Youth Oasis

Social Media Plan

December 2014

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Table of Contents
Organizational Overview ............... 3
Communication Analysis ............... 7
SWOT Analysis ............................. 11
Action Plan .................................. 14

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Organizational
Overview

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Organizational Overview
Mission and Focus:
Youth Oasis is a nonprofit organization located in Baton Rouge. The organizations mission is to provide emergency shelter and necessary support services to runaway,
abandoned, and homeless youth ages 10-25 within the Baton Rouge Area, enabling
them to transition into responsible and successful adults. Primarily, Youth Oasis focuses on providing a secure environment, food and health services to individuals temporarily until they are safely relocated.
Youth Oasis accomplishes this through two programs: the Basic Center and the Young
Adult Residential Complex. The Basic Center caters to males and females ages 10-17
while the Young Adult Residential Complex is geared toward older individuals ranging in age from 18-25. Additionally, the programs offered through Youth Oasis provide
recreational and educational opportunities to the youth in the programs.

What We Do:
Youth Oasis houses homeless and runaway youth through the Basic Center and the
Young Adult Residential Complex and sets them up for success in their lives. To date,
the Basic Center for children ages 10-17 has provided 1,770 bed nights and 5,300
meals. The Basic Center aims to reunite runaway or homeless children with their families or find alternative permanent placement for them. The Young Adult Residential
Complex has provided youth ages 18-25 with 2,460 bed nights and 3,000 meals. The
YARC provides youth with an apartment to live for a minimal amount of rent, as well
as intensive case management. According to the website, Youth Oasis is one of only
two emergency Childrens Shelters left in the state of Louisiana that houses children in
the custody of the Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS). Youth
Oasis also directs the Safe Spot program in Baton Rouge. The organization asks the
public to help by donating, hosting field trips, providing educational workshops, tutoring students to help them obtain a GED, or facilitating a recreational or skills-based
activity group. The Youth Oasis Underground (YOU) program aims to engage young
professionals in the area to act as ambassadors for the organization and encourage
others to donate or volunteer their time.

Organization Structure:
Youth Oasis is split into two separate entities, the Basic Center and the YARC. The leadership team consists of Executive Director Rafael de Castro, Program Manager Jaqueline Jefferson (YARC), Program Manager Jeff Fairley (Basic Center), and Case Manager
Joshua Riley (Basic Center). The executive board consists of Chairperson Clay Young
Sr. and Vice-Chair Gary Golden, as well as nine other board members viewed

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Organizational Overview
as community leaders in the Baton Rouge area. Board members require no special
background or history and must be viewed as ethical and prominent figures.

Sales, profits, or funding

As a nonprofit, Youth Oasis must rely on outside sources for funding. The majority of
funding stems from contracts with the State of Louisiana and grants. Youth Oasis hosts
two large events during the year for financial support. Web visitors can use the online system Razoo to contribute to Youth Oasis. A donate now link is found on each
page of the website, once clicking through the visitor can specify to donate specific
amounts. For example, $20 will provide food for one youth for one day, while $50 will
buy one monthly bus pass. People can also adopt a YARC apartment and donate or
buy furniture and other necessities for the youth who will reside there. On the support
section of its page, it lists additional suggested donation amounts lacking descriptive
details informing audiences of how their dollars are truly being used. Youth Oasis also
collaborates with various local businesses to host events benefitting the shelter. Finally, several corporation and foundations provide grants to Youth Oasis to continue
operations. These companies are listed below.

Our Publics:
Youth Oasis serves homeless and runaway youth. Other relevant publics include parents, former foster children, foster families, individuals with a rough childhood and
potential donors such as business owners and individuals with a disposable income.

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Organizational Overview
Publics (continued):
Other target audiences include past donors in order to maintain a positive relationship with them. Due to the privacy issues regarding homeless youth, we are not able to
identify specific homeless individuals. The state of Louisiana identifies who our main
public is; however, we are able to research prominent donors of other nonprofits in the
area to be able to target them.
The publics would need motivation to speak for the organizations position. The issue
at hand, youth homelessness, is not in the forefront of societal conversation, so the
publics are not likely to advocate of their own free will. It is an important issue, however, and with the right messaging some of the publics may be willing to speak for the
mission of Youth Oasis.

The Challenge:
Homeless and runaway youth are often overlooked. Many homeless shelters do not accept minors because of liability issues. While most womens shelters accept battered
women and their children, they do not typically accept unaccompanied minors. This
is especially true for young men who are nearing maturity. There are few nationwide
youth shelters, and only two emergency youth shelters in the state of Louisiana, and
the other is in the northeast part of the state. Youth Oasis is the only emergency youth
shelter in the southern part of Louisiana.

Our Competition:
Other homeless shelters in Baton Rouge are in direct competition with Youth Oasis.
These include Passages for Homeless, Catholic Charities Families First Housing, Kaleidoscope Youth Shelter, The Salvation Army, Operation Hope Inc. and New Beginning
Safe House, among others. Some indirect competitors might include hospitals, churches and womens shelters in the area. Some of these competitors, like The Salvation
Army, are national organizations who already have a solid foundation of donors. Youth
Oasis is one of two shelters in Baton Rouge that only houses homeless youth and it is
the only emergency homeless shelter is south Louisiana.

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Communication
Analysis

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Communication Analysis
Current Communication Platforms:
Traditional Media
Youth Oasis hosted its first annual Black Light Affair at the Varsity in Baton Rouge. To
promote this event, the executive director recorded several spots for local radio stations and was featured on WBRZ, WAFB and Cox. Billboards and posters were placed
around Baton Rouge encouraging viewers to attend for a minimal fee.

