Raise the Roof Case Proposal

Home Matters and Manna present RAISE THE ROOF D.C.

CAMPAIGN PROPOSAL

ALLIANCE | RAISE THE ROOF | 2

Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 3

Our Team ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Staff Biographies ................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Situation Analysis ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 The Problem .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Research ................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Secondary Research ............................................................................................................................................................ 5

Home Matters Media Analysis ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Manna Media Analysis ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Housing Market Research Analysis ................................................................................................................................................. 6

SWOT ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Primary Research ................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Planning ................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Goals .................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Publics ................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Key Messages .................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Spokesperson .................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Communication Theories ................................................................................................................................................ 11

Implementation ................................................................................................................................................... 12 Strategies ........................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Channels ............................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Campaign Theme .............................................................................................................................................................. 13 Creative Elements and Tactics ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Timeline .............................................................................................................................................................................. 19 Budget ................................................................................................................................................................................. 20

Evaluation ............................................................................................................................................................. 21

Appendix A: Research Report ........................................................................................................................... 22 Updated SWOT .................................................................................................................................................................. 22 Review of Secondary Research ...................................................................................................................................... 22

Secondary Research Findings: Manna and Home Matters Media Analysis ..................................................................... 22 Secondary Research Findings: Housing Market Research Analysis ................................................................................... 24 References ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 28

Review of Primary Research .......................................................................................................................................... 30

Appendix B: Sample Campaign Materials ...................................................................................................... 34 Press Release ..................................................................................................................................................................... 34 Media Advisory .................................................................................................................................................................. 35 Poster .................................................................................................................................................................................. 36 Pledge Sheet ...................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Giveaways ........................................................................................................................................................................... 38 Media List ........................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Website ............................................................................................................................................................................... 40 Facebook Event ................................................................................................................................................................. 41


Introduction Our campaign, Raise the Roof D.C., is founded on the union of the mission statements of two organizations, Home Matters and Manna, Inc. Home Matters exists to raise funds and build awareness of the need for more affordable homes and better communities across the country. Home Matters is a national coalition with hundreds of nonprofit, government and corporate partners working hard over the next 10 years to affect change. Manna, Inc.s mission is to help low and moderate income persons acquire quality housing, build assets for families through homeownership, revitalize distressed neighborhoods, and preserve racial and ethnic diversity. Home Matters hopes that by enlisting Manna, Inc. as an affiliate, the coalition will be able to tap into the needs of the local area around Washington, D.C. and better understand how to address the housing issue in our nations capital. Our Team For this campaign, Home Matters and Manna, Inc. enlisted the help of Alliance, Inc., a premier PR firm located in Washington, D.C. that is committed to providing strategic communications. Alliance, Inc. is known for pushing boundaries to take non-profit campaigns to a new level with edgy and creative solutions. Staff Biographies Kate Sylvester, Director of Insight and Research Kate is the strategic thinker of our team. She examines statistics and polls to ensure that our campaigns are effective. In the past, she has extensive experience working in nonprofits, international relations and financial services. She is a Connecticut native through and through, though she currently resides in Washington, D.C. Karla Corea, Director of Media Relations Karla is responsible for managing the communication between Raise the Roof DC and the news media. She creates press releases, media advisories, and other media content to get our message out there. With Karla's help, our messages get optimal reach to impact the most people possible. In the past, Karla has worked in media relations for the Office of Sustainability Communications Office. Kristin Van Trieste, Senior Event Coordinator Kristin is the visionary of our team. She plans events that are engaging and relevant to the mission of our campaign, and creates charts and other organizational tools to see them through. In the past, she has worked in promotions for I Heart Radio. Anhchi Ha, Creative Director Anhchi is the conceptual designer of our team. Anhchi determines the most innovative ways to visually represent our ideas and develops programs that advance our brand strategy. She updates the website regularly to ensure that the content is accurate and indicative of Raise the Roof's latest achievements. In the past, she has worked in creative marketing and design for nonprofit and corporate organizations.


Imani Lewis, Graphic Design Director Imani is the implementer of creative design for our team. She has extensive skills in InDesign and Photoshop to make the visual aspects of our campaign enticing and effective. She creates all the branding items for our campaign, including stickers, banners, posters, and shirts. In the past, she has worked in creative event planning and design. Situation Analysis The housing crisis is a rising issue in the greater Washington, D.C. area. There has been a 3.5 percent increase in homelessness from 2013 to 2014 and a 51 percent decrease in low-cost rental units between 2000 and 2010. The price of rent and home values has risen by 50 percent beyond inflation over the past decade, while household incomes have not kept pace with these rising costs. Furthermore, the people who are most affected by rising housing costs are also the ones most likely to suffer from income decreases. Incomes for the bottom 40 percent of households in D.C. have not increased since 2000, while incomes of those more financially stable have still only risen about 25 percent, which is still lower than the rate at which house costs are rising. The Problem With the issue of affordable housing rising in the United States and specifically in the Washington, D.C. area, more individuals need to be made aware of the problem and what they can do to change it.


Research Our campaign research included both primary and secondary research to gain insights into the affordable housing market, Home Matters, Manna and the awareness of undergraduate students. Secondary Research We began our research phase of RPIE by conducting secondary research both to find out more background information on Home Matters and Manna and to research more specifically into the affordable housing issue. First we looked to determine Manna and Home Matters existing presence on both social media and in the news. We began this organizational review with a social media scan of both organizations to evaluate the influence and scope of their current social media usage. We then analyzed the news coverage of both organizations. Second, we looked at the data available about the affordable housing crisis and the housing market in D.C. specifically. We researched this by looking at news coverage of the issues and recent D.C. research reports and surveys about the topic. Home Matters Media Analysis We found that Home Matters presently uses social media to spread awareness about affordable housing and their specific campaign. The Home Matters campaign maintains profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The posts shared on these profiles relate to various topics concerning the affordable housing problem in the United States as well as Home Matters specific news. The hashtags, #ShareHomeIs, #HomeMatters and #Home were used across all platforms. Listed below are the statistics relating to the Home Matters social media. Home Matters actively uses Facebook and Twitter, but rarely uses Instagram and YouTube. After evaluating Home Matters social media we conducted a search of all press releases pertaining to Home Matters. We found that all recent and old press releases can be found their website under their In the Media section. The oldest press release dates back to March 12, 2013, when the National NeighborWorks Association and Coast-to-Coast Coalition announced the launch of Home Matters. The latest press release was published last summer on August 7, 2014, announcing Home Matters partnership with the Public Relations Students Society of America (PRSSA). Upon further research into Home Matters news section of their website, we found that Home Matters received a lot of news coverage in 2013 in news stories and op-eds including op-eds in The Baltimore Sun, The Buffalo News, The New Haven Register and Columbus Business First. While Home Matters website did a good job at making these news mentions and press releases accessible to the public online there were very few news mentions of Home Matters from this year. The op-eds posted on the website all happened to be from 2013. Furthermore, when doing a news scan for Home Matters news mentions, using Google News, there were not recent news mentions of Home Matters that were relevant to their mission and work. There were a few mentions of Home Matters in relations to events they had partnered with, but none focusing on their work as an organization or in the affordable housing movement recently.


