Western Youth Network 155 Wyn Way Boone, NC 28607 (828) 264-1574 www.westernyouthnetwork.

org

Western Youth Network Communication Audit

Laura Walton, Lea Ramsey & Zoe Croft COM 4418 Dr. Dean Mundy

WYN: Communication Audit

Executive Summary
This report provides an analysis of Western Youth Networks (WYN) communication efforts and their overall effectiveness in reaching key publics. The components of this analysis include comparative examinations of same-cause organizations, primary and secondary research findings, a SWOT analysis and recommendations for WYN as they move forward in their communication efforts. Based on these components, results indicate that while WYN is effective with traditional media and word of mouth communication. However, the use of strategic social media presents an opportunity for future growth by more effectively engaging the community and raising awareness for WYNs prevention programs. The report finds the prospects of the organization in its current position is positive, but has great potential for future growth and better support from within its own structure--namely its board members and staff. Recommendations include ensuring that all staff and board members are promoting WYN to their personal networks, creating awareness for WYN in the local community (specifically with university students in Boone), focusing more effort into word of mouth communication, and effectively utilizing their established social media platforms.

Western Youth Network

Organizational Background
Based in Boone, N.C., Western Youth Network (WYN) is a child and youth service 501(c)3. WYN provides quality care to meet the individualized needs of youth in their current state of being. The organizational mission focuses on relationships as a resource for youth and families through mentoring, prevention and intervention programs. These programs allow WYN to assist youth in reaching their potential and discovering their place in our community and in our world (www.WesternYouthNetwork.org: Homepage). Established in 1985, WYN developed in response to the communitys demand for more local youth services. After receiving their first grant, WYN created Friends, a mentoring program. This program helps court-involved youth get matched with an adult friend with whom they spend free time. Two years after WYNs first grant, their Youth Resource Center was founded. This center gives at-risk and court-involved youth a safe and secure place to go after school. Its purpose it to provide enrichment activities, a positive environment and support for the community. Since 1985, WYN has expanded to Avery and Ashe County and offers new programs that focus on outdoor activities, drug prevention, career exploration, and Appalachian heritage education (www.westernyouthnetwork.org: Our Programs). The WYN homepage presents information on their goals and achievements. WYNs vision is for every youth in the High Country to become a successful contributing leader (www.westernyouthnetwork.org: Homepage). In 2012, WYN offered individualized support to 2,300 children in the High Country and their volunteers logged more than 8,499 hours of

WYN: Communication Audit service. Today, WYN employs 11 staff members and has 12 board members. By strengthening community and promoting healthy lifestyles, WYN serves as a positive support system that encourages individuals to reach their full potential.

Media Presence
Western Youth Network communicates through many forms of media. WYN has both traditional and non-traditional platforms in which they spread their mission, events and news. Their most popular media platform is their Facebook page. With 741 likes and 27 photo albums, WYNs Facebook has more information and resources in comparison to any other social or traditional medium they use. This page is managed effectively and is a planned systematic effort based in two-way communication with stakeholders. Another social media site that WYN uses is Twitter. This fast paced, short message style is used to update WYNs publics on upcoming events. WYN has tweeted 614 times and follows 153 twitter accounts, resulting in 102 followers. The majority of their tweets are linked to their Facebook statuses. WYN does not use hash tags and rarely retweets or favorites tweets. Their longer messages and more personal accounts are documented in WYNs blog. This blog, although viewed by few, is the most personal of all their online sites. WYN has posted 15-blog posts since January 2013. Its topics range from Alcohol Awareness month to essay contest winners. This platform develops a more invested relationship that shows the reader the personal connections that are made at WYN. The use of theses three sites aids WYN in producing three diverse messages to stakeholders. They target different attention spans, age groups and followers by engaging them in a conversation about bettering the lives of High Country Youth. WYN has these three forms of communication linked to their website homepage. This strategic placement allows WYN to showcase their messages but also show their stakeholders and web visitors how often they communicate with their publics. On average they are posting once every two days. WYN donors and volunteers are informed about upcoming news and information via monthly newsletters emailed to them directly. These newsletters inform those closest to the organization about its impact in western North Carolina. Titled Dare to Care, the e-newsletters allows its readers to donate in many ways as well as hear personal accounts of those positively affected by their donations. In traditional media, WYN has earned media in Go Blue Ridge, Boone Mountain Times, Watauga Democrat, and High Country Press. These articles highlight organization sponsored events and WYNs impact in the High Country. WYNs vision is stronger with a variety of communication vehicles. Their fluidity of graphics and visuals throughout all mediums allow them to connect with key audiences as well as engage new publics. At all levels, it is imperative to WYN that communication occur consistently and information be presented with clarity whether online or in print.

