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A Strategic Public Relations Plan for Carrying Hope, Austin, Texas
Fall 2017
Group 5
Veronica BonillaChris Cobena Sharon McInnesEmily VillejoinDamon Whaley
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary … pg. 3
Background … pg. 4
SWOT analysis … pg. 6
Situational Analysis … pg. 7
Core Problem/ Opportunity Statement … pg. 8
Goals … pg. 9
Objectives … pg. 10
Big Idea … pg. 11
Key Publics, Messages, Strategies and Tactics … pg. 12
Implementation Plan … pg. 13
Calendar … pg. 14
Budget … pg. 15
Evaluation … pg. 16
Final Words … pg. 17
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Executive Summary
We believe that the local
churches of Austin, Texas
can be a vast resource to
Carrying Hope and connect
them with communities all
over the city. By creating partnerships with churches and
inviting them to share in Carrying Hope’s mission to
care for foster children all over Texas, Carrying hope can
increase its donor base and publicity. Our plan focuses
on face-to-face communication with church leaders
which keeps our cost well under $1000 and follows a 60-
day plan that is repeated 6 times over a year’s time.
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BackgroundIndustry sector – Nonprofit, 501 c 3
Governance – Founders: Kristen Finan, Mauri Elbel, and Rachel. Board of directors.
Product/Service – Provides backpacks/supplies for foster children by age groups with age-appropriate supplies and clothing. There are things provided such as diapers, socks, toiletries, blankets, stuffed animals, books, formula, snacks, school supplies, games, flashlights, ; goal is to provide everything a child would need for the first 48 hours of foster care, plus some comfort items.
What’s its story – When children are removed from a home for abuse or neglect and placed in a foster home, they frequently arrive with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing. If they have been allowed to bring any personal belongings, they have often been hastily stuffed into a trash bag. We think children coming into foster care deserve better.
We work with volunteers from the community to create Hope Packs, which are duffel bags, backpacks or diaper bags filled with new age-appropriate items geared to help meet the needs of a foster child during his or her first hours and days in a new home. These bags, which contain essentials such as diapers, clothing and formula and comfort items including soft blankets, books and a cuddly stuffed animal, are designed to provide immediate comfort for an overwhelmed, frightened child. They also allow foster parents to spend the first crucial hours or days bonding with a child rather than rushing to the store.
Each Hope Pack and its contents will always belong to the child it was given to, even if he or she is later placed in another home.
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● Promotions and publicity ○ Carrying Hope has received publicity from multiple news outlets
and radio shows.○ Carrying Hope has also had many news articles written about them
promoting their mission and Hope Pack Drives. ● Competitors
○ Together We Rise ■ Provides packages to foster children along with scholarships.■ Has major sponsors supporting and donating towards their
foundation.○ Foster Angels
■ They fulfill requests made by foster children and also provide life enhancing experiences.
○ Hope’s Path ■ Helps foster children develop skills and confidence by
pairing them with mentors. ○ AdoptUSKids
■ Federally funded national foundation of children and youth for adoption.
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S.W.O.T Analysis
Strengths:Noble cause/need for the serviceFoster care experienceCPS connectionAbility to reach goalsProvide complete care package
Weaknesses:Foster care stigma (negative publicity)Lack of awareness of needProduct donations instead of $$No “location” for operations/donationsPoor audience knowledge
Opportunities:Resources available in Austin area (influentials)“Texans care”Need is on-going, growth potentialCreating drop networks using churches, community centers, etc.
Threats:CPS stigma (negligence issues)Agency rules & regulationsNot enough volunteers to meet needs
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Situational Analysis Carrying Hope is a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization that provides backpacks filled with age-
appropriate items geared to help meet the needs of foster children during their first 48 in a new
home. The organization has built a small network of donors who provide money and items needed
for the backpacks and volunteers who put the items together. Carrying Hope also uses Amazon’s
“wish list” function to allow donors to provide a fully stocked backpack.
The organization wants to reach new publics to increase awareness of both the need for what it does
and of its need for financial support and supplies. Carrying Hope wishes to collaborate with more
churches, schools, philanthropically oriented groups, and local officials that will regularly supply
items and volunteers. The lack of a physical location accessible to potential donors and volunteers is
also a barrier for the organization.
To accomplish its mission and to lay a foundation on which to expand its services to the Central
Texas and Houston areas, Carrying Hope needs a strategic plan designed to build awareness,
reinforce positive attitudes about the need to help foster children adjust to the trauma of being
removed from their homes and create action to help the organization meet its goals and pursue
expansion.
A well-conceived plan will help the organization succeed in building toward what its founders and
board members envision. Lacking that plan, the organization may find it difficult to meet current
demand for backpacks as well as to expand beyond its current market in Austin.
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Core ProblemCarrying Hope needs to increase awareness of its
existence, services and needs, to expand its donor and
volunteer networks, and to increase financial support to allow
it to have a physical location as well as to supply additional
backpacks to Children’s Protective Services and other foster-
care agencies.
