New Visions for Lawrence

County Communication
Plan
Block Communications
Lindsay Schich and Jennifer Wise
December 1, 2014

Table of Contents

01

The Process

02

Client Interview

Pages 3-4

Pages 5-12

Communication Audit
Pages 13-26

Website Logistics

Pages 27-30

03

Target Audience

04

Objectives and Tactics

Pages 31-34

Audience Personas
Pages 35-36
Pages 38-71

The Process
How did we get here?
A step-by-step process how we got from the initial stages to the final presentation

The Process

How did we get here?

Picking the client
and establishing
initial contact.

Step 1

Step 2
Developing
questions for and
conducting client
interview

Conducting website
and social media
audit
Client Interview

Step 3
Analyzing results of
client interview and
audits

Step 4

Step 5
Developing
objectives and
tactics to
communicate New
Visions message

Developing website
wireframes
Compiling
presentation

Step 6

section 01
4

The Discovery Phase

The Client Interview
Communication Audit
Site Audit
Social Media Audit
Search Engine Optimization
Usability Discussion

The Client
Interview

The Client Interview

What is New Visions?

It is a non-profit organization that seeks to spark change

and pride in New Castle and Lawrence County through
collaboration and partnerships.
So how have they impacted the community thus far? It has generated $12,000 for
downtown business and have received $136,745 of in-kind donations.
The 300 volunteers have contributed more than 3,000 hours and participate in the
Stand-Up for New Castle campaign.
The plans detailed on the website is expected to take 3-5 years. In 5-7 years, New
Visions hopes to expand and have offices county wide, specifically in Ellwood City and
New Wilmington.

What is the end goal?

A strong local economy [that] will help keep
our young people here and attract new
residents needed to reverse our population
loss.

section 02
http://www.newvisionslc.org/what-is-new-visions/

The Client Interview

What do they have to offer?

One of New Visions biggest strengths is

that it is a grass-roots campaign.
The organization is a place where anyone can volunteer to
help improve Lawrence County. They are currently focusing
on New Castle because it is the main commercial center and
if downtown is revitalized, it would spread into the
surrounding areas in a type of ripple effect. One way they
hope to achieve this is to increase foot traffic downtown.

One of their biggest weaknesses is the

community is not aware of their presence
and the services they provide.
section 02

New Visions was founded in 2011. Even though they are a

growing organization, they are still getting the word out.
They started with the downtown businesses, mainly using
face-to-face communication and the website to communicate
with their action teams. Besides those modes, they do not
engage other audiences.
They are currently working with one of the downtown business
owners to develop a liaison with City Hall.

The broader mission is to help make Lawrence

County a more desirable place to live and we
said, How do we start that process?

The Client Interview

Modes of Communication
Primary mode of communication
is the Facebook page, where
meeting times and locations are
posted. Information on how to
become a volunteer is located on
the website, under the Action
Teams tab

Volunteers act as ambassadors

to the community to relay
information. Most
communication with this
audience is face-to-face.

section 02

Volunteers

General
Public

There is a monthly meeting

with the downtown
business owners. These
meetings have a large
attendance, even the ones
during the winter have 3040 attendees.
Were on a first name
basis for most of the
downtown businesses.

Business
Owners

The Client Interview

Thoughts on Online Communication

How can we get more traffic? Were pretty boring; how can we run more
information? What I say is we need to start a dialogue, put our opinion out
there.
I dont think were using [Facebook] the way it should be. We put something up
there and think, Oh, we got that covered. But its not going anywhere nobody
sees it.

section 02

10

The Client Interview

Brand Image

Were about collaboration, connection, community conversation and

transparency.
section 02

11

The Client Interview

Marketing Techniques

New Visions hasnt used many marketing

techniques, other than social media, the
New Castle News, and personal
conversations.
In the future, they hope to begin using other forms of lowbudget social media, such as YouTube, and fliers. So far, they
feel as if they have a good response from the community.
Their primary channel of gaining support is the personal
communication between the ambassadors and the general
public.

section 02

Who contributes to the marketing efforts,

other than the ambassadors?
Other volunteers have access to the Facebook page. It is a way
to keep the volunteers involved, but they worry about having a
consistent message.

When you do become more formal, you need to

control the message. If everyone has a different
message, the message isnt going to get out.

12

Website
Audit

The Website Audit

What we found

Layout
The layout of
every page is
almost identical.
The viewer
knows they are
on the same site,
but it becomes
predictable,

The Facebook side bar

is only on one of the
pages. Also, there is no
logo or contact
information. The social
media share bar is at
the bottom of every
page and the
organization name at
the top of the screen
takes the viewer back to
the homepage.

section 02

14

The Website Audit

What we found

Text
There are large
blocks of text
with very little
variation or
pictures.

