in related to communications about CZC’s encouragement of grieving children to find their voice through social media.

A strength that CZC has within its internal origin, is that it is helpful and wants to achieve the objective of helping grieving children find their voice. They have the social media sites in tact, and they have Hello Grief which is a well organized website, but it needs some adjustments. By making Hello Grief more interactive between CZC staff and children, they will feel more comfortable, connected, and safe within the CZC community.

Weaknesses Weaknesses also refer to internal matters relating to CZC’s research question three.

Some weaknesses that CZC’s displays are that there social media could be harmful to achieving the objective since it is not regularly monitored or promoted. Social media is one of the most utilized tools of the century, so everyone, especially organizations needs to be using it to their full ability.

8

Their weakness are that they do not make their twitter page fully connect with fans and with people who want to get involved. Their facebook is not regularly updated, and they need to comment back on so children and people that follow the organization have that sense of a community.

Opportunities Describing opportunities relating to research question three can help to show how improvements can be made and how to create a positive change within the organization as a whole.

Since CZC is attempting to be nationally known, they have the opportunity to communicate their vision to tons of people. CZC currently has camps in five states, but for those who have lost a family member and do not have the funds to travel to a CZC camp there needs to be many accessible camps to reach out to the millions of grieving children in America.

Threats A threat describes external factors that could affect the accomplishment of CZC’s need to help grieving children find a voice. By acknowledging and analyzing the potential threats, CZC can focus on where future issues could surface.



Threats in fulfilling the goal of children finding their voice through social media may cause problems to the

organization. Some children aren’t always able to openly talk about their loss and might feel pressured if they felt CZC was trying to force the grieving process on them. This issue could lead to negative attention from parents who may not want their child looking on a social media site which allows them to display their private matters on the internet for anyone to view.

Areas for Improvement and Suggested Strategies 1. CZC should hire someone specifically to do and run their social media websites. With one or two people who are dedicated to just the social media aspect of the organization then it would make it much easier to communicate with the public and with people interested. (An example would be other non-profits Twitter accounts or social media to get an idea of what to do for CZC, such as https:// twitter.com/RichmondSPCA, https:// twitter.com/BBBSA. You can see here that they re-tweet others, and communicate with other people by interacting with them and keeping up with what is going on in the community).

2. CZC should also have specific meetings to show children and teens how to exactly use their Hello Grief site and what you can do with it. If children and teens know how to use it properly they will probably get more out of it and want to use it on a

9

regular basis.

and appreciates them.

3. Hold a pow-wow at the camp and ask the children if they know what social media is and how it can be helpful for them to find their voice.

Take a survey and use the data to determine what percentage knows about it and who might want to know about it.

Vision Relevance The CZC volunteer community is the supporting foundation of the organization. CZC needs these members in order for grieving children to have necessary support.

It is important to CZC’s vision that research about volunteer involvement be implemented. The organization functions as a stable organization because it retains a continuous volunteer community. It is important to have the consistent volunteers at the camp for the children to be comfortable with a role model that is experienced, creative, and invested in the organization’s cause.

Comm Audit 2 A Communications Audit is an evaluation of an organization’s conveyance of information. An audit of Comfort Zone Camp (CZC) will determine the organization’s internal and external capabilities as well as distinguishing the strengths and weaknesses and ways of possible improvements. The CZC Communications Audit will be focused on the following research question.

Research Question 6 What are the best methods for communicating with and getting a response from our volunteer community? How do we keep volunteers engaged when they may not always be matched for camp?

How do we help people stay engaged as their careers and lives progress?



Figure 3 in the appendix illustrates the necessity of a volunteer foundation to sustain a functional, ongoing camp.

On the Volunteer Information Request document, CZC states, “Camp could not happen without you; we need about 90 volunteers to run one camp.”

Vision and Mission Alignment

Mission CZC provides grieving children with a voice, a place, and a community in which to heal, grow and lead more fulfilling lives. By following the link http://bit.ly/DzO1v you can watch a video that summarizes CZC in one word.

Vision CZC envisions a world where grieving children are not forgotten or left to grieve alone, and is supported by a wide community that understands

Mission Relevance CZC’s mission is relative to the research question, as the organization could not fulfill its mission without a strong volunteer community. In

10

order for CZC to implement their mission statement and give grieving children a community, they must have a strong volunteer base, preferably recurring volunteers that are already familiar with the organization’s goals.

The volunteer community is the foundation for the organization, which then provides the children with a voice and a safe environment to heal.

Current Communications Practices CZC communicates with its volunteer public through several social media channels.

Facebook Facebook provides a platform for the organization to promote their organization’s cause and stay connected to their volunteer base.

Utilizing Facebook allows them to keep their volunteers engaged by posting photos and current information regarding upcoming events.



CZC could develop a better relationship with past volunteers and give them an incentive to continue to offer their service if they were more responsive. Several posts on Facebook go unanswered which can be discouraging to a volunteer who is using Facebook as their way of communicating with the organization.

The link: http://on.fb.me/RQ75gx shows an example of a great opportunity CZC missed to engage in comments.

Their postings are very long and

heartfelt, and instead of commenting back, CZC simply “liked” the post.

Twitter Twitter allows the organization to communicate with its public by providing a brief statement enforcing their mission. By using this medium, CZC can maintain a relationship with past volunteers by keeping them current on the organization’s direction.

CZC could use this form of social media to quickly convey a message to its followers; however, most of the tweets are personal stories about grief and loss. The stories are probably beneficial to a degree, but they could continue to build their organization if they maintained a voice that sustained their vision.

Youtube This medium serves as a visual platform where past volunteers and prospects can view exactly what a weekend at camp is about and everything the organization stands for.

CZC posts videos of the camp, but not as often considering they a camp event each month. Some videos are posted months apart.

To keep its viewers feeling updated on the organization, CZC could benefit from highlighting newer videos, or having multiple camp advertisement videos circulating.

Idealist.org Idealist.org is one of the primary

11

sites for volunteers to find potential opportunities. This sight allows CZC to network with other organizations among the nonprofit community.

Idealist.org allows volunteers to create profiles, make contact with other organizations, and sustain relationships with organizations they are affiliated with. CZC’s profile has eight profiles of members connected to the organization. However, instead of using this as a platform for networking and promoting their organization, CZC seems to be unengaged in the account activity.

In order for CZC to be connected on the same plane as other nonprofit organizations, they have to use this platform to stay connected and network their brand. Having no photos, videos, listings, or connections with other organizations, CZC is secluding their organization from a greater net of support systems.

The organization can attract new members from connections with other organizations.

Implementation Tactics The following Implementations Tactics will be used to analyze the maturity levels of CZC’s communications.

Develop effective materials- Materials are developed in attractive, accessible, and varied formats for maximum exposure and visibility



Build valuable partnerships- Linkages exist with internal and external stakeholders who

can help align with and carry the message.

Train messengers- Internal and external messengers are trained in key messages and are consistent in their delivery.

Conduct steady outreach- Outreach and dissemination to audiences through multiple outlets is regular and sustained.

Monitor and evaluate- Activities and outcomes are regularly monitored and evaluated for purposes of accountability and continuous improvement.

Maturity of communications The included “Practice Maturity Scale,” is used to measure the Implementation Tactics. CZC’s performance in each of the categories, above and in Figure 6 of the appendix, will be evaluated based on materials provided by the organization as well as information on the website and social media sites. Each Implementation Tactic will receive a score according to the Practice Maturity Scale. The Practice Maturity Scale will rate how advanced the communications practices are on a scale ranging from 0-5: 0) Not Performed; 1) Ad Hoc; 2) Planned; 3) Institutionalized; 4) Evaluated; 5) Optimized. Improvements needed to propel CZC communications to a higher level will be suggested.

12

Implementation Tactics with Practice Maturity Scale Score

preserve active communication and encouragement to volunteer again.

Develop Effective Materials CZC’s implementation of developing effective materials currently rates at stage one, or the “Ad Hoc” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale.

In regards to developing effective material, CZC has proper material but the quality is in question. The organization seems to be lacking a continuing progression of its resources, updating brochures and creating new recruitment handouts.

The exposure of these materials is the sole duty of an individual and not a group or the organization’s responsibility as a whole. The preeminent strategy for such exposure of efficient materials has not yet come to fruition and improvement is necessary.

While CZC has an accessible website and involvement in social media platforms, limited, error ridden, and outdated physical documents exist to accrue volunteers. An attractive recruitment poster to hand out exists, with plenty of details, opportunities for different people and contact information. CZC noted they would like multiple recruitment handouts directed towards specific audiences, volunteers, photographers, EMTs etc.

Having several recruitment handouts for individual audiences would allow more specific information to be conveyed to each separate public.

The brochure available for the public is very outdated with multiple errors.

The handouts and brochures are exposed in schools, facilities and by online means. Although visible and exposed, the limitation of these inefficient brochures is not directly clear.



These physical materials are not markedly directed towards existing volunteers, however if multiple recruitment handouts existed for each type of volunteer needed, these handouts could be disseminated to continuous volunteers to

Build Valuable Partnerships CZC’s implementation to build valuable partnerships currently rates at stage one, or the “Ad Hoc” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale.

Advocating for CZC on the part of staff and the organization implementers is one sided and not thoroughly connected with external stakeholders such as volunteers or donors. CZC campaigns for support and volunteers but does not engage with interested members. When members and volunteers engage, praise, or draw attention to CZC, there is not a clear response or attempt at a dialog.

It is important for the organization to develop relationships with its members especially if the organization wishes to successfully engage in social media platforms designed to build

13

connections.

The organization does not seem to be involved with other organizations on Idealist.org. There seems to be one-sided communications among members and the organization.

Communication is made and the message is circulated, however the process seems quite mechanical with no direct CZC and volunteer interaction. The substantial amount of work seems to be done by one person, giving a consistent voice but overwhelming and preventing this individual from implementing all necessary actions.

Train messengers CZC’s implementation of train messengers currently rates at stage three, or the “Institutionalized” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale.

Messengers exist internally and externally on the CZC social media platforms. CZC routinely sends out messages of encouragement, advocacy, and fundraising to its members. All messages are consistent with a similar voice representing the organization. The members and volunteers of the organization post testimonials and good words about CZC as well.



The problem lies within the gap of communication between those organizational messages and the receivers as well as the messages from members and the organization’s lack of response.

CZC’s posts on Facebook and Twitter are daily and consistent. They are not a reaction to external forces and are precise and professional.

However, there are many posts, which call for volunteers or members to join a camp or event that have no comments or conversations linked to them. This lack of interaction objects to the idea that CZC has found the most efficient, the ‘best’ way to convey its message and gain volunteers. Nevertheless, the messages the organization sends out are routine.

Conduct Steady Outreach CZC’s implementation to conduct steady outreach currently rates at stage three, or the “Institutionalized” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale.

The actions on the organization’s social media sites are mostly consistent, implying the act of reaching out is a planned and implemented activity by staff.

However, steady outreach from CZC should produce new members. On the organization’s idealist.org profile, the activity stream indicates a four-month gap between members.

The reasoning for this lull in new members should be analyzed and a strategy to consistently gain new members should be implemented.

After such an analysis and evaluation, conducting steady outreach will fit into the “Evaluated” stage of the Practice Maturity Scale.

14

Monitor and Evaluate CZC’s implementation to monitor and evaluate currently rates at stage two, or the “Planned” stage on the Practice Maturity Scale. The organization has reached out to a research group to help evaluate and ultimately improve the organization’s communication and management. CZC must regularly evaluate the traffic on social media platforms and search for ways to update and improve.

Practice Maturity Scale Score The Practice Maturity Scale Score is a 10. Combined, the implementations average to a two, or “Planned” stage of the Practice Maturity Scale.

CZC must work towards a more up to date and organized practice of communication to improve its Practice Maturity Scale Score.

Content calendars, queued posts, and regulated responses can help improve the organization’s online communications. Multiple and specifically aimed brochures and recruitment posters would be more effective and efficient.



SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis details the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. Analyzing both internal and external aspects of the organization and the current situation can perform a SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis allows for an objective view of what requires improvement. This also provided an accurate account of what things are being properly implemented.

Internal Factors Strengths Strengths include the internal critique of areas the organization is excelling at, in relation to communications about CZC’s effort to retain and engage volunteers.

CZC has and uses the online social platforms to reach new and existing members. The organization’s Facebook and Twitter are kept updated. Emails of interest are responded to with consistent information. Existing volunteers have an online stage to present ideas, questions and concerns as well as create relationships with the CZC community.

Weaknesses Weaknesses refer to internal matters relating to CZC’s difficulties regarding communications with volunteers.

Other social media platforms such as Youtube are not consistently updated.

The interactions between and with members are weak. CZC is not utilizing the pages they have to full potential. Dialogues and discussions are not created and maintained by the organization. Physical materials are out of date, incorrect and not specific enough.

External Factors Opportunities Describing opportunities relating CZC’s communications can help to

15

show how improvements can be made and how to create a positive change within the organization as a whole.

The organization could utilize volunteers in the promotion of the organization or give existing volunteers more opportunities and responsibilities. CZC may decide to generate more interaction between volunteers to create a solid community, enhancing the organizational culture and promoting continuous volunteerism.

Threats A threat describes external factors that could affect the accomplishment of Comfort Zone Camp’s effort to sustain effective volunteers. By acknowledging and analyzing the potential threats, CZC can focus on where future issues could surface.

Other organizations may be receiving possible CZC’s donations due to lack of clarity and attraction to organization.

Volunteers could be lost due to lack of connection or maintenance of member and organization relationship as well as recognition.

Areas for Improvement and Suggested Strategies



1. Directly engage with members, volunteers and donors that post on the CZC’s social media platforms. Ask them personal questions, tell them CZC looks forward to seeing them and let them know, personally, about

opportunities available to them.

2. Create groups on Facebook and Twitter to bring volunteers together.

Develop discussion topics for the group and encourage members to discuss and debate the issues or topics of choice.

3. Give the volunteers and members a task, responsibility or just ask for an opinion to remind these individuals that the organization needs them and cannot function without them.

Comm Audit 3 A communications audit is a systematic assessment of an organization’s performance of vital communications practices. It determines both what is and isn’t working for an organization, and what can be done if the appropriate adjustments are made.

A communications audit is beneficial to an organization because it provides a “snapshot” of where the organization stands in regards to their current communication capacity or performance.

Communications audits are a helpful tool in providing nonprofits with a realistic sense of where they currently stand in their communications practices, as well as what is possible in terms of further development.

Mission The mission statement for CZC is to provide grieving children with a voice,

16

a place, and a community in which to heal, grow and lead more fulfilling lives.



The vision of CZC is a world where grieving children are not forgotten or left to grieve alone, and are supported by a wide community that understands and appreciates them.

to build larger communities. The bigger the community, the more grieving children they will be able to reach. Also, if CZC pinpoints how their targeted audience views their organization they will have a firmer understanding as to whether CZC really is the “go-to” technical resource for child grieving programs.

Reseach Question: Comfort Zone has built a reputation as the “go-to” technical resource for child-focused bereavement programs. Is the organization perceived this way by targeted groups and is that how the organization should be promoted?

And: How can our website better convey messages to campers, families, donors, partners, industry leaders and technical experts? What do target audiences think of the current CZC brand?

Research question number two fits the vision and mission of CZC because it shares with others the impact that it is having with these grieving children.

In the mission statement it states that it wants to be a community that heals, grows, and leads grieving children to more fulfilling lives; in order to do that is has to have a lasting impression on the children that attend camps.

Communicating the impact that CZC has to different campers in turn will bring more children to camps.

Mission Relevance Research question number one fits with the vision and mission of CZC because it is searching for a way to broaden the community that they have built for grieving children. In order to show that the grieving children are supported by a wide community means that CZC has to build a larger community.

Learning the different channels of communication can ultimately lead to a larger community to help the grieving children that attend CZC.

By figuring out how they are perceived by targeted groups and how to better promote their organization, CZC can build a stronger community.