Home Matters Social Media Statistics

Home Matters Name Statistics (Oct. 24, 2014)

Facebook Home Matters (Community Page) 1,024 likes

Twitter @HomeMattersUSA 1015 followers

Instagram @HomeMattersAmerica 25 followers

YouTube HomeMattersAmerica 25 videos, 22 subscribers Manna Media Analysis Comparatively, Manna only uses Facebook and Twitter for social media. Manna is quite active on Facebook and Twitter, especially compared to their website which is severely outdated. Mannas website does not appear to have been updated since 2012, which is the last time their press releases or news mentions were updated. Manna frequently posts news story links on Facebook or links to places where followers can donate to Manna. Manna also uses Twitter to post their own content, link to news stories about them and to retweet other relevant posts about affordable housing in D.C. Despite Mannas activity on both platforms neither has a large number of followers. Manna also does not have an Instagram and although they do have a YouTube account, it is not very active. Although Manna does not have a well updated website, the organization is receiving coverage in news articles local to D.C. When conducting a news media scan of Manna through a Google news search, we found multiple articles discussing Mannas recent work on the new affordable housing complex in Anacostia. These featured articles were from November 2014 so they are relevant to the work Manna is currently doing on affordable housing in D.C. The articles Manna was mentioned in in the media included the DCist and the Washington City Paper and Mannas executives have been quoted in Washington Post articles. Manna Social Media Statistics

Manna Name Statistics (Dec. 14, 2014)

Facebook Manna, Inc. (community page) 324 likes

Twitter @MannaINC 1,328 followers

Instagram n/a n/a

YouTube MannaDC 5 videos, 4 subscribers Housing Market Research Analysis We continued our secondary research by researching information about the housing market and affordable housing in general. We focused our research on statistics and data about the housing markets strength overall and the recent trends in affordable housing particularly in the D.C.


area. We also analyzed recent news coverage of the affordable housing issues present in the D.C. area. From our research into the affordable housing issue nationwide we discovered that the U.S. is in the midst of what HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan calls the worst rental affordability crisis yet. We found that many low-income families often have to spend more than half of their incomes on rent (NPR). Further, nationwide the affordable housing crisis is seen to be affecting cities with the best social mobility, like Washington, D.C., at an even greater rate. According to data provided by The Atlantic, cities with the least affordable housing are often those with the best social mobility, meaning for people looking for upward mobility in cities like Washington, D.C. the likelihood of finding affordable housing is lower. We continued our research into the affordable housing crisis by specifically searching the news for recent coverage of the affordable housing crisis in Washington, D.C. One of the major conclusions we drew from our secondary research is that in 2013 Washington, D.C. was named the least affordable housing market in the U.S. because of the extreme gap between wages and housing prices (Washington Business Journal). Upon further research into D.C.s affordable housing market we found that in the past decade D.C. has seen an overall increase in high-cost units but a decline in affordable housing units. According to the Washington Post D.C. has lost half of its affordable housing units in the past decade, while unaffordable high rises continue to be built. The decline in D.C.s affordable housing units has cause an increase in the number of homeless people, with almost 12,000 homeless people in the region in 2014 (Washington Post). We found that more than half of D.C. rental households pay more than 30 percent (the threshold for housing affordability) of their income toward rent (Washington City Paper). One of the most useful resources consulted for our secondary research was the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institutes 2012 report titled Disappearing Act: Affordable Housing in D.C. is Vanishing Amid Sharply Rising Housing Costs. The data in the report provided four key conclusions that were critical to our ultimate research conclusions. According to the report D.C. has lost more than half its low-cost rental units and 72 percent of its low-value homes in the last decade. This shows the true decline in the availability of affordable housing in D.C. Furthermore, the report states that rents and home values have been sharply increasing since 2000, yet household incomes have not kept pace with these housing costs. Finally, the report showed that a growing number of D.C. households pay more than half their income to their housing costs. D.C. has suffered from a significant loss of affordable housing during the last decade.


When researching the relationship between affordable housing and Millennials we learned that D.C.s Millennials recently end up living with two or three people in a studio apartment, because the rent for a studio in D.C. is often $1,500 or more (Washington Post). Further, our research into Millennials home buying histories showed that 2.7 million more young people are living with their parents, rather than on their own, than were four years ago (Slate). The relationship between Millennials and affordable housing in D.C. was further identified by a Washington City Paper article describing the relationship between D.C.s new luxury apartments and the city affordable housing. Many Millennials are interested in D.C.s new luxury apartments, yet these apartments are what have been jeopardizing D.C.s housing affordability. D.C.s Class A apartments, which are the luxury, high-end apartments, have increased in supply by more than 70 percent since 2010, yet most D.C. residents cannot afford to live there. Class B apartments, those that are older with fewer amenities, are seeing increased rates as the vacancy rate continues to hover around 3 percent (Washington City Paper).

SWOT STRENGTHS Home Matters redefined the American

Dream. Home Matters understands home as the

environment and life choices. Mannas training program is a national

model replicated across the country. Manna Mortgage is D.C.s first and only

nonprofit mortgage company.

WEAKNESSES Home Matters lacks brand identity within

its coalition. Home Matters nonprofit operations are

relatively unknown to society. Mannas website has not been updated

since 2012.

OPPORTUNITIES The need for affordable housing in D.C. is

rising rapidly. Manna recently worked on new affordable

housing condos in Anacostia.

THREATS Anti-immigration opposition groups Home and property prices continue to rise

during the post-recession recovery.

