Hillary Houston
Data Analysis
The university has students between 18 and 23; this will be the main target for the sales fundraiser program. The campaign targets this group because over 90% of the population uses social media. This population is diverse because it consists of males and females from various races interested in the program. A vast majority of this population comes from New Hampshire and the England region; however, we also have other students from other parts of the country. The background diversity also makes them suitable for the sales adverts.
Those targeted by these fundraiser adverts are on the campus pursuing their degree in various fields; hence reaching them will be easy because they stay within the university surroundings. Most of them are not income earners, and they depend on their parents for the university upkeep money. They also have various values that make them suitable for the fundraiser; a good number believes in helping the needy. Most are driven by the desire to make a better society through collective responsibility and helping one another. This group also uses various social media platforms, with the most common platforms being WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Telegram, and Linked In.
Evaluating the Landscape
SWOT Analysis
Strength
They are the largest group to deal with, meaning the fundraise can capitalize on the numbers to get the desired target contributions. Since most are not income earners, the fundraiser can request them to contribute the least amount of money or make the baked goods affordable. Through the large numbers, their smaller contributions are likely to surpass the target
The population consists of students from different backgrounds meaning they have different values. This means a good number may have values committed to helping the society hence willingness to participate in the fundraiser (Saxton & Wang, 2014). The male and female populations are all represented; hence nobody is left out. This will eliminate any form of biases that may affect the fundraiser.
Nearly everyone within this target group has at least one social media account. Most have multiples; hence reaching out to them will not be a challenge. This makes communication easier.
Weakness
The main weakness is the lack of stable income. Most of this group are not income earners; hence they are limited on how much they can contribute towards the project.
Opportunity
Most of these people are social media activities; hence they can help in the fundraiser by spreading the information on their social media accounts and involving parents and other people out of New Hampshire University to contribute.
Current social media strategies
The university currently has Facebook and Instagram pages to communicate to society. However, these pages do not have many students who are the target population for this study. The main social media platform for the university to communicate to the students is through class group emails and other virtual platforms. The university also has Twitter accounts though not actively used, and the main following in the account is not the university students. This makes communications through the platform a challenge.
The target audience for specific platforms
This strategy recommends using all social media accounts to target the students. The information will be posted on class WhatsApp and Facebook groups. The information should also be sent to the class emails so that everyone can see it (Bhati & McDonnell, 2020). Besides, there is a need to request the most influential students on social media and ask them to share the information through their student following on various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
Triggers and connection strategies
Social media can be a good connection platform when the message has features to resonate with the audience. To ensure the audience connects with the fundraiser sales, we will attach a picture of children needing medical care (Auter & Fine, 2018). We will also attach a message that can resonate with the audience and convince them to donate to the fundraiser.
References
Bhati, A., & McDonnell, D. (2020). Success in an online giving day: The role of social media in fundraising. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 49(1), 74-92.
Auter, Z. J., & Fine, J. A. (2018). Social media campaigning: Mobilization and fundraising on Facebook. Social Science Quarterly, 99(1), 185-200.
Saxton, G. D., & Wang, L. (2014). The social network effect: The determinants of giving through social media. Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly, 43(5), 850-868.