Since the strength of the community is what CZC thinks is their greatest way to help heal children, it is important

Current Communications Practices CZC’s communicates their mission to provide a safe and fun environment for children grieving a lost loved one primarily on their official website.

The official site does a better job of displaying what CZC ‘s mission entails rather than their social media sites, however there are some things that need to be updated.

CZC’s press room page, for example, hasn’t been updated since 2010. The

17

last article featuring CZC was over a year ago (June, 12, 2011). They do have a press release that is relatively recent – May of this year; however before that, the latest press release CZC released was September 2011.

Social Media Sites Hello Grief Hello Grief, overall, is clean, straightforward, and seems to serve its purpose as a safe place for people, primarily children, to interact and share their experiences with each other. There is something on their homepage that can be of interest to everyone, and clear indications of where particular groups should go for more information.

As this site is targeted at individuals who have experienced loss, the organization is perceived the way they should be through this particular social network. However, Hello Grief is under-promoted to its target audience.



provoked more interaction from members. However they are still under-selling one great tool that they have – which are their YouTube videos. Once they’ve uploaded more up-to-date videos from recent camps to their YouTube page, it would be helpful to integrate the two sites. This way, they can increase the amount of views and subscriptions that they have on the YouTube channel, as well as reach out to more members of Facebook, who, without having seen a video/picture/etc. shared on their newsfeed, would not know that CZC even exists.

FaceBook CZC’s Facebook page does a better job of communicating the organization’s mission considering there are less Hello Grief articles, and more pictures and videos. CZC seems to have moved all of the articles that were once on the organization’s page to Hello Grief’s separate Facebook page.

The Hello Grief Facebook page may not be on par for the Hello Grief Site to serve its purpose. The Facebook page only contains articles from the Hello Grief website. There doesn’t seem to be a significant amount of activity on the Facebook page to indicate that it’s a necessary complement to the Hello Grief site.

CZC’s Twitter page seems almost unnecessary. Their tweets are simply the same links to the articles that one could find on the Facebook and Hello Grief sites. When dealing with different social networks, it’s important to cater to each site’s unique purpose. On Twitter, it’s usually more beneficial to create posts that will circulate and get re-tweeted by followers, which in turn generates more followers.

More recently, their Facebook page has included more pictures of camp members/volunteers, which has

Twitter CZC is not getting enough attention on their Twitter page, and it has a ton

18

to do with what they choose to post.

What their Twitter page should be used for is a mode of communication for their campers. They cater to young teenagers, who more than likely use Twitter on a regular basis.

Though the campers don’t use cell phones, laptops, etc. at camp, posting more pictures and encouraging campers to mention the page in their posts would be helpful in getting their Twitter page more attention. Utilizing hashtags is another great way for CZC to gain more activity on their Twitter site.

Another underused social media site is CZC’s LinkedIn site. LinkedIn is intended for interaction on a more professional level. One would assume that the intention for this page is to interact with other businesses, and to attract potential donors; however the page doesn’t appear to be serving much of a purpose.



The most recent post on their LinkedIn page is from November of 2010. This page could potentially be great for attracting businesses that could in turn become great supporters for their cause. However, CZC does not maintain and sustain a connection with resources on the site, and their organization could suffer as a result.

There also does not appear to be too much communication going on between members of their discussion group. CZC needs to add more recent and relevant posts to their discussion board.

Youtube Of all of CZC’s pages, their YouTube page is their best, and one of the most neglected. This is because their videos focus on the best thing about the organization – the camp, and the children participating. However the most recent video they have posted on their YouTube channel is from 11 months ago; and the first thing you see when playing the video is “Comfort Zone Camp 2010.” CZC’s YouTube channel has the potential to attract more members as well as volunteers if updated more regularly and utilized correctly.

CZC, as an organization, does a lot of great things, and has the potential to attract a lot of other members if properly promoted. The site can benefit from being integrated into one of their other social sites, such as their Facebook page. There also needs to be recent videos posted on the channel. Not nearly enough people see their videos, or are even aware their YouTube channel exists.

Integrating the YouTube channel with their Facebook page will help bring more attention to their videos, which will give more potential members, volunteers, etc., a great indication of CZC’s mission. The more current members repost and share the information on their newsfeeds, the more people will learn that this organization exists, and that it serves a great purpose.

The “Practice Maturity Scale” is used

19

to explain how CZC’s communications relates to its mission and vision as well as how the communications rate on the Practice Maturity Scale.

CZC’s performance in each of the categories: Developing Effective Materials, Building Valuable Partnerships, Training Messengers, Conducting Steady Outreach, and Monitoring and Evaluating their communication is then evaluated on the “Implementation” chart. These will be evaluated based on materials provided by the organization as well as information on the website and social media sites.

Each category on the implementation chart will receive a score according to the Practice Maturity scale. The Practice Maturity Scale classifications are: “Ad Hoc” or uncoordinated, “Planned” or managed, “Institutionalized” or regularly performed, “Evaluated” or measured and tracked, and finally “Optimized” or continuous improvement.



Develop Effective Materials In order to assess an organization’s performance and capacity, its specific practices associated with strategic communications need to be evaluated. Every nonprofit that tries to implement strategic communications should be performing these practices at some level, whether it is individually or as a group. The “Implementation” process includes practices most common to an organization with an active communications function.

First, materials are evaluated to determine whether or not they are effective in maximizing the organization’s visibility. Next, partnerships with the organization are studied to see if linkages exist with internal and external stakeholders who can help spread their message. Third, internal and external messengers are trained in crucial messages and are consistent in their delivery to various publics.

Then, steady outreach is conducted and regularly dispersed to audiences through multiple outlets. Finally, all activities and outcomes are regularly monitored and evaluated so that there can be continuous improvement.

The “Practice Maturity Scale” has been developed to assess an organization on the practices listed above. It is a gauge that helps an organization to measure and illustrate where it currently stands in terms of its performance. It offers a continuum of possible performance levels for any given practice. The figure below illustrates the scale’s five levels.

Higher levels in the scale show a higher organizational commitment to, integration of, and performance on the practice. Each practice may be classified as Ad Hoc (1), Planned (2), Institutionalized (3), Evaluated (4), and Optimized (5).

CZC’s implementation of its mission, by developing effective materials rates at level three, or the “institutionalized” level, on

20

the Practice Maturity Scale. The organization takes an active approach in utilizing various social networks to communicate its mission regularly.

CZC has had much success with this approach and has institutionalized it.

However, additional communications still need to be incorporated in order to develop new promotional materials.

Build Valuable Partnerships In regards to research question one, CZC rates at level two, or the “Planned” level, on the “Practice Maturity Scale.” The organization has internal partnerships with medias such as Hello Grief, which promotes them to help spread the mission of the camp. The practice occurs occasionally with promotional materials such as articles and videos, but does not update information about the organization regularly.



Strong external partnerships have been formed with CZC. The organization’s leaders are active in camp events and in communities in different states. CZC sponsors fundraisers such as the Comfort Zone Grief Relief Gala, an annual Fall Bash, and 5k events. CZC even offers the opportunity for other organizations to assist its mission and sponsor weekend camp events. The organization utilizes its partnerships in an effort to spread the mission and raise money while still offering a fun and enjoyable environment.

Train Messengers CZC is known for being a bereavement camp for children who have lost a parent or sibling. Internal and external stakeholders have been trained to relay CZC’s mission to the public.

However, improper audiences are targeted at events such as the Fall Bash. While it is useful to hold a fundraiser to thank volunteers, CZC should not limit the ages for the Fall Bash to 21 and older. CZC might benefit greatly if it altered the event to make it family friendly; it could allow the organization to create more messengers for the public. Because of this, CZC rates at level two, or the “Planned” level, on the “Practice Maturity Scale.”

CZC should focus on training its messengers to target specific publics such as schools and hospitals to raise awareness about the organization.

Online listings offering information on CZC should to be corrected for spelling and grammatical errors, as well.

Conduct Steady Outreach CZC has attempted to form a steady outreach to its publics through a variety of outlets. It sponsors large, annual fundraising events to benefit grieving children while raising awareness about its mission. CZC’s current strategy involves reaching various publics through social media.

Social media websites are updated in a timely manner, but there is a lack of consistency in its messages. CZC rates at level two, or the “Planned” level,

21

on the “Practice Maturity Scale.” The organization has found a valuable tool in relaying its mission, but still needs to improve its skills when it comes to expanding its audiences.

Monitor and Evaluate CZC regularly monitors communication efforts, but it is not following through to ensure that the intended audiences are being reached. Various social networking websites are not being used properly to reach specific publics. LinkedIn has not been updated in a significant amount of time. CZC’s Twitter account fails to utilize hash tags and there are no retweets among different users to get the word out. Because of this, CZC rates at level one, or the “Ad Hoc” level, on the Practice Maturity Scale. The organization is maximizing its output with social media websites, but improper usage of these communications is not reaching necessary publics to expand the knowledge and understanding of CZC and its mission.



Overall Rating CZC’s communications relating to research question one average to reflect level two, or the “Planned” level, on the Practice Maturity Scale.

The organization’s messages relating to its mission are planned and deliberate, but are not communicated properly. A variety of resources have been established to move the initiative further. Responsibilities are assigned to the practice and the process is managed, but there is a lack

of consistency in its messages. CZC could rise on the Practice Maturity Scale if they targeted the proper publics and learned how to utilize its social media websites properly.

The last section of this audit, will discuss the S.W.O.T. analysis of CZC. This analysis – the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a business – is used to identify the factors that are favorable and unfavorable to a business overall mission and objective.

Strength The first strength that is seen to give CZC an advantage over other organizations would have to be because of its overall mission for this program: “Comfort Zone provides grieving children with a voice, and a community in which to heal, grow and lead more fulfilling lives.” Since this is also a non-profit organization that helps children between the ages of 7-17, who have experienced the loss of a loved one, and are trying to learn how to cope, the children need to meet others that have been through similar situations. Their mission and vision are an important strength because it’s so powerful and taps into a lot of individuals in the United States personally, because death is a part of life, and children can learn how to deal with pain and begin to grieve.

Another strength that is an advantage for CZC is their official website for their organization. The website covers a lot of information without being overwhelming and over the top but

22

instead it was very simple, direct and presentable to its targeted publics. It includes a variety of visuals such as pictures and videos of the camp, the people and the experience, which gives the websites personal effect that will attract people emotionally to their organization and mission. It gives a nice preview of what to expect once apart of the organization, whether you’re a camper, parent or volunteer, it explains everything clearly for each user. Their website is easy to follow to navigate your way through each section while staying within the 3-click rule. Overall this site gives off a good impression for first time users as well as existing users.

will in turn lead to them visiting the site more, as well as telling others to visit their social media pages as well.

Weakness

Since CZC is a non-profit organization, the best opportunity to gain more campers, volunteers and donors would be to host a fundraiser around local communities near different CZC locations. This could help current members of the organization get a chance to interact with their existing or potential members while raising money simultaneously. Fundraisers can include car wash, bake sale, clothes drive, can food drive, and many other options to raise money.

This will help the organization to network and spread news of upcoming events that the organization is holding to gain more exposure.

Social media for CZC is an important weakness that could become harmful for this organization. Since technology has progressed so much over time, it is important for their organization to stay updated on all of their social media sites. For this specific nonprofit organization, they tend to use the same pictures and videos on each social media site, such as Twitter and Facebook, which can come off as lazy and lacking in productivity. This is an urgent weakness to fix, because social media sites are used to network and gain more subscribers and users to increase the organization as a whole.

ď &#x;

It is also important to interact with supporters whom look to these pages for information or latest updates to stay involved and feel connected. This

Another weakness that could limit CZC’s growth and how large it could possibly become, is the fact that they only have 4 different location sites which are held in California, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. CZC is not well-known in all other states, so it may be helpful to add more camp sites in bigger cities to enhance the movement of this organization or come up with ways to reach targets in different states.

Opportunity

Another opportunity that may be helpful to the organization could be to host programs that target each member; such as campers, volunteers, parents, and donors separately,

23

while intertwining the organizations mission and goals. This way, each targeted public is receiving the right message that pertains to them.

Going on tour with CZC and having a mission to spread the word about this organization; what it offers, how it helps, and how others can get involved can be a quick and very useful way to attract more members and new publics. This is also a great opportunity to meet new people while traveling to different states and telling people about the mission and vision of CZC. Threats Losing partnerships could be a threat to this organization if they do not communicate their needs and from their partners in this non-profit organization. This is an important relationship that helps keep this organization running. If CZC starts to lose their partners due to the lack of communicating, indolence and drive to get their mission out to a variety of people, they will inevitably lose support from their publics. Without the help of their supporters and donors this organization will come to end quickly, which why it is pertinent to use the resources within the partners of CZC to gain new members Comm Audit 4

ď &#x;

In organizations that are wellestablished, it’s important to cover all bases from staff members to your communications to make sure

that every aspect of your company is expressed properly to these mediums. To be able to properly know an organization, is to execute their vision and mission through all open avenues, a communications audit must happen. By examining all the data and communications that the company correlates over a certain period of time, public relations firms can determine the character of the organization they are taking on as a business opportunity.

A communications audit is explained as an evaluation of all the internal and external communications that take place within an organization.

The audit is used to see if the key messages and mission of the organization are done properly, and that those ideas are being relayed to the public as honestly as possible. The purpose of the communications audit is to increase the effectiveness of the message to the publics, both internal and external. To better understand what the organization is doing, it must evaluate itself to be made aware of any faults in communications, which then leads to the steps toward improvement if the message isn’t being conveyed in the best possible way. If there is any fault or lack of description within the messages, the organization will be given the audit to evaluate and decide if they should execute any changes to its communications plan.

With evaluation in mind for the audit, the end result hopes for an

24

improved communications output to both the internal and external publics. This is beneficial in many ways for the organization, in that it allows for messages and other forms of communication to be consolidated and disseminated to publics that haven’t been reached yet – or in some cases, who have been reached but did not take into mind the messages and idea of the organization. If the audit proves that the output of product and communications is positive, then the organization has gained footing and overall ground towards grabbing the attention of its publics.

For Comfort Zone Camp or, CZC, whose headquarters are located in Richmond, Virginia but have locations in three other states, it’s all about how to deliver the message and the healing opportunities of their nonprofit weekend camp for grieving children.

When conducting an audit for the bereavement camp, every form of advertisement, including sheets for volunteers and other odds and ends in the way of communicating its services to the public must be exposed and looked over extensively.



In order to have an organized way to do so, the PR firm or individuals conducting the audit must go into the process with questions that need to be answered given to them by the organization. Using these questions as a baseline to test the usage of the message being conveyed to the public by the non-profit, the team working

on the audit will be able to come up with answers to questions, along with lists for improvement.

Research Questions In regards to CZC, one of the many questions that need to be answered is centered around the audience base that it is reaching out to and whether or not it is working. The first of the list that needs to be examined starts with the website. It is basic enough, but needs some serious work and strategic observing to make sure that CZC is operating properly and conveying the message to the best of its ability. Below is the question submitted by the camp to the client to undercover and find answers to problems being felt through the organization and the web.

Research Question 2: How can our website better convey messages to campers, families, donors, partners, industry leaders and technical experts? What do target audiences think of the current CZC brand?

What the firm does in examining the issues at hand is being addressed under the umbrella wording of this statement, and questions that are being posed is simple: break it down into small segments. By doing so, the firm is segmenting and assessing the different branches of information and categorizing it by breaking it down further and scoring it. In those steps, the firm and the organization are able to properly see a trend and address it.

25

Once addressed, the organization will be able to move forward and fix any and all issues brought to the attention by the non-biased third party.

Comfort Zone Mission CZC provides grieving children with a voice, a place and a community in which to heal, grow, and lead more fulfilling lives.

Comfort Zone Vision CZC envisions a world where grieving children are not forgotten or left to grieve alone, and are supported by a wide community that understands and appreciates them.