On several of the
pages, there is
use of bullet
points but they
appear as a block
of text, with little
separation
between them
and the rest of
content. There is also inconsistent bolding
on It All Starts with New Castle.

section 02

15

The Website Audit

What we found

URL/Links
The URLs do not
contain any
random letters or
numbers and
correspond with
the webpage
title.

The only additional

website the New
Visions site links to is
the New Castle News.
The other news
articles located on
the site are organic.

section 02

16

The Website Audit

What we found

Pictures
There are only 3
pictures on the
site and no
graphics .

The pictures are all

clickable, but each
picture takes the viewer
to a different web
location. Two pictures
open in a separate tab
while the third opens up
a non-existent Pinterest
page.

section 02

17

Social
Media
Audit

Facebook
Twitter

Social Media Audit

Facebook

The types of posts vary; some are text-based while others are
pictorial-based. There were several pictorial posts that had
a lot of text on them, which made them difficult to read.
The profile picture is an appropriate size because it shows the complete image on bot
the organization page and also on the followers news feed,
The About section: New Visions of Lawrence County, is a new group of citizens
seeking to spark positive change and pride in New Castle and the surrounding
communities.

608 Likes

Updated approximately
once a day
Page links to the website,
but not the Twitter or print
material

The page is primarily for the volunteers and doesnt have many conversations between
the organization and the public.

section 02

19

Social Media Audit

Facebook

section 02

20

Social Media Audit

Twitter

There are only four tweets on the account and two

promote other organizations, one is just a link and the
most recent tweet is asking for more followers.

18 followers

The profile picture is also an appropriate size to fit in both boxes on the page. There
is no banner photo or bio for the account.

Following 45 accounts

None of the tweets received likes or were retweeted. There are links on the tweets

Last updated Oct. 31,

2012

but when the links were clicked on the 404 Error appeared on the screen.

section 02

21

Social Media Audit

Twitter

section 02

22

Print
Media
Audit

Spark New Castle

New Visions Newsletter
Brochure

Print Media Audit

Spark New Castle

This pamphlet features a list of the businesses in

downtown New Castle- the walking map of the Diamond
District.
Each of the businesses are categorized as A New Appetite, A New Idea, A New
Adventure, A New You and A New Community.
There is also a map on the opposite side of the spread and each of the business
locations are numbered.
On the back of the pamphlet, there is a 2014 Downtown Event Calendar that
shows when the events are, with a short summary and who to contact for more
information.

section 02

24

Print Media Audit

New Visions Newsletter

The newsletter details much of the same information that

is on the website what New Visions is about, the action
teams, upcoming events and their impact.
The timeline details what New Visions has done monthly from Mar. 2011 to Nov.
2013
At the end of the newsletter, there is also a list of the board of directors and who to
contact for more information
There are also more pictures of New Visions inaction which could be useful to post
of the website.

section 02

25

Print Media Audit

Brochure

The brochure contained much of the same content as the

other printed material and the website.
It detailed the goals, mission and vision of the organization. It also talks about New
Visions impact and structure, including the action teams.

There was also a section detailing the relationship between the community to
develop strategic and coordinated activities to improve New Castle.
While the brochure does contain contact information and the office location, the
different pieces of information are scattered throughout the content so the reader
will have to look to find the specific piece of contact information.

section 02

26

Website
Logistics

Search Engine Optimization

Usability

Website Logistics

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

What is Page Rank and why is important?

New Visions Page Rank

It is a link analysis algorithm used by Google that assigns a number or rank to each
hyperlinked webpage within the Internet.

Homepage 0/10; The other pages

resulted in an error message

Its purpose is to list webpages from the most important to the least important, based on
the search results of the keywords someone types into Google.

Links to other sites

Page Rank evaluates all of the links in a particular webpage. The more links a webpage
has, the higher it will rank.
The ranking goes from 0 (an obscure page) to 10 (a highly visible page) and gives visitors
an idea about the pages popularity.

Internal links to other site pages- once

the link is clicked, the message no
page content is found appeared on
the screen
New Castle News

http://www.brickmarketing.com/define-pagerank.htm

section 02

28

Website Logistics

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

What is Trust Rank and why is important?

New Visions Trust Rank

It is the level of esteem Google has for your website and website content.

0.06/10

By having a high trust rank, Google is saying This site is great; the information is
important so if its published on this site then [we] think it is going to be the best
place for [our] customers to read it.

