“Home for the homeless”
Executive Summary
The following report aims to expose the importance of implementing Public
Relations within your organisation. This report will outline the reasons why PR
is a core function in regards to the expansion ‘Home for the Homeless’ brand
recognition and reputation around South Australia. Furthermore, this report
will discuss how Public Relations has the ability to build trustworthy
relationship with stakeholders as well at the community when done effectually
using the most effective techniques.
Introduction:
This report outlines the reasons why PR needs to be established urgently
within our organization in order to improve the outcomes obtained during the
recent months. Unfortunately, the company is currently receiving a
significantly low amount of donations as well as receiving a minor amount of
media coverage. By implementing public relations into ‘Home for the
Homeless’ a strong focus will be placed on forming strong relationships both
within the company and externally with important stakeholders and target
audiences. This report is going to present key recommendations that will help
get the company back on track in regards to sales and our reputation as a
whole.
Public Relations strategy plan:
The first recommendation will involve hosting an open day. At the open day
the public will receive small gift bags with pens, booklets/flyers, with
information on how to donate and a calendar with important dates and
reminders about upcoming events. This open day will provide real life
examples of people who have been impacted by this non-for profit. Example,
Mark who lives on the streets can talk about how people’s donations have
given him warm clothes in the winter and a bed to sleep in. By using
Emotional Appeal audiences will feel empathy that will make them more likely
to donate both immediately as well as the long-term. The second
recommendation focuses on social media, as it is a very popular and cost
efficient way of communicating with target audiences. It is important to identify
that the chosen target audience will be families as they are highly likely to
have more empathy for the less fortunate. More specifically a promotional
video will be made which shares the value and overall mission and goals of
the company. This video will show a common day at ‘Home for the homeless’
when staff go out to the streets to provide food, clothes and doctors that can
assist homeless. Showing this in a promo video will give an insight so the
public have a better understanding of both the daily struggles of someone on
the street and what exactly volunteers and workers do on a day to day basis.
The third strategy will be doing an Integration day within the organisation,
which will be focusing on the company internally and people that work for
‘Home for the homeless’. Some examples include, Weekly Meetings, a worker
of the month will be chosen, weekly goals will be created and a suggestions
box. More specifically, at weekly meetings there will be posters showing how
much money/donations were raised and what exactly this will be going
towards. Example, this week we made $1000, this helped 10 people get off
the streets and provided 30 meals. It is important to reveal to staff what
exactly their hard work is going towards; this gives them a sense of fulfillment.
A worker of the month will be posted on the wall to recognize staff for their
excellence as well as receiving a $20 voucher for their efforts. Weekly goals
will be presented on bright posters on the wall, so that each week the
company can identify the specific aspects that need to be focused on.
Example, if one-week, donations are down we will focus specifically on
techniques that may help increasing sales/donations. There will be a
suggestions box placed in the meeting room so that staffs are able to have
their own input emphasizing their importance within the company.
Conclusion
This report is a summary of how public relations will improve the overall well
being of your organisation. By focusing on Media affairs, Internal and external
relationships and the overall reputation of the organisation we believe that the
presented strategies will be the key to connecting with audiences and
stakeholders. All of these suggestions will be the vital factors to creating a
long-lasting and successful organisation.
References
L’Etang, J 2007, Public Relations: Concepts, Practice and Critique, Thousand
Oaks Sage.
Mason, JC 1992, ‘Corporate Sponsorships Help Target the Right Audience’,
Management Review, Vol.81 no.11, p.58.
Lautenslager, A 2003, ‘Why You Need PR’. Entrepreneur, ‘Getting the word
out about your product or service should always be a priority’, viewed 24 Jul.
2017, <[Link]