Goal
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Create new partnerships with Austin area churches and inform them of Carrying Hope’s mission.
Objectives
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Awareness objective: Share Carrying Hope’s mission
with 30 churches in the Austin area between January 2018
and January 2019.
Action objective: Work with churches to produce 5
“Hope Pack” drives and establish 5 new financial donors
between January 2018 and January 2019.
Big Idea
Unpacking Comfort
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The first 48 hours of a foster child’s new life can be extremely stressful for them and their new family, but when we as a community come together we can have a lasting impact on those in need. Join us in helping to make new foster children feel loved and free to be all they can be when they are Unpacking a little Comfort.
UNPACKING
COMFORT
The logo is a simple, yet powerful image of a backpack opening to represent the
moment when a child receives his or her backpack from Carrying Hope. They
open up their bag full of supplies that will help make their journey of moving
into a new home a little more comforting.
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Key Publics, Messages, Strategies and Tactics
Key Public: 30 Austin area churches, such as Lakeway, Gateway, and Riverbend church.
○ Messages:
■ Primary: The local church can have a life-changing impact on foster
children all over Texas, join Carrying Hope to bring love and comfort
to the lives of these children.
■ Secondary: When a local church takes up a cause, the impact can be
monumental.
○ Strategies: Educate the community of Austin churches on the mission of
Carrying Hope and invite them to join us in our efforts.
○ Tactics:
■ Identify 5 target churches
■ Meet with key leaders of target churches and cast vision of a potential
partnership with Carrying Hope resulting in financial donations and or
hosting a Hope Pack drive.
■ Present Carrying Hope's mission and needs to church congregations
and provide information through pamphlets and presentations.
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Implementation PlanOur team has located target audiences from areas that surround Austin.
Our timeline both organizes and
summarizes events and activities we have
planned for our target publics. Our timing,
length, extent, and the cost of
implementation has been carefully planned
by our team and our budget has been
finalized. Our timeline ensures that our
tasks are completed in a timely and attainable manner, and all necessary
measures have been included. Our completed budget ensures that we
will avoid depleting our finances.
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Calendar
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Budget
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EvaluationIn order to Evaluate the implementation of our plan you must:
● Look at the amount of social media followers that Carrying hope has before implementing your plan
○ Once you start raising awareness within the churches, you should see a small increase in the amount of followers with the young members
● Send surveys to the churches every 2 months to see how they feel about the drives and if they understand what the organization is trying to do
○ Once you survey the church members you can determine if the drives are creating a positive outlook on the organization and you can make small changes if you need to for the next drive
● Keep track of the flyers that are distributed throughout the church weekly
○ If many are being taken, you can increase the amount you distribute, if they aren’t being effective, then you can try a different distribution method
● After each drive you must survey church members to see their willingness to donate○ Find out what inspired them to donate so you can focus on what works
● When the 60 days are finished you must survey all church members○ Find out if they’re willing to continue donating in the future. This will help
determine whether or not you gained a stable financial donor. ● Speak to the church leaders after each drive
○ This will determine whether or not they will continue to spread information to their members after the implementation occurs
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Final Words
The plan proposes an outlined plan, and implementation of the strategies and tactics by
using a budget and calendar suggested by our group. Carrying Hope should meet the goal of
raising awareness and making people want to help with the values and mission of the
organization, and in some cases exceed those goals.
All of us in group five were extremely happy to have worked alongside Professor Fix and the
other groups in creating this strategic plan.
For any questions or concerns on the Public Relations Plan for Carrying Hope please refer to
Professor Fix or email our group leader, Damon Whaley, at:
It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with Carrying Hope in developing a
strategic plan for raising their awareness.
Best,
Veronica, Chris, Sharon, Emily, and Damon
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Research Appendix
Top Competitors Promotions/Publicity – Publicity
● KHOU (Great Day Houston)
● KASE 101 (Austin radio show)
● NBC Austin (Video and Interview)
● CW Austin (Video and Interview)
● CBS Austin (Video and Interview)
● Nurture my Child.com (Blog)
● Amplify Austin (Website)
● Do awesome stuff in Austin (Web Article)
● 365 Things to Do in Austin (Web Article)
Competitors :
Together We Rise:● It started from the idea that you don’t have to be a foster parent in order
to help a foster kid.● One of the main goal is to make the child feel like kid not trash. The term
trash comes from the trash bag where the kid keeps his belongings when he leaves the foster place.
● Volunteers personalize and decorate each case that will be donated to a foster child.
● Some of the items these cases include are a teddy bear, a blanket, a hygiene kit, a coloring book and crayons.