Site geolocation: Provo, Utah

Google isnt always right with Trust Rank. Excellent content can be published on new
sites it doesnt know about yet. Drive more people to the website and start a
conversation on the website and about the content to try to encourage Googles
attention and overall Trust Rank.

Keywords: new visions, visions lawrence,

county, grassroots, citizen volunteers,
latest news, starts new castle
The webpage is primarily reflected in the
URL, with a few additions of random
letters and numbers

http://www.commercetuned.co.uk/SEO-articles/google-trust-rank.php

section 02

29

Website Logistics

Usability

Readability
Grade level: 6th (easily
read by 11-12 year
olds.
Website is compatible across many web browsers
and also on mobile devices.
Website takes 5.60 seconds to load and is slower
than73 percent of all websites.

Performance Grade: 79/100

Page
Elements

Back to the Top tag is

located on web and
mobile versions.

There is only global navigation on the top section

of the screen and local or breadcrumb navigation.
There are no all tags on the images.
The site is very easy to read and the text is aligned
to the left
It does not appear to have all of the important
information above the fold.

section 02

30

The
Audience

Target Audience
Audience Personas

Target Audience

Overview

New Visions primary

audience groups are the
volunteers, downtown
business owners and county
residents
They are currently partnering with
Cityscape, a similar group located in
Youngstown, Ohio. They have been
meeting with them for guidance on
occasion for 17 years but they do not have
a formal relationship.

Average volunteer age is

55 years old.
New Visions is hoping to
reach more volunteers in
the age group of 16-35.

County wide

section 03

Many of the audience

members are familiar with
technology use.
They communicate primarily through
e-mail, the Facebook page and
website, but they would open to new
forms. The Facebook page is most
popular with volunteers and e-mail is
preferred for older people.

32

Target Audience

Volunteers
50 years old and older

30- 50 year olds

Some volunteers come
from the lower income
spectrum, but most are
business owners or from
upper levels of
management. Many are
attracted to organizations
like New Visions.

60%
30%

30 years old and younger

10%

Time is the most important

qualification for a
volunteer to have.
section 03

Many have been employed in the

workforce, come from a twoincome family and have adult
children. They have additional time
to dedicate to volunteering.

Looking for more volunteers, specifically

juniors or seniors in high school. They
should be involved with extra-curricular
activities but still have adequate time to
devote to volunteering. Previous
volunteer experience is preferred and
they also want to improve the county so
it can move forward

33

Target Audience

Businesses and Prominent Figures

First
Manor
Bank

New Visions is in close contact with

many of the downtown businesses,
almost on a weekly basis.

On the Board:

Two
Rivers
Artisan
Coffee

Head of commissioner
County District Attorney

The
Confluence

Wegmans

Owner of Pizza Joes

Director of United Way
VP of PNC Bank
Head of a local group that works with disadvantaged children

Lanigans
Irish Pub &
Eatery

PA Work
Wear

Head of the Common Pleas court

section 03

34

Audience Personas

Volunteers
Susan White, 52

Brandon Smalls, 18
Senior at New Castle High School
Plans to go to Penn State University and major in Business
Administration
He is very involved in extra-curricular activities, such as vice
president of Student Government, president of the
community service organization, a member of the National
Honors Society and works for the student newspaper.
Last summer, Brandon traveled to Mississippi to help with the
hurricane clean-up efforts.

section 03

Married, stay at home mom for 2 children Abby, who is a

senior in high school and Madison, who is currently away at
college. She does freelance writing and photography in her
spare time.
While her children were still in elementary and middle school,
she volunteered in their classrooms and also in the
community.

Susan has a lot of free time when her

husband travels for business and hopes to
get re-involved in the community

35

Audience Personas

Owners and Prominent Figures

Andrew Burkowikz, 43

Alison Cooper, 29

Married, with 3 children Alex, 12, Jessie,13,

Erin,16.
Andrew is the owner of a local jewelry store. The original
store was located in Ohio but was recently re-located 14
years ago to New Castle because of his wifes work.
He donates small portion of his sales annually but he is
hoping to become more involved in the revitalization process,
instead of just writing a check.

section 03

Single and an attorney at a local law firm. She graduated from

Harvard Law in 2008 and attended University of Pittsburgh
for her undergraduate degree.
She was very involved in college, including Habitat for
Humanity, Colleges Against Cancer and Pittsburgh Historical
Society.
In her spare time, she likes go on vacation
.
and ski. She hopes to become more
involved in the community but doesnt
have a lot of time for physical labor

36

The Recommendation
Phase
Objectives and Tactics
Website Wireframes

Objectives
and
Tactics

Volunteers
Website
Social Media

County Residents
Businesses
Revitalization Efforts

Volunteer Objective

To Communicate with Action Teams

The main information the action teams are interested in

are meeting agendas, announcements about what is going
on in (specifically in downtown New Castle) and what the
other actions are participating in.
The primary modes of communication are the Facebook page and the website.
New Visions would also like to post new business announcements through the
Facebook page.

section 04

Internal
communication is
critical to them.