In research question 2, CZC is asking us to better convey its message to campers, families, donors, partners, industry leaders, and technical experts. This directly relates back to the mission and vision statements.

By having campers, families, donors, partners, industry leaders, and technical experts better understand the message it is trying to convey, CZC would most likely be able to get more support financially, more volunteers, and more awareness of their cause. Knowing which parts of the communications efforts need adjusting will enable the group to convey a message better and accomplish the mission.

ď &#x;

In the mission, CZC is directly trying to help the children and are trying to use these social media outlets to further people’s knowledge of what the organization does and give

children a voice to grieve. By knowing how target audiences view CZC, the communities can be better supported.

In the vision, no child should be forgotten or left alone, by knowing what the current audiences think about the organization, CZC can make the proper changes to further the mission.

Current communication practices As an overview, CZC has all the current social media sites and has information readily available for people to access.

There needs to be some maintenance and changes in their practices to better reach their audiences.

Through their social media outlets CZC does not have a constant flow of conversation with their publics.

They have followers on Twitter and Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections, but people are not using these as a means of communication.

CZC wants to better convey their messages through these current communications (social media) outlets that they are using but there needs to be some adjustments.

Website The CZC website (Screen Shot 1A) has tons of information for someone who would want to learn their organization. The site gives information about the cause, donors and upcoming events. It posts a calendar and has tabs to access everything that someone who was trying to learn about the organization would need. There is one tab section

26

that is not currently working and has not been working since we did an overview of the website two weeks ago. The tab “support groups” needs to be edited or taken down because its not serving a purpose to their website (Refer to Screen Shot 1B).

CZC has quick links to social media outlets, documents and necessary forms for volunteers, as well as any additional contact information. The website gives you a direct link to social media (Screen Shot 1C) where it continues to go more indepth about the cause and use this as a tool to convey their message and reach its publics. This is conveying information to target audiences and giving users the accessibility they need to participate within the organization.

Facebook



The CZC Facebook page has testimonials, pictures, articles, and posts about upcoming events, letting audiences have a more personal look at what the camp does. In the “about” section on Facebook, the mission statement is restated and gives an overview of what the camp does.

This is a comment box from one of their postings, as you can see 89 people liked it but there are only three comments on the post. (Refer to screen shot 2). This is a direct example of how there is activity on the page but it’s not stimulating conversation between the users and CZC. The website is actively updated, which is a benefit. CZC is obviously conveying a

message through updated posts, and posts consist of events and pictures and stories that are relevant to the organization. Therefore, the message is getting across but could probably have more of an impact if CZC made some changes and stimulated conversation on social pages.

Twitter The CZC Twitter account is directly linked to the website. Listed here is another social media outlet that CZC is using to convey its message and gauge audiences. Once again, it states the purpose of the camp in the bio of their Twitter page, and tells followers what sort of content that it will be posting. Using Twitter one can find out what people think about their organization by use of hashtags or re-tweets.

This screen shot of CZC’s website is from September 9, 2012 till September 17, 2012, over this nine day period CZC continually posted on the Twitter account. There were no re-tweets or any sort of sharing of its conversation. (Refer to screen shot 3).There is also a lack of hash tag use, which is a major component in using Twitter to engage audiences. Again, CZC is tweeting relevant information about the organization and sharing things it wants publics to read, but is being limited to understanding how the publics are reacting because no one is sharing or commenting back on these posts.

27

Hello Grief This is a site that gives people a chance to be able to grieve in an online community and shares stories to help support one another. This website has an about tab as well that re-states what CZC’s mission is about.

CZC always makes sure to reiterate its message and vision in the tools that it provides for communication. More is needed here to explain how it works.

LinkedIn The CZC LinkedIn account is simple; it gives an overview of the organization and its members. LinkedIn is a great tool to connect with other organizations and business; it is one of the world’s largest professional networking sites. Relating back to how CZC wants to better convey its message, this could be a way to contact and connect with potential partners, business, and donors.

YouTube



YouTube is known for videos going “viral” and reaching a vast audience.

People have gotten famous for being funny, sad, and reckless. CZC can use this website to its advantage forming videos that will convey the mission to people in visual context. People like to be able to see and hear things.

CZC can use YouTube to better convey a message to its publics in a visual way. On the context of how current audiences perceive the current communications efforts, there are a

good amount of views, around 1,0002,000 on all of their videos. (Refer to screen shot 5). CZC has recent videos, but before that it is sporadically updated from gaps such as three days ago, to one month ago, to 11 months ago.

Continuation of What Current Audiences Think There are many websites that are set up to help find an organization to volunteer. Specifically, www. voulenteermatch.org and www. idealist.org had CZC listed as an organization to volunteer for but had no reviews. CZC knows how much its volunteers enjoyed their time at camp, by having volunteers post reviews on these websites will enable CZC to monitor volunteers current perceptions of their times at camp.

Having reviews from CZC volunteers would be a good way to understand how one of its current publics are feeling about the CZC brand.

Overview of CZC social media In terms of relaying information to their publics more efficiently, there needs to be more diversity and planned communication through its social media sites (Refer to screen shots 8).These screenshots are from its social media outlets all posted in the same day. It is all referring to a one word campaign that CZC wants people to participate in. As you will see, the Twitter expands and takes viewers to the Hello Grief blog,

28

which has a video from the YouTube account and the exact same post on its website. In trying to reach CZC’s current audiences and convey CZC’s message, there should be a more tactical and organizational approach. One positive is all of the social media sites give links to other social media sites relating to CZC and give links back to it’s website. This way everything is interconnected and people can be directed to different sites to obtain different information.

Communications CZC How Comfort Zone Camp Helps Letter This gives a link at the bottom of the letter that says “ for more information on grief, visit www.comfortzonecamp. org” Putting this on the bottom of the letters is beneficial because CZC is trying to use the website to convey its message and vision to people. The letter directly gives the people reading it the link to get more information from the CZC website.

Hello Grief Pamphlet



Has a link to the website on the page and is basically a screenshot of the website transmitted into paper. This is a way to continue to let audiences know about CZC websites and outlets to get more information about its cause.

CZC Brochure This brochure has a link on the back for the CZC website as well. Once again anyone reading this brochure can go to the website and gain any more information that is not conveyed in the brochure.

All of these tangible handouts and letters have direct links to the CZC website. This is a good way to use non-electronic forms to get people to continue their knowledge of CZC by providing them with the web address so they can gain more information if these handouts did not fulfill all their needs.

CZC’s current tactics into the “Practice Maturity Scale.”

In regards to the different proponents of the website and the audience it is reaching, CZC is working on being more communicative with the public and potential new campers. Looking at each part and examining it is what is the key to making steps towards improvements. When looking at the key points for implementation and effectiveness of communications materials, the organization will be going under the microscope to see how it uses its message in almost everything. The basic building blocks of organizational communication will be picked apart and evaluated to determine if it all the information provided in the messages is thoroughly and constantly changed, up-to-date and active.

29

Each section will undergo a comparison to the “Practice Maturity Scale” to evaluate the effectiveness of the communication on a scale of zero (not performed) to five (optimized). The areas that the communications will be evaluated under implementation are: developing effective material, building valuable partnerships, training messengers, conducting steady outreach and monitoring and evaluating.

After identifying these areas on the maturity scale, an average is given of the overall score. From here, the organization can start building towards fixing any or all communications errors to make the message more catered and defined for its publics.

Here, Comfort Zone Camp’s implementation of communications materials is being examined and turned over to see how effective its communications outreach is.

Develop effective materials



While the website is extensive with the wealth of knowledge and information about the camp, it is still lacking in some areas. While it fully explains and lays out every key element of the camp and what it stands for, it still doesn’t have a full array of testimonials or more interactive features that could be included with the areas of the site that are meant to hook the camper.

Comparing the website to the Facebook page, there is an obvious difference. The Facebook account

is up-to-date on materials and is accessible to those who cannot find the things that they are looking for on the main website. Score: 2 (Planned) Build valuable partnerships In examining the website, the information that is allocated for the internal and external stakeholders is well defined and is laid out without any hidden agendas. Each page is well set up and clearly states the intents and purposes of the organization through each sub-section. Specifically speaking in regards to the Donors/ Giving tab of the website, the amount of information given to allow potential small town philanthropists to the Big Wigs in the for-profit corporate category, Comfort Zone Camp shows that it are involved. It allows it to properly exhibit intentions and all of its backers. By having a page dedicated to the corporations who involve portions of its philanthropy Score: 3 (Institutionalized) Train messengers While on the actual website for Comfort Zone Camp, there isn’t really a way for people to express their satisfaction with the organization and their experience with it, it is possible to do it on the Facebook page. Fans of the page are able to express their feelings towards the experience, as well as share photos, stories and videos. By utilizing the Facebook page, CZC is offering its own free range marketing for the

30

brand and what the camp is about -- helping children cope with the loss of family members in their lives. With the website, you have to do a little digging, but the information is present and available, such as through the Campers tab available to navigate to through every page. Even within the Parents and Guardian page, there are no testimonials from parents or care-takers that have sent the children to the camp and received positive feedback and positive moves in the right direction of the children. While the website is informative, it isn’t as interactive or useful for feedback as the organization’s Facebook. Score: 2 (Planned)

ď &#x;

Conduct steady outreach

The main website for Comfort Zone Camp is relatively easy and accessible through a Google search engine, the main form of outreach is through the organizations Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and its support group website for bereavement, HelloGrief. org. Through these outlets, CZC is sending a constant stream of what the mission and vision of the camp is and how it has impacted people.

While there are still some factors missing, such as a volunteer forum that links past and present volunteers to each other to help spread the word to potential future volunteers, the overall look and feel of all social media is working in the right direction.

Though the website does not involve or cross-pollinate any of the social media posts, it does have links to its

pages at the bottom of the home page. On the website, the outreach is close to a one, but with the utilization of social media outlets, that raises it higher on the maturity scale. Score: 3 (Institutionalized) Monitor and evaluate Looking into the evaluation portion of the audit, it seems that even though Comfort Zone Camp has a lot of options and positive steps working towards gaining and keeping participants involved, the monitoring process seems slightly non-existent.

It receives feedback from campers and parents but not from volunteers.

While looking at the surface of the website, it appears to not undergo any visible changes from month to month or year to year other than the calendar of events and camp dates. The potential for monitoring and evaluation may not be available to see through the website, it could happen behind closed doors at volunteer training meetings or even when executives and heads of the organization meet. Due to the lack of appearance in the matter, the score rates low and could be improved upon. Score: 1 (Ad hoc) Average Practice Maturity Scale score: 2.2 (Planned) out of 5 (Optimized).

Looking at the final score, Comfort Zone Camp is and appears to be within working order, but its lacking the extra mile of work in its communications both on the website and in its other avenues of giving out

31

its message. The best way to have CZC running optimally is to update and cater its message to the growing technologically interactive world of Today. By keeping its website, YouTube page and Twitter profile interactive and new by using information other than hyperlinks from HelloGrief.org on the Twitter page and an updated events page on the website, CZC should be able to truly reach its message more clearly to potential campers, volunteers and investors.

Areas for improvement (SWOT) With looking at the Maturity Scale score and the extensiveness of the website and other available sources that Comfort Zone Camp uses, the next step towards improving all avenues of communication with the publics and those involved is to examine and implement the SWOT analysis. By taking apart the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that could work in favor or against CZC, it will be able to re-evaluate its terms and forms of communications to improve and gain more campers and volunteers.

ď &#x;

biggest look at feedback from the masses and it is the biggest advocate for the camp and the organization.

-Weaknesses: Comfort Zone Camp’s biggest weakness would be the lack of promptness, evaluation and implementation of new material on its home website. While being current and up-to-date on all social media outlets, it is seriously lacking on new and improved information about the camp and the camp experience on the main site. Without improvement on the main site, CZC will lose numbers of prospective people to its social media site, when potential consumers are looking for answers on the flagship site.

Opportunities

Strengths

Even with the overall interactive and up-to-date presence that exists on the website, there are chances for improvement. Not all hope for its website is lost. By redesigning the website, it can have RSS feeds from the Facebook page directly available to those discovering the web page for the first time. There is plenty of room to grow and improve all aspects of online communication with their publics.

While the camp is successful, the greatest strength that is being played toward its audiences and potential new campers is the active use of the Facebook page. It gives insight from parents of children who have been involved in either the camps or as parents as volunteers. It offers the

-Threats: The biggest threat to Comfort Zone Camp at this moment in time is the lack of evaluation and monitoring on their main website.

Without review and observation at how the site is looking or appearing to the general public, they could lose opportunities to learn more and get

32

more insight from the outside sources that could have new and improved ways to make their website function better.

Comm Audit 5 Research Question 5 How do we engage new and existing communities to get prospective volunteers to sign-up for and attend volunteer training? How can we generate more male volunteers for our camps?

Vision and Mission of the Organization Comfort Zone’s Vision and Mission is to provide grieving children with a voice, a place, and a community in which to heal, grow, and lead more fulfilling lives. The research question fits to the mission and vision of the organization in that it fulfills its desire to expand the community and allow the camp to continue. By perpetually looking at news ways to find and engage volunteers, especially males, it continues to allow new campers to attend camps with ample volunteers assisting. The continual attention to engage and acquire volunteers, in addition to properly train them, ensures the success of the camp and inevitably helping grieving children.



CZCs current communication practices related to RQ 5 Tangible Media and Communications

Comfort Zone Informative Newsletter: The newsletter is titled “How Comfort Zone Camp Helps”. This handout is also catered to giving information about what the camp does. This handout could be helpful to someone who wants to know exactly what the camp is about. This could help in an individual’s decision on whether they know enough about the organization to volunteer. The website is referenced for more information.

Grief handout This handout is specifically about the Hello Grief website that is directly associated with the organization.

This website is not tailored to acquiring volunteers. It does have some Comfort Zone information, but nothing in reference to acquiring new volunteers. It focuses on allowing those in grief to find a social outlet online for their needs.

Volunteer pamphlet This piece of media literature directly relates to the RQ #5 of engaging new and prospective volunteers, and potentially those who are male. The brochure is a tri-fold with pictures and CZC current volunteer quotes about their experiences volunteering.

It describes where and how often camps occur, what it means to be a Big Buddy and volunteers importance.

Also discussed are requirements including training camps as well as how else one can engage with Comfort Zone. For any questions

33

unanswered by reading the brochure, the website is included as well as a specific volunteer email account to send inquiries to and phone number.

Website The CZC website has a specific tab designated for those interested in volunteering at http://www. comfortzonecamp.org/volunteers Included on this page is: A list of all the ways one can volunteer, including but not limited to being a buddy. The main volunteer page has a link at the bottom (http://www. comfortzonecamp.org/volunteers/ roles). That leads to another page designed for prospective volunteers to find more information. It states all camp positions available in detail.

It also restates the list of non-camp bases volunteer positions. For any more questions unanswered the email vols@comfortzonecamp.org is listed.

The left hand side of all the volunteer web pages have links to click around for more specific interests in the volunteer process. One links to the application to volunteer at another page: (http://www.comfortzonecamp. org/volunteers/application).

Website Newsletter

ď &#x;

A tab on the top of the homepage shows newsletter. This page lists all the current news of the organization.

This includes information about deadlines to turn in applications for prospective volunteers. This tab is useful in that it provides specific

information about the camps.

Pressroom This piece of media material lists some of the organization’s press releases and media coverage. Almost all of it relates to fundraisers or grief, opposed to volunteer recruitment.

The most recent listed media coverage was a release in May of 2012, and a piece in the Richmond Times Dispatch in June of 2011. The pieces involving volunteers only include the newest addition of a new camp location outside of Virginia.

Recruitment Handout The only specific handout that is designated for prospective volunteers is not much different in content than what is on the website and in the pamphlet for the camp. It includes what commitments are required to volunteer as well as links back to www.comfortzonecamp.org and an email address to reach Project Manager kim@comfortzonecamp.org for more information. Also included in this handout are three qualifications in order to volunteer as a mental health professional at camp. This is the only recruitment style handout that is available.

