Jessica Franklin

Strategic Communication Principles

9/12/2016

Professor Amy Barnes

Women and Children First

Women and Children first is a nonprofit organization that “provides crisis intervention, safe shelter, social and legal advocacy and support services” to women and children who have been victims of domestic violence (Women and Children First website). This organization was started in the Little Rock community, however, it is open to the entire state of Arkansas. According to a recent statistic on its website, Women and Children First housed over 582 individuals in its shelter, including over 200 children. The organization also offered seven core services to thousands of Arkansans this past year. However, it takes more than a few people to run these services. The top organizational need for Women and Children First is attracting and retaining more volunteers.

According to the Women and Children First website, some of the core services it provided to Arkansans in just the last year are : “providing crisis intervention, case management, emotional support, totaling 1,408 support group hours and 1,948 individual support hours; answering 12,542 crisis calls; provided more than 541 case management hours and support services to families seeking permanent housing free of violence after leaving the shelter; and giving more than 50 presentations in the community, as well as 7 radio/TV interviews.” All of these services require volunteers in order to be successful. A representative for the organization believes that more volunteers could also lead to more donations and resources.

Currently there are three different ways someone can volunteer for the organization. According to the Women and Children First website, someone can be a direct service volunteer, an indirect service volunteer, or be a part of a volunteer group. A representative for the organization said that the volunteer rate is falling because volunteers come and go by choice; and also because the organization currently does not have a volunteer coordinator to organize everything. The representative also stated that in our society not everyone is aware of domestic violence, which prohibits them from volunteering and being advocates for the cause. Last, the organization is in competition with Dorcas House, another women and children of domestic violence shelter. The representative said that people in Arkansas are partial to Dorcas House because it is religion based and WFC is not.

The organization has thought of ways to increase volunteers, but is having trouble implementing its strategy, an organization representative said. Women and Children first is looking for college students to volunteer because the organization hopes these students will get connected at a young age and be more consistently involved as they get older. The organization believes another benefit of attracting a younger generation

would be an increase in awareness because young people can spread the word to millions through various media outlets.

Getting college students to volunteer should not be an issue. According to statistics given by the Corporation for National and Community Service, Arkansas is ranked #17 out of all the states for having 34.4 percent of college students volunteer each year. The organization now needs an effective plan to gain volunteers, particularly young or college student volunteers. An increase in volunteers would benefit the organization in numerous ways. The International Erosion Control Association stated in its volunteer management chapter that volunteers “helps build organizational strength” from “growing and retaining members,” which is exactly what Women and Children are hoping to do. Another benefit of attracting younger volunteers is that they are media savvy. According to Pew Research Center, people within the ages of 18-29 are the highest percentage of social media users on all sites with the exception of Linked in. Social media and other media outlets can be used as a strong tool to help an organization raise awareness. According to the Physicians for Human Rights Tools and Resources, “The power of the media is a tremendous asset when it comes to getting our message out to the public, and an educated, motivated public can create demand for change. In addition, media exposure can increase your legitimacy and clout within the community.” If Women and Children first gain volunteers, especially younger ones, it has a greater chance of spreading awareness and growing its organization. The organization needs a communication plan on how to attract and retain long-term volunteers.

Works Cited

http://phrtoolkits.org/toolkits/student-chapter-toolkit/advocacy-and-education/media-and-publicity-raising-awareness/

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/

https://www.wcfarkansas.org/

http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/VIA/VIA_rankings_national.pdf