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● Nationwide organization.● It has many supporters in every state that collect money for this
organization.● This organization have three programs Sweet Cases, it is the largest one,
Build a Bike and the Family Fellowship scholarship program.● Build a Bike provides bikes for young foster kids who do not have
transportation to school or to their jobs.● It also provides the largest scholarship program in the nation to former
foster kids.● People that work in this organization are very young.● This organization has major sponsors such as UPS, Toyota, JetBlue,
Mattress Firm, Home Depot, etc.● According to it income tax in 2015, it went from doing a year $245,580 in
2014 to 4,129,371 in 2015 free of Tax.● It has its own online store where you can purchase from T-shirt to mugs.
They all have the Together We Rise logo.● Social media
○ 589,205 people like this and 569,814 people follow this organization in Facebook.
○ It has 66.9K followers in Twitter.○ 35.2K followers in Instagram
Foster Angels:
● Real requests from children posted on the website along with a short background story.
● Established in 1999● Multiple recognitions:
○ Community Volunteer of the Year Award given by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the Award of Excellence by the Foster Youth Life Investment Partners (FYLIP) and the Special Recognition Award from Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
● Partners include:
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○ Region 11, Child Protective Services ○ Foster Angels of Central Texas ○ Spaulding for Children ○ Foster Youth Life Investment Partners ○ Coastal Bend Community Foundation ○ H-E-B
● They work by providing funds to assist children in foster care ○ “Life enhancing experiences”○ Funds for clothing, food, medical needs, and events○ Ex. they pay for birthday party, prom dress, summer camp, sports
equipment● Multiple locations with their own sites
○ Corpus Christi (South Texas region)○ Austin (Central Texas region)○ Located in other states as well
● Established newsletters in each region that people can sign up for to learn more about the organization and the children they are helping
● Cash donation options on website○ One-time or automatically monthly
● Fund raising events:○ Annual Skipathon in Austin
■ People who register receive a free shirt○ Back to school drive, collect backpacks and school supplies
Hope’s Path:
● Non-profit located in Spring, TX that uses a faith-based community approach to direct foster youth towards confident, sustainable independence, more specifically, young adults who have aged out of foster care
● Their 4-cornerstone approach:○ A curriculum of soft skill development (character development,
self-control, interpersonal communications skills)
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○ Life skills development (home/car/personal maintenance, cooking, laundry)
○ A team of six mentors assigned to each young adult (housing, healthcare, transportation, education, development, finance)
○ Vocational/career apprenticeships● Program participants are selected from an application and interview
process● Hope’s Path Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hopespathspring/
○ 975 people like the page, 982 people follow it○ The organization posts videos introducing Hope’s Path, a look into
activities they put on for the former foster care kids they help and stories of people’s experiences in the foster care system
○ Their Facebook page seems to be the social media platform they’re most active on since their Instagram and Twitter following seem to be relatively small. Their tweets consist of pushing their organization and providing information and links to their partners that help them raise funds such as Amazon.
● Some of their community partners include the Rotary of Lake Conroe, West Conroe Baptist Church, Global Shop Solutions and Coast to Coast
● They send out monthly newsletters that highlight a volunteer of the month, upcoming events, sponsors, newcomers and achievements accomplished by their residents (former foster care children)
● On their website (HopesPath.com) there is a “Donate” link that takes you to a payment information page that gives you the option to donate once or make it a recurring payment as long as you indicate it in the comments section (weekly, biweekly, monthly)
AdoptUSKids:
● Supplies information and resources● More than 26,000 children previously photo listed on AdoptUSKids now
live with permanent families.
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● Offer the only federally funded national photolisting of children and youth in foster care in the United States who are available for adoption.
● All services are provided to families and professionals free of charge.● Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AdoptUsKids. 197,201 people
like the page. 190,352 people follow this○ Post relatable articles often○ Listed as Public & Government Service in Linthicum Heights,
Maryland○ Goes live with Q&A with foster family and their foster child
● Produce a monthly newsletter, sharing announcements from AdoptUSKids, perspectives of caseworkers, families, and foster care alums and recent child welfare news.
● This year’s campaign theme—“What to Expect When You Are Expecting a Teen:” https://youtu.be/z0oSGGefdQs
● In 2016 there were 28,732 children in foster care in Texas. As of January 2017 there were 3,600 children waiting for adoptive families (facts like these on the website)
Resources -- Donations, product donations, Amazon wish list for age-specific backpacks through their website.
● No agreements with any Amazon vendors● Ensures that local foster agencies and CPS are stocked with backpacks..● None binding relationships with all Central Texas CPS agencies
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Existing Publics
CPS, Foster care agenciesOperationally strong relationshipSelf-interests
Care about childrenHelp improve reputationResources for clients
InfluentialsGovernment officials (regulatory agencies)Foster familiesNews reporters/commentatorsFunding sources
Donors (Existing)Strong relationshipSelf-interests
Satisfaction from givingRecognitionCSR for businessesTax break
InfluentialsOrganizational leadership (for employees)
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Pop culture icons/InfluencersFoster children
Donors (Potential)No relationshipSelf-interestsSatisfaction from giving
RecognitionCSR for businessesTax break
InfluentialsOrganizational leadership (for
employees)Pop culture icons/InfluencersFoster children