Volunteer Information Response Memo(s) This generic and standard memo is a response to those who contact the organization about potentially

34

volunteering. This response is the exact same in content as what is listed under the Volunteer Tab on the website as well as the recruitment handout and pamphlet. It thanks the individual for reaching out and lists potential positions that can be filled within the camp. At the end, it refers the individual to visit the website at the www.comfortzonecamp.org link and directs them to the volunteer tab. From there, it tells them to fill out the application online and choose a training session. This is only sent to those who contact CZC for more information on becoming a volunteer.

The follow up memo to this is one that refers volunteers to MyComfortZone center. This allows registered volunteers to access information for training purposes and schedules. This page can be accessed at the Register button at www.comfortzonecamp. org and click “Register now” at the top right corner. It refers back to the application page previously listed.

Once in the MyComfortZone center you can register to the mailing list or see schedules.

Idealist Ad



To try and reach a broader audience for recruiting, CZC has an ad on www.idealist.org. The basics are listed on the ad including contact information, location, administrators, and the website. It does not ask specifics or what is needed. The ad lists background information and the purpose of the camp. It is a standard Idealist ad, however it does nothing in

terms of luring in any new volunteers.

Slideshow CZC has a predesigned PowerPoint presentation that is used to demonstrate the basics and ideals behind the organization. It is shown at meetings and to prospective recruits for camp. It lists the same material that is on the brochure and website.

Volunteer Verification Forms Three forms are to be filled once someone is approved to volunteer.

This includes: Volunteer Criminal Background form, Confidentiality form, and Health form.

Social Media CZC not only has their website, but a Twitter account, LinkedIn account, YouTube channel and Facebook page. Generally, these pages offer very little to recruit volunteers. The YouTube page focuses on showing videos relating to the camps and grief. Prospective volunteers can gain knowledge of what the camp is about from these videos. The LinkedIn allows them to also find out the basics of what the camp is, but no volunteer links are provided. The Twitter focuses on articles relating to grief but no volunteer involvement either. The Facebook page thanks volunteers that participated at certain camps throughout the year.

35

CZCs Current Tactics on the Practice Maturity Scale Looking back at the first subsection for the use of the “Practice Maturity Scale” for “Implementation,” it is easy to understand how this should work. By taking and looking over every aspect of communication, both externally and internally to see how effective CZC is executing its message and rating it will give the organization something to change and improve.

This time, instead of communication for the masses, this is specifically catered to the message involving or dealing with volunteers and volunteerism within the organization.

The implementation process can be explained here: The maturity scale we used was based on the following: Develop effective materials: score = 2 (Planned)



CZC has two well-designed tri-fold pamphlets for volunteers that are dispersed at meetings and events put on by CZC but no recruitment flyers/posters. The one pamphlet is mostly about the camp and only has a small blurb on volunteering on the inside panel that can easily be missed when a potential volunteer is looking for information. The second solely targets volunteers and gives a brief description of volunteer duties for camp, an estimate of how many volunteers they need each weekend, the different jobs they

need volunteers for, and where to sign up. The pamphlet also includes previous volunteers quotes about their experience at CZC. This can be improved to a 3 by offering more volunteer workshops at VCU, University of Richmond, John Tyler community college, Virginia Union and J Sargeant Reynolds community college. Leaving volunteer pamphlets at local businesses will also get CZC’s name out and their need for volunteers.

Build valuable partnerships: score = 3 (Institutionalized) Everyone on their volunteer team currently has a consistent demeanor when displaying CZC’s compassion they have for this organization and their campers. A 3 was given as opposed to a 4 or 5 because CZC does not have enough volunteers, especially male volunteers. This can be improved by passing out flyers at VCU baseball games, VCU basketball games, the Richmond Strikers games and many other sports events hosted in Richmond.

Train messengers: score = 3 (Institutionalized) Volunteers attend a 6-hour training session prior to attending camps.

After signing up, volunteers are sent a standard email telling them when and where their training session is and the forms and payment they have to bring. Training sessions should occur more often even if it is just updating

36

previous volunteers on the changes to the organization.

Conduct steady outreach: score = 2 (Planned) CZC has one pamphlet devoted to volunteers along with a section on their website www.comfortzonecamp. org/volunteers. Although the responsibility of a volunteer is consistently displayed it is not displayed often enough. Displaying fliers at local hospitals and physician’s office or even having a tent at local festivals will help get CZC’s name out.

Having more testimonials from past or current volunteers will help pull in more people for volunteering.

Monitor and evaluate: 3 (Institutionalized)

ď &#x;

CZC has a well thought out plan for camp weekends. The camp consists of icebreakers, trust activities and healing circles. The camp is very fast paced so it does not give any child to feel uncomfortable or awkward.

The volunteers are in charge of hosting these activities and even becoming a mentor to the kids. A 3 was given because although the camp is well thought out, I do not see any monitoring of the outcomes or continuous improvement. They have had the same schedule for years and could maybe ask volunteers for new ideas.

Overall Score: 2.6 out of 5 As you can see, there needs to be

improvement here. CZC needs to market itself more and properly. It has all the materials and platforms but is using them ineffectively. Marketing to their target market (explained in the conduct steady outreach portion) will generate more exposure and volunteers and bring in more success to the camp.

Areas of improvement, including SWOT analysis Basing any and all data gathered from the use of the Practice Maturity Scale, the next thing for a communication audit to conduct and examine would be the SWOT analysis. By taking a look and examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that CZC could be facing in the future, they will be able to see what the outcome could be if they do not change their present communications plan for a better suited and catered one for their business.

Strengths -The current volunteers at CZC share the mission statement as the organization.

-The camps are run by current volunteers and a strong community that CZC can branch out to.

- CZC is not a large time commitment (compared to the Boys and Girls Club.)

It is only one weekend a month.

37

Weaknesses -CZC has a lack of male volunteers.

They would like more male “influence� with their camps and buddies.

-CZC is currently using the minimum amount of effective materials to branch out to the community.

Opportunities -CZC has many neighboring communities they can expand to.

-With the improvements, CZC can generate more funding while generating more volunteers.

Threats: -Other local bereavement camps are marketing to potential volunteers.

With further examination and detail to these problems and ways to improve on the already bold strengths and opportunities, CZC should be able to make positive and promising steps in the right direction to remedy any folly that they may have made in the past concerning male volunteers or even their advertisement in regards to volunteerism.

ď &#x;

Later, in conducting further research and development in the areas that have caused CZC trouble or issues in the past can be resolved through the implementation and organization of a focus group. In that setting, details can be picked out and individual ideas can have a time to shine and

potentially garner weight in the cause and in the remedy.

Conclusion Reflecting on all that was included in the audit will give plenty of insight and ideas on how to change the camp for grieving and suffering children. It can all start with the way the website is presented to the parents, potential campers and volunteers that work as the Big Buddies on their weekend away from home, the overhaul that will be conducted will be gratifying and insatiably helpful to the organization.

If CZC were able to somehow hire and have a more interactive and up-todate website that has its message re-evaluated and improved to will hopefully draw more users to its site, such as parents, future campers, investors and volunteers, the results will be successful and hopefully bring forth new members of the CZC community on every level of involvement. Also, if the camp were to find a proper solution to gain more volunteers, especially of the male variety, then the experience for the children will increase tenfold, as well as for the volunteers themselves.

The more care and involvement that goes into the communication modems for the not-for-profit, the better off it will be in the long run.

38

Focus Group Research Focus Group 1 To conduct this focus group the first thing that needed to be established was how participants would be contacted. It was concluded that each member of the research group would bring two to three people that they knew that were a part of the public’s that were to be reached. The actual focus group was conducted on September 26th from seven to eight p.m. The room used for the focus group was located in the James Branch Cabell Library on VCU campus.

The questions that were asked were in regards to research question number one provided by CZC. Selected Public Research question number one from CZC was: “CZC has built a reputation as the “go-to” technical resource for childfocused bereavement programs. Is the organization perceived this way by targeted groups and is that how the organization should be promoted?”



The publics selected for the focus group were VCU students whose future would involve children. It was narrowed down to social work, psychology, and early education majors. Early education majors were chosen because these people plan on being elementary school teachers. The way that CZC gets the most campers is through word of mouth through grade

schools. Seeing that relationship, it was noticed that it was important to know how a future elementary school teacher would react to this kind of information.

Social work majors were chosen because they will potentially be dealing with cases similar to those of children who attend CZC. Psychology majors were chosen because like social workers, psychologist can have cases where they have to deal with grieving children.

The people chosen for the focus group all fit under that category of majors, except for one. All of them also were seniors at VCU, expect for one. The one that did not have one of those majors or was a senior was a freshman who was a biology major. The selection process for the focus group involved the entire group bringing in a couple associates that had no prior knowledge from the research team about CZC. Only two participants had prior knowledge about CZC. One participant found out CZC because it is a volunteer option for his major.

Focus Group Questions 1. If you were a part of CZC, how would you get the purpose/mission of the organization out to different groups that have no knowledge of what it is?

Participants said they would promote the issue that CZC helps grieving children to deal with their emotions

39

and that this experience would help them to open up to people who are dealing with the same issues and learn how to handle their inner emotions at a young age.

about the organization’s mission.

2. Do you think CZC should approach females and males differently, or should they all receive the same message? Should campers and their parents be approached the same way?

Our participants think CZC definitely needs to expand and hosting fundraisers or an event in a local community would be a great start to launching new prospective members into becoming a part of CZC organization.

The focus group participants thought that the males should be approached more aggressively but focus on the fun aspects of the camp and not so much the emotional components of the experience. Overall each volunteer should be receiving the same information, it just may have to sell or push the experience different depending on their personality to really gain their interest. When it comes to parents and campers, the participants believed they should receive the more informative details but both should be able to see from their website what CZC is truly about.

3. What do you think the greater impact of a camp like CZC would be?

Is CZC an organization that you would pass on information about?



All participants thought that CZC had a great mission and purpose to their organization which could really help children all around the world to make a difference. Most of the participants said they would get involved with CZC and definitely would pass on the word

4. How do you think the expansion of an organization like CZC would impact a community?

5. What CZC promotional tool had the greatest emotional effect on you?

Why? Before this questioned was asked participants were shown the different social media outlets to see the reactions and they all agreed that the video and CZC’s sister page “Hello Grief” had the greatest emotional effect on them. They felt that the quotes and stories of the campers gave a better perspective for people because it is more personable and relatable.

6. What would be the best method for communications aspect for CZC? The participants suggested getting an ad in a magazine. After realizing that CZC may not have funding for that because it is a non-profit organization participants suggested any type of publicity such as local community events, setting stands up on college campuses and passing out flyers.

Participants thought that this would

40

gain more volunteers and members overall for the CZC staff as well as expand its organizations.

7. How can we help grieving children get back into their normal routines and active again?

Participants felt that this program is a good chance for children to learn to express their feelings instead of bottling up their emotions. They felt that it would help the campers in every aspects of their life, showing them how to deal with any real life situation as well as dealing with a lost one. Also it would give them a chance to meet people who are going through the same issue and relate to one another and realize they are not alone which may help children with their grieving process.

8. How could the expansion of CZC be useful to their organization?



Through discussion it was discovered that the participants believed with expansion to more camps outside the states that already have CZCs would help the organization grow to worldwide recognition. It would help a lot more children deal with an issue that can happen to anyone.

Being that the mission of CZC is so powerful and relatable, slowly but surely this organization can make a difference starting with a community and developing into a movement for grieving children.

Data Data was collected from both through notes and video. The general consensus amongst the focus group members was that though CZC has a great mission and purpose as an organization (one group member, who suffered the loss of a parent at a young age said, “I feel like it’s good for them, at that young age, to be able to talk about it and express how they feel and get all of that off of their chest.”), it isn’t doing the best job of physically being present and reaching out to the people. Data also showed that, as predicted, group members responded more strongly to CZC’s YouTube video than they did to any other method used for communication (i.e. the Facebook and Twitter pages). It was stated that participants would have like to see more up to date videos then the ones that were presented on YouTube.

Focus group members also agreed that CZC was not doing the organization justice with the content they choose to feature on their sites (i.e. photographs of happy people running, playing, etc.). The mission of the organization is to assist grieving children in coping with their loss, and the focus group only felt that mission when watching the YouTube video, or looking at the Hello Grief site. The group felt like CZC was giving off an image off just a playful day camp and that is not what CZC is.

The group would have liked to see

41

more emotion-provoking content on CZC’s official website than just the scrapbook. Participants felt like there were more moving pictures on CZC’s facebook page than the actual website, which people have more access to. Most members would not have even clicked on the scrapbook link, had they been observing the website themselves. Participants felt that they would have had to do too much clicking to get to second and third pages to get to the moving parts of the CZC website.

Another popular suggestion amongst the group was that, unless CZC comes up with better content for the site or used for more interactive activity than it is currently being used for, that the twitter page is not a necessary tool for communicating CZC’s mission to potential members, parents [both current and potential] of members, volunteers, schools, etc.

Overall, the focus group felt that CZC would benefit from more of a physical effort to network and let communities & other organizations know who they are, and all that the organization is about. Whether it is a fundraiser, a table stationed at colleges in the area, or a networking event CZC needs to show more interaction with communities. CZC needs to be present on more than just the internet was a popular concept.



Suggestions The focus group was held in order to get feedback for CZC on how to

communicate about the mission and purpose of CZC. The focus group participants presented a lot of useful information about what CZC is doing that works, and what they can improve upon. The video featured on the YouTube channel got a lot of emotions out of the group and proved to be a great avenue to communicate the impact and purpose to the public. Participants also felt that with regular video updates CZC could bring in a lot more attention to the organization. The group members also felt more emotions when seeing the kids sharing their stories then just a spokesperson from CZC. Many group members did not see the video on the main page of the website and suggested more emphasis should be on the video because it is so powerful.

Participants consisted of one male and five females who all reacted in similar ways to the different media sources. They all felt that videos are more influential than photos and quotes because it gives viewers and prospective members the chance to get a closer look at what really goes on at CZC camps and the wonderful experience that comes along with this organization.

Many focus group members felt that the website did not do the camp justice after seeing the YouTube video.

A few responses were that there was not a lot of focus on what the camp is about, and that at first glance the participants were unaware that the website was even for a bereavement camp. The group was drawn to the

42



“Scrapbook” page on the website and members really liked the quotes from children. A general consensus of the group was that more personal stories from children would be beneficial in communicating the purpose of the camp to new visitors of the website.

Participants felt that information or videos such as that needed to be primary information that was front and center instead of put on side tabs hard to locate. After viewing the Hello Grief page, group members were drawn to the life experience stories on the page and said they would like to see something like that incorporated on the main website for CZC. Group participants did not have any emotional reaction to the Facebook and Twitter pages and actually said the Facebook page may be a waste of time. Many group members did like the cover photo on the Facebook page but said other than that it looked like any other company Facebook page. Upon seeing the Twitter page, members said the background image was small and hard to read and they would not feel inclined to click on the links or follow the organization.

Also a major problem for focus group members was no mixture of content across websites. They felt that CZC’s Facebook page used majority of its page to promote going to the Hello Grief page that held all the same information. Participants felt that if the organization was going to take the time to create and promote other websites that they should at least have fresh content on them.

The YouTube video and Hello Grief’s stories from kids are what had the biggest impact on the group members. The group collectively said appealing to people’s emotions with stories and quotes from camp members is the best way to communicate the camp’s impact. Also something to keep in mind is that two out of six people had heard about CZC. One member heard of the camp through a social work internship as places to volunteer while another member was from New Jersey, where one of the campsites is located. The group said in order to network their message to different groups, setting up tables on campus would be ideal for reaching more students. Focus Group members also mentioned expanding camps to more locations may work to gain more recognition of the camp nationally.

