REXBURG

ANIMAL SHELTER

PR PLAN

B.C. Creative Duo

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

BACKGROUND

SITUATION ANALYSIS

AUDIENCES

OBJECTIVES /
STRATEGIES / TACTICS

5-8

CALENDAR

BUDGET

10

EVALUATION

11

EXTRAS

13-16

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Rexburg has been looking out for animals since its founding. They have made many
strides in creating a low-kill shelter ever since. However, it has been difficult for them
to gain community awareness and the necessary volunteer retention to help them
propel even more forward.
B.C. Creative Duo presents a plan that will help the Rexburg Animal Shelter gain
the necessary awareness and volunteer retention. This plan will consist of three
objectives that will be focused on helping the animal shelter to move forward.
B.C. Creative Duo will help improve volunteer retention by 20 percent with a new
online volunteer program that will be released to the public. The community will be
informed by working with the media.
The duo will work to promote community awareness with a spring event, and working
alongside local businesses to provide information on how to care for your animals.
The plan will also involve the community in an effort to help the animal shelter receive
enriching materials to provide the animals with comfort. These things range from
adequate toys to bedding.
Overall, this plan provides the best options for the animal shelter to promote
themselves and to help them move forward giving animals the best chance at life.

BACKGROUND
Rexburg has had city animal ordinances since its founding in March of 1883. The first
animal pound was built 35 years ago. It is known as the blue building on the outskirts
of the city. The current shelter marked the shift from pound to shelter. This means that
the shelter would not only take captured animals, but animals surrendered by others.
The new building was built in 2007.
Around the same time, Officer Buzzell took the post as supervisor of the shelter. He
helped transform the shelter to an animal shelter fit to provide adoptable animals to
the community. He also made it possible for the shelter to be a low-kill shelter. They
currently have a 75 to 80 percent live return rate. Meaning that 75 to 80 percent of
their animals find a home or returned to their owners. A number that is not reached by
most animal shelters.
Most costs are covered by donated services by local businesses and the City of
Rexburg. The help of trained volunteers help cover the day-to-day tasks for the
shelter. The main goal is to help animals find people who are willing and able to care
for the animals.
The normal costs for adopting animals are usually $75 for cats and $95 for dogs. This
is the price to have your pet spayed or neutered. All the animals that are adopted are
potty-trained, and many of them have had some behavior training as well. This makes
buying an animal from the shelter the prime choice for many families.

SITUATION ANALYSIS
The Rexburg Animal Shelter is a city-owned establishment on the outskirts of town. This makes it hard for
them to get the necessary awareness among the public. Which makes it difficult to get the donations needed
to buy comforts for the animals. Also makes it difficult to create repeat volunteers.
Strengths

Low-kill shelter that has a 75 to 80 percent live return rate.

Trained animals ready to be adopted.
Willing supervisors ready to train and help any new volunteers.
Low cost animals that are spayed or neutered.

Weaknesses

Lack of donations for enrichment things, for example - quality toys and bedding.
Little funding provided by the City. Most resources are acquired by donations.
Lack of repeat volunteers- they are not a benefit until the third time they volunteer

Opportunities

Opportunities for volunteers to gain training in animal care, and gain experience in many different things.
More opportunities to promote the shelter in the community that will raise the amount of adoptions.
Opportunities to teach the community of proper animal care.

Threats

Lack of interest due to the animals being older in age

A large amount of places give animals for free
Student turnover can affect the chances of repeat volunteers

AUDIENCES
Families:
Couples that are married currently living in Rexburg that reside in an apartment that approves animals. Also
includes families with children who are permanent residents living in a house. Elderly people who live alone
who need companionship are also included part of this audience.
Rationale: Families were chosen because they are the ones that tend to have extra funds to make donations.
They also have homes that are suitable to take animals in. They can provide the love, and care necessary for
an animal to thrive.
College Students:
Students majoring in animal sciences at BYU-Idaho. Students who are interested in volunteering, and have
the schedule to devote time to volunteering. These types of people can be accessed through contacting the
animal science supervisors, and the many volunteer organizations on the BYU-Idaho Campus.
Rationale: These kinds of students are preferred due to the fact that it takes time to train volunteers. They are
effective for the animal shelter until their second or third time volunteering. Animal science majors usually
need hours working with animals. Students with have a lot of time to volunteer become the best repeat
volunteers.

