22Sigler

Samantha SiglerMSCM 485: Senior CapstoneHomeward Bound Pets Social-Media PlanPHASE ONE: SITUATION ANALYSIS & CAMPAIGN PLAN

Situation analysisMission and goalsHomeward Bound Pets is a non-profit animal shelter in McMinnville, Ore., with the mission of providing shelter and care to homeless cats and dogs in the local community. The animal shelter provides adoption services, spay and neuter clinics as well as community education. Homeward Bound Pets was founded in 1975 by Julie Julson and relies exclusively on donations, fundraisers and adoption fees to operate. Julson started the organization by simply placing an ad in the local newspaper offering to take dogs that were no longer wanted rather than sending them to be euthanized. This anecdote is representative of the organization as whole, which asserts within its mission statement that each animal has unique qualities that someone is looking for in a companion and that time increases the chances of them finding each other (Homeward Bound Pets, 2015b). Homeward Bound Pets was the first animal welfare organization in Yamhill County and was the first in Oregon to accept both cats and dogs. This organization was also the first no-kill shelter in Oregon, as it does not euthanize healthy or sick animals if they can be treated, rehabilitated and adopted. The organization is not allowed to accept stray or abandoned dogs, as these dogs may be harder for the organization to find forever homes. Homeward Bound Pets accepts surrendered animals, which are animals given to the shelter if owners are moving, downsizing or can no longer keep their pet. However, because the county dog control office does not accept stray or abandoned cats, Homeward Bound Pets has an ongoing list of cats in need of homes. Although there is currently an overpopulation of cats in Yamhill County, this organization is not allowed to accept feral cats. There are surrender fees owners must pay when giving their animal to Homeward Bound Pets to help the organization with animal-care costs. While the main goal of the organization is to help animals get adopted and find their forever homes, the second most important goal of this organization is to help spay and neuter cats and dogs. All animals that go through the shelter are spayed or neutered, and the organization also holds community spay and neuter clinics for cats living with low-income families or caretakers with the help of volunteers. The organization also receives grants from the Petco Foundation, several Yamhill County cities, Yamhill County and private donors to help fund these community clinics (Homeward Bound Pets, 2015c). Although the usual fee to spay or neuter cats is $30, Homeward Bound Pets has a no cat turned away policy and will provide other options for owners who need assistance. The organization spays and neuters approximately 25 to 40 cats a month, including pets, strays and ferals (Homeward Bound Pets, 2015c). In addition to caring for animals, Homeward Bound Pets also has the goal of generating revenue through its thrift shop located in McMinnville, Ore. All of the revenue from the thrift shop is used to care for animals at the shelter. Items within the thrift shop range from books, clothes, art and jewelry to home dcor, furniture and pet supplies (Homeward Bound Pets, 2015d). The thrift shop accepts donations of re-sellable items, as well as recyclable cans, bottles and ink cartridges. Lastly, the organization has the goal of receiving donations and volunteer aid to help keep the organization running. Individual donations can be made directly to Homeward Bound Pets or by sponsoring a specific animal. Because the housing, food and medical care for one animal for 10 weeks can cost approximately $575, Homeward Bound Pets relies heavily on donations and grants to function (Homeward Bound Pets, 2015a). Donors are also able to donate supplies to the organization, ranging from animal food and bedding to baby wipes and cleaning supplies. Volunteers are needed to help the organization continue to function at both the thrift shop and shelter, as the organization has a limited amount of money to fund paid positions. Volunteers also are needed to clean and socialize with animals, as well as to work in the office and help with fundraising events. External Environment:There are approximately 13,600 animal shelters within the United States, which accept an average of 7.6 million animals each year (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2015). Of those animals, approximately 2.7 million are euthanized each year. The number of stray dogs and cats is increasing as the number of animals surpasses the number of homes willing and able to adopt, and although the exact number cannot be determined, there are estimated to be up to 70 million stray animals in the United States (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2015). Only 10 percent of animals placed in animal shelters are spayed or neutered, increasing the likelihood of animals reproducing. These statistics impact Homeward Bound Pets, as it is a no-kill animal shelter that aims to spay and neuter all animals. More stray animals, especially those not spayed or neutered, increase the work and funding necessary to maintain the animal shelter. Additionally, the federal Animal Welfare Act governs transportation, sale and handling of certain animals to ensure they are handled with care (Animal Humane Society, 