WYN: Communication Audit

Served Publics
WYNs programs serve 5th -10th grade students. These students participate in prevention, after school, mentoring, summer programs. As well as fostering important youth relationships, WYN develops important connections with the parents of the youth involved in their non-profit. In addition to providing youth programs, WYN has adult mentoring opportunities that are available to people of all backgrounds.

Key Targets for Communication Outreach

WYNs target publics include college students, potential volunteer and donors. These publics are crucial components in the success of WYNs mission and vision because they physically and financially support the organizations programs. WYN can focus on these key targets because DSS, school counselors, and juvenile court counselors assign their served publics, youth and parents. This allows WYN to channel energy purely into finding donors and volunteers, rather than energy spent finding both youth and donors/volunteers.

Communication Efforts
Communication efforts are primarily online through social media. Their use of Facebook and Twitter allows them to update frequently and directly to those who follow or like them. These messages show their publics how to get involved, donate or find more information about their mission.

Core Messages and Tactics

Twitter: Recognition of partners and a place to keep updates on Facebook page Facebook: Get involved by fundraising/volunteering/mentoring, celebrating partnerships and successful mentorships, information/resources for parents to promote healthy lifestyles for their kids (anti-drugs/alcohol etc.) Blog: Longer updates on happenings, interviews, etc. When communicating with key targets, WYN focuses primarily on social media. They publish research findings on the positive impacts of community involvement and post photos of trips and successful events to encourage people to get involved. Posting this material directly on their Facebook page, allows key targets to comment, like or share which creates a channel of twoway communication.

WYN: Communication Audit

Comparative Organizations:
Wings for Kids (Local, SE) www.wingsforkids.org Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (National) www.bbbs.org

WINGS for Kids

Organizational Background
Established in 1996, WINGS is an education program that teaches children, K-6, how to behave well, make good decisions and build healthy relationships. With seven different locations in SC and GA, WINGS is the only U.S. organization focused solely on providing social and emotional education within after school programs (www.wingsforkids.org: What We Do). They use a codified, research-based curriculum that requires the entry of data on a daily basis to track the kids progress and ensure that the organization is delivering the desired outcomes of improving social and emotional skills, behavior, attendance, and academic performance (www.wingsforkids.org: Who We Are). The organization currently serves more than 800 children a day. By 2016, WINGS plans to have 16 schools across the southeast. They are in partnership with 32 local and national organizations, including: AmeriCorps (currently 79 members working as mentors); College of Charleston, The Citadel, and The University of Virginia; Trident United Way; Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts USA; 4-H; and Whole Foods (www.wingsforkids.org: Who We Are)

Social Media Presence

WINGS for Kids is present on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Flickr. WINGS Facebook page is their primary social media platform, generating approximately 3,400 likes. The page has a five star rating and is updated daily with status updates and shared inspirational articles (articles that relate to their mission of encouraging children). They also share posts from similar organizations, which receive a lot of attention (views, likes and shares) from their Facebook followers. However, the organization uses a lot of inconsistent hashtags, creating some confusion. They do not have one hashtag that they use frequently or that appears recognizable to their publics. Twitter is their second largest social media platform, generating approximately 2,000 followers and tweeting daily, multiple times on most days. Again, they fail to use consistent hashtags, but they do directly tweet at people which is good for the tweets viewership. WINGS Pinterest page currently has 100 followers and 19 board. The YouTube channel has approximately 40 subscribers, 25,000 views and last uploaded a video six months ago.