OBJECTIVE #1
Objective 1:
To Improve Volunteer Retention by 20 percent.
Strategy:
Launch new online volunteer program to improve volunteer training and effectiveness.
Tactics:
Officer Buzzell will finish the program in six months or decide to outsource the project to
a computer science intern, in order to reach the goal of launching it by August of 2015.
Release media kits to the BYU-Idaho Scroll and The Rexburg Standard Journal
Create handouts that can be administered to the public by the animal shelter outlining
the new process and its benefits.
Email professors of the animal science majors at BYU-Idaho informing them of the new
process and the benefits to their students.

OBJECTIVE #2
Objective 2:
Increase the amount of enrichment donations by a cumulative total of $1,500.
Strategy:
Reaching out to local high school groups to create a service project to collect money, old
blankets and old towels.
Tactics:
Contact the local high school administration to find out which groups would be willing to
do this project.
Contact the presidents of these groups to set up the project in March and September of
2015.
Students go from house to house collecting old towels and blankets from the public to
support the animal shelters cause. This will be a week long project where the students
will go around to houses from 3-5 p.m. Also, donations can be given at the school
during this week.
The week prior fliers will be distributed to each classroom for students to bring the
information home to their parents. In the flier it will outline the need that the animals have
for quality toys and bedding.
During this week as well, we will reach out to local restaurants to place a container
saying, leave your change and change the life of an animal. Pizza Pie Cafe is one
example of a restaurant that is often involved in local service projects.

OBJECTIVE #3
Objective 3:
Increase awareness of the animal shelter among the community by 30 percent.
Strategy 1:
Host an event that will allow the public to come and get to know the imal shelter, and help
learn the benefits of volunteering in late April.
Tactics:
Create fliers that will outline the days event. This will be administered by local
businesses, the animal shelter and posted on social media pages. (see flier on next
page, pg. 8)
Reach out to local businesses to donate food and supplies, for example Skeeters,
Walmart and Broulims. The food would be hot dogs and hot dog buns.
Administer media alert to local media, Post Register Idaho Falls, The Rexburg Standard
Journal and BYU-Idaho Scroll.
Involve people at the event to help the animal shelter plant their annual spring flowers.
Give tours of the animal shelter so that the community can see the animals and know the
importance of volunteering at the shelter.

Strategy 2:
Promote animal awareness among the community by reaching out through local businesses
and social media.
Tactics:
Social media event inviting followers to post a cute picture of how they are taking care
of their animals during the winter season. Each day during the week, post one of the tips
for winterizing your pet in the cold weather.
Make personal appeals to local businesses to ask if the animal shelter can handout
newsletters outlining proper animal care during specifics seasons. This can be done
during the social media event and once again when the weather warms up in May.

CALENDAR
January:
Make plan of when Officer Buzzell will finish the volunteer program or start interviews for computer science intern.
Make plans to contact high school administration and group leaders about the week long service project.
Administer Survey #1 to current volunteers.
February:
16th: Send out donor letters asking for food for the Planting for Pets event.
March:
9th-13th: The school gives information fliers for parents. Contact local restaurants to have donation containers.
16-20th: High school group service project collecting money and blankets.
April:
20th: Send out Media Alert to Post Register of Idaho Falls, BYU-Idaho Scroll and Rexburg Standard Journal.
24th: Receive food and supplies from local business donors.
25th: The Planting for Pets event at the animal shelter from 10 a.m. -2:00 pm.
August:
Volunteer program is completed.
Send Media kits out to the BYU-I Scroll and Rexburg Standard Journal, promoting the new program.
Send out emails to animal science professors at BYU-Idaho informing them about the program.
September:
7th-11th: The schools gives information fliers for parents. Contact local restaurants to have donation containers.
14-18th: High school group service project collecting money and blankets.
December:
Administer Survey #2 to gauge success of the volunteer program.

BUDGET
The animal shelter currently does not have a huge budget. Most of the costs for this campaign will be donated
by the city and local businesses.

