2. Situation Analysis
Organization Background
Open Door Ministries opened as a collaboration of High Point Urban Ministry and Open
Door Shelter in 1995. In 1969, High Point Urban Ministry opened to provide food, clothing and
financial needs as well as operating a soup kitchen. Open Door Shelter acted as a homeless
shelter for men, women and children beginning in 1987. Once the merge happened, they
established a common goal: to prevent and end hunger and homelessness in the Triad Area.
ODM has an array of programs and services to offer the community. Father’s Table is a
resources used by homeless individuals and hungry individuals in the High Point area. They
serve three meals a day, seven days a week. Open Door Ministries also acts as a homeless shelter
for men and houses 72 men in their main dormitory and 10 in the substance abuse recovery
dorm. During the colder months, they use extra mattresses to amplify the space. Open Door
ministries also partners with Community Resources Network to offer Emergency Assistance to
people having difficulty pay rent, utilities, prescriptions and food for their families. They also
help men recovering from addiction with a two-year residential program that builds skills within
the individual to grow and regain an independent and productive life.
Not only do they act as a shelter, they also help homeless individuals get back into their
own homes with two programs. The first program is Housing First. The majority of men and
women in this program are coping with mental illness or recovering from addictions. Furnished
apartments and assistance from ODM staff allow them to enjoy apartment homes. The Homeless
Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program is for families that can’t pay the cost of living in
their homes and to newly homeless individuals. HPRP provides case management and outreach
to people at imminent risk of homelessness as well as financial and rental assistance.
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3. Audience (Stakeholder) Analysis
Open Door Ministries has a wide variety of audiences because of the vast amount that
they do. Participants include individuals currently residing at ODM, the individuals that
participate in their education programs, and individuals who attend The Father’s Table. They
have many volunteers for different things. In particular, they have volunteers to organize the
food donations, volunteers to serve food at The Father’s Table, volunteers at events, and
volunteers to help with day to day activities.
In this campaign in particular, we want to put a focus on the various donation audiences.
Open Door Ministries has expressed a need for donations of all kinds, and we want to spread
awareness in the triad. ODMs ultimate goal is to eliminate homelessness and it is essential to let
these target audiences know that this is achievable with the proper help. So we need to aim most
of our efforts towards these audiences.
Open Door Ministries has multiples partner organizations that contribute to their shelter.
Greensboro Technical Community College (GTCC) is one in particular, they are in charge of
their education programs that help people in the community gain skills that will allow them to
get jobs. They also partner with local churches who help them provide food every night at The
Father’s Table. These partnerships can be furthered and will be useful in future goals.
Competitor Analysis
Open Door Ministries has various competitors because it is both a homeless shelter and a
food bank. In the triad area there are multiple food banks. In High Point alone there are 58 other
food banks available to donate to. This takes away from the possible donations that ODM could
obtain. We want to make sure to spread awareness about ODM so people will choose them to
donate to specifically. In the triad area there are also multiple homeless shelters. In High Point
there are 19. Most homeless shelters in the triad are split between men and women which results
in families being split up. Fortunately for Open Door Ministries, once a man is placed into an
apartment he is able to bring his family with him which is unique. No other shelter offers this. It
is pertinent that we emphasize on that information in our campaign.
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4. Media Analysis
Open Door Ministries really needs to think about who they are trying to reach with their
social media. For the most part people who are looking to live there will not be using social
media. The focus should be more geared towards potential donors and volunteers. In that aspect,
I think they should add more information about what exactly Open Door Ministries does as well
as individual stories on current residents. This way people can track their success and see what
all their hard work is going toward.
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6. 6. Recommendations
Social Media Recommendations
Social media is huge in today’s day and age and can be vital to the success of a non-profit
organization. Currently the only social media platforms Open Door Ministries utilizes are
Facebook and YouTube. The organization's’ Facebook page has a great following and fans that
are constantly connected and interactive online. We believe that posting more frequently, at least
once per day, could increase the awareness of the Facebook page and help them gain more fans.
Facebook can also be utilized for donations by adding a “donate” button to the top of the page.
We also would like to encourage ODM to update their profile and cover photos.
