Volunteer Halifax Communications Plan    

Kaitlyn Phillips

PBRL 3014 - 03

Dr. Amy Thurlow

December 1, 2014

Executive Summary Volunteer Halifax is a non-profit organization that needs to reboot its entire communication process to recruit the youth of Halifax for volunteer positions. Therefore this communications plan will provide first hand research, an analysis of what VH can and should do, the communication process that will be involved as well as the evaluation tools VH will use at the end of the campaign. This communications plan will include the following sections and sub-sections: • Situation Analysis:

• Background • Target Audience • Research Tools:

• SWOT Analysis • PEST Analysis • Competitor Analysis

• Mission, Vision, Values & Other Relevant Factors Assessment

• Recommendations • Publics, Objectives & Messages:

• Strategic Goals • Objectives • Publics • Messages

• Strategic Approaches: • Strategy • Initial Tactic • React • Final Tactic

• Project Management: • Time Line • Task Budget

• Evaluation & Monitoring Strategies • Appendices:

• Data from interviews • Personal Interview with

Eclipse East • Worksheets

• Template for VH Volunteer Sign-up Sheet

• Template for Consultation form

• Budget • Gantt Chart • Evaluation tools:

• Survey for React Presenters • Report Form for other Non-

Profits • Survey to Distribution Lists

VH is not a prominent organization in Halifax, however many other non-profit organizations still need volunteers. As such VH is going to refresh their brand image and head out into the community. Since youth are their target audience for this communications plan, the current VH volunteer and employee force will be heading to junior high schools, high schools, colleges and universities located in HRM. They will also communicate with several non-profit organizations that need more volunteers. Furthermore, they will also create a new website and become active on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Canadian youth spend a lot of time on the Internet and they are active users of these social media sites and that’s where VH needs to be. There are several ways VH can successfully recruit youth volunteers. In saying that, the React campaign will not only illustrate the new and improved VH, yet it will also be a tool for a call to action from youth to volunteer. Overall, Volunteer Halifax may have a lot of catching up to do in the current volunteer climate, yet with the help of a total refresh, this organization will be up and running like a well oiled machine in no time.

Situation Analysis Background Volunteer Halifax is a not for profit organization that invests in everything volunteer related. On top of that long list is their most used service: its referral program. This service connects individuals from Halifax (and the surrounding area) with other non-profit organizations. Volunteer Halifax uses this program so the people that walk through its doors can be matched up with their perfect volunteer opportunity. To accomplish this, they work with several volunteer-based organizations and refer ideal candidates to these non-profit groups.1 Although members state that the primary service VH offers is the recruitment referral program, it also has other programs and services. These include: the national screening project: the ABC’s of Fraud, non-profit consulting services, library services, lunch and learn information sessions, and the use of newsletters—and at times other methods of communication—to share information.2 Volunteer Halifax’s mission statement is to encourage citizens to serve the community through volunteer participation and to assist the community to work effectively with volunteers. Along with that, Volunteer Halifax’s core values are: respect, relationships, recognition and responsibility. This organization also plans to create value statements that reinforce these core values.3 Target Audience As Volunteer Halifax works to refresh their key message statements and put their organization onto the road to long-term sustainability, they have decided to focus on Halifax youth4, ages 15-245, as their new target audience. They want to focus on this particular audience due to a recent study from Statistics Canada that states that almost 60 per cent of young Canadians (again ages 15-24) volunteered in 2010.6 Furthermore, this study also states that top volunteers “are the people on whom charitable and non-profit organizations rely most heavily.”7 They are the people that spend the largest number of hours volunteering. As such, in 2010, out of the youth that volunteered, 12 per cent of them were top volunteers. These youth as well as the rest of Canadians who were considered top volunteers, put in 161 hours or more volunteering during the year preceding this study, so even though many youth lead busy lives, 12 per cent of them contributed a lot by volunteering.8 On another note, Canadian youth or more specifically, individuals aged 18 to 24 spent the most time on social media everyday, at 10.8 hours per 24 hours. Moreover, the second-highest social media users were individuals 18 years old and younger, which would include 15 to 17 years olds                                                                                                                1  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case.  2    Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case.  3  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case.4    Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case.5  Statistics  Canada,  Volunteering  in  Canada,  2010  6  Statistics  Canada,  Volunteering  in  Canada,  2010  7  Statistics  Canada,  Volunteering  in  Canada,  2010  8  Statistics  Canada,  Volunteering  in  Canada,  2010    