Printing- $200 Donated by the City

Postage- $10

Hotdogs- $50 Donated by a local business

Hotdog buns- $40 Donated by a local business

Folders- $5

Napkins- $15

Ketchup-$10 Donated by a local business

Mustard-$10 Donated by a local business

Relish- $10 Donated by a local business

Emergency- $40

Total= $390

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EVALUATION

Start out the campaign by administering survey number 1 to know the current awareness among the
community. (see survey on pg. 13)

At the end of the yearlong campaign administer survey number 2 to gauge the success of achieving
volunteer retention and brand awareness. (see survey on pg. 14)

Take a simple count of the value of the items donated and the money collected during the school service
projects. The goal is to enrich donations by a cummulative of $1500. Counting the total donations, money
and items, collected from the High School groups service project will help gauge the success. Then, the
shelter can judge to know if this should be an annual service project.

11

EXTRAS

12

SURVEY
These two surveys will be created and taken through Qualitrics, an online survey service where it can be
emailed or just taken electronically by participants.

First Survey:
Purpose: This short survey is for individuals that come to volunteer at the Rexburg animal shelter. This
survey will be added to the online registration service Office Buzzell is putting into place. This way they
have a clear idea of who their volunteer audience really is and also possibly see if certain categories
perform better as a volunteer than others.

Gender:
Male

Animal Science

Female

Veterinary Work
Other:

Age:
18-24

Reason for Volunteering:

25-34

Need Hours for School/resume

35-44

Want experience with animals

45+

Thought itd be fun

College Student:
Yes
No

13

Major:

Just simple Love animals

Service project

SURVEY
Second Survey:
Purpose: This survey is for the individuals who volunteer at the Rexburg Animal Shelter. After this PR plan
is put into place and the animal shelter is using the new system Officer Buzzell is working on, this will be
an evaluation survey to gather opinion and judge effectiveness.
How long have you been volunteering with the Rexburg Animal Shelter:
First Time
1 Month
2-6 Months
6 months +
How many times have you used this volunteer service system?
1
2-3
4-5
6+
Do you feel the new online system is easy to use/user friendly?
Do you like the new system?

YES

NO

Why?
Any suggestions, questions or concerns?

14

MEDIA ALERT
Contact Information:

Name: Officer Buzzell

Phone: (208)359-3005
Email: animalshelter@rexburg.org

Planting for the Pets

Rexburg, Idaho/April 25, 2014/Rexburg Animal Shelter
What:
The Rexburg Animal Shelter is having a community outdoor planting for the pets event. The shelter
needs help planting their spring flowers to help beautify the grounds. There will be free hot dogs for
planting helpers and tours of the shelter as well.
Where:
It will be held at the Rexburg Animal Shelter at 490 West 4th North, Rexburg ID 83440.
When:
The planting for the pets event will be on Saturday April 25th from 10-2 p.m.
Why:
The shelter needs help with their annual planting. Its a great way for community members to get
involved in an outdoor activity and service project as the warm season begins. Also, this is a great way
for community members to learn more about the animal shelter. Community members will be able to get
more information about other volunteer opportunities that the shelter offers and pet adoption.

15

16

DONOR LETTER
This is a template for the plant for the pets event.
Date: (Date)
Name: (Name)
Position in company: (Fill in position)
Company name: (Put companys name)
Address: (Place address here)
Dear (Donor Name):
Plant for the Pets
We at the Rexburg Animal Shelter are doing our best to help give animals a second chance at life with loving
families. We have been successful. However, we want to include the community in our efforts.
This is hard because many of the citizens in Rexburg do not know that we are here. We have a plan to change
that. We are going to throw an event to invite the community to come and get to know us and the animals.
This event will involve planting flowers to beautify the grounds of the animal shelter. It will also allow the citizens of
Rexburg to take a tour of the shelter and come get to know some of the animals. This is a great opportunity for the
community to get involved in a great cause.
This is also a great opportunity for you to get involved as well. We need some help do to budgeting with securing
food for the event. We are asking for your help to donate to the event hotdogs and hotdog buns.
Every event is better with food. We will be greatly appreciative if you would donate to the cause to include the
community in our efforts. Please help the animals by helping feed the people.
If you are willing to donate or have questions please contact us at (208)359-3005.
Best Regards,
Officer Buzzell

16

Campaign Created by:

Jessica Blain and Whitney Claflin

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