2015). The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service enforces this law, and it is the only federal law regulating the treatment of animals. This law affects Homeward Bound Pets, as the organization must be careful when handling, selling and interacting with animals to ensure they are following the Animal Welfare Act. There are currently 35 no-kill animal shelters within the state of Oregon (No Kill Network, 2015), with 14 of these shelters in Washington County (Washington County Oregon, 2015). Having other no-kill shelters in Oregon also is a significant external factor for this organization, as Homeward Bound Pets could connect with other no-kill shelters to network and collaborate when hosting and adopting out animals. Organization AnalysisHomeward Bound Pets is located in a community with only two other animal shelters. The Pet Stop Inn, located in McMinnville, Ore., is the closest animal shelter to Homeward Bound Pets. Although it is most well-known for its boarding, grooming and animal daycare, the Yamhill County commissioners recently approved a notice of intent to award an $84,000 contract to the shop to keep stray dogs that would otherwise be placed in the county dog control facility (Montesano, 2015). Pet Stop Inn was the only organization bidding for the contract, and it will offer an additional 10 beds for stray dogs. Privatize an otherwise government function positions the organization as helpful and beneficial to the Yamhill County, as it is saving the county money while providing aid to stray dogs. The Pet Stop Inn first opened in 2007 and is owned and operated by Randy Freeman and his family (Pet Stop Inn, 2015). The organization is Yamhill Countys largest boarding, grooming, doggy daycare and training facility. (Pet Stop Inn, 2015). The climate-controlled building has 25 outside exercise runs and assures pet owners that animals can exercise outside for 5 and a half hours per day at its maximum capacity (Pet Stop Inn, 2015). The Newberg Animal Shelter, located in Newberg, Ore., is the second animal shelter near Homeward Bound Pets. It was once a small, one-room building operated by the Newberg-Dundee Animal Control Department, and it is now a private shelter run by the Newberg Animal Shelter Friends organization. However, while the exterior of the shelter was built several years ago, there was not enough funding to complete the interior of the animal shelter. It is currently in the midst of a transition to becoming an all-volunteer organization. The organizations mission at the moment is to raise funds to build a new city animal shelter in Newberg, Oregon (Newberg Animal Shelter Friends, 2015). The shelter is still operating, and once its building is complete, it will run similarly to a larger humane society. In 2014 the City of Newberg cut its Animal Control program, giving even more control to the Newberg Animal Shelter (American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 2015). The shelter accepts stray dogs from the Newberg-Dundee area; however, the shelter does not accept stray or feral cats. The Newberg Animal Shelter lists Homeward Bound Pets on its website as an option for the public to call if they find stray or feral cats, which is helpful for Homeward Bound Pets business; however, this also adds to the organizations caseload and expenses. Yamhill County also cut its animal control facility in 2014, and instead contracts dog housing out to private kennels (Iler, 2014). Yamhill County Dog Control does not accept feral cats, and its price to spay and neuter dogs ranges from $20 to $55, which differs from Homeward Bound Pets standard $30 to spay or neuter cats and dogs. Having no other animal rescue programs in Yamhill County for feral cats is also beneficial for Homeward Bound Pets, as they are the primary option for the public to turn to when adopting or turning in rescued and surrendered cats. However, this is also a burden, as the organization must address all of the countys growing animal rescue needs. Homeward Bound Pets is the only animal shelter in Yamhill County that offers to spay and neuter pets. However, the Cat Adoption Team, an organization located nearby in Sherwood, Ore., also offers to spay and neuter cats for an inexpensive price. Oregon residents are able to pay either $35 to neuter or $50 to spay their animals at CAT, which is similar to Homeward Bound Pets price of $30. However, Homeward Bound Pets follows a no cat turned away policy, and is able to leverage this policy to position the organization as giving and supportive of pet owners. Thus, while there are other organizations for the local community to visit for their animal needs, Homeward Bound Pets is currently the ideal choice in Yamhill County for people who would like to adopt, spay/neuter or surrender animals. The greatest threat to this organization is the lack of communication between the organization and the local community. Because it has such a small budget for marketing, public relations and promoting itself (which is an additional threat to the organization), Homeward Bound Pets has not been able to create a connection with many members of the local community to establish it as a reliable, trustworthy and all-around good organization in the community. Because Homeward Bound relies almost exclusively on donations and aid from the public, it is crucial that the organization establish itself as a cause worth giving to. Without ongoing community support, Homeward Bound Pets would no longer