(who are also categorized as youth) and they spent a whopping 9.4 hours on several social media platforms everyday.9 Research Tools In order for Volunteer Halifax to become a more modern organization, there are certain research tools that will determine what they need to do in order to set the groundwork for long-term sustainability within the industry. SWOT Analysis: Strengths: -VH referred around 7 per cent of volunteers to their member agencies (other non-profit organizations) over the years10 -Furthermore, VH member organizations are almost 15 per cent of the total volunteer agencies in Halifax11

Opportunities: -Become modernized by getting connected new technologies including the Internet and more specifically, their own website and social media platforms12 and use them in an effective manner -Create a positive, consistent brand image that will resonate with the Halifax community -By creating a positive atmosphere, youth will spread the word about VH to their friends and ultimately other individuals who could end up at VH -VH has the opportunity to draw in more volunteers since volunteering in Canada and Nova Scotia is on the rise13

Weaknesses: -Don’t know how to use modern social media platforms effectively (or at all)14 -Inconsistent position and image in the community15 -Their sources of income haven’t been consistent, because of a lack of consumer loyalty and service recognition16

Threats: -Cuts to government funding for community services and the volunteer sector17 -Being outdone by other similar organizations like United Way, because they are more modern and they receive an abundance of financial stability18

                                                                                                               9  comScore,  Canada  Digital  Future  in  Focus  2012  10  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case    11  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  12Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case    13Statistics  Canada,  Volunteering  in  Canada,  2010  14  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  15  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  16  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  17  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case    18  United  Way  of  Halifax,  2013  Annual  Report  

PEST Analysis: Political: -Canada’s Anti Spam Legislation (CASL) will affect any organization that is attempting to raise funds for programs or if they have added someone to their electronic distribution list19 -Health & Safety regulations guaranteeing that volunteers, especially are treated fairly and within a safe environment20

Economic: -Federal, provincial and municipal governments are cutting funding to community and volunteer sectors21 -More people spend their time working longer hours due to the increase of living standards22

Social: -Trends in volunteering from youth are continually going up23

Technological: -The rate at which new technology and social media platforms and different forms of technology, like different systems on the Internet, come into existence in this day and age

Competitor Analysis:24   Volunteer

Halifax Halifax Metro United Way

Halifax Volunteer Services Department

Fusion Halifax Perceived Advantages & Disadvantages (of VH) Shown by Competitors

Type of Organization

Non-profit25 Non-profit Government Non-profit -Volunteer Halifax does not have any visible advantages over the “type of organization” that it is. -There is one potential disadvantage however and that is that three of its competitors

                                                                                                               19  Ontario  NonProfit  Network,  Canada’s  Anti-­‐Spam  Legislation  and  your  Nonprofit  20  Ontario  Government  Ministry  of  Labour,  Information  for  Volunteers  21  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  22  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  23  Statistics  Canada,  Volunteering  in  Canada,  2010  24  Klemsz,  J.  Your  Nonprofit  has  Competitors.  Are  you  Competing  Well?  25  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  on  Volunteer  Halifax  Case    

(excludes Halifax Volunteer Service Department) are non-profit so they may get more funding from different financial sources

Organization Age

23 years (age derived from current year plus the indication that in their last strategic plan they were already 10 years old)26

89 years27 Information not available

7 years28 -VH has been around for a pretty long time, second longest in comparison to its competitors -This could be an advantage seeing as over the years, they have worked with different organizations and individuals, so that may lead to positive “word-of-mouth” advertising to different publics and stakeholders