Primary Research In order to understand how the issue of affordable housing is currently perceived by undergraduate students in the D.C. metro area (our primary public) we conducted an online survey. The 10-question survey was posted online and had 100 responses. In order to conduct the survey, we used SurveyMonkey and posted the survey online. We reached out to several Facebook pages affiliated with our target Washington, D.C. college campuses to distribute it. We collected responses to the survey for several weeks to strategically


find representative responses to our questions. Once we reached 100 responses, we then analyzed the results to determine key insights that would be used as the foundation for our campaign. From the 100 survey responses, we found several things about the perspectives held by undergraduate students. We found that the majority of students are overall under-educated about affordable housing in the United States. Although the majority of students do not believe that the affordable housing situation affects them now, almost all of those surveyed believe that the affordable housing situation will affect them in the near future. Regarding the Home Matters movement and its affiliate Manna, most students were aware of the Home Matters partner, Habitat for Humanity, but were less aware of Home Matters itself with even less awareness concerning Manna. The observation is supported by students statements collected at the end of the survey. Although some students indicated that they were unsure of how they would live after they graduated, almost all them believed that they would either live at home with family or rent a low-priced apartment after graduation. According to the survey, most students are moderately concerned about the affordable housing issue in America. When asked how important affordable housing is to them, most students ranked affordable housing as either Important or Very Important when surveyed, However, when they were asked to rank affordable housing in relation to other national issues such as education or health care, most ranked it 8th overall. These responses show that despite the fact that students desire and depend on affordable housing to live in our society, they do not consider it important when compared to other issues. From the responses to these questions, we concluded that while students do see affordable housing as an issue that will affect them in the future, they do not see it as an issue that is affecting them right now. Key Primary Research Conclusions: Students recognize affordable housing will have an effect on their future, Students dont see affordable housing as an issue that affects them right now. 96 percent of students have never heard of Manna.


Planning Goals Goal 1: Manna will be recognized as a premier advocate for affordable housing in the D.C. area Goal 2: To establish Manna as a contributing member of the Home Matters movement Objectives Goal 1, Objective 1: To educate 2,000 students who attend universities in the Greater D.C. metro area about Mannas mission to provide more affordable housing in three months (Process) Goal 1, Objective 2: To change the perspective of 1,000 students in the Greater D.C. metro area on affordable housing (Outcome) Goal 2, Objective 1: To achieve three Manna media mentions on the Home Matters newsletter in three months (Output) Goal 2, Objective 2: Get 3,000 media impressions endorsing the work between Manna and Home Matters (Output) Publics Primary: Undergraduate students in the Washington, D.C. area Secondary: Undergraduate groups on campus (i.e. Greek life, community service groups, sports clubs, etc.) Intervening: News media Key Messages Undergraduate students After you graduate, do you know where youll live? Your life is just beginning. Make sure you have a place to live it. More than half of D.C. rental households pay more than 30 percent (the threshold for housing

affordability) of their income toward rent (Washington City Paper).

Undergraduate student groups Be a leader for your friends. Advocate for affordable housing. Be the voice for affordable housing in D.C. In D.C. Millennials are often have to double or triple up in apartments because studio

apartments often cost more than $1,5000 a month. (Washington Post). Spokesperson We decided that our Raise the Roof campaign spokesperson would be Washington, D.C. native Rashema Melson. Melson graduated in spring 2014 from Anacostia High School in D.C. and received a full-scholarship to attend Georgetown University beginning fall 2014. Both Melson and her family have experienced first hand the struggles of not being able to afford a home of their own. Melson along with her mother and two brothers have lived in D.C. General homeless shelter for six years. We agreed that her educational success story exemplified our


mission to target university students in teaching them about the importance of having a home and how the affordable housing crisis is a growing matter. Communication Theories Diffusion of Innovations Theory The diffusion theory explains how, why, and at what rate new ideas are spread throughout cultures. The diffusion theory says that the first people to adopt new ideas are innovators, followed by early adopters, early majority, late majority, and finally, the laggards. The rate at which a new idea spreads is based on the innovation itself, communication channels, time, and the social system in which the idea is being presented. Based on this theory, we determined that we should target the innovators and early majority of the university. We determined that the innovators, in this sense, would be individuals who are often sharing ideas on social media. When taking into account the social system that our campaign is targeted towards (college universities), we determined that social media is one of the most effective ways to share ideas. During the House Party, we have set up multiple opportunities for people to utilize social media, such as posting images next to the Message Wall with their pledge papers and using the hashtags #RTR(school name) and #RTRDC to start conversations on social media. Agenda- Setting Theory The agenda-setting theory describes the ability of the news media in influencing the saliency of what the public thinks about. The premise behind the agenda- setting theory is that the media cannot tell a person what to think about a subject, but they can influence how often a person thinks about a subject. The agenda-setting theory also states that in the beginning stages of an idea, the media has more influence over whether a person thinks about it. However, towards the end, when a person is left with the decision of whether or not they want to adopt an idea, they will turn to their friends and family. Based on this model, we determined that we would utilize both the media and the power of human interaction within a persons inner circle. Our campaigns objectives are heavily contingent upon receiving a lot of media attention. We will measure our success by evaluating the number of media mentions and impressions we achieve on the Raise the Roof campaign. We also are utilizing interactions between college students friends and inner circles to attract attention to the campaign. By encouraging people to take a photo next to the Message Wall and posting it to social media, we are increasing the chances that the photo subjects friends and peers will be impacted by seeing the photo, and thus influence them by showing them that the people they know care about affordable housing, thus, they should as well.


Implementation

Strategies Goal 1, Objective 1, Strategy 1: Generate a buzz about affordable housing in Washington, D.C. area universities Rationale: A top concern for Home Matters and Manna is raising the level of awareness, especially within the local area. Through these tactics, we will be able engage with people on the conversation of affordable housing in D.C. According to our primary research, college-aged students, in general, lack the general knowledge and awareness of affordable housing in the United States. Specifically highlighting the importance of this issue through real-life examples would help students to connect the affordable housing issue to their own lives. Additionally, our primary research indicates that a majority of individuals within our target public will seek affordable and livable housing upon graduation; thus, affordable housing will prove to be important to their futures. Goal 1, Objective 2, Strategy 1: Humanize the struggle of the affordable housing crisis Rationale: We determined that invoking emotional appeals is an effective way to connect publics with the problem. Our tactics will move our target public to take personal action in advocating for affordable housing. Goal 2, Objective 1, Strategy 1: Maintain an active presence on Mannas social media pages to document the local organizations achievements while simultaneously increasing followers Rationale: It is prudent for organizations to use Grunigs model of two-way asymmetrical communication when engaging with publics, because the model includes processing feedback from publics in the framework of the organizations communication approach. By maintaining an active presence on social media, we will take part in this action and allow more interaction with our target audience. Goal 2, Objective 2, Strategy 1: Draw attention to Mannas current and future endeavors in the Washington, D.C. area Rationale: According to our primary research findings, only a small portion of our target audience knows about Manna. These tactics will help to spread the word about Manna and help to increase fans of the organization and affordable housing in the Washington, D.C. area. Goal 2, Objective 2, Strategy 2: Build beneficial relationships with journalists of Washington, D.C. newspapers covering community issues Rationale: The news media serve as key opinion leaders for this target audience. Connecting with them will allow reputable endorsement of the issue of affordable housing in D.C. to students and community. Channels Social Media Twitter: We created the hashtags #RTR(school name) and #RTRDC, where Twitter users

can use these hashtags to talk about the campaign broadly and at their specific school. We thought these hashtags would be better because it is specific and relevant.