be able to sustain itself. Furthermore, because the organization does not accept stray animals, Homeward Bound Pets usually does not have dogs available for adoption. This situation has given Homeward Bound Pets the reputation of being the cat organization, which is detrimental to the organization when they do have dogs available for adoption. At the moment, the organization is participating in Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team, which sends dogs from California to Homeward Bound Pets to be adopted out (Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team, 2015). This has greatly increased the shelters dog adoption offerings, which needs to be communicated to potential adopters looking for dogs. Lastly, while there is no nearby competition for the organization, there are many laws the shelter must follow when accepting animals. For example, the shelter is not able to accept stray animals and relies on surrendered animals to be put up for adoption.Many opportunities for the organization can be found when looking at the organizations sponsors. Homeward Bound Pets has several sponsors; its biggest is Natures Pet, a pet supply and grooming store located in McMinnville, Ore. Natures Pet has been Homeward Bound Pets only official local business partner for the past two years. The organization offers a bag of cat or dog food and supplies to anyone adopting animals from Homeward Bound Pets, but this gift has not been thoroughly conveyed to potential adopters. There is an opportunity to better convey this information to the target audience, which may increase adoptions for the organization. Additionally, Natures Pet also helped with fundraising for Homeward Bound Pets during its first annual Ruff Ruff Dog Run and Walk event in fall 2014. The owner of Natures Pet is now one of Homeward Bound Pets board members, which demonstrates how invested the shop is in this organization. This involvement creates an opportunity for Homeward Bound Pets, as the organization can rely on Natures Pet for supply support when needed. Natures Pet allows Homeward Bound Pets to host adoption events at its store and will occasionally donate food directly to the shelter. Using the support of this business to help promote Homeward Bound Pets will allow the organization to reach more of the local community, which may lead increased adoptions and donations. Non-sponsor related opportunities for the organization are presented by social media. The organization currently has a Facebook account with 1,775 likes. While this number is impressive for the organization, there is potential for growth on Facebook, as well as for creating a new social media account on Instagram to establish a larger community on social media. The organization does not have a link on its website to its Facebook page, which makes it difficult for the target audience to find and like the organizations page. However, the organization does post weekly on its Facebook page, with topics ranging from animal adoptions to helpful information for pet owners. Furthermore, when searching for the organization on Google, one of the first links to appear is a link to the organizations inactive Google+ page. The organization has an opportunity to better establish itself online by beginning to post on its Google+ account. Although this social media campaign plan will not include the organizations Google+, it is important for Homeward Bound Pets to be aware of what its target audience finds when searching for Homeward Bound Pets online. A large strength of Homeward Bound Pets is its partnerships with Petco and PetSmart. These businesses allow Homeward Bound Pets to host adoption events and occasionally give grants to the organization. The partnership with PetSmart was established most recently, and Homeward Bound Pets is able to successfully adopt out many cats at the PetSmart located in Tigard, Ore. These partnerships with PetSmart and Petco aid the organization financially, logistically and with adoptions. Additional strengths of the organization include its dedicated board members and volunteers. Because the organization is a non-profit with limited funds for employees, it is crucial that community members volunteer and continue to volunteer. These volunteers and board members are internal resources that could be called upon to assist with this campaign, as they could help take photos, write copy and post regularly on social media. Other animal shelters could also be used as resources for this campaign, as there are many animal shelters active online that Homeward Bound Pets could connect with when promoting events, requesting donations of supplies or otherwise communicating with its target audience. By asking other shelters to share the organizations posts and offering to share other shelters post in return, Homeward Bound Pets will reach more of its target audience. Target audienceOne major issue for Homeward Bound Pets is its lack of data regarding its key publics. Demographic information has not been collected and organized by Homeward Bound Pets employees, making it difficult to specify who the primary target audiences have been for the organization. However, this campaign plan will help the organization identify its target audiences and to better reach them through public relations strategies and tactics. There will be two target audiences for this campaign. The primary audience will be an external audience of prospective donors, and the secondary audience will be an internal audience of employees and designated volunteers. One of the most pressing needs revealed by the situation analysis is the need to strengthen its relationships with potential donors. Thus, the first target audience for this campaign will include higher-income residents living in Oregon who already own pets. