Running head: RETHORICAL ANALYSIS: RONALD McDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES

Rhetorical Analysis: Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Frida de la Torre
Jocelyn Navarrete
Andrea Giner
Rogelio Borrego
RWS 1301
October 04, 2015
Instructor: Cruz, Veronica
University of Texas at El Paso

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The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) focuses on helping many children and
families with medical health and financial disabilities, as well as any other assistance they may
need. The Ronald McDonald House Charity has a very general audience being that anyone may
be able to join, participate, volunteer, and even receive help from them. Throughout this paper,
the Pathos, Ethos and Logos will be tested to demonstrate how well they can persuade their
audience.
The Ronald McDonald House Charities website is a site which is very easy and
convenient to navigate for anyone. Once you enter the main page, you will find several links
which include the about us, what we do, get involved, RMHC blog, events, donate, and chapter
search. Each of these links contain additional information which may be useful to the user. The
website also includes true stories of families which were given total aid and support from the
Ronald McDonald House Charities Organization. In 2014, RMHC served nearly 5.7 million
children and families. Also, information is given through this page about the different facilities
that are provided to the families staying in a Ronald McDonald House. While some of the
facilities vary from one Ronald McDonald House to another, families will often find: a kitchen
area that includes a stove or microwave, shower facilities, sleeping rooms, laundry facilities,
internet access, reference books, a seating area with a television, and a quiet room. Some Ronald
McDonald Houses also include at least one RMHC core program that provides care for children
and their families being served at 89% of the top childrens hospitals worldwide. An estimated
$1.9M has been saved by families per day in lodging and meal costs alone because of RMHC. In
addition, the site provides links for users that wish to donate or stay connected with the
organization. More than $200 million has been collected through RMHC Donation Boxes. The
RMCH has been able to prosper thanks to the 318K volunteers that help in many ways such as

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cooking, hosting, listening, nurturing, or by simply being there and helping out in any way they
can. The message conveyed by the site is pretty clear, as it implies that their primary goal is to
help and support families and children with cancer or any other disease in over more than 60
regions and countries around the world. The website meets the requirements of user friendly, it
clearly conveys their message, and provides enough useful information. The information
provided is one hundred percent reliable since it is accredited by the Better Business Bureau
(BBB). This accreditation makes the information in this site accountable and trustworthy.
Being endorsed by a recognized organization as the Better Business Bureau, which
regulates that the Ronald McDonald House Charities meets all the official requirements, not only
as part of the logos in this website, but it also gives a high level of credibility, making the ethos
of the website stronger. The mission and vision of the organization as well as their partners are
recognized companies such as Dillards, Southwest, AT&T and many more. The webpage is an
actualized page in which all the events and stories are published. The financial audits from the
organization, as well as their mission that states to work in transparency and honesty, are two of
the main factors that build the ethos of the webpage. Also, the correct grammar and punctuation
used in their blog entries about the families makes their ethos stronger, showing the
professionalism of the site. The Ronald McDonald House Charities has events and fundraising
that make possible for the program to keep helping families by offering housing, moral support,
and scholarships. Some of the fundraising that has been announced on their webpage include the
BOA Chicago Marathon, season of giving, the Award excellence gala as well as the RMHC
Family Golf outing. The Ronald McDonald webpage definitely has a strong ethos, which is
supported by the BBB and all the partners that make possible for the organization to keep
helping families. The Ronald McDonald House Charities website has the important financial

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reports and the information that readers may be looking for up to date events and stories of
families that have been helped, and providing a good use of grammar and punctuation which
gives a stronger sense of professionalism to the webpage.
The Ronald McDonald House Charities website relies strongly of pathos to convey to the
viewers the purpose of the organization. Through the use of images, colors, the font, the
information and wording of the texts, the website designs an atmosphere that makes the
viewer feel empathy which will contribute to the understanding of the importance of
providing every child and their families with quality health care. Of course, the process of
persuading people into investing their money into a non-profit cause depends in how well the
marketing people structure the page into appealing to the public's emotions. For the most
part, people do not spend money for logic and facts; however, they do for emotional pull factors,
and then defend their decisions with logic. The website has been carefully arranged, so
that all the information and the images do not overwhelm the viewer, but also enough to let
the viewer appreciate the full picture of the organization and the cause they are fighting for.
A meaning stands behind every detail the website portraits; for example, the light blue color that
shows as the main color of the website can be associated with tranquility, softness, and health.
The font on the website has a cleanliness to it that may build trust between the reader and the
organization. Throughout most of the website there are photos and within each of this
photographs there are stories of the children and families in it. Having features like that really
helps the viewer to connect with the cause. With the use of empathy, the website has set a way to
grab the attention of the public and by doing so the possibilities of them donating and
volunteering increases significantly as opposed as if the page only had facts. The website has
included their mission and vision statement in which it perfectly portrays the purpose of the

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organization, and it also engages with its audience. The statement served to establish a purpose
and in this case to set a sense of social responsibility to its readers. The website offers several
options for a person to help such as donating, volunteering, and/or starting a legacy group. They
made sure to give people other options so that the public does not feel obligated into just giving
money but also to feel included, which will build loyalty and trust towards the organization.
In conclusion, The Ronald McDonald House Charity website is easy to navigate due to
well-placed and labeled tabs. The website not only includes facts, but it does include personal
opinions about the charity and how it helped families and children in need by including
testimonies and comments. Both text and pictures on each page are equivalent to each other, so
one does not outweigh the other. Overall, this site properly conveys its message using Ethos,
Pathos, and Logos.

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Reference
FOR HELPING FAMILIES FIND STRENGTH IN NUMBERS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4,
2015, from http://www.rmhc.org/