Date of Defense

4-19-2016

Date of Graduation

4-2016

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Janice Maatman

Second Advisor

Anna Popkova

Third Advisor

Cherise Buchanan

Abstract

Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes (KLF) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to “Feed hungry people and engage our community in the fight to end hunger.” KLF started in 1982 and has since grown to include 23 pantry sites across Kalamazoo County. KLF offers many assistance programs including Grocery Pantry Program, Mobile Food Initiative, Weekend Food Pack Program, Commodity Supplemental Food, and Meal Support Program (Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes).

Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes faces public relations challenges in regards to connecting with college students in the Kalamazoo community. There is limited mission awareness among students at Western Michigan University. Additionally, students are not aware of the opportunities for volunteering, interning, and hosting food drives. KLF has a professional and easy to navigate website. However, they lack engagement on social media from college students.

Western Michigan University students are the target public for this campaign. This public was selected because students at WMU were not being directly targeted by outreach efforts. If the WMU students were more aware of the mission of KLF as well as the opportunities to get involved, they may be more likely to contribute in some way. WMU students could contribute their time and talent to Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes through volunteering, internships, and hosting food drives. Therefore, the goal of this campaign is by December 1, 2016, increase mission awareness and awareness of existing involvement opportunities among Western Michigan University students by 25%.

The first objective is by December 1, 2016, increase awareness of volunteer opportunities by 20% among Western Michigan University students. In an effort to increase awareness key messages will be utilized to target students such as, Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes offers volunteer opportunities for students to obtain service hours. Also, Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes offers group volunteer sessions that are available to student groups of 10 to 15 people.

The second object is by December 1, 2016, increase the awareness of internship opportunities by 20% among Western Michigan University Students. A key message for this objective is, Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes offers internships for credit at Western Michigan University. Also, internships are available to students in a variety of academic disciplines.

The third objective is by December 1, 2016, increase the awareness monetary/food contribution opportunities by 20% among Western Michigan University Students. A key message is that students at Western Michigan University can host a food drive in collaboration with their registered student organization and campus community. Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes also provides “Food and Fund Kits” to groups who wish to organize a Food and Donation drive.

To achieve these objectives a variety of tactics will be implemented to target WMU students. One of our main tactics is the KLF Bronco Day of Service event. This is a special volunteer event just for WMU students. The event will be promoted around campus in a variety of ways. There will be a poster, press release, media advisory, and invitations, in addition to social media posts. Other tactics include attending Bronco Bash, a student section in the newsletter, informational sessions, campus chalk, and informational tables on campus.

To evaluate the success of this campaign, a post-survey will be given to students at the conclusion of the campaign. The results from the second survey will be compared to the results from the first survey. Also, the individual tactics will be evaluated to determine which tactics were most successful in increasing awareness.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

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