WYN: Communication Audit

Other Communication efforts

WINGS releases an interactive newsletter monthly through email. Pages dedicated to making donations for the organization are online, in addition to providing a mailing address. An S.E.L. (Social and Emotional Learning) Library is available to adults and children for recommended readings and helpful website links. WINGS provides podcasts stories of WINGS Leaders and links for featured articles of the organization. The organization is currently developing a media kit.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Organizational Background
Established in 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters is a 501(c)3 organization that seeks to nurture children and strengthen communities by providing adult volunteers (Bigs) to mentor children (littles), ages 6 through 18, all with the purpose of enabling children succeed in life (www.bbbs.org: About Us). BBBS offers school-based programs that match at-risk youth with caring, adult models who help children succeed in education, avoid risky behavior, and reach higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships through one-on-one mentoring (www.bbbs.org: Our Programs). The organization targets children living in single parent homes, growing up in poverty, or those coping with parental incarceration. Mentoring programs include African-American mentoring, military children mentoring, Hispanic mentoring and the Amachi Program. BBBS currently operates in cities throughout all 50 states and in 12 countries around the world. There are more than 370 BBBS programs run in communities throughout the United States. The national organization has more than 50 corporate, government, advocacy, foundation and community partners, with hundreds of other community partners at the local level for each Big Brothers Big Sisters program (www.bbbs.org: Our Programs).

Social Media Presence

BBBS has a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Their Facebook is their largest platform, with approximately 64,300, a 4.4 star rating, and daily status updates and shared articles. BBBSs Twitter page has 11,400 followers and posts multiple updates daily. Their YouTube channel has 800 subscribers, approximately 408,000 views, and last updated a video three months ago.

Other Communication Efforts

BBBS partners with iHeartRadio to air public service announcements on 850 Clear Channel radio stations. BBBS keeps a blog called Start Talking that shares stories of the people and partners that power their organization. The organization provides alumni resources through their Start Something [Again] page, and reaches out to the Latino community through Latino Bigs

WYN: Communication Audit branch of BBBS. BBBS provides Mentoring Brothers, a program that focuses on engaging the three largest African-American fraternities to mentor littles. BBBS has a discussion board and newsroom, as well as an international page for their 12 programs in countries around the world.

What can other BBBS and Wings for Kids learn from WYN?
WYNs success in Word of Mouth as a communication tool should be emulated and promoted at like-minded organizations. What clients, volunteers and employees say about an organization has a huge impact on the publics perception and likelihood of benefiting from programs the organization has to offer. Because of this, internal communication is crucial to keeping constituents informed on the happenings and services offered. BBBS and Wings would do well to benefit from WYNs example of targeting messages through only three social media platforms. In communication, more mediums does not make the message stronger or better, but can potentially spread the organization too thin. Keeping a mainstream of communication that is consistent, well crafted and strategic is more effective than covering every social media platform available.

What can WYN learn from BBBS and Wings?

BBBS has a strong focus on clients with particular backgrounds or racial identities and catering communication to those specific groups. WYN could benefit with having more strategic messaging for clients from varying backgrounds. BBBS is effective in partnering with specific college groups to act as Big Brothers Big Sisters. WYN should focus more of their efforts in engaging the college student community in Boone likewise to volunteer as friends. Wings for Kids daily status updates and inspirational shared articles on their Facebook page makes them more engaging as an organization. WYN should emulate of WINGS social media strategies into their own platforms.

WYN: Communication Audit

Primary Research Findings

Primary research consisted of an online survey using Survey Monkey and in-depth interviews with Western Youth Network associates.