39

Volunteer Strategy and Tactics

This will help strengthen the

relationships between the volunteers in
each of the action teams. They would
work cohesively as a team rather than
individuals.

Email Blasts

To Foster Communication Within Action

Teams
To send out the most important information to the
volunteers in a professional and concise manner. This
is also a way to send out newsletters and other
materials about the Action Team

A Facebook group could be created for

each of the action teams and could work
in cooperation with the New Visions
Facebook page to communicate event
and meeting details.

Group texts would be

effective for last-minute
information or
brainstorming ideas.

Google+ Hangouts simplify all modes of

communication by creating one central
location for messaging, email and video and
voice chats. All members can be added to
the group and can see all information shared
with the group.

section 04

40

Volunteer Strategy and Tactics

To Foster Communication Between

Action Teams
This will help strengthen the
relationships between the action
teams and help educate all of the
volunteers on what each action team
is doing. This is also an easy way for
the action teams to brainstorm for
additional project ideas.

E-mail
Blasts

Team
Building

A Facebook group is a
simple and effective way
for the action teams to
communicate with each
other without meeting in
person and it starts a
conversation inside of the
organization. It would also be useful to
post meeting details and questions to be
able to have the majority of the volunteers
opinions

The e-mail blasts would function in a similar

manner to the Facebook group, but it would be
a more professional form of communication and
would not be conducive for immediate feedback.
They would also be a way to distribute enewsletters and other digital material.

Google+
Hangouts

It is the most effective way to

have face-to-face
communication without meeting
in person. It combines all of the
information in one place and
would be an efficient way for the
Action Team leaders to
communicate.

Facebook
Group
section 04

41

Volunteer Objective

To Gain a Wider Volunteer Base,

Particularly High School Juniors and
Seniors
I want them to know
why groups like us are
relevant today and that
is important because
its not like theyre
joining a rotary or
Lions Club were a
different type of
group.

The majority of new volunteers seek out New Visions,

rather than New Visions recruiting them. The primary way
these volunteers find out about the organization is through
Facebook or the New Castle News.
Once the interested volunteers make the initial contact, New Visions reaches out to
them with additional information.
This group wants to know what makes New Visions different from other similar
organizations and how they can make a difference, rather than simply sitting in a
meeting.

section 04

42

Volunteer Strategy and Tactics

To Create a Conversation with

Influential Figures in Students Lives
Parents
Inform employers how
volunteering can be
good not only for their
employees but the
company as a whole.
The employees are a
representation of the
company, regardless if
theyre wearing a
uniform or not. People
will see them helping
out and they may be
more willing to support
the company because
the company supports
the community.

Emphasize how volunteering will help their child

become a more well-rounded student and help them
manage their time better, a skill that is greatly
needed later in life. Also talk about how helping in
the community is good activity for character building.

Employers

Teachers

section 04

Discuss how volunteering

looks good on college
resumes or job applications.
It can also encourage
students to pursue bigger
goals because they are able
to see the difference they
made in a community in such
a short period of time.
43

Volunteer Strategy and Tactics

To Communicate via Channels

Frequented by High School Students
One of the primary ways to communicate with younger
people, especially juniors and seniors in high school, is
through social media.
Twitter is the most common form because you can communicate your message in
140 characters or less, while appealing to the cool factor of social media. More
young people use Twitter because their older family members havent begun using
the platform.
Instagram is gaining popularity because people are becoming more interested in
visual content, rather than words. New Visions can post copies of print material or
pictures of volunteers in the community.
YouTube is popular because many students watch hours of videos daily. New
Visions could create a v-log (video blog) of the action teams volunteering in the
community. This can give the students a taste of what they would doing if they
volunteer and could also encourage them to sign up.

section 04

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube
44

Volunteer Strategy and Tactics

To Demonstrate How New Visions Can

Be Rewarding
Making a
Difference

Relevant

Different
Type Of
Organization

The work New Visions offers the community is meaningful work by revitalizing New Castle and then
moving out to neighboring areas.
Many students have lived in Lawrence County their entire lives and it is a way to make the community better by cleaning up the
environment, which would make Lawrence County more viable and would hopefully attract more residents.
New Visions is relevant because it focuses on issues New Castle has. Currently, it is the only organization of its kind in the New Castle
area so the students would be a part of something new and a type of game changer in the community. Many teens are into the
latest and greatest and New Visions is that type of organization.
While there are revitalization efforts in the county, New Visions tackles a wide variety of efforts rather than focusing on one of them. It
also provides the teens with meaningful work with immediate gratification because they can see the difference they made.

section 04

45

Website Objective

To Improve the Website

Right now, the

website is mostly
used by internal
users, but its
not designed for
that.