Instagram: We implemented the same hashtags, #RTR(school name) and #RTRDC for people to use when they post photos of them from the House Party event standing next to the Message Wall, as well as photos of them holding up their pledge papers.

Facebook: We created a Facebook page, called Raise the Roof D.C., where we can give overview details about upcoming events and our achievements, as well as giving people an outlet where they can talk about the House Party.

YouTube: We created a short promotional video that can be placed on YouTube and linked to other social media platforms.

Traditional Media Current Home Matters Newsletter: We will aim to get media mentions in the Home

Matters Newsletter that is circulated monthly. It is the most established form of communication for the Home Matters coalition, thus it would be beneficial to attain notice in the newsletter.

Media Advisories: We have media advisories in order to attract general journalists in the D.C. area as well as student journalists who write for their school paper to come to the house party when we are visiting their university. It is important to have journalists present at the event because it will increase chances of getting media mentions significantly.

Press Releases: We will have press releases in order to give journalists who attend the house parties a foundation for what to include in their news stories about the house party they attended as well as the Raise the Roof campaign in general.

Website: We have created a website for the Raise the Roof campaign, where we will have information about the campaign, descriptions of the team members working the campaign, information about our firm, Alliance, Inc., a place where we post media materials (media advisory, press releases, etc. for journalists to access), and finally, a blog where we will post current and upcoming information about the Raise the Roof campaign.

Campaign Theme The main theme surrounding this campaign is the idea of using a house party to advocate for affordable housing to college-aged students. Based on our secondary research, we found that college students are under-educated about the housing crisis sweeping the D.C. metro area. We decided to go with the idea of a house party to educate students about affordable housing because it is familiar and fun to the student mindset. By making education interesting and engaging, we are likely to keep the attention of college students. In order to solidify our college house party theme, we used ideas and concepts relating to college and young peoples interests. First, we named our campaign Raise the Roof, which is an American slang term for a dance move where participants put their hands in the air, often done at parties. Then, we implemented party-themed tactics such as pong, corn hole, and a place where people could take photos of themselves at the event. Our promotional video uses (appropriate) party scenes to appeal to the college demographic while carrying the message that affordable housing is an issued that affects people from different backgrounds. Our theme is cohesive and targeted specifically to our audience in a space that not only provides a fun atmosphere, but also engages them to learn more about the rising affordable housing crisis and what they can do to help close the gap.


Creative Elements and Tactics Goal 1, Objective 1, Strategy 1: Generate a buzz about affordable housing in Washington, D.C. area universities Tactic 1: Facilitate the Raise the Roof Campus House Party Tour, an interactive learning

experience about affordable housing for undergraduate students in the Washington, D.C. area in the form of a party. Our 17-20 volunteers will visit nine campuses (listed below) over six months and hold the event two days a week for two hours each. There will also be three volunteers in front of the party to promote the event and entice people to come.

o Howard University o University of Maryland, College Park o George Washington University o George Mason University o Catholic University of America o American University o Georgetown University

Tactic 2: Invite relevant student organizations to participate in the house party and offer

social media recognition and prize packs as an incentive. The primary student organizations we would contact at each of the nine schools are listed below.

University Student organizations to contact

Howard University

1. Alpha Rho Chi Fraternity (Architecture) 2. Architecture and Design Student Association 3. Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity 4. Community Service and Off Campus Service

University of Maryland, College Park

1. Alpha Phi Omega 2. Humanity First Student Organization 3. National Association of Homebuilders Student Chapter 4. Students Towards Educational Progress & Philanthropy

George Washington University

1. Common Sense Action (bipartisan policy making club) 2. Panhellenic Association 3. Progressive Student Union (social advocacy) 4. Sustainable Urban Planning Student Organization

George Mason University

1. Alpha Phi Omega 3. Blow Peace (service group) 4. Common Sense Action (millennial bipartisan policy formation) 5. Fraternity and Sorority Life

Catholic University of America

1. Alpha Phi Omega 2. American Society of Civil Engineers 3. Habitat for Humanity


4. US Green Building Council CUA Student Group

American University 1. Alpha Phi Omega 2. Community Action and Social Justice Coalition 3. Fraternity and Sorority Programming Board 4. American University Student Government Community Service Coalition

Georgetown University

1. Alpha Phi Omega 2. Georgetown Aspiring Political and Policy leaders 3. Georgetown Solidarity Committee 4. Habitat for Humanity

Tactic 3: Invite other local non-profit organizations that have similar missions as Home

Matters and Manna to have a table at each house party event. Encourage each group to advertise their participation in the event before, during and after to garner publicity in the local non-profit and charitable causes community.

o Examples: Habitat for Humanity chapters, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Alpha Project, Community Services Agency of the Metropolitan Washington Council, My Sisters Place, etc.

Tactic 4: Offer games at the House Party to engage audience participation with the issue. Layout description


Table 1: Volunteers at this table will welcome people into the party, educate passers by about Raise the Roof and hand out informational materials.

Materials needed: 1 table, tablecloth, 3 chairs, petitions, 3 clipboard, pens, candy Volunteers needed: 3

Looking for home limbo: Volunteers can complete this activity with anywhere from one to twenty people. Before volunteers lower the stick each round, one will read housing prices and characteristics in order from least difficult to acquire to most difficult to acquire. Participants will take turns going under the limbo stick, leaning further and further back as they go. Any person that touches the stick or falls is eliminated. Winner will get a t-shirt.

Materials needed: limbo stick set Volunteers needed: 2

Table 2: This table will host one of the affordable housing related nonprofit organizations we will invite to each event

Materials needed: 1 table, 1 tablecloth, 3 chairs Volunteers needed: 0

Why affordable housing matters wall: Partygoers will be provided chalk to write on the wall about their experiences with affordable housing and it matters to them. All participants in this activity will get candy.

Materials needed: Wall (wood covered in chalk paint), 5 boxes of colored chalk, candy Volunteers needed: 1

Photo area (step & repeat): Partygoers can take fun photos with their friends in front of our Raise the Roof step and repeat. Volunteers will also be on site to take pictures for the website and remind participants of our social media platforms, Instagram contest and designated hashtag.

Materials needed: Step and repeat, camera Volunteers needed: 2

Different kind of party pong: Although it is based off of the popular college game beer pong, this version of pong will substitute the alcohol for knowledge, candy and prizes. Each cup will be filled with candy and a question about affordable housing on a slip of paper. Once someone lands a cup, they will read the question out loud and give their answer. Volunteers will have all questions and answers printed on index cards. If the person is right, the cup is removed from the table, and they get the candy. Winners or winning teams, up to four people can take turns playing on a team. Winning teams will receive win water bottles.

Materials needed: 2 tables, ten balls, notecards, candy, 40 cups Volunteers needed: 2

DJ area: Raise the Roof will find different student-volunteer DJs to play music each day. DJs will need to bring their own laptops and be required to play clean versions of all songs.