Survey Summary and Possible Implications

See Appendix B for full details
Of the 42 respondents, 62 percent (26 people) have heard of Western Youth Network. Awareness most commonly stemmed from word of mouth and class interactions, though people also knew about the organization through social media, the ACT office (Appalachian and the Community Together) and clubs at Appalachian. While 62 percent is a good amount of people, awareness is something that can, and should, expand. The fact that word of mouth is the most common form of awareness signifies that people are talking about WYN. The trick is to broaden this conversation to multiple outlets. If these conversations proliferate on social media sites and occur in the ACT office and clubs at Appalachian, WYN could really expand their reach. In addition to the 16 respondents who had never heard of WYN, three more respondents did not know about the programs that WYN supports. The remaining 23 respondents know about the mentoring and afterschool programs; however, only 35% of people know about WYNs substance abuse (prevention) and summer programs. This demonstrates a need to promote the prevention and summer programs to both current and future publics. As for media outreach, the survey suggests an emphasis needed on social media, especially Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. More than 70 percent of respondents use these three sites, with 97 percent present on Facebook. WYN currently has these three sites, but the large amount of users emphasizes the need for WYN to produce frequent, well-thought posts in order to stay present in the mind of their publics. For traditional media, only 28 people read local publications, though all 28 of those people read The Appalachian. This is a student publication produced and distributed on campus, but because many of WYNs volunteers are Appalachian State students and students make up a large portion of Boones population they are a vital public to reach. Utilizing The Appalachian for student outreach (calling for volunteers, press releases about big events, etc.) is important to WYNs communication. The Watauga Democrat is also a good traditional news source to network with because though it reaches beyond the campus. Twenty percent of respondents read The Watauga Democrat, but with the exception of two people, all respondents are students. So, a few students are reading The Watauga Democrat and Watauga locals, also an important public, are more likely to read the publication. The last finding from the survey concluded that monthly newsletters are ineffective for most readers. WYN currently sends out monthly, electronic newsletters to their previous and current donors. However, the survey suggests that newsletters, on average, are not properly utilized. Four respondents receive and read newsletters, 16 receive but rarely read newsletters, five receive and immediately discard, and 16 people do not subscribe. Therefore, only nine percent

WYN: Communication Audit of respondents actively consume newsletter content. Perhaps WYN could turn their attention to updating social media platforms and more streamlined mailings, instead of newsletters.

Key Takeaways from Survey

! ! Word of mouth and class interactions are the most common form of awareness " Could be beneficial to have these same conversations on social media platforms Mentoring and Afterschool programs are well known " More attention should be given to promoting the prevention and summer programs to both current and future publics Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are heavily used social media sites The Appalachian and The Watauga Democrat are traditional media sources that respondents use " The Appalachian is especially prominent in student utilization Newsletters are fairly ineffective " Time and energy might be better spent on social media platforms and also a more streamlined form of a mailing (for older generation donors)

! !

Interview Summary and Analysis

See Appendix C for full interview
Based on the interview, it is evident that even those working for the organization believe there is a disconnect between Western Youth Network and the local community. Within the High Country, there is a low level of awareness about WYN and its mission. Though WYN recognizes this disconnect as a problem, the organization is limited in its resources (funds and manpower) that would be beneficial in spreading awareness. Yet Director of Development, Faith Motter, recognizes that word of mouth is a powerful tool in spreading awareness so she spends time speaking to community members and groups about WYNs mission whenever possible. The organization is also trying to host more community events, such as Dance Marathon and their upcoming Gala at Blowing Rock Country Club, to help raise awareness for their mission. Awareness among clients is strong because WYN has DSS, school counselors, and juvenile court counselors assisting them with those connections. Still, awareness among the local community and donors is minimal and mainly extends to WYNs mentoring program. There is an absence of knowledge about WYNs prevention education to combat substance abuse. This program needs more promotion to both current and future publics. Nonetheless, WYNs communication as a whole is improving. The organization started a weekly radio spot on WATA, increased social media following, and Faith has been working closely with the board of directors to network in the community. Faith has also made an effort to increase the number of mailings they send and to make monthly e-newsletters more personal. However, she wants both the board and staff members to utilize word of mouth communication and really engage in their personal networks.