Types of Funding

Information not available

-The Tomorrow Fund, which receives bequests, honorariums, tribute gifts and memorial donations is the United Way’s Endowment Fund29 -At the end of 2013, the Tomorrow Funds net assets equaled $2,641,32330 -At the end of 2013, United Way’s Net

Federal Funding

Provincial funding from the Nova Scotian Government32 -Sponsoring from King’s Warf33 -Sponsored by ISL -Credit Union sponsors34

-Unfortunately VH is at a disadvantage in the types of funding it receives, because it does not outline that in its 2000-2001 Annual Report -This may lead to no new investors and/or

                                                                                                               26  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  on  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  27  United  Way  Halifax,  Who  We  Are    28  Fusion  Halifax  Facebook  About  page,  https://www.facebook.com/FUSIONHalifax/info  29  United  Way  of  Halifax,  2013  Tomorrow  Fund  Annual  Report  30  United  Way  of  Halifax,  2013  Annual  Report  

Fundraising revenue was $5,644,32831

funding, because different stakeholders may be wondering where they get their funding and where it goes

Number of Volunteers Referred to member agencies (annually)

450 volunteers35

Thousands of volunteers36

Not applicable as individuals deal directly with organizations that post volunteer opportunities on Halifax’s Volunteer Services website37

Fusion Halifax uses a similar system as the Volunteer Services Department, seeing as they have a volunteer job bank called “Volunteerhere.ca” so non-profit organizations post volunteer positions onto this website38

-VH is certainly at a disadvantage when it comes to referring volunteers to it’s member agencies as the data shows -Furthermore, it also seems behind the time compared to the Halifax Volunteer Services Department and Fusion Halifax, because they are both utilizing online technology so that any non-profit organization looking for volunteers can do it automatically by posting a volunteer position on these organizations job bank

Number of volunteer

90 member agencies

51 organizations that United Way works

Again any number of non-

Any number of organizations

-Although VH is doing better

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     32  Fusion  Halifax  Sponsors  33  Fusion  Halifax  Sponsors  34  Fusion  Halifax  Sponsors  31  United  Way  of  Halifax,  2013  Annual  Report  35  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  36  United  Way  of  Halifax,  Campaign  Volunteers  37  Halifax  Volunteer  Services,  Opportunities    38  Fusion  Halifax,  Volunteer  Job  Bank  

member agencies and organizations that are connected

(approximate number)39

with (and funds)40 profit organizations can be connected with this department and they have compiled a database with over 1500 non-profits in Halifax and the surrounding area41

“throughout the Halifax Regional Municipality”42

in this row of results, the Halifax Volunteer Services Department and Fusion Halifax are outdoing them, because they give all non-profit organizations in Halifax and the surrounding are the opportunity to partner and use their services

Staff As a voluntary non-profit, it would be assumed that Volunteer Halifax itself is run by volunteers, and their 2000-2001 Annual Report does not disclose if there are any hired staff43

20 members of staff44

5 staff members (estimate)45

13 members (staff) on the current board of directors46

-It is not clear what type of staff VH has or if they have any staff at all, but based on the information provided, it looks like it is majorly run by volunteers -This is definitely a disadvantage to them, because their competition have an actual body of staff and this shows that more services and operations can be completed in a successful manner

                                                                                                                 39  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  of  Volunteer  Halifax  Case    40  United  Way  of  Halifax,  Organizations  We  Fund    41  Halifax  Volunteer  Services,  Volunteer  Database    42  Fusion  Halifax,  Volunteer  Job  Bank    43  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  of  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  44  United  Way  of  Halifax,  Our  Team  45  Halifax  Volunteer  Services,  Contacts  46Fusion  Halifax  Facebook  About  page,  https://www.facebook.com/FUSIONHalifax/info  