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 69 percent of pet owners have a family income of $100,000 or more annually. While this is a national figure and the percentage of Yamhill County may be lower, it is important to note the high percentage of pet owners. Thus, for this campaign, high-income will refer to households with an average total household income of $70,000 or more annually (Pew Research Center, 2010b). Additionally, this target audience will be pet owners who are 50 years old or more, as 57 percent of adults between 50 and 64 and 41 percent of adults 65 or older own pets (Pew Research Center, 2010b). This target audience is also ideal for donation-related topics, as baby boomers have 70 percent of all the disposable income in the United States and make up approximately half of the donor-age population within the U.S. (Future Fundraising Now, 2014). This primary target audience is also ideal for a social-media campaign, as 58 percent of the entire adult population uses Facebook and 26 percent of adults use Instagram, an increase from 17 percent in 2013 (Pew Research Center, 2014a). Potential opinion leaders for the primary target audience include board members and leaders of local organizations, such as the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners, Travel Yamhill Valley, Yamhill Valley Visitors Association and the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce. These opinion leaders are active members of the local community and may influence others to be interested in giving to Homeward Bound Pets. The secondary target audience for this social-media campaign will be an internal audience, as it will be imperative that employees and volunteers at Homeward Bound Pets have a basic understanding of social media. Employees and volunteers will also be needed to carry out this social-media campaign; thus, several strategies and tactics will focus primarily on educating this target audience about social media and the tools necessary to carry out a successful social-media campaign.Additionally, active bloggers would be excellent opinion leaders in helping reach the secondary target audience. Because Homeward Bound Pets does not have its own blog, utilizing bloggers who are well known throughout Oregon and Washington will help the organization reach more of its secondary target audience on different platforms online.

Standing PlanGoalThis social-media campaign will be a standing plan, as Homeward Bound Pets is in need of a plan that provides direction for reoccurring situations. A standing plan will allow Homeward Bound Pets employees to use social media more efficiently since they will not need to formulate a new plan when using social media. The goal for this social-media campaign is to increase monetary donations to Homeward Bound Pets. This goal will be achieved by informing and motivating the external target audience to donate via social media. This plan will encourage prospective donors to view Homeward Bound Pets as an organization worth donating to, while also developing conviction among the target audience that Homeward Bound Pets is an organization dedicated to building strong relationships with the local community. This campaign supports the long-term mission of Homeward Bound Pets of helping surrendered animals find homes, as the more donations and attention the organization receives, the better the organization is able to care for and find homes for the animals. Additionally, because Homeward Bound Pets relies so heavily on donations and aid from the community, this campaign will support its current efforts while increasing the likelihood of receiving additional donations. By building relationships with the community and emphasizing the organizations generosity, its kindness and the aid the shelter provides animals, the target audiences will perceive Homeward Bound Pets as an organization that offers the best possible care for surrendered animals and the only organization in the county that saves unwanted cats and dogs. To achieve this goal, Homeward Bound Pets will be able to utilize its current social media platform (Facebook) while adding a new one (Instagram), which will increase its potential reach the target audience. Thus, the organization will be able to build on its current tactics to strengthen relationships with donors and community members. Using the diffusion theory as a model for this social media campaign, Homeward Bound Pets must follow the five stages of persuasion and influence: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and adoption. Public relations practitioners to identify how people process and accept new information before adopting a new idea or behavior use the diffusion theory. Individuals only accept a new idea or mindset after going through the five stages, and public relations practitioners use this process to systematically plan strategies and tactics to guide the target audience through the first four stages to encourage adoption. This theory is ideal for Homeward Bound Pets campaign plan, as it is most useful when creating a campaign plan that aims to