WYN: Communication Audit

Key Takeaways from Survey

! ! ! ! Word of Mouth is the most effective awareness tool There is an absence of knowledge about WYNs prevention program Current outreach efforts include: word-of-mouth, hosted community events, a radio spot, social media, and monthly e-newsletters Biggest idea to improve communication is to engage all staff members and board members in networking efforts

SWOT Analysis
See Appendix D for full details
WYNs strengths lies in their strong word of mouth communication. Their clients are given to them through DSS, school counselors, and juvenile court counselors meaning that their communication can focus more on volunteers and donors and less on producing clients. They have social media presences on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the top three social media platforms of publics in Watauga county as indicated by our survey results. WYN is weak in that their prevention program is not well known and therefore not utilized to its full capacity. WYN is disconnected from the Watauga community, thus losing an opportunity for potential volunteers or donors. Another weakness is that not all board or staff members are engaging their personal networks to advocate for WYN, which is a sign for poor internal communication and/or a lack of commitment to WYNs mission from its board or staff. Because of these weaknesses, WYN has great opportunity for growth. The use of consistent hashtags can create a branding for the organization to set them apart from other local likeminded organizations as well as create continuity for the social media platforms. WYN can engage more with like-minded organizations through reposting their stories, directly tagging them or engaging in other pertinent ways. WYN can also grow in making their social media content more individualized for each of their three social media platforms. WYN has a few threats as an organization. First, they have a limited budget, which limits their resources, staff and could potentially mean the organization will not be able to sustain themselves further down the road. Second, their staff is limited, which limits the opportunities to reach new clients and grow the mission of WYN in the High Country and beyond. Finally, they have local competition for donors from the other many nonprofits in Boone.

Key Takeaways from SWOT Analysis

! ! ! ! ! Ensure that all staff and board members are engaging in their personal networks by having conversations about WYNs mission. Inform both current and future publics through social and traditional media. Need for awareness for WYN in the local community. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are heavily used by one of WYNs target audiences, college students, and should be used to engage them. The Appalachian and Watauga Democrat are two means of traditional media utilized by respondents that WYN should channel their traditional media messages through. 10

WYN: Communication Audit

Conclusion
Proposed improvements
The key to effective communication for WYN is to ensure that all members of the organization, both the board and staff, are reaching out to their personal networks. Due to the scarce amount of funds, the board and staff are the organizations greatest resource. As research showed, word of mouth is WYNs most successful form of outreach, so conversations about WYNs mission should happen frequently. Intentionally entering into conversations with community members and organizations on Appalachians campus (the ACT office, classes and clubs) will help expand knowledge about WYN and their mission. In addition to engaging personal networks, the organization needs to improve on both traditional and non-traditional outreach methods. Appalachian State University makes up a large portion of Watauga County and, therefore, a large portion of WYNs publics. It is prominent that WYN focus on college aged students as well as the local High Country residents. The organization should reach out to local publications like The Watauga Democrat and The Appalachian with press releases and calls for volunteers because both students and High Country residents read these two sources. As for nontraditional media, it is important to give attention towards Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The organization is already present on these sites but needs to ensure that they are posting frequently and that the material is consistent.

Recommendations for Communication Outreach

Social media: The organization should use consistent hash tags (perhaps #fortheWYN or #wynning) that are easily applicable to all posts and are distinct when searching for content by hash tags. WYN should also ensure that they are sharing posts and stories from like organizations so that they can target people who are already interested in that cause. Pictures and short-worded posts are more likely to engage the audience, so posts of this nature need to take precedence over word-heavy material. As seen in WINGS social media platforms, directly tagging like organizations or donors gives them a sense of connection and publics are more likely to share that content. Therefore, WYN should also practice this model. Traditional media: The organization should send press releases about upcoming events and successful fundraisers to both The Appalachian and The Watauga Democrat. Using these two outlets to make a call for volunteers could also be beneficial. Monthly newsletters are ineffective according to the survey results, though the Director of Development did say she was trying to make the newsletters more personal, which may help. With that said, newsletters should continue, but not take an immense amount of time and energy. Energy should instead focus on social media platforms and word-of-mouth communication.