Mission, Vision, Values & Other Relevant Factors Assessment From the information gathered for this situational analysis on Volunteer Halifax, the present organizational climate must be completely striped down and rebuilt. In stating this, VH has some positive aspects as a non-profit organization, one of those things being its mission, because it clearly looks like VH wants “to encourage citizens to serve the community through volunteer participation and to assist the community to work effectively with volunteers.”47 There are some minor word adjustments that must be made to this statement, such as clarifying that it is the Halifax community that they want to assist, but this mission clearly demonstrates what Volunteer Halifax intends to accomplish. Unfortunately, there is no apparent vision statement within their last strategic plan and that is definitely one thing they must work on, so that their stakeholders and publics, particularly it’s youth target market, can see what Volunteer Halifax’s vision is for the present and the future. Volunteer Halifax hopes to shape their new vision statement along these lines: “Volunteer Halifax envisions a future where all Haligonians help each other to create a prosperous community. We are ready to bring Halifax together for the goodness of its people, government and organizations.” In addition to this, Volunteer Halifax has to work on developing value statements, because although using key words in their values is a good start, these core values—respect, relationships, recognition and responsibility48—have to be expanded upon so people know what VH’s values are. Furthermore, this will ultimately convey a sense of direction and perhaps social responsibility that will draw in their target market (youth) and other stakeholders and publics. Some potential value statements could include: 1. VH has respect for the Halifax community and all the individuals that come through our

doors 2. Our organization wants to create meaningful long term relationships with the different levels

of government, other charitable and non-profit organizations in HRM as well as the entire Halifax population

3. VH recognizes that the Halifax community needs to work together to build a sustainable future and we are here to help as a result of this recognition

4. We are a responsible organization within our community and we each take responsibility for our actions

Finally, as previously revealed in Volunteer Halifax’s last strategic plan, as an organization, they have not been a consistent image or brand within the public eye.49 This is something that they must now work on achieving especially if they want to be seen as a credible organization. In order to do this, a new modern approach to how they brand themselves must be presented to the people of Halifax. Furthermore, to grab people’s attention, especially the youth they are now targeting, it is essential for them to use different media outlets including social media platforms and the Internet.

                                                                                                               47  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  48  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  49  Thurlow,  A.  Backgrounder  for  Volunteer  Halifax  Case  

Recommendations: Based on the assessment of Volunteer Halifax, there are different recommendations that they are required to take into account if they are to succeed against their competitors. These suggestions will strategically bring them up to speed with today’s current organizational positions and this will help them secure youth living in Halifax as their new volunteer force:

1. Create a vision that will guide the organization and its volunteers—both current and new. 2. Devise a vision statement that sums up what Volunteer Halifax is striving to achieve with

its vision that will also entice the young people of Halifax to become engaged with them. 3. Create a new strategic plan that incorporates new technologies, like a brand new website

as well as social media outlets including a Facebook account, a Twitter page and a LinkedIn account.

4. Train a new employee to effectively use the tools stated in the previous recommendation. 5. Promote their organization as the ultimate volunteer destination. In order to do this, it is

recommended that they create a communications plan that is geared toward the youth demographic they are hoping to steer toward their organization.

6. Eventually change their referral program to a public volunteer forum where any non-profit organization and any individual looking to volunteer in the Halifax area can create an account and then post volunteer positions on a webpage. When this is completed, there will be a lot of work monitoring this service, so being technologically savvy will definitely have to be a must for this new system

7. Speak to junior high students in grade nine, high school students as well as college and university students—who go to school in Halifax—about their organization and pass around sign up sheets for future volunteers

Publics, Objectives & Messages Strategic Goals Volunteer Halifax has several goals in mind for this communications campaign, including: 1. To increase the number of non-profit organizations as well as HRM youth using our

resources for volunteering 2. To create an informative and innovative presence on the Internet through social media

platforms—Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn—as well as our new website 3. To illustrate the new Volunteer Halifax as an organization fully invested in the Halifax

community 4. To work with the municipal government, non-profit organizations and upper level schools

(junior and high schools as well as universities and colleges) to help individuals using various services throughout the city

Objectives The resulting goals for Volunteer Halifax’s communication campaign can be further narrowed down into the following campaign objectives:

1. To speak to 100 per cent of students in grade nine to grade 12 as well as 40 per cent of

individuals going to the 22 colleges and seven universities in HRM by the end of February 201550