persuade the target audience to adopt a new behavior, such as donating cash and goods to Homeward Bound Pets. This theory is often used to guide people through the stages of adoption, making it easy to adopt new ideas and behaviors. Thus, the diffusion theory is ideal for a social-media campaign in which the target audience will only need to hit like or follow to receive information from Homeward Bound Pets encouraging them to donate. ObjectivesThe first objective for this social-media campaign is to raise awareness and interest among the target audience about Homeward Bound Pets. In particular, we want them to be aware that Homeward Bound Pets is dedicated to providing the best possible care for surrendered animals throughout the Northwest and is an organization worthy of donations. While some people may already have this conviction, there appears to be a disconnect between this conviction and making a donation to Homeward Bound Pets. Thus, it is clear not all of the target audience is motivated to donate to the shelter. Therefore, Homeward Bound Pets will first aim to inform 50 percent, or approximately 890, of its followers on Facebook about the organization as a whole and to raise awareness and interest about the organizations services. The strategies and tactics designed to achieve this objective will use social-media posts to inform the primary target audience about the organizations mission, how the organization achieves this mission, why donations are necessary to run the shelter, incentives for those who choose to donate, why the target audience should care, as well as how the organization is beneficial to the local community. The second objective for this campaign is to increase the number of monetary donations by 20 percent over a one-year period. Because Homeward Bound Pets raised $96,000 in monetary donations in 2014, this objective will aim to raise $115,200 for this campaign plan. This objective will use motivational strategies to encourage donations, as well as evaluation, trial and adoption of this new behavior and mindset. This second objective will focus on motivating members of the target audience to donate by communicating the benefits of Homeward Bound Pets, the organizations need for donations, and the ways members of the target audience can donate, such as donating online or donating to the shelters shop. These objectives align with Homeward Bound Pets need for additional donations and recognition from the local community. By establishing Homeward Bound Pets appear as the countys only no-kill animal shelter and number one helper of homeless animals, building strong community connections and engaging with its target audience on social media, this social-media campaign will help reinforce and strengthen its relationship with the community and increase the amount of donations received.

Strategies and tacticsTo meet the first objective of raising awareness and interest among the target audiences about Homeward Bound Pets, the first strategy of this plan will address internal audiences. The first strategy is to establish a social-media kit for employees and volunteers to use when promoting the organization on social media. This informational strategy will help Homeward Bound Pets employees gain a better understanding of how and when to use social media, and will set clear standards for who will post regularly, what they will post, when and how. The social media kit is crucial for achieving the objective, as it will set clear guidelines for employees and volunteers to follow when posting on social media on behalf of the organization. Because the first step in the diffusion process is to become aware, it is important to ensure the target audience has multiple opportunities to become aware of Homeward Bound Pets. The social media kit will help accomplish this awareness by setting guidelines for the frequency and content of social media posts on the Homeward Bound Pets accounts. The first tactic to accomplish this strategy will be creating a social media policy for the organization. This social media policy will include an introduction to social media, goals for social media engagement, specific tips for Facebook and Instagram, and instructions to help organization users differentiate between their personal and professional social media presence. It will be imperative to create a social media policy that is straightforward, simple and easy for volunteers and employees at Homeward Bound Pets to follow, as this is a non-profit organization that does not have extra funding or time to spend on crafting social-media campaigns. The second tactic for this strategy will be to select, test and adopt a social-media editorial calendar for Homeward Bound Pets employees to use. There are numerous online social-media calendars available, and it will be important for Homeward Bound Pets to select one that is simple to use and easy to update throughout the year. It will be imperative to use a social-media calendar that is also either free or inexpensive since Homeward Bound Pets has little funding for social media purposes. Thus, social-media calendars such as Google Calendar or CoSchedule would be an ideal choice for the organization (CoSchedule, 2015). If the organization were to use Google Calendar as its social-media calendar, there are many tutorials online for employees and volunteers to use when learning how to best utilize the calendar (Google Calendar Help, 2015). It would also be