YouTube can be an awesome way to interact with an audience, however, their account
hasn’t been update in three years. Having an outdated social media site could send the wrong
message to audience members and could come across as a lack of time investment, which isn’t
good for the image of ODM. We recommend the YouTube is both deactivated and removed from
the website in an effort to put more time into other platforms.
In order to reach out to a wider audience and grab the attention of a younger generation
we recommend that Open Door Ministries creates an Instagram account to share stories and
exciting events that take place at ODM. This will be a great way to connect with a younger
generation to promote long term volunteers, interns, and donors within the community.
Another fun way to get active with the community is through Twitter. This can be crucial
because hashtags can create conversations throughout the community and allow people to talk
about what is going on in short snippets, while also drawing traffic to the website. Generations of
old and young alike, use this platform. This can create conversation between generations, which
can be magical for an organization!
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7. Website Recommendations
While the website is usable, it can be confusing in certain areas. The website is also busy
with colors, fonts and sizes. There is also a lot of wording that could be narrowed down. The
wording on the main page is overwhelming. It is hard to decide where to begin reading and
commit to reading the entire passage. The wording needs to be short and concise. The extra fluff,
while it is helpful and important, needs to be condensed. The colors on the website do not match
up with the color scheme, which needs to be fixed. In addition some of the pictures need to be
updated. Another idea would be to add a blog instead of having people write out their success
stories in pen and try to scan the picture in. While the feature was nice and personable, it was
really hard to read. The overall recommendation is to simplify the website.
Fundraising Recommendations
As far as events go one option that can be really fun and effective is a party! Everyone
loves a night out and what better way to raise money than through selling tickets to a party
happening in the community? The party can have a fun theme directed towards a holiday, time
period, or an event going on. This is an event that can be re-themed for multiple uses throughout
the year. Tickets should be purchased through either cash or donations of items needed at Open
Door Ministries. Set up and clean up should be done by volunteers and decorations should be
acquired through donations or can be borrowed from volunteers. Food and drinks can also be
donated or brought by volunteers. Along with this, offer babysitting for those who have children
for a small fee that will go directly to Open Door Ministries. Volunteers can watch children in a
designated area of the venue and have activities going on for them as well. With the connection
Open Door Ministries has with High Point University and GTCC they can use students as
volunteers and as a resource to get the word out into the community about the fun event that will
be happening!
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8. Research Recommendations
Research can be crucial to a successful campaign. As outlined below, our team believes
that a survey could be beneficial in this situation. We want to gather responses from people all
over the triad, we believe the best way to this will be an online survey shared mainly on
Facebook. However, we also want the client to share the survey with partners like Guilford
Technical Community College, churches they work with, and even other shelters. As of now, we
are uncertain of the current perceptions within the triad about Open Door Ministries. The survey
intends to provide insight on how ODM has been received in the community and how we can
focus this campaign to reach our target markets specifically. First, we need to assess how aware
the community is of organizations like ODM. Most importantly, we will be able to find out both
how they are being reached now and how they prefer to be reached. This will allow us to provide
the right information through the right platforms to better connect to potential monetary donors,
food donors, and volunteers. We designed questions to see how individuals are most likely to
donate so that we know what to focus on within the campaign. Finally, we asked questions aimed
to gather perceptions on both the homeless and food hardships in the triad. Ultimately, we think
this survey can serve to enlighten us on aspects essential to implementing a successful campaign.
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9. Primary Research
Research Questions:
1. Are people aware of the problem of homelessness in the Triad area?
2. What are the current community perceptions of Open Door Ministries?
3. What motivates the community to donate/volunteer to organizations?
Survey method sampling and data collection plans:
Our survey will be an online questionnaire with 15 questions related to Open Door
Ministries, homelessness and hunger in the triad area, how individuals receive/would prefer to
receive their information from such organizations, and their likeliness to donate various ways.
We want to administer the online survey in several ways 1) share the link on ODM’s Facebook
page 2) have the client share the link on their personal Facebook pages 3) ask the client to share
the link to established partners (GTCC, other shelters, etc) that could post the link on various
platforms. We want to distribute the survey all around the triad area, and we believe Social
Media is the best way to do that. We are using google forms for our survey, therefore every
survey response is immediately recorded on the document and can be easily accessed by our
team. The data can then be analyzed using SPSS to allow us to enhance our campaign based on
those findings.