2. To get 25 per cent of students (youth) who do not currently volunteer, to sign up for a follow-up consultation about making them a committed volunteer for other organizations by the end of February

3. To get our new director of communications to set up our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts by January 1st, 2015

4. To get web designers from Eclipse East to set up our website by January 1st, 2015 5. To go into the community and start talking with other non-profit organizations about our

resources and get them involved in our online volunteer forum by Spring of 2015 (the month of March or April)

6. To get the initial youth who came to follow-up consultations into volunteer positions by the end of May

Publics There are multiple publics Volunteer Halifax will be communicating with throughout this campaign and they include:

• Members of parliament and government for resources that VH needs • Halifax Regional School Board about going into junior and high school classes to talk to

their students • We would also talk to faculty—principles, vice principles, teachers, etc.—about talking

to classes about VH • Other volunteer-based organizations like The Girls and Boys Club, Frontier College,

Feed Nova Scotia, just to name a few • Students at junior and high schools as well as university and college students

This is a complete outline for all of the publics VH must communicate with, however in regards to this campaign, we will focus on youth (ages 15-24) who currently reside in HRM Messages Volunteer Halifax needs key message statements to get their publics invested in this organization and ultimately in volunteering positions throughout Halifax. Here are a few geared toward the youth they want to recruit: • As a teenager, you want to have fun, so why not have fun while helping others; start

volunteering today! (Geared towards 15 year olds) • Good grades can help you get that scholarship, but volunteering can give you an extra boost,

so why not start today! (Senior high school students)

                                                                                                               50  hrmyouth,  Education    

• Future employers are looking for more than just good grades, so why not help yourself while helping others by volunteering! (University/college students)

• Post-secondary education life can bring you down, so start living the rewarding life you want by volunteering! (University/college students)

Strategic Approaches This section of the communication plan will outline every detail needed in order to successfully complete this campaign. Strategy In order to be successful in this campaign, VH will have to implement a complete strategy to bring in youth volunteers. For instance, they will do this by speaking to junior and high school classes, as well as college and university classes. At the junior high level, they will speak to grade nine students during English or math class. At the high school level, they will speak to each English class (all students must take English throughout the year). At the college level, they will speak to one class at each level in each discipline. Finally, they will use the same principle in the universities, however they will speak in classes that are required for all programs, like an English course or an Intro to Statistics course. In smaller classes, they will hand around sign-up sheets and for larger classes they will leave sheets on a bulletin board in the classroom. Additionally, VH will have to set up their new website and social media accounts. They will also have to learn how to input information into their new database system. Moreover, they will also learn how to create effective social media posts. Initial Tactic There are multiple steps within the previously mentioned strategy, however in regards to reaching Halifax youth, VH has to complete several tasks. For instance, since Canadian youth spend the most time on the Internet or more specifically, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, Volunteer Halifax must get their website completed and online first and foremost. Furthermore, they need to hire a new director of communications and get them working on the social media platforms. This means setting up Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Then fill in minor details like profile pictures and background graphics and include information about the organization. Finally, VH has to start posting and creating a social media presence. Although VH does not have a consistent or memorable image in Halifax, they are known by certain organizations and individuals, so they need to communicate with these publics to get followers who will post likes and shares as well as retweets and likes from VH’s social media sites. React React is the campaign title and tactic that VH will use to recruit youth volunteers. After communicating with individual schools, colleges and universities, VH will send a prepared crew of employees and volunteers to speak in classes. These presentations will only last about 15 to 20