The volunteers currently

use it the most. In the
future, the websites
purpose would be to
communicate with the
community, particularly
about the organization
and how to volunteer or
donate.

section 04

Were still in
our infancy
were the new
kids on the
block.

46

Website Strategy and Tactics

To Drive More Traffic to the Website

One of the primary ways to increase website traffic is
through internal means. Creating links to other pages of
your website would increase user accessibility and
would be more likely to stay on your site rather than
searching for the information elsewhere. Linking to
outside sources adds credibility. The outside sources
would be more likely to link to your site as well,
increasing the number of people who have knowledge
of the site.
Promoting the website on social
media is a free way to crosspromote the organization on a
variety of platforms. It also an
effective way to begin an internal
dialogue for the organization. Eblasts and e-newsletters are
ways to communicate
information with a variety of key
audiences and linking to the
website will provide these
audiences with a way to find out
more information or how to
contact New Visions.

Internal
sources

Social Media
and Email

External
sources

section 04

Print materials are useful to

promote the website because the
reader is already interested in the
organization and the website would
feature more in-depth information
than the print materials would.
Word of mouth would be a
seamless way to promote the
website because the organization
primarily communicates this way.
Promoting through radio and
television would be a cost-effective
way to reach a very broad
audience at one time.

47

Website Strategy and Tactics

To Drive More Traffic to the Website

How to Design Better E-Newsletters

Design

Content

Source and Frequency

Simple HTML design that looks very

similar to the webpage design

Limit to 500 words maximum

Constant Contact, MailChimp,

iContact, Email Now

Link to donate page and social media

accounts at the very top
Test in several browsers on multiple
computers to see if the design
remains the same and the pictures
load.

Website Strategy and Tactics

1-3 main items, only include the

necessary information, dont include
information just to include it

Only send 1 to 3 e-mails or enewsletters a month

Avoid third person language, use first

or second

Allow users to opt-in or out of the e-mails and e-newsletters. Include spot for
people to submit their contact information. Also, include a Thank you page after
the users submit their information and send out an confirmation email.

section 04

48

Website Strategy and Tactics

To Improve Site Design

Layout

The primary layout for all of the website pages were large blocks of
text, broken up with several headings and subheadings, and also the
inconsistent use of bullet points. This layout made it difficult to find
the information on the page.
Creating chunked information and the use of white space on the page will help readers
navigate through the page and information accessibility.
Using squarespace.com would be a useful way to streamline the website and give users
control over the content and design. It is a drag and drop service so once you lay out the
content and pictures, that is how it will appear on the finished website.
It would also be beneficial to spend some money to customize the web address of New
Visions, so people would be able to find the site easier to find and if someone was typing in
the web address and not having to use random filler characters.
Using register.com will help check to see if the domain name is available. It would be
beneficial to include any common misspellings of the name so the webpage will still appear if
the web address is spelled incorrectly.

section 04

49

Website Strategy and Tactics

To Improve Site Design

Layout

Pictures and graphics would also create visual appeal by

displaying information in a new and interesting way. Studies
have also shown that viewers are more likely to recall visually
based information, rather than large blocks of text.
Canva.com is a useful site to create graphics to advertise upcoming events to post on the website
and social media.
Pictures containing real people are the most interesting to the majority of viewers and will attract
the most attention.
Obtain image release forms from and clearances from people you regularly come in contact
with so you are able to use their images on the website and social media.
Remember to test your website on multiple browsers on various computers and mobile
devices to ensure proper loading and layout design.

section 04

50

Website Strategy and Tactics

To Improve Site Design

Usability

As a whole, the website is not very user-friendly. Each webpage

contains a large amount of text that viewers have to scroll through to
find what theyre looking for, rather than just search for it or using the
global navigation.
The site does have a global navigation bar at the top of every webpage but it only contains
one or two drop-down items maximum. Most viewers have to click from page to page to find
what theyre looking for instead of using the global navigation.
There is also no breadcrumb or local navigation on the inner pages of the website so viewers
would not know what pages they went through to view the page they are currently on. These
navigation tools are essential for a user-friendly site.