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Appendix A: Social Media Findings for Organizations

Western Youth Network
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WesternYouthNetwork?ref=br_tf 742 Likes - Frequent posts, Joined on 03/30/2010 Twitter: www.twitter.com/WYNINC 613 tweets, Following 153, 101 Followers Blog: www.westernyouthnetwork.blogspot.com/ Title: Where there is a WYN, there is a way 32 profile views E-Newsletter:www.westernyouthnetwork.org/wordpress/news/dare-to-care-e-newsletter Monthly e-newsletters online and via email to donors and volunteers Instagram: http://instagram.com/westernyouthnetwork# 24 followers, Following 0, 2 posts

WINGS for Kids

Facebook: www.facebook.com/wingsforkids 3,358 Likes- Post daily (status updates and shared articles); 5 star rating Twitter: www.twitter.com/WINGSforkids 2,068 Followers- Tweet daily (multiple times on most days) Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wingsforkids/ 100 followers; 19 boards YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/Wingsforkids 39 subscribers; 25,417 views; Last video uploaded 4 months ago Flickr:www.flickr.com/photos/wingsforkids/sets/ 1,134 photos Other Communication efforts !E-newsletter: interactive newsletter, released monthly www.wingsforkids.org/wings/getin-touch/e-news !On-line donation link: www.app.etapestry.com/hosted/WingsforKids/OnlineDonation.html !S.E.L (Social and Emotional Learning) Library: Adult and children recommended readings; helpful websites !Podcasts: stories of WINGS Leaders www.wingsforkids.org/wings/what-we-do/podcasts-that-inform-and-inspire !Media Kit: currently being developed ! Link for featured articles: www.wingsforkids.org/wings/in-the-news/wings-press

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigBrothersBigSisters 64,351 Likes- Post daily (status updates and shared articles); 4.4 star rating Twitter: www.twitter.com/BBBSA 11,400 Followers- Post daily (multiple times on most days): 12

WYN: Communication Audit YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/BBBSofAmerica 803 Subscribers; 408,561 Views; Last video updated 1 month ago Other Communication Efforts: !iHeartRadio: airs public service announcements for BBBS through all 850 Clear Channel radio stations www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.8586641/k.A9D9/Start_Something.htm !Start Talking: blog sharing stories of the people and partners that power BBBS www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.8348167/k.422B/The_stories_that_Start_Somethi ng.htm !Start Something [Again]: BBBS alumni resources www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.8480925/k.7004/Start_Something_br_again.hm !Latino Bigs: BBBS focused on the Hispanic population www.latinobigs.org/site/c.elKVIaOTIlJ8H/b.8332667/k.9111/Why_Latino_Bigs.hm !Mentoring Brothers: BBBS focused on engaging the three largest African-American fraternities to mentor littles www.mentoringbrothers.org/site/c.9rJQK4MEJeLYH/b.7939479/k.BFD4/Home.htm !BBBS Discussion Board www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.6572201/k.EAC/Big_Brothers_Big_Sisters_Discu ssion_Board/apps/mb/discussion.asp !BBBS Newsroom: Provides media contact, press releases and fact sheets www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.5961563/k.F90D/The_latest_news8212big_and_l ittle.htm !BBBS International www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.5961005/k.97C6/International/apps/s/link.asp

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Appendix B: Survey Results

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CGFJYQF All data collected using: https://www.surveymonkey.com 7 multiple choice questions (one answer, multiple answer) 42 total respondents Q1: Have you ever heard of Western Youth Network? Total Responses: 42 Yes: 26 (61.9%) No: 16 (38.1%) Q2: If so, how? (Check all that apply) Total Responses: 37 Word of Mouth: 18 Flyer/Poster: 6 Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.): 9 ACT Office: 8 Club or organization: 8 Class: 13 I dont know about Western Youth Network: 12 Other: 4- I live next door.; Faith Huckel-Motter is an amazing lady. Jeff picked a good one.; Dance Marathon.; Volunteer for them. Q3: Based on your current knowledge of Western Youth Network, which of the following programs, if any, does the organization support? (Check all that apply) Total Responses: 42 Prevention (Substance Abuse): 15 Mentoring: 23 Afterschool: 22 Summer Programs: 16 I am not aware of any of these programs: 19 Other: 0 Q4: Which social media websites do you use? (Check all that apply) Total Responses: 41 Facebook: 40 Twitter: 30 Instagram: 33 Pinterest: 23 LinkedIn: 24 Wordpress, Tumblr, and/or other blogs: 13