minutes but at the same time there will be a sign-up sheet for more information as well as a follow-up consultation, which students can sign. After these presentations are completed, an employee at VH will fill in every student’s information into a database—SAGE act preferably—and distribution lists will be created. Following this step, emails will be sent out providing each interested individual a chance to come in for a personal consultation. Consultations will have to be confirmed by email or phone as well as by availability. Final Tactic Finally, after the consultations are completed, VH must contact already existing organization members to fill volunteer positions with the youth they met with already. On top of that, they will also have to start contacting other organizations in the city about new recruitments. Once VH has passed each individuals information over to other non-profit organizations, their work will pretty much be done, however they would like to continue communicating with these organizations and continue getting regular reports on the new recruitments including the amount of hours they volunteered and so forth. One more final thing to note, once VH has completed these steps, they will continue to complete personal consultations, however they will put a much heavier emphasis on their website’s new volunteer forum where both youth and non-profit organizations can post volunteer advertisements. VH will be in control of this, however those indicated above will be able to fill out a form online for an advertisement and then VH will look over the ads and post them online. Project Management Time Line: During the month of December, VH will get web design company Eclipse East to create their new website. This website will launch on January 2nd. They will also hire a director of communications who will have experience in social media, website updates, as well as other oral and written communication skills and experience. This employee will then set up Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles for VH and start posting updates and statuses. Finally, the communications director will then begin calling the school boards and then individual schools, colleges and universities to make a schedule for the React presentations. At the beginning of January, the new communications director will collaborate with other employees and VH volunteers to come up with a presentation for the React tactic. She will train these employees on what to say and how to use the PPT he or she previously made for the junior and high school presentations (this won’t be used at the college and university level presentations). These volunteers will then have to put in any extra practice time on their own schedule. By the end of January, the director of communications will finalize all communication with the school board and the schools (junior, high, college and university levels) as well as a schedule for presentations and who is designated for each school and class.

February will be React month as each volunteer or employee goes out to different venues and presents the React campaign. By the end of February, VH must have all sign-up sheets back at headquarters and then the director of communications will input all information into the SAGE act database. VH will also create a form for the volunteers and employees to use during personal consultations. At the beginning of March, an email will be sent out for any youth who want a personal consultation with a VH employee or volunteer. From there on in, consultations will be scheduled at different schools as well as the VH headquarters. Consultations from the initial React presentation will be finished by the first week of April. The rest of April will be spent sending the consultation sheets to existing non-profit organizations in contact with VH and then communicating with other organizations and again sending over the consultation sheets, so representatives from other organizations can set up individuals into volunteer positions. By the beginning of May, the new volunteer forum on VH’s website will be launched and the focus will be more focused on that part of the campaign. However, VH will still be recruiting new youth for volunteer positions throughout the rest of spring and into the summer months. At the end of the React campaign, the volunteers and employees who conducted presentations will also be presented with a gift from VH as a token of gratitude. Finally, VH will send out a survey at the end of August to its youth distribution list to see how successful the entire campaign was. They will also send out survey’s to their employees and volunteers who were involved in the campaign as well as any organization they have partnered with in order to get feedback on the campaign. Task Budget: The following information will outline each task that will take place within this campaign: Task Approximate Cost New website $3,000 to $5,00051 Social Media Outlets (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)

$0

SAGE act! pro database $269.99 per user (at implementation of campaign only the director of communications would use this program)52

Swiftpage pro $44.95 per month53 Adobe Suite $79.23 plus tax per month54 Microsoft Office 365 Nonprofit Business Premium

$2.00 per user per month55

Gifts for volunteers and employees $100

                                                                                                               51  Gorham,  R.,  Telephone  Interview    52  act!,  Products    53  act!,  Swiftpage  emarketing,  Plans  &  Pricing    54  Adobe,  Business  Plans    55  Microsoft  Office,  Office  365  Nonprofit  plans  and  pricing    