easy to employees to share the calendar among themselves, set reminders and use the calendar on their smartphones. Thus, it is recommended that Homeward Bound Pets use Google Calendar for its social-media calendar. The third and final tactic for this strategy is to train employees on how to use social media and follow the social media policy. It is important for employees to understand how to use social media effectively and why it is important to post regularly on social media to achieve the organizations overarching goals. This includes training on how to use Instagram. While the organization is currently active on its Facebook page, a majority of the employees have little to no experience posting on Instagram for personal or professional purposes. This tactic will be accomplished by holding a training session in May 2015 to introduce the social media policy and the new Instagram account, to train the employees on how to use social media for a business, establish which employees will be administrators, and to answer questions employees and volunteers may have about posting on social media. This session will help employees gain a better understanding of how to use the social media policy and social media accounts, which will encourage employees to use this plan to successfully promote the organization, thereby increasing the amount of donations received. The second strategy to meet the objective of raising awareness and interest among the target audiences about Homeward Bound Pets is aimed at the external audience. This strategy is to frame the organization as an important, community-oriented organization by posting information on social media about the organization. This strategy supports the organizations mission of connecting animals with homes. If people regard Homeward Bound Pets as kind and welcoming, they are more likely to connect with Homeward Bound Pets when they are looking to adopt or to donate to an animal shelter. By encouraging the target audience to become aware of and interested in the organization, which are the two first steps in the diffusion process, this strategy also sets a strong foundation for the target audience to become interested in supporting the organization overall. Because the first step in the diffusion process is to become aware, it will be important to ensure the target audience has multiple opportunities to become aware of Homeward Bound Pets as a whole, especially when the overarching goal is to persuade the target audience to donate to the organization. Additionally, by framing the company as one that is welcoming and approachable to people looking to adopt animals and to people who might want to support it with monetary donations, it will be more likely that the target audience will view Homeward Bound Pets as an organization that cares about the community.The first tactic for this strategy is to create an Instagram account and encourage 25 percent, or approximately 445, of the organizations followers on Facebook to follow the organizations new Instagram account. While not every person who has liked the organization on Facebook will have an Instagram account, encouraging Facebook fans who do have an Instagram account to follow the organization will help the organization establish a preliminary following on the new social media platform. This will help the Instagram following to grow through shares on the organizations Facebook account. The second tactic for this strategy will be to post specific heart-string pulling messages on Facebook and Instagram to connect emotionally with the target audience about the shelter adoption services offered by Homeward Bound Pets. This tactic aims to connect with the target audience on an emotional level to illustrate how Homeward Bound Pets is a caring, kind and good organization with the sole purpose of caring for and helping animals. These types of posts will be posted once a week and will tell stories about Homeward Bound Pets, adoptions and animals rather than simply stating facts about services offered by the organization. Examples of heart-string posts will be listed in the social-media kit for the organization, and will include posts about how certain animals came to the shelter, the process of caring for certain animals and stories of animals finding their forever home. Social media analytics, such as the social sharing analytics used by CoSchedule, have found that emotional headlines are shared more frequently on social media than headlines with less of an emotional appeal (Moon, 2014). Thus, it is likely that this tactic will help persuade the target audience to either begin or continue to perceive Homeward Bound Pets as an organization worthy of donations.The third tactic for this strategy will be to post specific news topics on social media at least once a week. These types of posts can be posted more frequently if the organization has additional information to share. For example, Homeward Bound Pets will announce on Facebook and Instagram when it hires new employees, receives grants, accepts new animals and hosts events. This tactic will help create an online community by continuously informing the target audience about changes and updates happening with Homeward Bound Pets to make the audience feel included and part of the Homeward Bound Pets community. Two additional tactics for this strategy will focus on engaging followers and other organizations on social media. The fourth tactic will be to share