Materials needed: Speaker system, extension cord Volunteers needed: 0


Table 3: This table will host one of the affordable housing related nonprofit organizations we will invite to each event

Materials needed: 1 table, 1 tablecloth Volunteers needed: 0

Prize Wheel: Participants will spin this wheel and complete whichever activity the color they land on correlates with. Volunteers will have index cards with questions and answers for activities that require them.

Materials needed: Table, wheel, index cards, jar or cup Volunteers needed: 1

Prize Wheel Design:

Red - Affordable housing fact or myth: Volunteer will state a fact that participant must decide is a fact or myth, and if they are correct, they will win a water bottle

Blue - Social media: Follow Raise the Roof on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for candy

Green - Trivia: Volunteers will ask a question about affordable housing and give four possible answers for the participant to pick from

Yellow - Dare or Dare: Volunteers will pick a dare out of a pre-prepared jar, and participants must complete the dare to win a t-shirt.

o Example dare: Write on the chalkboard wall, dance to the music for 30 seconds, make a human pyramid with your friends, take a picture for the website, etc.

Corn Hole: Regular corn hole rules, winner gets water bottles

Materials needed: Two sets of corn hole frames, 16 beanbags Volunteers needed: 2

Table 5: This table will hold the smaller giveaway items that any participant is free to take Materials needed: 1 table, 1 tablecloth, refreshments, key chains, candy, magnets Volunteers needed: 0-1

Goal 1, Objective 2, Strategy 1: Humanize the struggle of the affordable housing crisis Tactic 1: Have pledge sheets (included in appendix) available at each event for students to

sign that they promise to become involved in helping those struggling with affordable housing via on campus organizations or through Manna. To entice students to come out for the events, the school with the most pledge signatures will receive a free concert from local up-and-coming rapper Logic. Logic, born and raised in Gaithersburg, struggled with homelessness and other affordable housing issues throughout his life, making him a perfect connection to the campaigns themes of localness and affordable housing. The free concert will be paid for by one of six iHeartMedia stations in the Washington, D.C. market, as they pay for similar charity concerts throughout the year.

Tactic 2: Select several families through Manna that previously struggled with affordable

housing issues but, with the help of the organization, are now on their feet. These success


story families will speak at house party and feature them on social media and our own website (sample included in appendix)

Tactic 3: Create a Message Board where people can write what they learned about affordable

housing at the end of the House Party event. Participants would be encouraged to take a picture next to their note on the wall and post it to social media with the hashtag, #RaiseTheRoofDC (or the appropriate university, depending on where the promotional event is)

Goal 2, Objective 1, Strategy 1: Maintain an active presence on Mannas social media pages to document the local organizations achievements while simultaneously increasing followers Tactic 1: Create an Instagram account and YouTube page for Manna and post on all social

media platforms, including their current Facebook and Twitter profile. Tactic 2: Create a Facebook contest where any user who likes Mannas page and RSVPs to

their schools house party event is entered to a prize pack, including t-shirts, water bottles and decals.

Tactic 3: Use the YouTube page to post promotional videos for events in addition to

educational videos about the affordable housing crisis, campus visit recaps and our success story familys stories.

Tactic 4: Hold an Instagram contest where the best picture of the event posted from one

student at each school will win meet and greet passes to the Logic concert even if it is not at their school. They will also receive tickets to the show if it is not at their school.

Tactic 5: Use the hashtags like #RTRDC on Twitter to create an ongoing conversation about

the importance of the issue Goal 2, Objective 2, Strategy 1: Draw attention to Mannas current and future endeavors in the Washington, D.C. area Tactic 1: Updating Success Story events to feature recent stories of families Manna has

helped secure affordable housing in the area. Tactic 2: Posting pictures of people at all Raise the Roof House Parties to Mannas

Instagram. Goal 2, Objective 2, Strategy 2: Build beneficial relationships with journalists of Washington, D.C. newspapers covering community issues Tactic 1: Create media lists (see sample media list in appendix) of D.C.s reporters who have

covered affordable housing in general and whove covered Manna in the past. Tactic 2: Send media advisories (see sample in appendix) to relevant journalists (identified in

media list) in the area to encourage them to attend the Raise the Roof Events.


Timeline

Activities December January February March April May

Send Newspaper Ad

12/09/14, 12/26/14

01/22/15 02/05/15, 02/26/15

03/10/15 04/07/15

Event Promos

HU - 1/3/15 UMCP - 01/9/15 GWU -1/30/15

GMU - 2/27/15 CUA - 2/17/15

AU - 3/27/15

Georgetown- 4/16/15

Visit Howard

01/07/15,01/08/15

Visit UMCP

01/28/15, 01/29/15

Visit GWU 02/25/15, 02/26/15

Visit GMU 03/04/15, 03/06/15

Visit CUA 03/25/15, 03/26/15

Visit AU 04/08/15, 04/09/15

Visit Georgetown

05/06/15, 05/07/15


Budget Item Cost x Quantity Total Cost

Rectangle Tables $32 x 7 $224.00

Tablecloths $120 x 5 $600.00

Cornhole (3 sets) $50 x 3 sets $150.00

Step & Repeat $200 x 1 (banner & stand) $200.00

Space Rental $300 per day $8,100.00

Av/Projector $45 per day x 9 locations $1,215.00

Light Refreshments (Punch & cookies)

$6.98 x 144 gls $29.99 x 18 platters

$665.46

Chairs $59 x 3 sets of 4 $177.00

Giveaway Prizes (T-shirts, iron-on transfer, paper, water bottles)

$9.97 x 25 packs $12.81 x 12 packs $100 x 5 (50 cts)

$902.97

Bulk candy $31.50 x 2 packs $63.00

Cups $1 (16 ct) x 3 packs $3.00

Wheel/stand $82 x 1 $82.00

Colored chalk $1 (20 ct) x 24 boxes $24.00

Agency fees $3,750 x 5 execs $18,750.00

Advertisement material $200 x 9 (college newspapers)

$1,800.00

Pop-up banners $80 x 2 $160.00

Travel fees $200 $200

Staffing fees $95 x 3 x 9 visits $2,565.00

Total Donations $14,452.00 Actual $35,881.43

Total OOP Cost $21,429.43


Evaluation

Goals and Objectives Evaluation

Goal 1: Manna will be recognized as a premier advocate for affordable housing in the Washington, D.C. area.

Compile traditional and social media impressions, track number of website and social media visits, track growth of social media following

Objective 1: To educate 2,000 students who attend universities in the greater D.C. metro area about Mannas mission to provide more affordable housing in three months. (Process)

Count the number of surveys filled out by party attendees and the number of RSVPs per campus house party event.

Objective 2: To change the perspective of 1,000 students in the Greater D.C. metro area on affordable housing. (Outcome)

Count the amounts of written and online pledges to the Raise the Roof campaign.