Evaluation and Monitoring Strategies There are several ways to evaluate and monitor the technical parts of this campaign in order to determine whether the entire campaign was successful. In saying that, starting out on a basic level, keeping track of how many likes, shares, retweets and similar indications the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts get on individual posts is something VH can monitor daily. Then through trial and error, VH can switch up the way they write their posts and when they post those statuses. On another level, VH can also check out each social media’s analytics to see how many new followers they have on a weekly or a monthly basis as well as the level of activity on each profile. Additionally, this can be done on their website as well. Onto the actual React campaign, VH will have to monitor how many individuals sign up for a follow-up consultation, as well as how many youth are actively volunteering by the end of summer 2015. After the campaign is finished, VH will send out a survey through its distribution list to collect information on their recruits. They will also send out a similar survey for VH employees and volunteers looking for feedback on the campaign. Finally, VH will measure and monitor success, through their contacts at other non-profit organizations that have volunteers originally recruited from VH. This would be in the form of how many of the initial volunteers are still at each organization over a six-month period as well as long term periods (one year). Moreover, every quarter, VH would also ask for information from these organizations to see how many hours the recruited volunteers are putting in as well as other information. On another note, VH will also monitor the success of the brand refresh as well as the React campaign through it’s active volunteer forum on it’s website. If there is a lot of activity and advertisements, then VH has created the buzz around volunteering that they hoped to do. In addition to this, VH would also use analytics from it’s website to see if the forum is a success.

Appendices Data from interviews Personal Interview with Eclipse East: When talking to Rob Gorham, the Executive Producer at Eclipse East, he said that a simple five to ten page website would cost between 3,000 and 5,000 dollars. He also mentioned that if Volunteer Halifax is considered a charity, he would also be able to cut down on the cost and help provide the website as a “charitable receipt.” However in saying that, he would not be able to pay for the entire project. Worksheets Template for VH Volunteer Sign-Up Sheet:

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React VH Sign-Up Sheet

School: Presenter: Date:

Name Email Phone (optional) Would you like to be put on our distribution list

for special events, information sessions,

etc.?

 

Template for Consultation Form:

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React VH Personal Consultation

Employee or Volunteer Name: Date: School (location): Student’s Name: Email: Phone Number: General Questions: 1. What type of volunteering is the candidate interested in?

2. Any organizations you would like to volunteer at?

3. How many hours a week are you available to volunteer? 4. Do you have any previous work or volunteer experience that you could benefit from at a new volunteer position?

5. Do you have any certificates or certifications at this point (i.e.: first aid certificate, WHIMIS, etc.)? If the student doesn’t know where he or she would like to volunteer:

6. What types of activities do you like to do on your own time? 7. Do you have any areas of volunteering you want to get involved in, or vice versa?

8. Anything else you would like to add?

 

Budget Task Approximate Cost New website $3,000 to $5,00056 Social Media Outlets (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)

$0

SAGE act! pro database $269.99 per user (at implementation of campaign only the director of communications would use this program)57

Swiftpage pro $44.95 per month58 Adobe Suite $79.23 plus tax per month59 Microsoft Office 365 Nonprofit Business Premium

$2.00 per user per month60

Gifts for volunteers and employees $100 Gantt Chart December January February March April May August Set up website Set up social media accounts

Actively posting on social media

Call schools, universities & colleges and school boards

Organize School Presentation Dates

Organize presenters (VH employees & volunteers)

Creation of Presentation

Presentation Training

Presentations Information input into database

Initial Email

                                                                                                               56  Gorham,  R.,  Telephone  Interview    57  act!,  Products    58  act!,  Swiftpage  emarketing,  Plans  &  Pricing    59  Adobe,  Business  Plans    60  Microsoft  Office,  Office  365  Nonprofit  plans  and  pricing    

Organize personal consultations (who goes where, what dates and where)

Consultation form finalized

Consultations Communicating with other non-profit organizations

Sending over volunteer applications

VH website forum launched

Survey sent out to VH volunteers & employees, non-profit companies & initial distribution list

Evaluation tools Survey for React Presenters:

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React VH Employee and Volunteer Survey

Employee or Volunteer Name: Date: 1. What did you think was successful about the React Campaign?

2. Was there anything you thought should be changed or improved about this campaign?

3. On a scale from 1-10 (1 being unsuccessful, 10 being extremely successful) how successful did you find this campaign?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4. Do you have anything you want to add? (Comments)  

Report Form for other Non-Profits:

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HRM Non-Profit Organization Form

Organization: Date: 1. How many of the initial volunteers VH sent over are still volunteering?