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10. Survey Questions:
1. Are you aware of local organizations such as Open Door Ministries?
A. Yes B. No
2. If so, how did you hear about them?
A. Social Media B. Events C. Known someone who went there D. Other ________
3. Have you ever donated to an organization like Open Door Ministries?
A. Yes B. No
4. How likely are you to donate to such a cause?
Very likely Likely Maybe Not likely Never
5. How would you prefer to gather information about what these organizations are doing?
A. Website B. Social Media C. Newspapers/Radio Ads D. Other _______
6. Which word best describes a homeless/hungry person?
a. Humble
b. Lazy
c. Hopeful
d. Desperate
e. Other______________ (please write in your word)
7. On a scale of 1-5, how bad do you believe the homeless situation is in the triad area?
8. On a scale of 1-5, how bad do you believe the food hardship situation is in the triad area?
9. Open Door Ministries provides multiple services to the community, please list the ones you
are currently aware of
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11. 10. There are many ways to contribute to the cause of ending homelessness, which of the
following are most appealing to you?
11. Do you believe the situation of homelessness is improving, staying the same, or getting
worse?
12. Age
13. Gender
14. Education Level
15. Location
Online Survey
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1N-aEV9ltElqAXR0PrhXnV9ykO7evGi_ZLIb8Y-
Dzxyk/viewform?usp=send_form
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12. Goals/Objective and Target Audience (3)
Overall Campaign Goal(s):
This campaign serves to raise significant awareness in the triad area. We want to spread
the word of all of the things that Open Door Ministries does on a daily basis. ODM needs
consistent monetary, food, and housing donations. With this campaign we want to provide them
with the sources to receive those needed donations.
Specific Campaign Objectives:
1. To increase participation in donation opportunities in the Triad area by 25% from
December 2015 through December 2016.
2. To increase participation in volunteer opportunities in the Triad area by 25% from
December 2015 through December 2016.
3. To recruit one to two interns per semester from a local college to manage social media
and other communication aspects throughout the year.
4. To raise awareness of hunger and homelessness in the Triad area by 30% from December
2015 through December 2016.
5. To increase and maintain a positive perception in the Triad area’s mind through social
media and news media outlets beginning in December 2015 through December 2016.
Target Audiences for Proposal Objectives:
1. Men and women in the Triad area, ages 30 & up.
2. Men and women in the Triad area, ages 15 & up.
3. Local college students.
4. Men and women of all ages in the Triad area.
5. Men and women of all ages in the Triad area.
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13. Rationale for Proposed Objectives:
Open Door Ministries will benefit greatly by increasing the communities participation in
donating and volunteering for the organization. We will focus on men and women 30 & up for
donation, as these men and women usually have full-time jobs and the ability to donate to causes.
For volunteering we believe we should focus on a larger group of ages 15 & up because most
people who volunteer start in high school. This will also create long-term volunteers.
We believe having communication interns from local colleges will help Open Door
Ministries drastically and help the organization to stay on top of any campaigns and to keep their
social media presence strong.
Through this campaign being able to increase awareness on homelessness and hunger in
the Triad area is extremely important. In doing so, members of the Triad community will have a
better understanding of the seriousness of this issue and be more adept to volunteer and donate to
the organization.
With the opportunity to largely expand the knowledge of Open Door Ministries in the
Triad area, it will be vastly important to keep a positive image and perception in the mind of the
community.
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14. Key Message Development (4)
New Logo/Slogan for the Client Branding:
After our meeting with Leslie, we decided to stick with the organizations slogan of “Food, Housing, Healing, Hope”.
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15. Social Media Strategies with a Hashtag:
Monthly: Include important events going on during the month and when scheduled posts should go out.
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20. One Print Material (brochure/poster) that delivers the Up-To-Date Info about the Client:
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21. Campaign Strategies (5)
A Specific Campaign Timeline and Total Budget:
Our campaign revolves around the major strategy of planning and scheduling through the
use of a content calendar. This is a virtually free way to market an organization. We also
included Google Analytics and intern/volunteers as ways to get different aspects of the campaign
completed. We took into consideration that Open Door Ministries is a nonprofit, so that nothing
we have planned will require a budget from them.