On September 25, 2012, a focus group was conducted in the James Cabell Library with seven participants. Each participant was a male under thirtyyears of age and was asked questions in regards to the Research Question number five provided by CZC. Focus Group 2 Selected Public Research question number five given to the research team from CZC was: “ How do we engage new and existing communities to get prospective volunteers to sign-up for and attend volunteer training? How can we

43

generate more male volunteers for our camps?”

The group decided to mainly focus on how to generate more male volunteers, and engage new volunteers to sign up and attend training. Members of a focus group should have some characteristic that they share in common. The criteria used to determine the focus group participants were age, location, and gender. From this research question it was concluded that males from ages 20-30 from the Richmond area should be utilized. The male participants used were specifically in the VCU area and none had volunteered at CZC before.

This public was selected to get a better understanding on how CZC could get more male volunteers and also to try to find out how to generate new volunteer participation. By using this public it could also be concluded why there are not as many male volunteers. Another reason this public was used was to see how often males signed up to do volunteer work, if they were willing to volunteer for CZC in the future, and if they are currently volunteering anywhere. The point of the focus group was to gain specific insights from the males to better understand how we could engage new volunteers, especially ones of male gender.



When it came to reaching the public information was gathered about the individuals to select an appropriate date, time and location for the

meeting. Personal contact techniques to reach potential participants were by means of Facebook, Twitter, phone calls and one on one conversation. After people replied to tweets, Facebook messages and phone calls those were followed through with a message confirming that they would be sure to come at two O‘clock to room 240E at Cabell Library. A reminder was also sent the day before to make sure participants remembered about their commitment.

Focus Group Participants and Questions 1-Age: 27 College Status: junior Major: English education 2- Age: 20 College Status: junior Major: Advertising 3- Age: 24 College Status: not in school Major: n/a Occupation: Server 4- Age: 22 College Status: not in college Major: n/a Occupation: Server/former physics major 5- Age: 29 College Status: not in college Major: n/a Occupation: Small business owner

44

6- Age: 27 College Status: Sophomore Major: Biology 7-Age: 23 College Status: Senior Major: Marketing 1. How often do you cry?

-Reasoning: This question determines the sensitivity of the men in the room and how they choose to deal with their emotions. If they cry they are more likely to perhaps be sensitive and understand the camp.

-Response: “Often, yes, over deaths is usually the event in which I cry.” Two of the participants say they cry a lot.

The same two were very open about crying. Crying over stress was not a typical occurrence within the group.

One said he had ‘Why me’ moments.

A few said that sad moments in movies also caused them to feel upset and maybe cry.

2. Do you talk about your emotions (feelings) openly?



-Reasoning: This question elaborates upon the first question. While many of the men may think crying is immature or a female quality, emotions are universal. This is another way to understand their emotions and sensitivities. It also shows their emotional interaction with others.

about how we feel and if something is bothering us. Yes, if it is the right audience. Best listeners and those most comfortable being the audience would be: roommates, best friend, and Mom about some things.

3. Do you currently volunteer?

Where?

-Reasoning: If any of the participants have volunteered, their opinions of the camp may be different than someone who has never volunteered.

It also will differ how they would compare the camp to another type of camp that they may have volunteered at.

-Response: One is an AMA marketing volunteer. Others volunteer with the Children’s Hospital, Art 180, and Meals on Wheels. Three do not volunteer.

4. Do you think it’s more of a genuine act to volunteer?

-Reasoning: This question connects the idea of gauging their emotional side to the volunteer question above.

This question can show why the participants that volunteer or want to would do so.

-Response: Yes, if you have the time and energy to give to it. There was a general consensus about that idea.

-Response: We talk to certain people

45

5. Do you feel comfortable interacting and being around children? Why or why not?

-Reason: This question will perhaps find the difference of why so many volunteers at CZC are females and not males. How the participants feel around children would definitely influence if that range or typical male would be interested in the camp.

-Response: Almost all but one felt awkward around children and doesn’t know how to talk to them. “I clam up”, was one response. “We don’t have many opportunities to be around them. It’s awkward to be a younger older male around children”, said a participant. “There is some sort of stigma of being weird around kids when you get to this age.”

6. Is being a caretaker more stereotypically thought of as feminine? Explain.

-Reason: This question is a followup to question number five. If any of them answer that their interaction or thoughts of children are typical of a male, or uncomfortable around children, this can answer why. It can explain perhaps why some think that interacting with children is a woman’s role.



-Response: Yes, because of society it is easier to be around children for women. It’s not the same for men.

Girls already started off on the course of caretaker where men are not. Men

skip that area of life. One member volunteered with children hospital and had a female manager who thought he was there for ulterior motives.

Some participants felt that the same carries over for male teachers as well.

It is something they all feel they could do but would be weird to be thought of as such.

7. Hypothetically, if you had experienced the loss of someone important in your life, would you be more willing to assist children who have gone through something similar? Explain.

-Reason: This is a roundabout way of asking if any of the participants have experienced a traumatic loss and could potentially see themselves relating to the experiences of the campers. If the answers are significantly producing yes as a result, it could mean that more volunteers need to be recruited with that background to engage the males as volunteers.

-Response: Yes (all agree and nod to the others). It would help you get through your own problems if you went through with them with someone who had a similar experience. Also you would get through with less awkward situations if you have something to bond with them with.

46

8. Did you attend camp as a child?

How was your experience?

-Reason: If any of the men participating have been to camp, perhaps they would be more inclined to volunteer somewhere they have gone before or had a similar camp experience.

-Response: Only two members ever went to camp. One was a counselor at a 4H in Southwest VA. 9. If you could volunteer anywhere, where would it be?

-Reason: This will show what type of volunteering is typically considered.

This will also answer if any of them would volunteer at CZC or a similar organization.

-Response: One said at an outdoors or rock climbing and adventure camp.

Another said a type of Girls Rock Camp involving music, but for boys could be nice, or Art Related Camp or outdoors. Big Brothers Big Sister was brought up. All agree that club seems like a big commitment both emotionally and time related.

10- How often would you want to volunteer?

ď &#x;

-Reason: This question will determine how or if time dedication to volunteering is a major issue with the young male audience. Depending on CZC hours, it could show if the hours are too long or ample for potential

volunteers.

-Response: Maybe once a week at the very most, to twice a month is the highest response. All felt the time issue is a big factor in their participation in volunteer work.

11-Would you be able to deal with death around kids?

-Reason: If the participants of the group answer yet again that they are unable or unsure of how they would be around children, it could show a reason why they are not more prone to be around organizations involving children.

-Response: Two said it depended on if they could relate or get them to open up to. They thought it would be difficult in the situation at a camp with upset children to be easy to join in and be yourself. Death isn’t an issue, but seeing upset children seems heavy.

12-Would you be willing to volunteer?

-Reason: This will gauge their reaction to the video. It will also determine if the video is more prone to engage a female audience, or a male audience.

It will also show perhaps flaws to be examined in the video.

-Response: Most responded yes. But, the time commitment is the issue at this point in their lives. One said no because he felt un-useful because he

47

hasn’t had a sibling or mother die.

Time again is an issue with another member. One says he is simply just ‘not good with kids’, so volunteering isn’t a big priority. No one feels they can relate. Only one could definitely relate.

needs more focus but it was inspiring.

It is really sad but the end makes everyone feel better and more willing to volunteer.

13-Why do you feel you are not a good fit for the camp?

-Reason: We want to see if the materials and video were effective.

-Reason: Depending on their answers, this question will allow us to determine if the video is effective and if anyone in the young male audience is receptive to it. It will show if the video needs to be looked at and changed to engage more audiences.

-Response: They all agreed, they are not all capable of doing it. All agree that they don’t feel they could console a child who has dealt with death.

Death is not issue, the children is the issue.

-Response: All but one participant said yes. However, people who have lost someone would be more swayed to volunteer. More testimonials to make people know how much it helps them and other volunteers would work as well to gain more help the group says. Also, those who hadn’t had a loss, it would make them more inclined to know what they can do or emotionally benefit. “How did you end up here?” we asked. Did you lose someone or not? If you have not lost someone, how have you benefitted, show a child who didn’t want to be there and show how it helped. The guys want someone to just “prove” the benefits to people. One example may not have been enough to sway people.

14-How does the video make you feel?

-Reason: Depending on their answers, this question will allow us to determine if the video is effective and if anyone in the young male audience is receptive to it. It will show if the video needs to be looked at and changed to engage more audiences.



-Response: At the beginning it seemed to confusing, not sure what it is about? It takes awhile for it to build up to exactly what a volunteer will be doing. It is not as direct at the point at the beginning of the video. It

16-Did this video make you want to participate in CZC?

Final Points: There is a consensus that everyone is always interested in volunteering. But after viewing the video, participants were more interested. However, time permitting for their schedules monthly!

Visual Recording of Focus Group: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= AGeHcyozcVM&feature=youtu.be

48

Data Examining the data collected, both in person and electronically through the video and transcript, it seems to be that the general consensus from the seven males pooled for the focus group was that they would all volunteer if they had the time, energy and experience to deal with grieving children.

While jokes may have been thrown, at the heart of it, the men did take the subject with relative seriousness, especially when addressing the issue of grief and of ways to make the videos and electronic calling cards more effective.

If CZC were to allow an incentive program for volunteers that does not necessarily have to be monetary, they could potentially pull more people, in particular men, to sign up. One suggested, and the others agreed, that a type of philanthropic award could be issued for completing the volunteer work. Though this group of men were mostly aged between 20-30 years, it could be safe to say that not all men interested in volunteering feel this way. Those who are younger and in search of jobs and credible extracurricular activities would probably feel they deserve more than just gratification through volunteerism to take time out on the weekend.

ď &#x;

Other points touched upon include time to volunteer and ways of improve the YouTube page and

outward communication. Most of the focus group members were students or had full-time job positions, which they expressed would make it difficult to make and find time to volunteer, for any organization they desired, not just CZC. Among the ways that the gentlemen expressed that could benefit CZC’s online presence would be to include more testimonials on the YouTube page from volunteers, former campers and parents to give a broader spectrum to work off of when addressing the idea of sending a child to the bereavement camp. Many members of the focus group declared that they would be more interested in volunteering with the organization if CZC were to make its message clearer, and to include more information from those involved in the camp.

Not only were these previous matters discussed and addressed at length, but they also talked and exchanged on the topic of men having a larger stigma placed upon them when wanting to work with children than women do. They described how the role of caretaker is feminized and is what women have been trained to do at a young age, whereas men are not given that opportunity as quickly as the opposite sex. Some expressed that people have a hard time allowing men to take care of children, as some parents and authority figures may view the men in positions of power may have ulterior motives with the child, much the same as with male

49

teachers and female or male students at any public school grade level.

Tying everything together, the men in the group expressed their displeasure and advice on what they could do to be more involved with volunteering and recruiting perspective people involved. Some of the unanswered questions that could be researched a little deeper are ways to draw people in by using examples of methods to grab more male volunteers.

Suggestions Marketing to male volunteers Since the focus group was based solely on male opinions, hearing how their minds work means CZC will have to cater differently to men then they are now. When asked if they could volunteer anywhere where would it be, the largest response was an outdoor adventure camp. Highlighting more of the outdoor activities at the CZC would be enticing to males.

The group suggested having a rock climbing wall as a trust activity for the campers along with a changeup of activities each month to make the camp more interesting for the volunteers and campers.



Time Constraints Although it would be ideal to find male volunteers who are available every month to help at the camp, it is unlikely due to time constraints.

This was a large theme we heard throughout the group. Many in the

group would have been happy to volunteer in the camp if they simply had more time. When asked how often they would want to volunteer, once a week at the very most, to twice a month was the highest response.

Making it better known on CZC’s part that the camps only meet once a month and it is not mandatory to participate every camp would bring at least more interest in volunteering.

This way volunteers know it is only two and a half days a month they need to commit and can plan accordingly around their schedules.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where having the time to be selfless is rare. Offering some sort of perk to volunteering for CZC was another idea the group unanimously agreed on.

The group did not necessarily want cash as their benefit, but internship hours especially for psychology or social work majors, credibility or reference use or a philanthropic certificate for volunteering with CZC. Changes to the video Halfway through the video, the group seemed confused about the goals CZC was trying to portray. “It takes awhile for it to build up to exactly what a volunteer will be doing,” one group member said. Suggestions were made that the video needs to be more direct and to the point throughout the whole video. The video has a good concept but needs to be reorganized.

“It needs more focus, but it was inspiring. It is really sad but the end

50

makes everyone feel better and more willing to volunteer,” another member said.

Another large response seen in the group, other than times constraints, was how to be able to connect with a child going through a major loss without having a loss themselves.

Many agreed that this is such a heavy experience emotionally that they would not know how to connect with the campers. “I feel useless because I have not had a sibling or parent die,” said a group member, and all agreed with this statement. The group collectively decided that they liked the interview with the volunteer and camper at the end of the video and having more testimonials from volunteers, especially those who have not experienced a loss would be inspiring and convincing to males to volunteer. They thought CZC needed more videos explaining ways how the volunteers connect with the campers without actually having experienced the situation themselves.



A breakdown of the training sessions for volunteers would also be good information for prospective males.

Knowing that information before hand would help them be prepared and is comforting to them. Especially since most of our members in the focus group gave an impression they were uncomfortable around children and it is more of a feminine role to be a caregiver. “There is a stigma of being weird around kids when you get to this age [meaning 18-25]. Men skip

that area of their life...Girls already started off on the course of caretaker where men are not.” This attitude was a popular belief in the group and it would be a good idea for CZC to promote the need for male role models in camper’s lives.

Focus Group 3 Selected Public The publics selected for the focus group were young, educated adults.

They were reached by way of social media. A Facebook group was created soliciting volunteers and some volunteers brought an additional person who was reached via text. All of the volunteers were students at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Some students had said they would have been more likely to volunteer if they were already on campus at the time the focus group was being held.

The focus group was held on campus in the library.

Focus Group Questions 1. If you were a volunteer for the camp, what would prolong your stay with us? How do we keep you coming back? What would keep you interested?

It is vital for CZC to understand what keeps members volunteering over and over again as well as the types of things that maintain this service.

51

2. What would be the best way to get in contact with you? Through social media? Phone? Email?

Volunteers on a waiting list for camps can become withdrawn and distant from the community of CZC if communication and contact is not maintained.

These members waiting to volunteer need to feel consistently needed.

3. How much contact is too much contact?

Feedback on the amount of contact is necessary so the organization does not drive people away but sustains a healthy level of interaction.

4. Are there any other ways in which such an organization can pull you?

Keep you involved in social media?

Through its Facebook life?

Finding ways to attract new and old members will help ensure an ongoing and ever growing community.

5. How would CZC on Facebook make you feel a part of the organization?

The organization must be aware of the community they have created and the necessity for leadership, direction and communication.

6. How involved do you think the organization should be involved in your comments?



In researching CZC’s Facebook, comment interaction between user and administrator was limited if not

absent. The researchers question if it is of importance thus feedback from the study group is needed.

7. Do you feel the organization has an obligation to have a conversation with you?

It is quite difficult to track a member’s online activity with a social media platform or the organization’s website. If a member does not feel the organization is connecting nor having dialogue with them, they may discontinue using the forum. Understanding how much communication the member wishes to have will enable the organization to adjust its levels of interaction.

8. Why do you think existing volunteers would stop volunteering at the camp?

If the focus group can identify reasons members would discontinue volunteering, strategies could be formed to prevent this. If the reasons have to do with the volunteer wait list for camp, specific actions can be implemented.

9. Do you think you would lose interest in volunteering at a camp like this?

A general impression from nonvolunteers, members of the focus group can surface small reasons for losing interest that can be changed.

52

10. Do you think the emotional aspect of the organization and camp may push members away?

Although this is the nature of the camp and organization and is not something that can be changed, awareness of the amount of emotional stress the camp causes is crucial to understanding the reasons members may discontinue service.

11. Do you think men would be more likely to discontinue volunteering than woman? Why do you think that is and what do you think the organization can do to fix that? How does the organization deal with stereotypes like this?