2. Were there any volunteers that did not show up for their position?

3. Reasons for not actively volunteering? 4. Total volunteer hours of VH recruits: 5. Is there anything VH can do to help make this referral process better? Additional Comments:

Survey to Distribution Lists:

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React Survey

Volunteer Name: Date: 1. On a scale from 1-10, with 1 being not informative and 10 being extremely informative, did you find the React campaign

informative and well presented?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2. What things did you like about the presentation and the personal consultation?

3. Did the personal consultation help you find a volunteer position? 4. If so, where did you end up volunteering and are you still there? 5. Is there anything VH can do to help make this process better (the referral process)? Additional Comments:

References

Act!. (n.d.). Products. Retrieved from: http://www.act.com/products/ Act!. (n.d.) Swiftpage emarketing: Plans and pricing. Retrieved from: http://www.act.com/media/en-us/docs/SageEmarketingforACTPlansandPricingChart.pdf Adobe. (n.d.). Business plans. Retrieved from: https://creative.adobe.com/plans ComScore. (n.d.) Canada Digital Future in Focus 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations-and-Whitepapers/2012/2012-Canada-Digital-Future-in-Focus

Fusion Halifax. (n.d.). About. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/FUSIONHalifax/info Fusion Halifax. (n.d.). Fusion Halifax Sponsors. Retrieved from: http://www.fusionhalifax.ca/en/home/aboutfusion/sponsors.aspx Fusion Halifax. (n.d.). Volunteer Job Bank. Retrieved from: http://www.fusionhalifax.ca/en/home/volunteer/default.aspx Government of Ontario, Ministry of Labour Department. (2014). Information for Volunteers. Retrieved from: http://www.worksmartontario.gov.on.ca/scripts/default.asp?contentID=6- 1-1& Halifax Volunteer Services. (n.d.). Contacts. Retrieved from: http://www.halifax.ca/volunteerservices/CommunityRelationsContacts.php Halifax Volunteer Services. (n.d.). Opportunities. Retrieved from: http://www.halifax.ca/volunteerservices/VolunteerOpportunities.php Halifax Volunteer Services. (n.d.). Volunteer Database. Retrieved from: http://www.halifax.ca/volunteerservices/volunteerdatabase1.php Hrmyouth. (n.d.). Education. Retrieved from: http://www.hrmyouth.ca/youthguide/Education.php#university Klemsz, J. (2011, 24 January). Your Nonprofit Has Competitors. Are You Competing Well? [Web blog entry]. Retrieved from: http://blog.firespring.com/2011/01/24/your- nonprofit-has-competitors-are-you-competing-well/ Microsoft Office. (n.d.). Office 365: Nonprofit plans and pricing. Retrieved from: http://products.office.com/en-us/nonprofit/office-365-nonprofit-plans-and-pricing

Ontario Non-Profit Network. (2014). Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation and Your Nonprofit. Retrieved from: http://theonn.ca/what-we-do/stateofthesector/canadas-anti-spam- legislation-nonprofit/ United Way Halifax. (n.d.). Campaign Volunteers. Retrieved from: http://www.unitedwayhalifax.ca/workplace-campaign/campaign-volunteers.html United Way Halifax. (n.d.). Organizations We Fund. Retrieved from: http://www.unitedwayhalifax.ca/about-us/organizations-we-fund.html United Way Halifax. (n.d.). Our Team. Retrieved from: http://www.unitedwayhalifax.ca/about-us/our-team.html United Way Halifax (n.d.). Who We Are. Retrieved from: http://www.unitedwayhalifax.ca/about-us/who-we-are.html United Way Halifax. (2014). 2013 Annual Report. Retrieved from: http://www.unitedwayhalifax.ca/index.php?view=list&slug=annual-reports- 1&option=com_docman&Itemid=282 United Way Halifax. (2014). 2013 Tommorrow Fund Annual Report. Retrieved from: http://www.unitedwayhalifax.ca/index.php?view=list&slug=annual-reports- 1&option=com_docman&Itemid=282 Vezina, M. & Crompton, S. (2012, 12 April). Volunteering in Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2012001/article/11638-eng.pdf