Our overall timeline is as follows:
1. Use content calendar to schedule each posting on social media for the week/month.
2. Two times a month schedule a blog post of success stories onto content calendar.
3. Have the initial surveys done by the end of November.
4. Have an intern lined up by next semester.
5. Finish google analytics reports by the end of each month.
6. Have the second surveys done by November 2016.
7. Compare the data from the beginning of the campaign to the end results in December
2016.
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22. A Media Relation Plan for the Message Distribution:
One Press Release
400 N. Centennial Street, High Point, NC 27262, (336) 885-0191, www.odm-hp.org
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION:
November 2, 2015 Leslie Graham
Development and Donor Services Director
(434)-249-9904
lgraham@odm-hp.org
Open Door Ministries to Host 6th
Annual Feast of Caring
High Point, NC—Open Door Ministries of High Point will host the sixth Annual Feast of
Caring on Thursday, November 12th
, 2015. This community event will take place at the First
Presbyterian Church located at 918 N. Main Street, High Point, NC 27262.
Individual and family donations serve as the ticket to The Feast of Caring. The event will
offer a variety of delicious soups and breads donated and prepared by dozens of local restaurants.
The event will also feature live music and a showcase of handmade pottery donated by artists
from all over North Carolina. The event ticket includes endless soups an bread along with the
opportunity to select a piece of handmade pottery to take home.
Open Door Ministries was established in 1995 with the mission is to serve, empower and
minister to clients in order to prevent and end hunger and homelessness through advocacy,
education, housing and coordination of services.
###
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24. The PR and Promotions Strategy:
The single objective of Open Door Ministries is to raise awareness of homelessness and
hunger in the Triad area within a one-year time period. Our marketing strategy will begin by
increasing community awareness about Open Door Ministries, build a volunteer and donor base,
and work towards ending homelessness and hunger.
The message Open Door Ministries hopes to communicate is that this organization is
inspiring people in the community who are facing hunger and homelessness and redesigning
lives of those in need. This message will be communicated through the constant use of their
slogan, “Food. Housing. Healing. Hope.” while educating the Triad area on what each of those
stands for through the use of a brochure.
We will also communicate this message through a social media campaign that will focus
on building awareness and relationships within the community.
The last method we will use to communicate this message will be through the use of a
new website. On the new website the four main aspects of food, housing, healing and hope will
be reinforced and in-depth overviews of what each stands for will be an interactive click away.
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25. Monitoring and Evaluation (6)
Monitoring Plans:
Monitoring Strategies and Tools (e.g., surveys, content analyses, progress reports)
We want to monitor our efforts throughout the entire campaign so we know what is
working and what needs to be changed. We will use several tools to provide us with accurate
numbers. To monitor our social media and website efforts we will use google analytics. This will
allow us to see the views and clicks on the website and social media platforms. Because we have
a specific goal of raising awareness by 30%, google analytics will help us to keep track of that.
Monitoring Timeline (and budget if relevant)
Using Google Analytics, Open Door Ministries should check the progress of the
organization by the end of each month and create an update record showing the use of the
website and social media interactions. If it is noticed that one month seems behind we
recommend brainstorming on why there was little progress and how to combat that for the next
month. No budget is necessary unless a pro-version of Goggle Analytics will be used.
Evaluation Plans:
Evaluation Strategies and Tools (e.g., surveys, content analyses, progress reports)
To evaluate our campaign we will be using google analytics as well. We will compare the
numbers collected from each part in the timeline. This will show us how successful our
campaign was. We believe that detailed records should be kept for each month the campaign is
operating to track the success of the campaign. In December 2016, we would like to send out the
exact same survey we will be using to begin this campaign in order to see if all of our goals were
met by the end of the campaign.
Evaluation Timeline (and budget if relevant)
To keep track of evaluation, we recommend keeping detailed records of each month. This
will allow the organization to compare their data from the start of the campaign to the end. No
budget is necessary for this item.
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