Avoid linking to a PDF file,

except for applications or
other forms

A search box would increase user-accessibility as well because many people are not familiar
with the website so they may not know what tab of the global navigation to look under.
Widgets and interactive features are also crucial to the usability of a website. One of the most
familiar interactive features is the contact forum. This feature must be on every webpage so
the viewer has a way of contacting you at any time theyre viewing the site. This also helps
build relationships and credibility with your audiences.

section 04

51

Website Wireframes

Home Sample Page

Donate Now

Contact
Information

Home | About | Action Teams | Donate or Volunteer | Archives

LATEST NEWS & INFORMATION
Downtown New Castle Riverwalk Takes Step Forward
OCTOBER 24, 2014
See story and photos under Action Teams, then Water Ways. [Read
More...]
Important Riverwalk Public Meeting Today
OCTOBER 22, 2014
Hello New Visions Volunteers, Just a last minute friendly reminder about today's
Riverwalk Public Meeting. I encourage you to attend [Read More...]
FOLD

More posts from this category

section 04

52

Website Wireframes

Action Team Sample Page

Donate Now

Contact
Information

Home | About | Action Teams | Donate or Volunteer | Archives

Types of Action Teams
Communication
Clean and Green
Destination Downtown
Celebrate

How to Volunteer

FOLD

Home > Action Teams > Communication Action Team

Communication Action Team

The mission of the Communication
Action Team is to communicate good
news that promotes and inspires
positive community change. The
Communication Action Team meets 6
p.m. first Tuesday of each month at The
Confluence, 214 East Washington
Street, downtown New Castle. Local
businessman Joe
Seminara, a chairs the Communication Action Team. Action teams are

section 04

53

Website Wireframes

General Sample Page

Donate Now

Contact
Information

Home | About | Action Teams | Donate or Volunteer | Archives | Contact Us

What is New Visions?
Mission and Vision
Impact to Date
Goals

Will New Visions Succeed?

It All Starts with New Castle

FOLD

Home > Action Teams > What is New Visions? > Mission and Vision

Mission and Vision

Mission

Vision

To establish Lawrence County as a

more desirable community in
which to live

To assist in developing a
comprehensive plan that addresses
and leads the public interests in a
greener, cleaner, safer community
To create a more prosperous
Lawrence County and through
collaboration make that plan a
reality.

section 04

54

Website Wireframes

Contact Us Sample Page

Donate Now

Contact
Information

Home | About | Action Teams | Donate or Volunteer | Archives | Contact Us

Home > Action Teams > What is New Visions? > Mission and Vision

Contact Us
Full Name
E-mail Address

Telephone Number

Yes, I would like

to receive updates
from New Visions.

Submit

FOLD

section 04

55

Website Strategy and Tactics

To Adapt Message to Specific Audiences

Mission and Vision, where

and what to donate, main
location, event and meeting
details, how to get involved,
contact information

New
Volunteers
General
Public

Action Team participation, what

businesses and organizations New
Visions is working with, detailed
project plan

How to volunteer, what types of action teams

there are, meeting details and minutes,
volunteer opportunities and who to contact

Fundraising

What supplies and monetary

donations are needed, where
to donate, event details,
impact of donations

Revitalization
Efforts

section 04

56

Social Media Objective

To Gain a Larger Social Media Presence

One of the goals of social
media is to create meaningful
conversations with key
audiences.

The main audience

group who uses the
Facebook page is the
volunteers.

New Visions can use social media not only

as a way to get the word out to the
community, but also reach new volunteers,
particularly ones in the younger age range.

Expansion

Additional platforms, such as

Twitter and Instagram, will help
reach a wider (and younger)
audience demographic.

Volunteers

Platforms

section 04

57

Social Media Strategy and Tactics

To Drive More Traffic to Social Media

Platforms
Promote social media
through outside sources
Promoting social media
accounts on print materials
would create a larger audience
who knows about the accounts.
If the accounts are not wellknown, many people wont know
they exist. Links to the
accounts could also be added to
the website so users can click
on them and be taken directly to
the account, creating quicker
way to drive views to the page.