related information from other Facebook pages, shelters and local businesses on the Homeward Bound Pets Facebook page. For example, sharing information about sales and events happening at businesses such as Natures Pet, PetCo and PetSmart with encourage other businesses to engage with Homeward Bound Pets on social media and may lead to an increase in businesses supporting the organization. This tactic will help Homeward Bound Pets build its online community by reaching out to other organizations, which will likely return the act and share information posted by Homeward Bound Pets. The fifth tactic will engage followers on Facebook and Instagram by posting engaging questions that ask people directly to share their own experiences and stories about their own pets. For example, Homeward Bound Pets could ask Are you more of a cat or dog lover? or Wheres your favorite dog park? To meet the second objective of increasing the number of monetary donations by 20 percent over a one-year period, the next two strategies will be motivational strategies offering incentives and reasons why the target audience would want to donate. Because the next two steps in the diffusion process are evaluation and trial, it is imperative that the target audience has multiple opportunities to become aware of and interested in donating to Homeward Bound Pets. Evaluation involves the individual considering the idea or behavior as potentially useful, while trial involves the individual testing the idea on others by discussing it with others and engaging in conversations about the new idea or behavior. Therefore, the first strategy will be to post reasons and incentives five times a month on social media to encourage the external target audience to donate to the organization. This strategy will increase the likelihood of the target audience donating to the organization, as it will help incentivize the target audience. Thus, the first tactic for this strategy will be to post photos of what the organization does with donations it receives. For example, the organization will post photos of cat and dog food, blankets, toys and other items either donated or bought with monetary donations. This will encourage the target audience to donate by illustrating how exactly donations will be used, as well as by showing what the organization needs. The second and final tactic for this strategy will be to create a hashtag for donation-related posts on social media. This tactic will help build Homeward Bound Pets online community while encouraging the target audience to rally around its cause. This tactic will also help the target audience recognize others who donate and spread the word to encourage more to donate. Example hashtags include #HelpHomewardBoundPets, #KoinsForKittens, #PenniesForPuppies, #CashForCats and #DollarsForDogs.The final strategy for the second objective is to post on social media explanations of how people can donate to Homeward Bound Pets. This strategy will motivate the target audience to donate by reminding them that donations are needed, making it simple and easy to donate, helping the target audience avoid confusion and making the donation process clear. Thus, the first tactic will be to post a link to the websites donation page with a quick, one-sentence explanation of how to donate to Homeward Bound Pets. This tactic will be used every other week to avoid bombarding the target audience with donation requests while still informing them of how to donate. The second and final tactic will be to post specific donation goals every month to encourage the target audience to help Homeward Bound Pets achieve its goals. For example, Homeward Bound Pets will post a donation goal on the first of every month and mid-month, as well as toward the end of the month with an update as to whether the organization is close to reaching this goal. This tactic will help keep donating to the organization on the target audiences minds while not flooding their social media feeds with donation requests. EvaluationIn order to effectively evaluate this social-media campaign, every three months each post from one month will be evaluated based on its number of likes, comments and shares and compared to previous posts to determine whether the level of the target audiences engagement has increased since the last evaluation period. The amount of monetary donations will also be recorded and compared to the amount received during the same period of the previous year in order to evaluate whether the amount of donations has increased by the goal of 20 percent over a one-year period as a result of the campaign. These evaluation strategies will help demonstrate whether the amount of engagement on social media correlates with an increase in monetary donations over time. Additionally, the success of each of the social media platforms will be evaluated by looking at the growth of likes and followers throughout the duration of the evaluation period in order to correlate a growth in social media followers and likes to an increase in monetary donations. I also recommend that Homeward Bound Pets create an online survey to be completed when monetary donations are made via the website that asks donors how they heard about Homeward Bound Pets and what made them decide to donate. This survey will aim to assess the effectiveness of the social-media campaign by connecting social media to monetary donations.

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