Goal 2: To establish Manna as a contributing member of the Home Matters Movement.

Earn recognition from local Department of Housing & Community Development for work on affordable housing.

Objective 1: To achieve three Manna media mentions on the Home Matters newsletter in three months. (Output)

Scan each newsletter for mentions and track all placements

Objective 2: Get 3,000 media impressions endorsing the work between Manna and Home Matters. (Output)

Track all media impressions via public relations software


Appendix A: Research Report

Updated SWOT STRENGTHS Home Matters redefined the American

Dream. Home Matters understands home as the

environment and life choices. Mannas training program is a national

model replicated across the country. Manna Mortgage is D.C.s first and only

nonprofit mortgage company.

WEAKNESSES Home Matters lacks brand identity within

its coalition. Home Matters nonprofit operations are

relatively unknown to society. Mannas website has not been updated

since 2012.

OPPORTUNITIES The need for affordable housing in D.C. is

rising rapidly. Manna recently worked on new affordable

housing condos in Anacostia.

THREATS Anti-immigration opposition groups Home and property prices continue to rise

during the post-recession recovery.

Review of Secondary Research Our secondary research covered three main areas: Mannas social media and news coverage analysis, Home Matters social media and news coverage analysis and an analysis of data and news regarding affordable housing as it affects the Washington, D.C. area and Millennials.

Secondary Research Findings: Manna and Home Matters Media Analysis Home Matters Media Analysis While analyzing Home Matters media use we found that they use their social media to raise awareness on affordable housing, campaigns and any newly launched programs. Home Matters social media usage focuses on using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Some of their most popular hashtags used across all of their social media platforms include, #HomeMatters, #ShareHomeIs and #Home. From this we concluded that although Home Matters made an effort to include hashtags in their campaign, those same hashtags, especially #Home, can/are often used in different contexts not relating to Home Matters. So, for our campaign we wanted to integrate creative hashtags to fit our Raise the Roof idea. We also decided that due to Home Matters use of various platforms, we could use different tactics to promote the events in our campaign such as using Facebook to create event invites and a promotional video to post across all of their social media platforms. We want to increase Home Matters engagement levels on Instagram so for Instagram, we planned to create a page where campaign participants can enter the contest and receive a prize for the Best Post Contest.


Home Matters Social Media Statistics

Home Matters Name Statistics (Oct. 24, 2014)

Facebook Home Matters (Community Page) 1,024 likes

Twitter @HomeMattersUSA 1015 followers

Instagram @HomeMattersAmerica 25 followers

YouTube HomeMattersAmerica 25 videos, 22 subscribers

Manna Media Analysis On the other hand, for Manna we found that although extremely active on their Twitter and Facebook pages, they currently do not have an Instagram page, nor is their Manna website currently updated beyond 2012. Primarily, Manna uses their Facebook page to post links to news stories they have been mentioned in, as well as links where followers can make donations. Their Twitter page consists of tweets about their content and retweets about other affordable housing content in the Washington, D.C. area. We found that despite the fact that Manna is extremely active on both platforms they have yet to develop a large number of followers. Our research also revealed that although they have a YouTube account, it is not used actively. From our research findings we decided to create an Instagram for Manna to raise their number of followers as well as post photos of participants standing next to the message board present at our campaign events, along with their signed pledges. We also plan to integrate all platforms of social media into Mannas new media strategy that will accompany the campaign. We will also update the website, particularly by updating the Success Stories feature section of their website. Manna Social Media Statistics

Manna Name Statistics (Dec. 14, 2014)

Facebook Manna, Inc. (community page) 324 likes

Twitter @MannaINC 1,328 followers

Instagram n/a n/a

YouTube MannaDC 5 videos, 4 subscribers

Home Matters News Analysis: Key Findings Home Matters has not received much news media coverage recently. After an analysis of the news section of their website we found that they did not feature recent news stories; all of the stories featured on their website whether news stories or op-eds were from 2013. After analyzing the information on their website we then turned to Google News to search for any recent coverage Home Matters received recently. Our news analysis revealed that Home Matters is hardly getting any news coverage and the new mentions it does get are not about its work.


Manna News Analysis: Key Findings Manna has recently received news coverage in local Washington, D.C. publications including DCist and the Washington City Paper. News stories about Manna focus on a new affordable condo building in Anacostia that Manna helped to develop. Using Google News we scanned for mentions of Manna in articles from the last year. The three most relevant articles we found about Manna discussed mannas work on the affordable housing complex in Anacostia. The articles are identified below. Article Title Publication Date Topic Link

City Helps Open Affordable Condo Building in Anacostia

DCist 11/14/2014 Affordable condos; Anacostia

http://dcist.com/2014/11/affordable_condo_building_opens_in.php

Affordable condos in Anacostia officially open

Elevation D.C.

11/13/2014 Affordable condos; Anacostia

http://www.elevationdcmedia.com/devnews/buxtonopening_111314.aspx

Blighted Anacostia Building Reopens as Condos

Washington City Paper

11/14/2014 Affordable condos; Anacostia

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2014/11/14/blighted-anacostia-building-reopens-as-condos/

Additionally, our news analysis revealed that Mannas executives are also quoted in news articles even if they are not specifically discussing Mannas work. We found news articles that mention Manna professionals such as vice president Frank Demarais also have been quoted in relevant Washington affordable housing articles. We found Frank Demarais specifically quoted in a Washington Post article titled, Flawed DC housing program sticks developer with 2 unsold condos for 3 years.

Secondary Research Findings: Housing Market Research Analysis To get a better understanding of the affordable housing and housing market issues, which are the basis of the campaign, we conducted in depth research into the recent news stories on the issues and recent reports on the issue as it relates to Washington, D.C. In order to gain a more in-depth understanding of these issues and how they affect our target publics and D.C. specifically we ran a Google News search of key terms like Millennials, affordable housing, housing market, homelessness and Washington, D.C. Through a combination of these search terms we looked at news articles and research reports about the affordable housing crisis in Washington, D.C. We also identified the key news outlets in the Washington, D.C. metro area with the some of the largest readership including Washington Post, Washington City Paper and the Washington Business Journal.


Three key reports we analyzed were: Urban Institutes Housing Security in the Washington Region study released July 15, 2014 D.C. Fiscal Policy Institutes Disappearing Act: Affordable Housing in DC is Vanishing

Amid Sharply Rising Housing Costs report released May 7, 2012. Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Homelessness in Metropolitan

Washington: 2014 Report released May 14, 2014. The key news sources (further citations in references section) we consulted were: Washington Post Washington City Paper Washington Business Journal NPR Millennial & Affordable Housing: Key Findings In order to analyze housing market data as it relates to Millennials, our target public, we analyzed relevant statistics and news stories from Washington, D.C. publications. We found statistics that identified the relationship between affordable housing and Millennials. Key facts and statistics from research The cities with the least affordable housing, like Washington, D.C., are often the places with

the best social mobility (The Atlantic). For D.C.s class B apartments, older buildings with fewer amenities, the vacancy rate is

low (around 3 percent), but the rates keep rising as affordable housing in the area becomes less affordable. The number of Class A apartments, high-end or luxury apartments, has increased in D.C. by more than 70 percent since 2010, but most residents cannot afford these. (Washington City Paper).