Create interactive and

user-friendly
environment
One of the main advantages of
social media is the interaction
between the organization and
the general public. People like
to share their opinions and feel
like those opinions have been
heard and taken into
consideration. Asking questions
would help the organization gain
insights into the users opinions
and lifestyle, but also gain
personalized content for the
future.
section 04

Cross-promote related
accounts
Social media is designed to not
only create a relationship
between the organization and
the audience, but also to form
relationships between
organizations. If New Visions
promote another local
organization on their social
media accounts, the other
organization is more likely to
promote New Visions on their
accounts. This will drive more
users to both sets of accounts,
increasing overall awareness.
58

Social Media Strategy and Tactics

To Expand the Number of

Communication Channels
It would also be helpful to look at other nonprofit organizations to see what they are
posting.

Instagram would be best to post pictures

and videos of the action teams working
around the community.

Instagram
Pinterest allows users
to categorize
information by topic.
New Visions could create boards for before and after
shots of the areas volunteers work on, DIY
revitalization projects people can do at home and
volunteer spotlights.
.

Pinterest

Twitter is a good place to promote the meetings, but

include a link to the website that includes the essential
information. This platform is also good to promote
New Visions as a community leader, by posting
articles about New Castle,
Lawrence County and
anything pertaining to
revitalization.

Twitter

YouTube would be best

utilized to post meeting
recording and other
important videos.
It would also be useful to post behind-the-scenes
videos of action team volunteering in the
community.

YouTube

section 04

59

County Residents Objectives

To Educate the General Public about

New Visions and its services
The New Castle News, Facebook page and website are
the primary forms of communication with community.
New Visions wants to communicate with the community about their history, vision
and why theyre around.

They would also like to explain how this organization is different from others and why
they are still relevant.

section 04

A lot of people
think were a
duplicating
agent and were
not

60

County Residents Strategy and Tactics

To Distinguish New Visions From Other

Similar Organizations
Action
Teams
Action teams are unique
to New Visions because
they involve the
community and they are
completely comprised of
volunteers. Other
organizations pay
certain people to work
for them rather than
being completely
volunteer driven.

Grassroots
campaign

section 04

New Visions is a
grassroots campaign,
entirely made up local
people. This is would
useful because all of the
volunteers have a
connection with the area
and would be more likely
to be invested in the
cause. Other
organizations are
nationally based and have
local chapters, and they
dont have as much of a
local focus as grassroots
efforts.
61

County Residents Strategy and Tactics

To Communicate How to Volunteer or

Donate

Website

The website is the optimal

place to promote donating or
volunteering because all
users would have to do is link
on the link or visit the page.
It would require minimal effort
on their part and they would
be more likely to help out.
The best place to locate the
information is above the
global navigation on every
page so it is very easy to find
and users will not have to
search the site looking for it.
A Donate button will also
attract viewers attention.

Social
Media

section 04

Social media would equally

effective in driving donations
and traffic to the website.
Many people come across
Facebook pages that appear
on their sidebar, but dont
know anything about the
organization previously.
Creating a link on the social
media accounts to the
donation page on the website
will assure users the donation
site is legitimate and will
inform them about what the
donation is going toward.
Users can then click on the
website donation button.
62

County Residents Strategy and Tactics

To Communicate How to Volunteer or

Donate

Print
Materials

Print materials would not be

the most effective way to
encourage people to donate.
There would be too many
steps in the process and the
majority of people do not
have the inclination to go that
far out of their way. There
are a few people who would
and just simply getting the
word of that New Visions is
accepting donations could
generate a few.

Word of
Mouth

section 04

One of the primary ways New

Visions communicates with
its key audiences is through
word of mouth. Informing
people about donation would
have a similar outcome as
the print materials, but
because a personal
connection was made,
people may be more willing
to donate if they see the
human side of the
organization rather than a
piece of paper or a computer
screen.

63

County Residents Strategy and Tactics

To Communicate How to Volunteer or

Donate
Things to Consider when Setting Up a Donation Page

Use guidestar.org to search for New

Visions information
Justgive.org connects with the Guide Star database that
verifies organizations are 501(c)(3), tax exempt. There is a
pay per transaction fee.
Donationpay.org requires a monthly fee, but it is one of the
most reasonably priced donation services.
There is a 3-5% charge for online donations, but do not ask
donators to incur the cost. If you do, it will cause a drastic
decline in donations

Avoid using PayPal at all costs; many people see

it as part of the e-commerce system and not for
donations.
Never solicit donations directly through email. You can put a donate
button in an e-mail, but the e-mails main purpose should not be
asking for donations.
Incorporate New Visions logo and other branding so people recognize
the site and are sure they are on the correct site.
Have a continued or recurring giving option on the donation page
and give donators an option to give in another persons name, such
as in honor of or in memory of.

section 04

64

County Residents Strategy and Tactics

To Inform The Public About Events

Fliers could posted in clearly visible places in local
businesses. Since New Visions is currently focusing on
New Castle, more people would know about the events
and potentially have a personal connection because it
would affect local areas and businesses.
New Visions also uses the New
Castle News on a fairly regular basis.
Promoting events there would draw
an older demographic who are more
willing to volunteer and donate.