Not every member can be generalized into a broad category such as older members with kids or college students. These members are also men and women from all cultural backgrounds. Learning specific reasons why each gender may have for discontinuing volunteerism may help in finding strategies to prevent it.

12. How do you keep volunteers with ever changing lives, older members with kids, and college volunteers with busy schedules coming back to the website? Should the Facebook be used for that? How do you keep them wanting to volunteer?

ď &#x;

CZC’s network has new and old members. Among each member’s duration of association are the different types of members. There

are individual and corporate donors, volunteers, parents, and campers.

If the focus group could sort out a model for organizing these members and directing them to specific channels, associations of like members could be formed, creating sub communities among a greater network. Members can be more closely associated with others that have similar goals and duties creating a closer alliance to one other. If these sub communities could be organized, communication would be filtered, more direct, and targeted to the appropriate audience.

13. What types of incentives can be given to volunteers to keep them volunteering?

It is difficult for volunteers to selflessly supply time and effort to help others with no incentives.

Awareness of finances noted, there may be alternative incentives that will not cost CZC money. If the focus group can creatively develop possible incentives for continuous service, members would be encouraged to volunteer more.

14. How do volunteers keep existing volunteers volunteering? Online?

Volunteers need to feel a sense of community and association. If volunteers can meet with other volunteers, a small community can form and volunteers who are not momentarily volunteering will still feel as though they are actively

53

participating. Whether it is a social media forum used to unite these members or a potluck developed by the volunteers, the members will have the opportunity to interact and bond through commonalities.

15. What ways can a volunteer be interactive on the website by themselves?

Most people spend a significant amount of time on the Internet. If the focus group decides this is the best resource to communicate with volunteers, it should also be the best place for volunteers to communicate with other volunteers and CZC. 16. What types of responsibilities can be given to the volunteer?

Are there opportunities for volunteers to create forums, interact with others, present ideas for CZC and be involved in planning events?

The volunteer retention depends on the volunteer’s responsibility to the organization. If the volunteer is able to interact, feel a part of the organization and its thought stream, the volunteer will be more likely to continue volunteering.

17. What questions should be included on a volunteer survey to gain understanding of volunteerism for CZC in regards of communication?

ď &#x;

Surveys from volunteers and members who often use the website and social media forums are valuable in determining problems and

changes that need to be made. If the focus group can construct a list of openended questions for volunteers the survey can be posted on the website or social media forum, and volunteers can take it at their leisure.

This information can be gathered, sorted and examined to develop and implement improvement strategies.

Interpretations of Data If you are a volunteer for the camp, how do we keep you coming back?

Availability is a key factor. It would probably work better with weekend scheduling because people work so they would need to know in advance so they can ask off. At least a months’ notice would be helpful.

Best way to contact: Phone, email, Facebook (most important and most used daily).

How much contact is too much contact?

More than one email a week would be too much contact. It was also suggested that during the week someone is going to volunteer that three emails be sent. Or they could go with bi weekly updates.

Any other ways to pull you in or keep you involved in the social media (Facebook life): Creation of a group page just for volunteers to see events, what is listed, and going on.

54

Contact the whole group and update with pictures and videos from past weekends.

Volunteer contest, whoever can share the most information about the organization, gets recognition.

More men getting friends to volunteer with them would lead them to being comfortable doing it and genuine about it. A friend who could be scheduled with you during the time you volunteer might make men more willing to volunteering.

How involved do you think the organization should be with your comments on Facebook?

How can twitter or Facebook help people deal with the changes of their lives?

There should be comments back on questions that rise, and also just to comment to be able to stay connected and make it seem like a community.

Have a family event day, bring your kids and parents to see what goes on and so they can be a part of it as well.

Why do you think volunteers would stop volunteering?

The three biggest reasons suggested were loss of contact, scheduling, and different priorities.

Do you think the emotional aspect of the organization might push members away?

No, because they know or should know what they are getting themselves into especially men.

Men participant results

ď &#x;

A possibility to the different reaction in men is they did not have a good family connection so they wouldn’t show emotion or want to be put in that emotional aspect. During camp address the lack of men and things to deal with emotions.

College volunteers How does CZC keep them coming, and get a hold of them? What kinds of things can they do with Facebook and twitter?

Have more stuff in general, more events during the week because they would have a little more time. It shouldn’t be limited to the weekends.

Post schedule ahead of time.

What kind of incentives?

Recommendations, tax write offs, volunteer of the week, recognition, certificate, and vouchers, dinner for the volunteers, or luncheon or socials.

Encourage networking, encouragement to show them that you want them and need them, a retreat with volunteers to build a relationship with a volunteer, training and bonding program.

55

Online aspects to encourage volunteers Have different groups, college students, working people, and parents.

How can volunteers use the social media?

Telling friends on Facebook, promoting events, create a blog to tell stories and all volunteers can post on the blog of pictures and videos.

Make a calendar and whoever signs up you can see who is volunteering that day.

No mail, only online emails and social media. If possible there should be the creation of an app for phones for volunteers.

Other Suggestions These were some suggestions that were given by focus group participants.



They believe that CZC information should be at college the career centers. CZC could create a club for comfort zone at schools and do fundraising at schools to make money.

It is also a way to get more volunteers and keep people connected. They also suggested going around volunteering EMT and day cares and leave newsletters or brochures. Also to go local elementary schools and leave newsletters to give to parents so they know about CZC and they are aware

of it. It would also be great to have a list of the next events in the next few months, what to bring, and to plan ahead.

Suggestions The data gathered by this focus group can be used by CZC in the following ways: -To further developing its social media – The participants suggested numerous ways to improve its Facebook pages, website, etc.

-To help with volunteer recruitment – Emails (not snail mail) would be a more effective way to not only remind current volunteers about the upcoming camps, but to also recruit new volunteers as well.

-To use resources more efficiently– With the data presented from the focus group, it was suggested that CZC can use its funds for online designing, as opposed to print forms of media.

-To be more accommodating for volunteer schedules – Using online resources to discover the schedules of new/old volunteers. This way, camps can be planned for when it is most convenient to volunteers/staff.

-To plan promotional materials – With the suggestions given by the participants of the focus group, a new form of promotion can be utilized by CZC. There would be less focus on hard copies of items, and more of a

56

cyber/online focus.

Survey Research Survey Group 1 A survey was conducted to determine whether or not CZC is considered to be the “go-to” technical resource for child-focused bereavement programs. 15 open-ended questions were written and the surveys were posted on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. At least 5 colleges in the states of New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, and Virginia were contacted. E-mails were sent to different university students and organizations that focused on social work, psychology, education, mass communications, non-profits, and volunteerism to broaden the outreach and survey results.

Targeted Audience The public for this survey were college students with majors that led to jobs that involved children; such as social work. People who have a heavy interest in children are more likely to be interested in a child-focused grieving program. The departments that were reached were the schools of social work, medicine, psychology and mass communication.



Schools were then narrowed down to those that were at most an hour and a half away from the CZC sites. The idea was the closer the school campus was to camp locations, the chance of

survey participants having knowledge of CZC would be greater. CZC has locations in four different states so it was decided that at least four colleges near each CZC needed to be reached.

In total, 28 colleges were contacted, including Providence College, Roger Williams University, Virginia State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Rutgers University, and Seton Hall University.

New Jersey and California have two camp locations so the colleges that needed to be reached were split into two different regions to ensure no overlap. To actually get in touch with these colleges, the survey was posted on the Facebook pages of each. It was difficult to post on each specific department such as Mass Communication and Psychology so the survey was posted on any Facebook page that the college had. An email was also sent out to Alison Spillane in an attempt to post the survey link on the CZC Facebook page.

Survey Questions & Response Data The survey was sent to 28 different schools via their school’s Facebook page. A link to the survey was posted on the wall of colleges and universities in states where CZCs are located. The survey had the potential to reach many students and faculty that utilize their school’s Facebook page. Unfortunately the survey only received 30 responses, but they were very diverse and offered an assortment of answers and helpful

57

comments. The survey included a compilation of 15 different questions.

Most of the answers were multiple choice or likert scale. Some questions contained a comment box for people to offer more insight to their thoughts.

General Interpretations of the survey results Thirty people participated in the survey and there was a 100% completion rate among them.

According to the results, 76.7% of the participants have not heard of CZC. 90% of those who completed the survey analyzed CZC’s website as a valid resource to spread its message and said they would recommend it to others.

The recommendations for what groups CZC should target went as followed: families at 90%, followed by grieving children at 80% and donors at 76.7%.



YouTube is valued as the most dependable resource to depict CZC’s mission to viewers; 70% of the survey participants stated that they knew CZC’s mission after watching the video. After 23 votes, Facebook was considered to be the best source for promoting CZC and its mission. Other sources, such as CZC’s website, were voted for by five people. Twitter and Tumblr only received one vote, and LinkedIn received zero votes. LinkedIn is promoted on CZC’s website and is not utilized, while CZC’s Twitter account is updated daily and still is not

considered a reliable source. CZC’s LinkedIn needs to be updated with its most recent information and managed weekly. Non-profit organizations predominantly use Twitter as a one-way source of communication. CZC’s Twitter is less publicly-focused and more drawn towards facts and information sharing.

Instead of being used as a broadcasting system, Twitter should be maximized by using it to interact and get people involved with the brand’s online community.

New advertisement approaches need to be implemented into CZC’s strategy to expand its outreach.

Among those who took the survey, 40% were neutral about CZC’s advertising efforts for events such as fundraisers and camp dates. CZC should consider updating both its social media sites as well as its official website because the results nearly tied when it came to informational preferences. Based on the survey results, there is a lack of awareness about CZC and its mission. Most of the participants were neutral about recommending CZC to others.

Therefore, CZC should partner with other organizations and non-profits in order to spread its mission to a larger range of families, donors, and grieving children.

Suggestions Due to the data collected, CZC is not seemed to be well-known in the states where it has camps. A lack of broad-

58

based promotion for CZC is definitely a weakness and could potentially become a threat to the organization.

Social media is an essential element for CZC communications because it is a main source for its audiences and prospective members to learn about this organization. In order to generate to a larger online public and attract more volunteers/donors, the organization should find ways to reach people and interact with them in the states where their camps take place.

These are all ways to promote the CZC name and a chance for people to learn more about its mission and achievements.

You have some good written responses in the survey for item three.

These may make good quotes for the book. I also think the general response for item three is probably the most significant among all of your survey items. I didn’t see any crosstabs that showed correlation, except that item five seems to relate - People who liked the website also liked the video.

This should be emphasized. It would have been nice to see a male/female breakdown of the responses to see if differences exist.

Survey Group 2



Research was conducted on how to reach and gain new male volunteers for CZC. A survey comprised of 19 items was created to find what tactics can be used to generate more male volunteer and all volunteers as a whole.

Audience Selection and Distribution Audience Research question five stated: “How do we engage new and existing communities to get prospective volunteers to sign-up for and attend volunteer training? How can we generate more male volunteers for our camps?”

When creating the survey, a general male and female audience was included to understand how to get more potential volunteers for CZC. A filter was added to specifically find out how to engage more male volunteers for CZC. Reach and Distribution Facebook Group members posted the survey for all of their friends to access.

Each member of the group posted the link to survey monkey and midweek each member of the group reposted the link as a reminder to all possible participants. This survey had the potential to reach 3,399 people through the group’s Facebook friends combined. The distribution of the link was given out via the four group members.

Twitter Each member of the group tweeted the link to the survey twice throughout the week.

59

Also, two other people tweeted the link to the survey, with one participant holding 28.2k followers and the other a following of 238 people. The two Twitter users who distributed the link were Bill Farrar (@killerpr) and Dave Saunders (@madmain). The response rate may not be measured properly because there is no way to show how the users were taken to the survey site.

These methods were used to communicate the survey in order to target a mass amount of people and to make the survey easily accessible.

Therefore, these outlets were chosen because of the high volume in traffic in these social media sites. It was an efficient way to reach males and females of different ages and different locations. The total number of people that the survey reached through Facebook and Twitter is 31,837.

Survey Questions and Data

ď &#x;

The survey conducted was comprised of a total of nineteen different questions. The research behind the questions that were asked came from a need from CZC to find more volunteers, specifically male volunteers. However, there is still a need to differentiate why there are more female volunteers than males.

Therefore, while research was far more focused with the emphasis on males, female answers are also taken into consideration. After conducting a focus group, specific issues and needs came to the surface in terms

of questions that could be asked to targeted publics.

Questions were focused on general information as well as specific information of the audiences surveyed. The platform in which the questions were transmitted, called Survey Monkey, allowed for filter questions to be assigned to male and female responses. These filters helped to establish exactly which demographic belongs to the responses given for each item.

Interpretations of Data and Correlations Observing and looking at the data collected by the survey, it is easy to see that women are more likely to be involved. This could be simply due to the nature that women are more likely to take a survey than their male counterparts.

While looking further into the data, it is troubling to see that the questions at the beginning of the survey that dealt strictly with volunteerism and experience were skipped over by all parties, regardless of gender. Due to a user error in the Survey Monkey question-filtering setup, the answers that were most essential to the survey were not answered.

Interestingly, while those questions dealing primarily with volunteerism experience were missed, those queries that dealt with emotions and children were answered, with only a

60

range of 8-11 survey-takers skipping those questions. Surprisingly, most of the data that was collected stated that people who were dealing with their emotions don’t always talk it out, but internalize it and were far more likely to work with a child at a camp and were confident in their ability to work with children or young adults.

From the questions based around children, there were a high number of survey participants that were interested in working with children both indoors and out. Answers could have been given in the negative with children in mind simply due to their personal preference with wanting to interact with a child.



and volunteers to be away at an average Comfort Zone Camp retreat.

Comparing and contrasting the data responses to focus group responses, the focus group gave us a guide to creating the questions used for the survey, and the survey reinforced data that was collected already from the focus group. The only difference between the two was the fact that there were predominately more females than males who took the survey, as compared to the all male audience of the focus group.

Looking at the age demographic, it appears that there were far more young adults taking the survey than older. This statistic could be skewed simply due to the fact that we used social media as the exclusive distributor for the survey. A majority of the Facebook members that had been reached via the survey are college aged or working full-time.

While the focus group dealt specifically with volunteerism, children and ways to improve CZC’s appeal to male audiences, the survey did not deal or address the issue of improving the communications method of the camp. This was based on the presumed knowledge that the people taking the survey would not be communications experts and asking them queries based on ways to improve Comfort Zone Camp’s image would be unwise and presumptuous for our group.

While it appears that young people are more likely to volunteer, it is possible that older participants may feel the same about wanting to volunteer with the organization but simply cannot make the time. Taking that into consideration, many of the participants said that they would be able to be involved in volunteering at least one weekend a month, which is the basic length of time for children

Overall, we found that most people responding to our survey were females between 18-25 years of age. Most have been to a summer camp-like activity before. Most of the participants work more than forty hours a week but are able to give up a weekend to volunteer during the month. They are willing to work with children outdoors and agree that seeing a child in grief is difficult for

61

them. They agree that if they have experienced grief they are more inclined to help those who have lost a family member. Most participants have dealt with children before and agree they are capable of interacting with them. The survey showed that the participants do not deal with grief well and most deal with emotions or issues by themselves.

Client Suggestions CZC has a very compassionate concept, one that needs to regroup and reorganize. Viewing the numbers from the survey and previous input from the focus group, CZC needs to change their marketing especially to gear towards men. Seventy people out of 98 said they were willing to work with children outdoors. Although there was a low male response rate to the survey, more than half the males who took the survey were willing to work outdoors with children (23 out of 33 with one male skipping the question.) CZC needs to market its strengths, and being an outdoor camp is one of them.



Other strengths found were 52 agreed that they were able to give up one weekend a month to volunteer and 13 people were neutral. Out of those responses 17 who agreed and seven who were neutral were male.

