Adi

Important Note This project is not due in Module 1. Im sharing the assignment sheet with you so that you can begin working on the assignment. Project Description Completion of this project will include identifying, analyzing, and writing about the general social media strategy of a local nonprofit. You will create a memo that communicates strengths you see in this strategy as well as opportunities for growth. The Basics Find a nonprofit organization with a mission that interests you. Take a look at their mission statement. Your first step is to find a local nonprofit that resonates with you. Im defining local as an organization that operates primarily in Maryland, DC, or northern Virginia. Just a heads up: throughout this document, Im going to use the words nonprofit and organization interchangeably. Heres a list of Maryland nonprofits. There are lot of organizations listed here. 22 pages worth, in fact. However, many of the ones listed dont list a website. If they dont have a site, I wouldnt consider them for this exercise. You can also find local nonprofits by googling. All nonprofits have a mission statement that very succinctly defines the work they do. As an example, here is Charity: Waters mission statement: image: A man stands, looking into the distance, with his hand on a fence post. The text reads Our Mission. charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries. A clickable button says Read more. An organizations mission will typically be featured on their About Us page or their homepage. If you look through a couple of pages, you should be able to locate an organizations mission statement easily. Reading mission statements is an efficient method for determining whether you feel the work of an organization is valuable to you. If you read the mission and sense that the work is important, you probably share some core values with the people who are working in that organization (and also the people the organization serves). Project 1, Part 1 Find a local nonprofit with a mission that speaks to you. Then spend some time looking at their social media channels (most organizations use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but a few use other social media in addition). Select three different social media posts from the organization youve chosen. These posts could feature an image, a video, a poster, or any other form of communication. Take a screenshot of these three posts and insert/paste each of them in a document. Under each screenshot, answer the following questions: What demographics is this post targeting? In other words, who is the organizations intended audience for this post? Is it people who can do things for the organization (donors, volunteers, job seekers), people who can receive services from the organization (this will depend on the mission, but it could be underemployed people, public school students, or veterans, just as random examples). How does the post ask its audience to engage? What is the call to action (CTA) in the post? Does it ask people to volunteer, to donate, to click on a link, to think about something, to buy a ticket, to learn more about the organization or a related issue, to comment, or something else? How much engagement with the post is occurring? Are there a lot of likes and/or comments or is there very little engagement? Why do you think the post is getting lots of attention or earning less attention? How could these posts earn more engagement from their audience? What strategies could be used to do this? demographics: A demographic is a subgroup of the population, organized by a particular criteria. You, for instance, fall into a student demographic. You also probably fall into the 1825 age demographic. Marketing teams are especially interested in demographics because they help them narrow down an audience. You wouldnt write an advertisement the same way for a group of elderly women as you would for a group of undergraduate, male lacrosse players. If you were advertising yachts to a college professor demographic, youd be wasting your time and money because college professors dont have enough income to buy yachts (if anyone wants to buy me a yacht, please feel free). Demographics can be broken down by whatever criteria (or measurement) you want, including: income level, profession, interests, age, race, gender, religious belief, and on and on. Project 1, Part 2 Visit the website of the organization you chose. Click around their site until you find the contact information for their staff. Once you do, look for the person who manages their external communications and/or social media. Depending on the size of the organization, there could be several people who serve in this role or it could just be one staff member. Look for titles like: Communications Director/Manager/Coordinator, External Affairs Director/Manager/Coordinator, or Development Director/Manager/Coordinator. Do not just start emailing everyone at the organization if you cant find the person. If thats the case, email me, and Ill help you out. Take what you wrote under the screenshots and revise it for a different audience, the person who posted these at their job. How can you communicate these observations you made, but make sure that youre considering your new audience, the person who put those posts together? Some things to keep in mind: This person is a professional. They do this for a living. Please treat them as such. Nonprofits run on small staffs with individuals who are often doing what would be two or three jobs in the private sector. They are working more hours and making less money in order to serve others. Keep this in mind when crafting your observations. None of us are perfect. Which means two things: Its easy to point out things you would do differently. How can you do that with grace, kindness, and the organizations best interests in mind? Theres always room for improvement. Even if this organization is killing it on their social media, there are things they can try to boost engagement. Project 1, Part 3 Craft a memo. Use the persons name, title, organization, and other info you found in step 1. And, of course, include your own name as well. This doesnt need to look mind-blowing in terms of design, but it should look presentable. Imagine Jeff Bezos or Sheryl Sandberg asked you for this document. How would you make it look like you know what youre talking about? You can find lots of advice about formatting a memo online and in our textbook. Consult those sources. Theres no one right way, so find a way that looks polished to you. Save the file and email it to the person whose name and contact info you found in step 1. Important: I highly recommend that, in the body of the email you send, you use the following language. Please feel free to copy and paste this exact language (changing the name, of course). Whatever you do, please dont just send them the file with no context. Hi [Their Name], Im currently taking a class in business communications at Towson University, and we are participating in a service learning project. For our most recent assignment, we were asked to perform a simple audit of an organizations social media strategy. I chose to look at a few of your social media posts because your organizations mission spoke to me. In the hopes that its helpful to you, I wanted to let you know what I found. My thoughts are attached, and I hope this feedback is helpful to you in thinking about your social media strategy. I respect that you are a professional working in the public sector, so please understand that my observations are only meant to provide feedback you might otherwise get from a stakeholder survey or other volunteer project. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or to contact my instructor, Dr. Austin Tremblay (atremblay@towson.edu). Kindly, [Your Name} What to Turn in In Blackboard, when you submit the assignment, you need to submit 3 pieces. It can be in the same file or in separate files. Upload the file with your screenshots and analysis of the posts underneath (part 1), the file that you emailed (part 2), and a screenshot of the email you sent (part 3). Without both pieces, the assignment will be considered late. Points possible: 200. A specific rubric follows on the next page. Scroll to read it.