According to a recent Goldman Sachs analytic note, during the past four years, America has added 2.7 million shadow householdsyoung people living with parents or siblings who under normal conditions wed expect to be heading their own households.(Slate)

"You know, probably people who live in these new buildings have no idea have absolutely no idea, how the people who have been displaced by this housing market what they have to go through and how they're living," said Will Merrifeld, staff attorney for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. (NPR)

Washington D.C. lost half of its affordable housing units in the past decade. Millennials with often are doubling and tripling up in apartments because studios often cost more than $1,500 a month. (Washington Post)

Following the recession, workers between 18 and 24 years old, including some with college credits and job histories, had the highest unemployment rate of all adults making them the growing face of homelessness. (NY Times)

Millennial & Affordable Housing: Key Conclusions Our research helped us realize how little Millennials in the area know about affordable housing in D.C. and the effect it may have on their future. We discovered that more Millennials are living with their parents after college than ever before because of the affordable housing crisis. We also found that new luxury apartments, built for young professionals, are often the reason affordable housing disappears. Based off of this research we made sure our campaign set out to change the


awareness of Millennials because of the influence affordable housing will have on their future lives and because of how little they currently know about the issue. Affordable Housing Market in Washington, D.C.: Key Findings When researching background on the affordable housing crisis and the housing market in general we used Google News searches and searches on local D.C. news and policy sources. For instance, a majority of the statistics we found detailed the specific ways that affordable housing had been affecting the D.C. area during the past ten years. Key facts and statistics from research Rents and home values have risen sharply since 2000. Home values nearly doubled in media

value in 2000 and 2010. (DC Fiscal Policy Institute) D.C.s affordable housing is rapidly disappearing. D.C. has lost more than half its low-cost

rental units from 2000 to 2010 and 72 percent of its low-value homes.(DC Fiscal Policy Institute)

D.C. household incomes have not kept pace with the rising home costs in the area. An increasing number of households in D.C. are spending more than half of their income on

housing (DC Fiscal Policy Institute) In 2010 low-cost rental units made up only 24 percent of D.C.s rental units. (DC Fiscal

Policy Institute) D.C. had a 3.5 percent increase in homelessness from 2013 to 2014, with almost 12,000

homeless people in the area in January, because of factors including loss of affordable housing and rising poverty rates. MWCOG Homelessness in Metropolitan Washington Report).

Almost half of the homeless families in the D.C. area are headed by a parent between the ages of 18 and 24. (Washington Post)

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan called this the worst rental affordability crisis ever. (NPR)

D.C. keeps losing affordable housing because it is being replaced by high-end apartments (NPR)

The Washington, D.C. region has a population of 4,805,500 and 48 percent of renters are paying more than 30 percent of their income toward housing each month. (Urban Institute)

84 percent of low-income households in D.C., those making less than 30 percent of the area median income, suffer from a housing cost burden (Washington City Paper).

The median price of a house or condo in the Washington market in 2013 increased 12.7 percent from a year before. (National Association of Realtors [Washington Business Journal])

The Washington Region is the most expensive housing market among 30 major metropolitan areas (ZipReality March 2013 survey)

Affordable Housing Market in Washington, D.C.: Key Conclusions The conclusions we drew from this secondary research was that Washington, D.C. is one of the nations most expensive housing markets and has one of the highest costs of living in the nation. The area has a quickly disappearing number of affordable housing units available, with the demand for affordable housing surpassing the availability.


What we learned from our research From our research we learned that although Home Matters is a fairly new movement in the Washington, D.C. area, they are utilizing all current popular social media platforms to attract a larger following. By using various platforms Home Matters is striving to deliver their mission to raise awareness and close the gap on the affordable housing crisis. We learned that our affiliate, Manna, although slightly outdated on their website, they are extremely active on their social media yet lack the incentive to generate a larger number of followers. We also found that the affordable housing crisis does affect Millennials, but they are often unaware of how it will affect them in the future. Our research showed that D.C. is one of the least affordable housing areas because of the gap in wages and housing costs. The data we found using the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institutes recent report on affordable housing gave us the most specific information about the dramatic changes that have occurred in D.C.s housing market during the last decade. In targeting Millennials, through our secondary research we found that more young people are opting to live at home with their parents than they were four years ago. This finding is also relative to our primary research in which we asked students to fill out a survey related affordable housing and their future housing plans after finishing college. Our survey showed that out of 100 students who took the survey, 32 plan to live at home with their parents after college.

Research Application to Program and Evaluation The key findings and conclusions we drew from our secondary research enabled us to establish a basis for what Millennials in the Washington, D.C. area know about the affordable housing crisis in the area. The facts and figures about how the affordable housing crisis continues to affect Millennials, now and in the future, helped shape the key messages we created for each of our publics. Further, we used the data from our research to help craft the information we wanted to convey to these target publics at our campaign events. The information we gained from secondary research helped us to craft our goals and objectives aimed at educating Millennials about this relevant issue. Our evaluation was also shaped by the media analysis we did of both Home Matters and Manna. After researching their social media presences and current news coverage we found the areas in which we needed to improve. We integrated Instagram and other social media platforms into the campaign in order to encourage both organizations to improve their social media presence and, more specifically, to create and use Instagram for Manna. Additionally, our analysis of the lack of media coverage both organizations were receiving led to our specific strategies and tactics to reach out to D.C. reporters that cover affordable housing issues specifically.