Marketing to potential volunteers, especially males, that the camp is only one weekend (two nights and two and a half days) is appealing especially since “time constraint” was a large

factor of those who spoke about not volunteering.

A high response rate was received for question 14, which asked “hypothetically, if you have experienced the loss of someone important in your life, would you be more willing to assist children who have gone through something similar?” Eighty-one out of 88 (with 10 skipping the question) answered yes to this question. Twenty-nine out of the 32 (with one skipping the questions) who answered yes were male. CZC should market testimonials from past or current volunteers who have not experienced a loss in their life, and how they still managed to make a connection with the child.

Many survey volunteers, especially males were put off by the idea of volunteering with children that they would not know how to connect with.

A surprising response was 26 out of 33 males disagreed with the statement made in question seven, “as a man, I feel it is more of a feminine act to want to volunteer.” Although males do not find it feminine like expected, the male responses were still put off by the emotional aspect as seen in question nine. Question nine stated “men are less likely to volunteer for a bereavement camp due to the emotional nature of the atmosphere.”

Unfortunately, 19 out of 33 males agreed with this statement with seven being neutral. This refers back to the fact that potential volunteers, especially males, are uncomfortable

62

with the fact that they have not experienced this loss and are unable to connect with the children. We can assume this because when asked question 13, “I am confident in my ability to interact with children and young adults,” 23 out of 32 (with one male skipping the question) agreed with this statement and three were neutral. Again, video testimonials from past and current volunteers will help with the idea of being uncomfortable.

The survey was helpful to reach a more broad population and our findings gave us a better understanding of the targeted group’s perceptions.

A crosstab using males and females as a sorting item seems to produce one good result. Item nine of the “male and female” crosstab shows an interesting difference in opinions.

Women were divided between agree and disagree, but men clustered more in the agree category.

Survey Results and Data Analysis



2-Have you ever volunteered?

Each of the 98 participants skipped this question, both male and female.

3-How long have you been a volunteer?

Each of the 98 participants skipped this question, both male and female.

4-How would you rate your experience as a volunteer?

Each of the 98 participants skipped this question, both male and female.

5-How comfortable are you with your emotions?

Each of the 98 participants skipped this question, both male and female.

Note: It was later discovered that the questions listed 3-5 were set up to skip in SurveyMonkey unbeknownst to the group. It was not caught until the survey was ended at the designated time.

1-Are you male or female?

6-On average, how many hours a week do you work?

A total of 98 answers were recorded, 33 male and 65 female. Thirty-three percent were male responses and sixty-six were female. No participant skipped this question. This number of male responses is lowered than desired, however expected. Females tend to respond to surveys more often than males. This is a typical response ratio.

Question six was not specific to gender. Responses were as such: 45.3% or 29 people responded with more than 40 hours of their work week, 21.9% or 14 people responded with 30-40 hours a week, 6.3% or four people responded with 20-30 hours a week, and 26.6% or 17 people responded with less than 20 hours a week. Sixty-four people completed

63

the question and 34 skipped it.

10-I deal with grief and loss well.

7-As a man, I feel it is more of a feminine act to want to volunteer.

Responses are as such: 5.6% or five people strongly agree, 27.8% or 25 people agree, 27.8% or 25 people were also neutral, 35.6% or 32 people disagree and 3.3% or three people strongly disagree. A total of 90 people answered the question and eight people skipped it. This question had the most ambiguity in answers; each response was nearly the same.

This question was gender specific with an option to opt out due to female gender. The responses were as such: 1.1% or one person strongly agreed, 4.2% or four people agreed, 5.3% or five people were neutral, 15.8% or 15 people disagree, 14.7% or 14 people strongly disagree, and 58.9% or 56 people were females. A total of 95 people answered and three skipped it.

8-I volunteer because I like the act of nurturing and caring for other people.

Responses were as such: 18.3% or 17 people strongly agree, 55.9% or 52 people agree, 17.2% or 16 people were neutral, 7.5% or seven people disagree, and 1.1% or one person strongly disagreed. A total of 93 people answered the question and five skipped it.

9-Men are less likely to volunteer for a bereavement camp due to the emotional nature of the atmosphere.

ď &#x;

Responses were as such: 4.4% or four people strongly agree, 36.7% or 33 people agree, 26.7% or 24 people are neutral, 30.0% or 27 people disagree, and 2.2% or two people strongly disagree. A total of 90 people answered the question and two skipped it.

11-When I am upset I: Responses are as such: 25.8% or 23 people talk to their friends, 23.6% or 21 people talk to their family members, 29.2% or 26 people work through it themselves, 20.2% or 18 people internalize their issues and 1.1% or one person does nothing. A total of 89 people responded with nine skipping the question.

12-I have previous experience with dealing and interacting with children and young adults.

Responses are as such: 77.5% or 69 people said yes, while 22.5% or 20 people said no. A total of 89 answered and nine skipped the question.

13-I am confident in my ability to interact with children and young adults.

Responses are as such: 37.5% or 33 people strongly agree, 40.9% or 26 people agree, 9.1% or eight people are neutral, 8.7% or seven people

64

disagree, and 4.5% or four people strongly disagree.

A total of 88 responses were recorded and ten people skipped the question.

14- Hypothetically, if you have experienced the loss of someone important in your life, would you be more willing to assist children who have gone through something similar?

Responses are as such: 92.0% or 81 people answered yes, and 8.0% or seven people answered no. Eightyeight people answered the question and ten people skipped it.

15-It is difficult for me to see a child in a state of grief or upset.

Responses are as such: 28.4% or 25 people strongly agree, 52.3% or 26 people agree, 12.5% or 11 people are neutral, 5.7% or five people disagree and 1.1% or one person strongly disagrees. A total of 88 people answered with 10 skipping the question.

16-Would you be willing to work with children outdoors?

ď &#x;

Responses are as such: 79.5% or 70 people said yes, and 20.5% or 18 people said no. A total of 88 people answered and ten people skipped the question.

17-I participated in going to summer camps at least once as a child.

Responses are as such: 74.7% or 65 people responded yes, and 25.3% or 22 people responded no. A total of 87 people responded with 11 people skipping the question.

18-I am able to give up one weekend a month to volunteer.

Responses are as such: 14.9% or 13 people strongly agree, 44.8% or 39 people agree, 14.9% or 13 people are neutral, 23.0% or 20 people disagree and 2.3% or two people strongly disagreed. There were a total of 87 responses with 11 people skipping the question.

19-Which age range do you fall under?

Responses are as such: 56.3% or 49 people were between 18-25 years old, 23.0% or 20 people were between 2635 years old, 13.8% or 12 people were 36-50 years old, 5.7% or five people were 51-70 years old. One person responded with other. Eighty-seven people responded with 11 people skipping the question.

Survey Group 3 Survey Focus The survey questions were aimed toward already existing and potential volunteers to better understand areas of improvement among communications with volunteers.

Targeted Audience

65

The publics selected for the survey are any type of volunteer, whether it is a helpful community member or a non-profit leader. Specifically VCU students were targeted. VCU students are young educated adults who have often volunteered, or are familiar enough with the process of volunteering to adequately complete the survey.

Objectives The objective of the survey was to acquire at approximately 50 responses from the targeted publics, in order to obtain a better understanding of the improvement areas in the volunteer community and specifically the CZC community.

Strategies & Tactics Social media sites were used to disseminate the survey. Different organizational groups connected through social media; such as executive board members of VCU organizations, organizational pages, and graduating class groups, i.e. class of 2013. Facebook allowed the creation of a group page where information about the survey could be posted constantly.



Each group member posted a link via individual Facebook page to take the survey and also on a separate group page. A “status” was posted updating how long the survey would be available, and a final warning before the survey was closed. Wordof-mouth was also a helpful tactic in

encouraging surrounding groups to take the survey.

The people who were exposed to the survey, were people and students on Facebook and Twitter. The survey was shared to colleges and recent graduates as well.

Data Analysis (please see the survey items/data for survey group 3 in the appendix) Amount of survey participants: 47 1. Organizations for which participants have volunteered: Mercy House Thrift Store Latino Student Association (LSA) Church NVCC Ovarian Cancer Association Virginia Tech CAUS Youth Life Foundation of Richmond Pre-Occupational Therapy Club Non-Profit Saudi Club Arab Student Association Retail Zero Obama for America Spanish Honor Society Target Volunteers Recreations and Parks Lobs & Lessons Taste DC Ent. NAACP Humane Society MedLife BDSO Learn and Serve

66

SPCA UNICEF: 6 None currently: 7 Skipped Question: 7 2. The majority of the survey participants volunteer fewer times than once a month. In contrast, the second largest group volunteers weekly. This demonstrates a wide variety of volunteers, from episodic to regular volunteers. See data below. This basically shows that the respondents fit into two categories: often or not very much.

3. A stark majority of 87.2 percent of participants would volunteer on a weekend. This relates to an inquiry of the willingness of CZC members to volunteer on the weekends.

Since most people work Monday through Friday, the weekend is more convenient.

4. The majority of participants check both email and Facebook very regularly.

5. The graph below demonstrates how often volunteers check the organization website. The distribution across the categories looks about even. The website and social media are both important.



6 & 7. The best time to contact a volunteer is in the afternoon and evening mostly by way of email but also through social media. This is significant for CZC to have a clear idea of when it could contact a volunteer.

8 & 13. While approximately 69 percent of survey participants are more likely to volunteer if they are contacted once a month through social media, 30 percent are not more likely. This calls into question whether this 30 percent would like to be contacted more frequently than once a month or if the contact does not affect the likelihood of volunteering.

On the other hand, approximately 70 percent of survey participants would not mind to be contacted once a month via newsletter. While the other 26 percent is neutral on the matter and only approximately 4% would mind being sent a newsletter once a month. I would interpret this as a monthly electronic newsletter may be a good option for CZC 9. As the pie chart indicates below, updates from organizations most frequently come to volunteers through Facebook. The organizations also contact frequently through the website and Twitter. This correlates with the number of volunteers checking the organization’s website weekly and utilizing the organization’s social media platforms.

10 & 14. The graph below illustrates how the survey participants feel concerning the efficiency involved with the organization’s message promotion. The majority of participants feel as though the organization they are involved with conveys the message well although there is a strong amount

67

of participants that feel neutral towards the level of conveyance. This survey question is similar to question 14 involving the effectiveness of communications with the volunteer.

More than half agree the organization they are involved with is effective in communicating with them.

Approximately 4.8 percent strongly disagree.

11 & 12. The majority of volunteers ‘strongly agree’ with the statement: I enjoy volunteering. Approximately 4.8% of participants do not enjoy volunteering and five participants skipped the question. These volunteers (approximately 48%) notice mostly females while volunteering but approximately 29% remained neutral on the matter.

15. The majority of volunteers that took the survey would still like to be kept updated on volunteer opportunities they have missed.

Approximately 38% strongly agree and 38% agree while 23% feel neutral on the matter. However, there were no participants that disagreed.



16. While waiting to be matched for a volunteer assignment, the majority of survey participants reported becoming more involved in the social media pages and all participants felt neutral about being more or less likely to volunteer while waiting to be matched.

17 & 18. Most survey participants have not heard or volunteered with

CZC. 19 & 20. The participants do not have enough knowledge of CZC to correctly evaluate if it is the ‘go-to’ organization for child bereavement or how it is perceived right.

Survey Result Implementation Communicate electronically The majority of volunteers check both their Facebook and email accounts very regularly, multiple times a day.

To improve communications with volunteers, CZC should use email and social media as the main form of communication.

Contacting Volunteers For new volunteers who have not yet listed their preference time for contact, afternoon and evening tend to be the most convenient times to contact volunteers.

Stay Active 80% of volunteers use the Facebook page of the organization to receive updates and information. CZC must monitor and maintain their Facebook page in order to effectively communicate with both current and potential volunteers.

Newsletters Most volunteers would welcome a monthly newsletter with details on volunteer opportunities, company stories, etc. This will not only spread the organization’s name but also increase

68

communication with its volunteers.

Keep Volunteers in the Loop In many occasions, volunteers may not be able to attend a certain volunteer opportunity. Regardless, the vast majority of volunteers would want the organization to still keep them up to date with the success of the event.

ď &#x;

69

Appendix

ď &#x;

70

Organizational Chart

Comfort Zone Camp Research

1. Have you heard of Comfort Zone Camp?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Yes

23.3%

7

No

76.7%

23

answered question

30

skipped question

0

Response

Response

Percent

Count

2. Have you heard of child-focused bereavement programs?

Yes

46.7%

14

No

53.3%

16

answered question

30

skipped question

0

3. After seeing the comfort zone website, would you recommend it to others?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Yes

90.0%

27

No

10.0%

3

If yes, why? (please specify)

1 of 9

16

answered question

30

skipped question

0

4. Please check 3 groups that you think CZC’s website appeals to the most.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Campers (Grieving children)

80.0%

24

Families

90.0%

27

Donors

76.7%

23

Industry Leaders

6.7%

2

Technical Experts

10.0%

3

Non-profits

36.7%

11

answered question

30

skipped question

0

5. Comfort Zone Camp’s YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIbyG9qYAI&feature=plcp) effectively depicts its mission to viewers.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Strongly Disagree

10.0%

3

Disagree

0.0%

0

Neutral

10.0%

3

Agree

56.7%

17

Strongly Agree

23.3%

7

answered question

30

skipped question

0

2 of 9

6. Do you know the mission of Comfort Zone Camp?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Yes

70.0%

21

No

30.0%

9

answered question

30

skipped question

0

7. Which of the following is the best source for promoting CZC and its mission?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Facebook

76.7%

23

LinkedIn

0.0%

0

Twitter

3.3%

1

Tumblr

3.3%

1

Other:

16.7%

5

answered question

30

skipped question

0

3 of 9

8. I would consider Comfort Zone Camp to be the “go-to� organization for child-focus bereavement programs.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Strongly Disagree

6.7%

2

Disagree

0.0%

0

Neutral

36.7%

11

Agree

30.0%

9

Strongly Agree

26.7%

8

answered question

30

skipped question

0

9. Comfort Zone Camp's website does enough advertising for all of its camps.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Strongly Disagree

6.7%

2

Disagree

23.3%

7

Neutral

40.0%

12

Agree

26.7%

8

Strongly Agree

3.3%

1

answered question

30

skipped question

0

4 of 9

10. I have seen a lot of promotion that has led me to believe that Comfort Zone Camp is the “go-to� resource for child-focused bereavement program.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Yes

10.0%

3

No

90.0%

27

If yes, where? (please specify)

1

answered question

30

skipped question

0

11. CZC has a better child-focused bereavement program than other non-profit organizations.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Strongly Disagree

3.3%

1

Disagree

3.3%

1

Neutral

70.0%

21

Agree

20.0%

6

Strongly Agree

3.3%

1

answered question

30

skipped question

0

5 of 9

12. Promotion for Comfort Zone Camps provides adequate information about the bereavement program.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Strongly Disagree

6.7%

2

Disagree

6.7%

2

Neutral

13.3%

4

Agree

63.3%

19

Strongly Agree

10.0%

3

answered question

30

skipped question

0

13. Are you more likely to look at an organization’s social media sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter) than you are to look at their official website?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Yes

46.7%

14

No

53.3%

16

answered question

30

skipped question

0

6 of 9

14. How do you typically receive information about non-profit organizations that help children?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Word of mouth

23.3%

7

On the Internet

40.0%

12

Through other organizations (i.e.

30.0%

9

your school, job, etc.),

6.7%

2

Other (please specify)

0.0%

0

answered question

30

skipped question

0

15. I think that Comfort Zone Camps promotional tools adequately reaches all of its targeted groups (i.e. Schools, Volunteers, Parents).

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Strongly Disagree

6.7%

2

Disagree

13.3%

4

Neutral

40.0%

12

Agree

30.0%

9

Strongly Agree

10.0%

3

answered question

30

skipped question

0

7 of 9

8 of 9

Q3. After seeing the comfort zone website, would you recommend it to others?