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WYN: Communication Audit Google+: 3 Other: 0 Q5: Do you read any of the following local publications (online or print)? (Check all that apply) Total Responses: 28 The Appalachian: 28 Mountain Times: 5 Watauga Democrat: 8 Blowing Rocket: 0 Other: 1 - High Country Press Q6: Based on the subscriptions you already receive (either e-mail or mailing), how do you respond to monthly newsletters? Total Responses: 41 I receive them and read them: 4 I receive them, but very rarely read them: 16 I receive them, but do not look at them and/or immediately discard them: 5 I do not receive any monthly newsletters: 16 Other: 0 Q7: Which classification do you most directly identify with? Total Responses: 42 Freshman: 1 Sophomore: 5 Junior: 11 Senior: 18 Graduate Student: 2 High Country Resident: 2 Other: 3- Alumni; Alumni; Mother of student at app.

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Graph to demonstrate that newsletters are fairly ineffective in terms of informing publics (Screenshot from Surveymonkey.com)

Graph based on survey results to emphasize the importance of utilizing social media, especially Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. (Screenshot from surveymonkey.com)

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Appendix C: Interview Responses

Interview with Faith Motter, Director of Development at Western Youth Network Conducted via e-mail: motterf@westernyouthnetwork.org What is your role at WYN? I am the Director of Development. I focus specifically on individual donor cultivation, fundraising events, and direct mail campaigns. I also do some foundation grant writing. In your own words, can you describe WYNs communication goals? WYN is highly unknown amongst local community members. Those who access our services or have day-to-day interaction with our staff (school social workers, police officers, juvenile court counselors, DSS, parents, etc.) are very familiar with our programs. However, the general community has never heard of WYN, and that is a problem (particularly from a fundraising perspective). WYN also doesnt have much of marketing budget, which creates further barriers to getting the word out about what we do. My long-term goal is for WYN to become a local nonprofit household name, and I think that it will take time. I believe that word of mouth is a powerful tool, so I spend a great deal of time speaking with key community members and groups to educate them about our mission. This June WYN is hosting its first annual Gala at the Blowing Rock Country Club. I believe an event like this will also help to spread awareness. What projects and programs are most talked about at WYN? What projects/programs would you like people to know more about? The Mentoring Program is probably most talked about, particularly because it requires a tremendous amount of volunteer support and it was the very first program that WYN started 29 years ago. I would like people to know more about our prevention education and initiatives in the community to reduce and delay the onset of early substance abuse and use. How do most families find out about WYN? DSS, school counselors, and juvenile court counselors. What are your reactions to WYNs communications in the past year? Were they effective? What was not? What could be improved? WYNs communications are getting better. We started a weekly radio spot on WATA, we increased our social media following, and Ive been working very closely with the board of directors to network in the community. Ive also increased the number of mailings we send out to our database and have worked to make our monthly e-newsletters more personal. I believe these efforts were effective, but I think we could be doing more to engage our personal networks. It needs to be a team effort amongst all board and staff members. What organizations do you look to as a model for communication strategies? Restore NYC and Charity: Water

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Appendix D: SWOT Analysis

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Reference List:
Start Something for a child today - Big Brothers Big Sisters. (n.d.). Big Brothers Big Sisters. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.5962335/k.BE16/Home.htm Western Youth Network: raising a community. (n.d.). WYN. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from www.westernyouthnetwork.org/wordpress/ Wings: Helping Kids Soar. (n.d.). Wings For Kids. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from www.wingsforkids.org/

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