References 14 A. W. on N., & Am (n.d.). Blighted Anacostia Building Reopens as Condos. Retrieved

December 15, 2014, from http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2014/11/14/blighted-anacostia-building-reopens-as-condos/

15, A. W. on J., & Pm (n.d.). Low-Income Washingtonians Face Severe Housing Cost Burden. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2014/07/15/low-income-washingtonians-face-severe-housing-cost-burden/

19, A. W. on A., & Am (n.d.). Apartment Shortage in D.C.? Depends How Much You Make. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2014/08/19/apartment-shortage-in-d-c-depends-how-much-you-make/

Chapman, H., Mintier, S., & Goodwin, G. (2014, May 14). Homelessness in Metropo. (n.d.). City Helps Open Affordable Condo Building In Anacostia. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014,

from http://dcist.com/2014/11/affordable_condo_building_opens_in.php D.C. named least affordable market in country. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2013/03/26/dc-named-least-affordable-market-in.html

Disappearing Act: Affordable Housing in DC is Vanishing Amid Sharply Rising Housing Costs | DC Fiscal Policy Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.dcfpi.org/disappearing-act-affordable-housing-in-dc-is-vanishing-amid-sharply-rising-housing-costs

Dvorak, P. (2014, April 3). D.C.: A city divided and increasingly unaffordable. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-a-city-divided-and-increasingly-unaffordable/2014/04/03/b0ff83a8-bb64-11e3-9a05-c739f29ccb08_story.html

Fessler, P. (n.d.-a). Lack Of Affordable Housing Puts The Squeeze On Poor Families. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.npr.org/2014/05/27/316110665/lack-of-affordable-housing-puts-the-squeeze-on-poor-families

Hendey, L. (2014a, July 15). Housing Security in the Washington Region [Text]. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.urban.org/publications/413161.html

McCartney, R. (2014, November 1). Flawed DC housing program sticks developer with 2 unsold condos for 3 years. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/flawed-dc-housing-program-sticks-developer-with-2-unsold-condos-for-3-years/2014/11/01/47fbdaf0-6154-11e4-8b9e-2ccdac31a031_story.html

Morello, C. (2014, May 14). Fewer affordable rents pushing regions homeless population up, report says. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/number-of-homeless-in-dc-region-rises-as-rents-increase/2014/05/14/db4638e4-dac4-11e3-b745-87d39690c5c0_story.html

Saulny, S. (2012, December 18). More Young Americans Are Homeless.The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/us/since-recession-more-young-americans-are-homeless.html

Thompson, D. (2014, November 15). Why Its So Hard for Millennials to Find a Place to Live and Work. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from


http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/11/why-its-so-hard-for-millennials-to-figure-out-where-to-live/382929/?single_page=true

Thursday, A. R. N. |, 13, N., & 2014. (n.d.). Affordable condos in Anacostia officially open. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.elevationdcmedia.com/devnews/buxtonopening_111314.aspx

Washington median home price climbs to $353,000. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2013/02/11/washington-median-home-price-climbs.html

Yglesias, M. (2012, March 1). Why the Rent Is Too Damn High. Slate. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/03/high_rents_america_s_ridiculous_shortage_of_apartment_buildings_is_pushing_rents_way_up_.html


Review of Primary Research To collect information on our target audience, Millennials, we decide to conduct primary research on their perspectives concerning affordable housing in the United States and on the Home Matters movement and the affiliate, Manna. The survey would be used to gauge the demographics current perspective concerning the issue and the varied levels of education on it and on the Home Matters movement. Primary Research Methodology We decided to utilize the Internet as our main channel as our observations show that the Internet would be the most accessible means of reaching this demographic. As our campaign focused on the D.C. area and the universities within it, we decided to target specifically those schools to collect survey responses. We posted the survey on Facebook pages that were associated with the universities in order to utilize existing online communities where students frequent. However, most of our responses came from the University of Maryland College Park. The platform that we used was SurveyMonkey. We crafted 10 questions to ask our target audience. The questions ranged from personal opinion questions on students opinions on affordable housing nationally to personal experiences of affordable housings effects on their lives. These questions were organized in order of importance. For the tenth question, we collected personal statements from the students on their plans regarding housing after graduation. We received 100 survey responses that were used in our analysis of our primary research results.

Primary Research Results The results that we found through analyzing the survey responses supported our assumptions concerning the current state of awareness Millennials have for the affordable housing crisis. The responses, and analysis, of some of the specific questions and answers from our survey can be found below. All of the primary research survey questions and response data can be found at the end of this appendix as well. Question 1: On a scale from 1-10 (1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest), how concerned are you about affordable housing in the United States? Response Analysis: Of the students surveyed, 71 percent of them responded with a rating of six or above for their concern about affordable housing in the U.S. With this rate of responses, we recognized that it was a wise choice to target this demographic as they already have a moderate interest in affordable housing. Question 2: On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest) how aware are you about affordable housing in the United States? Response Analysis: Sixty-eight out of the 100 survey participants rated their awareness between a two (2) and a five (5). This finding gave us more confidence in targeting this audience as the previous question revealed their concern, but this question revealed their lack of awareness. Our campaign would help to fill this gap between concern and awareness, forwarding the advocacy of affordable housing.


Question 3: How much do you think affordable housing affects you right now? Response Analysis: Approximately 66 percent of the participants responded with either a Somewhat or Little response to this question. Question 4: How much do you think affordable housing will affect you in the future? Response Analysis: More than 80 percent of survey responses were either Much or A Great Deal. This finding showed the evidence to support our teams decision to target this demographic for affordable housing education now so they are prepared for their futures. Question 5: How important of an issue do you think affordable housing is today? Response Analysis: Similar to our first question, most responses were either Important or Very Important. More interestingly, for our seventh question, which positioned several national issues against each other, affordable housing only came in 8th place. Thus, students believe that affordable housing is important, but need more education to increase its level of importance in their minds. Question 6: Which of the following organizations have you ever heard of? (Select all that apply) Response Analysis: Ninety-nine percent knew of Home Matters movement Member Habitat for Humanity, 30 percent knew of Home Matters sponsor, the MacArthur Foundation, 20 percent knew of Home Matters, and a little over 3 percent knew of Manna DC. The lack of awareness for Home Matters and its local affiliate served to be a key finding connected to our campaign. The last two questions focused on finding the rate of personal affiliation to the affordable housing issue within this demographic. Of the 100 participants, 40 percent admitted to have dealt with issues in housing affordability currently. Sixty percent of participants claimed they knew someone who struggled with affordable housing. These findings in addition to the personal statements on affordable housing plans collected at the very end of the essay, helped us to formulate our campaign in a way that would resonate personally with the target demographic, Millennials.

Primary Research Presentation Graphics The graphics displayed below were created based off of our primary research data. These graphics were included in our proposal presentation.


Primary Research: Key Findings We drew three key conclusions from the data we collected from our primary research survey. First, we concluded that students recognize affordable housing will have an effect on their future. Our second conclusion is that students dont see affordable housing as an issue that affects them right now. Our key conclusion is that 96 percent of students [surveyed] have not heard of Manna. We used these three research findings as the foundation for our campaign along with those findings gained from secondary research. We based the goals of our campaign off of these key findings as we hope to educate more students on the relevance of affordable housing to their future and to make them aware of the work Manna is doing in the Washington, D.C. area.


Primary Research Survey Data

---------------SURVEY MONKEY DATA PDF GOES HERE -----------------------------------


Appendix B: Sample Campaign Materials

Press Release


Media Advisory


Poster


Pledge Sheet


Giveaways


Media List


Website


Facebook Event

Documents

Raise the Roof Case Proposal