1

Helpful organization

Oct 18, 2012 9:27 AM

2

The photos are reassuring that the kids will be doing fun activities with people who care and want to see them smile.

Oct 16, 2012 7:09 AM

3

It's nicely laid out, although I'd recommend a function to specify location on the calendar rather than lumping all of the locations together or having to visit the location specific page, just a link at the top would do, As far as who the site appeals to most, it'd be adults. Many kids would probably see it after a parent/guardian directs them, but it's somewhat formal at times. But it's appropriate, which is what's important and at the end the parents and other ones are the ones you have to convince.

Oct 15, 2012 7:07 PM

4

Absolutely, this kind of trauma can ruin children and shape you they will be in the future. More people should help establish these camps.

Oct 15, 2012 6:11 PM

5

It seems like a great place for children to bond with others and get through a difficult time by leaning on friends who are going through a similar situation

Oct 15, 2012 6:06 PM

6

Very comforting.

Oct 15, 2012 6:04 PM

7

It looks fun, exciting, and happy.

Oct 15, 2012 4:48 PM

8

Very informative and helpful

Oct 15, 2012 2:11 PM

9

If I had someone to recommend it to.

Oct 15, 2012 1:35 PM

10

Seems like a really great program, I'd suggest it for anyone who would be interested in volunteering

Oct 15, 2012 1:16 PM

11

It seems to have a lot of beneficial information for those who need it.

Oct 15, 2012 10:01 AM

12

worked with AmeriCorps and heard great things about the program

Oct 15, 2012 9:43 AM

13

I would recommend it to parents to look at for their children.

Oct 15, 2012 5:44 AM

14

Awesomeness

Oct 14, 2012 8:40 AM

15

Everyone has grief they need to cope with, especially kids now with bullying, divorced parents, etc.

Oct 14, 2012 8:11 AM

16

its well focused on the goal of reaching out.

Oct 14, 2012 7:09 AM

Q10. I have seen a lot of promotion that has led me to believe that Comfort Zone Camp is the “go-to� resource for child-focused bereavement program.

1

The ways it the website is portrayed and advertised

9 of 9

Oct 14, 2012 7:09 AM

Comfort Zone Camp, Group 2

1. Are you male or female?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Male

35.0%

35

Female

65.0%

65

answered question

100

skipped question

0

Response

Response

Percent

Count

2. Have you ever volunteered?

Yes

0.0%

0

No

0.0%

0

answered question

0

skipped question

100

1 of 9

3. How long have you been a volunteer?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

0.0%

0

six months

0.0%

0

one year

0.0%

0

two years

0.0%

0

>two years

0.0%

0

I have never volunteered

0.0%

0

answered question

0

skipped question

100

Rating

Response

Average

Count

4. How would you rate your experience as a volunteer?

Wonderful 1 0.0% (0)

2

3

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

2 of 9

Never Again 4 0.0% (0)

N/A

0.0% (0)

0.00

0

answered question

0

skipped question

100

5. How comfortable are you with your emotions?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

Extremely comfortable

0.0%

0

Very comfortable

0.0%

0

Moderately comfortable

0.0%

0

Slightly comfortable

0.0%

0

Not at all comfortable

0.0%

0

answered question

0

skipped question

100

Response

Response

Percent

Count

6. On average, how many hours a week do you work?

40+

45.3%

29

30-40

21.9%

14

20-30

6.3%

4

less than 20 hours a week

26.6%

17

answered question

64

skipped question

36

3 of 9

7. As a man, I feel it is more of a feminine act to want to volunteer Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

1.0%

1

agree

4.1%

4

neutral

5.2%

5

disagree

16.5%

16

strongly disagree

15.5%

15

I am not a man

57.7%

56

answered question

97

skipped question

3

8. I volunteer because I like the act of nurturing and caring for other people.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

17.9%

17

agree

56.8%

54

neutral

16.8%

16

disagree

7.4%

7

strongly disagree

1.1%

1

answered question

95

skipped question

5

4 of 9

9. Men are less likely to volunteer for a bereavement camp due to the emotional nature of the atmosphere.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

4.3%

4

agree

38.0%

35

neutral

26.1%

24

disagree

29.3%

27

strongly disagree

2.2%

2

answered question

92

skipped question

8

Response

Response

Percent

Count

10. I deal with grief and loss well.

strongly agree

5.4%

5

agree

27.2%

25

neutral

28.3%

26

disagree

34.8%

32

strongly disagree

4.3%

4

answered question

92

skipped question

8

5 of 9

11. When I am upset I: Response

Response

Percent

Count

talk to my friends

25.3%

23

talk to my family members

23.1%

21

work through it

30.8%

28

internalize my issues

19.8%

18

do nothing

1.1%

1

answered question

91

skipped question

9

12. I have previous experience with dealing and interacting with children and young adults Response

Response

Percent

Count

yes

78.0%

71

no

22.0%

20

answered question

91

skipped question

9

6 of 9

13. I am confident in my ability to interact with children and young adults.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

37.8%

34

agree

41.1%

37

neutral

8.9%

8

disagree

7.8%

7

strongly disagree

4.4%

4

answered question

90

skipped question

10

14. Hypothetically, if you have experienced the loss of someone important in your life, would you be more willing to assist children who have gone through something similar?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

yes

92.1%

82

no

7.9%

7

answered question

89

skipped question

11

7 of 9

15. It is difficult for me to see a child in a state of grief or upset.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

29.2%

26

agree

51.7%

46

neutral

12.4%

11

disagree

5.6%

5

strongly disagree

1.1%

1

answered question

89

skipped question

11

Response

Response

Percent

Count

16. Would you be willing to work with children outdoors?

yes

79.8%

71

no

20.2%

18

answered question

89

skipped question

11

Response

Response

Percent

Count

17. I participated in going to summer camps at least once as a child.

yes

73.9%

65

no

26.1%

23

answered question

88

skipped question

12

8 of 9

18. I am able to give up one weekend a month to volunteer.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

15.9%

14

agree

44.3%

39

neutral

14.8%

13

disagree

22.7%

20

strongly disagree

2.3%

2

answered question

88

skipped question

12

Response

Response

Percent

Count

19. Which age range do you fall under?

18-25

56.8%

50

26-35

22.7%

20

36-50

13.6%

12

51-70

5.7%

5

other

1.1%

1

answered question

88

skipped question

12

9 of 9

Volunteer Communications Survey

1. What organizations are you involved with?

Response Count 40 answered question

40

skipped question

7

Response

Response

Percent

Count

2. How often do you volunteer?

weekly

34.1%

14

monthly

22.0%

9

bimonthly

4.9%

2

fewer than once a month

39.0%

16

Other (please specify)

1 of 14

5

answered question

41

skipped question

6

3. Would you volunteer on a weekend?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

yes

87.2%

41

no

12.8%

6

answered question

47

skipped question

0

4. How often do you check your: Response

very regularly

regularly

not regularly

never

Email

83.0% (39)

14.9% (7)

4.3% (2)

0.0% (0)

47

Facebook

76.6% (36)

17.0% (8)

2.1% (1)

4.3% (2)

47

2 of 14

Count

answered question

47

skipped question

0

5. How often do you visit the website of the organization you volunteer for?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

daily

23.1%

9

weekly

30.8%

12

monthly

20.5%

8

yearly

12.8%

5

25.6%

10

I use the organization’s social media sites

Other (please specify)

8

answered question

39

skipped question

8

Response

Response

Percent

Count

6. When is the best time to contact you?

morning

8.7%

4

afternoon

39.1%

18

evening

37.0%

17

night

10.9%

5

no preference

30.4%

14

answered question

46

skipped question

1

3 of 14

7. What is the most convenient way for an organization to communicate with you?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

the organization's website

10.6%

5

e-newsletters

12.8%

6

email

72.3%

34

phone

31.9%

15

social media

48.9%

23

Other (please specify)

0

answered question

47

skipped question

0

8. Are you more likely to volunteer if you are contacted by the organization monthly by way of social media?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

yes

69.6%

32

no

30.4%

14

answered question

46

skipped question

1

4 of 14

9. Where do you most frequently receive updates and information about the organization you are involved in?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

the organization’s website

30.8%

12

Facebook

79.5%

31

YouTube

5.1%

2

Twitter

20.5%

8

Linkedin

0.0%

0

Other (please specify)

9

answered question

39

skipped question

8

10. How well do you feel the organization you are involved with promotes their organization’s message?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

very well

32.6%

15

well

39.1%

18

neutral

26.1%

12

not very well

4.3%

2

answered question

46

skipped question

1

5 of 14

11. I enjoy volunteering?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

52.4%

22

agree

33.3%

14

neutral

11.9%

5

disagree

2.4%

1

strongly disagree

2.4%

1

answered question

42

skipped question

5

Response

Response

Percent

Count

12. When volunteering, I notice mainly female volunteers?

strongly agree

19.5%

8

agree

48.8%

20

neutral

29.3%

12

disagree

2.4%

1

strongly disagree

0.0%

0

answered question

41

skipped question

6

6 of 14

13. I would not mind if the organization I volunteer for sends me a monthly newsletter with details on volunteer opportunities, company stories, etc.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

21.4%

9

agree

50.0%

21

neutral

26.2%

11

disagree

4.8%

2

strongly disagree

0.0%

0

answered question

42

skipped question

5

14. The organization I am involved with is effective in communications with volunteers.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

24.4%

10

agree

53.7%

22

neutral

19.5%

8

disagree

2.4%

1

strongly disagree

2.4%

1

answered question

41

skipped question

6

7 of 14

15. If I am unable to attend a certain volunteer opportunity, I would want the organization to still keep me up to date with how well the event went.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

38.1%

16

agree

38.1%

16

neutral

23.8%

10

disagree

0.0%

0

strongly disagree

0.0%

0

answered question

42

skipped question

5

16. Please select the level of agreement you have for each item below regarding your organization’s social media sites: a. While waiting to be matched for a volunteer assignment, I become: strongly agree Uninvolved in the social media pages

4.9% (2)

agree

neutral

disagree

31.7%

34.1%

(13)

(14)

9.8% (4)

34.1%

26.8%

(14)

(11)

Involved in the social media pages

22.0% (9)

Less likely to volunteer

7.3% (3)

14.6% (6)

More likely to volunteer

14.6% (6)

19.5% (8)

8 of 14

12.2% (5)

31.7%

29.3%

(13)

(12)

46.3% (19)

12.2% (5)

strongly

Rating

Response

disagree

Average

Count

19.5% (8)

3.54

41

4.9% (2)

2.44

41

17.1% (7)

3.34

41

7.3% (3)

2.78

41

answered question

41

skipped question

6

17. Have you ever heard of Comfort Zone Camp?

Response

Response

Percent

Count

yes

28.6%

12

no

71.4%

30

answered question

42

skipped question

5

Response

Response

Percent

Count

18. Have you volunteered with comfort zone camp?

yes

2.4%

1

no

97.6%

41

answered question

42

skipped question

5

19. I would consider Comfort Zone Camp to be the “go-to� organization for child-focus bereavement programs.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

9.8%

4

agree

17.1%

7

neutral

70.7%

29

disagree

4.9%

2

strongly disagree

0.0%

0

answered question

41

skipped question

6

9 of 14

20. Comfort Zone Camp is perceived as an organization creating an outlet for grieving children.

Response

Response

Percent

Count

strongly agree

17.5%

7

agree

17.5%

7

neutral

65.0%

26

disagree

2.5%

1

strongly disagree

0.0%

0

answered question

40

skipped question

7

10 of 14

11 of 14

Page 2, Q1. What organizations are you involved with?

1

mercy house thrift store

Oct 19, 2012 9:03 AM

2

none really- just volunteer all over the place

Oct 18, 2012 6:14 PM

3

Latino Student Association

Oct 18, 2012 5:38 PM

4

Church

Oct 18, 2012 5:29 PM

5

Nvcc ovarian cancer association

Oct 18, 2012 5:22 PM

6

none

Oct 18, 2012 2:12 PM

7

UNICEF

Oct 18, 2012 8:55 AM

8

Virginia Tech CAUS

Oct 17, 2012 5:43 PM

9

Youth Life Foundation of Richmond Saving Our Youth Virginia, Inc.

Oct 17, 2012 3:55 PM

10

none

Oct 17, 2012 1:57 PM

11

none currently

Oct 17, 2012 10:28 AM

12

Pre-Occupational Therapy Club

Oct 17, 2012 8:12 AM

13

Non-Profit

Oct 17, 2012 7:06 AM

14

Saudi club

Oct 16, 2012 10:36 PM

15

NAACP, LSA< HCF, FACT, ASA, YD, BDSO, KUG

Oct 16, 2012 7:31 PM

16

arab student organization arabic club SGA

Oct 16, 2012 1:16 PM

17

Unicef

Oct 16, 2012 7:48 AM

18

None

Oct 15, 2012 7:39 PM

19

Retail

Oct 15, 2012 5:18 PM

20

LSA

Oct 15, 2012 5:09 PM

21

Obama for America

Oct 15, 2012 3:35 PM

22

zero

Oct 15, 2012 3:15 PM

23

Lsa

Oct 15, 2012 3:06 PM

24

None

Oct 15, 2012 1:31 PM

25

The Spanish Honor Society

Oct 15, 2012 12:46 PM

26

UNICEF LSA

Oct 15, 2012 12:41 PM

27

UNICEF at vcu

Oct 15, 2012 10:45 AM

12 of 14

Page 2, Q1. What organizations are you involved with?

28

Target Volunteers

Oct 15, 2012 10:19 AM

29

Recreation and Parks

Oct 15, 2012 9:37 AM

30

Lobs & Lessons

Oct 15, 2012 9:36 AM

31

Taste DC Ent.

Oct 15, 2012 8:40 AM

32

NAACP, Alpha Phi Omega, Black Awakening Choir, Africana, VCU AmeriCorps

Oct 15, 2012 8:13 AM

33

Humane Society

Oct 15, 2012 7:10 AM

34

None

Oct 15, 2012 4:06 AM

35

UNICEF, MedLife

Oct 14, 2012 6:21 PM

36

-UNICEF at VCU -BDSO at VCU

Oct 14, 2012 6:18 PM

37

Learn and Serve

Oct 14, 2012 4:46 PM

38

UNICEF @ VCU

Oct 14, 2012 4:14 PM

39

SPCA

Oct 14, 2012 4:07 PM

40

UNICEF

Oct 14, 2012 7:14 AM

Page 2, Q2. How often do you volunteer?

1

never

Oct 16, 2012 10:33 AM

2

When I can so it ranges.

Oct 16, 2012 7:48 AM

3

havent done any

Oct 15, 2012 7:39 PM

4

a few times in my life

Oct 15, 2012 1:31 PM

5

Whenever I'm told to

Oct 15, 2012 4:06 AM

13 of 14

Page 2, Q5. How often do you visit the website of the organization you volunteer for?

1

n/a

Oct 18, 2012 2:12 PM

2

never

Oct 16, 2012 5:41 PM

3

do not have a organization

Oct 16, 2012 10:33 AM

4

I just go to the general body meetings

Oct 16, 2012 7:48 AM

5

i havent done any but i would love to

Oct 15, 2012 7:39 PM

6

no website

Oct 15, 2012 1:31 PM

7

I don't

Oct 15, 2012 9:36 AM

8

It was through school - I did not visit their website.

Oct 14, 2012 4:46 PM

Page 2, Q9. Where do you most frequently receive updates and information about the organization you are involved in?

1

n/a but facebook would be

Oct 18, 2012 2:12 PM

2

not anywhere

Oct 16, 2012 5:41 PM

3

e-mail

Oct 16, 2012 10:33 AM

4

Meeting

Oct 16, 2012 7:48 AM

5

email

Oct 15, 2012 5:15 PM

6

email

Oct 15, 2012 10:19 AM

7

Email

Oct 15, 2012 7:10 AM

8

e-mail

Oct 14, 2012 6:21 PM

9

Email

Oct 14, 2012 7:14 AM

14 of 14