Website and
Social Media

Local
Businesses

New Castle
News
The website and social media would reach the largest
audience. They would also be effective because a calendar
featuring all of the events could be posted, rather than
advertising one event at a time. This would help people
plan ahead and could potentially lead to a larger turnout
because events wouldnt be last minute.
section 04

65

Community Objective

To Grow Relationships with

Revitalization Groups Throughout
Lawrence County
Starting to see other revitalization groups pop
up but we arent ready to start having a dialogue
and say, How can we help you too? because
were still focused on New Castle. Eventually, we
would start to working with smaller communities
outside of New Castle in a similar fashion as we
did inside of New Castle.

section 04

New Visions would also

like to work with the
dormant agencies who
have a related missions.
They are starting to see them spring
back to life, and can carry out tasks
New Visions cannot.

66

Community Strategy and Tactics

To Communicate with Current

Revitalization Groups
Google+
Hangouts

Meetings can be useful

as a way to bounce
ideas off of other people
and coordinate with
them so there arent
duplicate ideas or
events. It is also a
way to help plan
co-sponsored events
of a larger scale.

Meetings

Google+ Hangouts can be useful to communicate

with key decision makers in other organizations
by providing them a wide variety of centralized
modes of communication.

Constant
Contact
section 04

Constant Contact allows

users to create e-mail
address lists to send
personalized e-newsletters
to certain group of people.
These newsletters can be
done ahead of time and be
scheduled for distribution. It
is a paid service with
different rates, but it allows
you to communicate with
larger groups of people.
67

Community Strategy and Tactics

To Help Dormant Agencies Revive their

Services
Success
Stories
By having New Visions
helping to create and/or cosponsor events would be
effective in several ways.
The first would be the newer
organizations would have
guidance and assistance
while building relationships
with New Visions. It would
also be effective because
New Visions would be able
to get their name out to more
people in the community.

It would be helpful for New Visions to share what

has and hasnt worked for them. This way the
other organizations would not have to start from
scratch planning their efforts. Both organizations
are in the same area so New Visions would know
what be most effective for New Castle and
surrounding areas. This would also help form a
relationship and trust between the two
organizations.

Help
Create
Events

Develop a
Plan

section 04

Developing a plan would help

the dormant organizations
focus on what they have to do,
when they have to do and
where they are headed in the
future. It would also help the
new agencies thrive because
they would have a general
routine.
68

Community Objective

To Help Coordinate County Wide

Revitalization Efforts
New Visions is in the midst of a 30 year plan to revitalize
Lawrence County, beginning in New Castle and working out
from there.
They are currently working with the city, county, chamber of commerce, tourism
promotion agency and volunteers to accomplish this because they do not have
enough manpower individually.
One of their ongoing projects is the river walk downtown. They are hoping to create
trails that connect the riverbank with the surrounding neighborhoods and downtown.
This will be a way to encourage more foot traffic.

section 04

If we are successful
downtown, in a small
area, well start to
spread into the
neighborhoods and
then begin to undertake
some projects [in the
surrounding
neighborhoods].

69

Community Objective

To Help Coordinate County Wide

Revitalization Efforts

New Castle is a hard nut to crack. It used to have 50,000 people,

now it has half of that. The thinking is if you can turn around New
Castle, you can revitalize it so its not using people.
Were not going to say Just because it looks better, its better. Its going to
have to be quantifiable, increased businesses downtown, that people are not
leaving the neighborhoods, that the population is growing.

section 04

70

Community Strategy and Tactics

To Coordinate County Wide Projects

Similar to the Ones in New Castle
Newspapers

The events could be

featured on the New
Visions website and also
the websites of local
publications and
businesses that are
affected. This would
benefit all parties
Websites
involved and it is a
cheap, if not free, way to
advertise to a very large
audience.

Newspapers would be effective because New

Visions could submit an advertisement in the
main part of the paper and also include their
event in the community calendar, if the
publication has one. Each of the main districts
in Lawrence County has a specific publication
so the message would be wide spread. Fees
vary depending on the publication.

Word of
Mouth

section 04

Word of mouth would create a

personal connection and
people would be more likely to
attend an event if it is
connected with someone they
know.

71