Online Media
A communication analysis was initially performed to enable BlankSpace PR to fully
understand Youth Oasis current communications efforts and develop a detailed action
plan. Currently, Youth Oasis utilizes a website and two social media platforms: Twitter
and Facebook. Overall, the current website is poorly structured and lacks visual appeal. Additionally, Youth Oasis does not use its website to support social media communication. Youth Oasis communicates more effectively through social media pages
but efforts could be improved.

Twitter
The icon for Twitter is in the bottom right hand corner of the webpage and is difficult
for users to discover. Youth Oasis joined Twitter in November 2011. As of Nov. 11, 2014
they have 92 followers and 208 tweets. They follow 120 Twitter accounts comprised of
other nonprofits, sponsors, hotels, LSU athletics, local news stations and other youth
homeless organizations. Youth Oasis interacts with other brands through retweeting
relevant posts by other accounts, mentioning other organizations and posting links to
interesting articles. The organization had its highest interaction rate on September 10,
receiving two retweets and one favorite. Unfortunately, most tweets posted by Youth
Oasis receive no interaction.

Facebook
This icon is also located in the bottom right corner of the webpage and is difficult for
users to discover. As of Nov. 11, 2014, Youth Oasis Facebook page has 498 likes, 83 visits and is rated for 4.4 stars with nine reviews. Posts consist of photos, links, videos and
text but are not written in a persuasive or engaging tone. Upon analyzing the platform,
BlankSpace PR has concluded that Youth Oasis has not established a tone to use on its
social media platforms. The organization flips between excited, promotional and informational tones when communicating with audiences. Audiences rarely engage with
the organization online and most posts do not receive a single like or comment. On
April 24, 2014, Youth Oasis Facebook page reached a peak engagement of 14 likes on

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Communication Analysis
pictures showing the installation of new floors in the center. Fourteen likes represents
only 3 percent of follower engagement and highlights.

Recently Initiated Communication Efforts

On Twitter and Facebook you will find promotions of its upcoming event, Housing
the Arts on Nov. 18, 2014. On Nov. 7, 2014 Youth Oasis uploaded an informative image
sharing the details and including a link to purchase tickets for the event. Shortly after
uploading this picture, it became Youth Oasis new banner on its Facebook page. On
Twitter, Youth Oasis did not create its own content and retweet a tweet in reference to
its Housing the Arts event.

Online Analysis:
An organization must have its key messaging communicated on social media platforms in order to have communications success. As an organization, Youth Oasis has
an impactful organizational purpose and message; however, this message could be
represented better on social media platforms. The current key messaging thanks donors and contributors but does not bridge back to the organizations mission. Each
post should refer back to the purpose of the organization regardless of what is being
acknowledged in a post. When audiences view a social media platform, the key messages should clearly be represented throughout the posts, and BlankSpace PR intends
to clarify this message and represent it throughout the social media plan. Until Youth
Oasis develops strong brand recognition, the organization must incorporate its mission statement to clearly establish its key message. The ultimate goal is for audiences
to associate the name Youth Oasis with its key messaging that reflects the organizations mission.

Overall Analysis:
Overall, Youth Oasis social media strategy needs improvement. The organization does
not have a pre-established strategy, voice, tone or social media guidelines to follow.
BlankSpace PRs first course of action will be to establish a social media plan and
guidelines that align with the organizations overall business goals of helping struggling youth in the Baton Rouge area. Youth Oasis is using appropriate social media
platforms for the organizations purpose, however, they are not being used effectively.
In terms of relationship management, Youth Oasis does interact with other users on
Twitter, but does not on Facebook. The lack of interaction with its audience is hindering the organizations ability to build relationships with publics. From a dialogic perspective, the content generated needs to be engaging and memorable in order for the

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Communication Analysis
Overall Analysis (continued):
organization to be more effective in its communication efforts. By invoking more of an
emotional tone, the organization can leave an impact on audiences, which ultimately
helps build relationships. Additionally, Youth Oasis could utilize other social media
platforms to engage with audiences such as Pinterest and Blogger. BlankSpace PR has
detailed how to utilize these platforms in the social media plan.

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SWOT
Analysis

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SWOT Analysis
Overview Chart:
Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Only youth shelter in south Louisiana

Emotional appeal
Honest reputation and rapport
Passionate staff
Great outcomes for youth and young
adults

Poor brand recognition

Not financially stable
Minimal website views
Poor usage of social media platforms
Outdated website
Lack of engagement on platforms
Vague descriptions

Opportunities:

Threats:

More fundraisers
Possible Event Planner
More visually appealing website
Proper topic promotion could become
very engaging for Baton Rouge
residents
New land for a new larger facility

Keeping the doors open

Loss of federal funding
Competition from other nonprofits
and shelters

Strengths:
Youth Oasis is the premier center for placing children in healthy, safe and educational
environments, while encouraging positive developments for their future. As the only
youth shelter in south Louisiana, it is leading in the aspect of emotional appeal to donors involving homeless children, especially in this area. Since its founding in 1997,
Youth Oasis has positively influenced youth and young adults, while maintaining an
honest reputation and rapport. Children at Youth Oasis are given the opportunity to
transition from runaway, abandoned, or homeless children to responsible, successful
citizens.

Weaknesses:
Youth Oasis is the premier center for placing children in healthy, safe and educational
environments, while encouraging positive developments for their future. As the only
youth shelter in south Louisiana, it is leading in the aspect of emotional appeal to donors involving homeless children, especially in this area. Since its founding in 1997,
Youth Oasis has positively influenced youth and young adults, while maintaining an

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SWOT Analysis
honest reputation and rapport. Children at Youth Oasis are given the opportunity to
transition from runaway, abandoned, or homeless children to responsible, successful
citizens.

Opportunities:
Youth Oasis greatest opportunities are centered around its future growth and change.
The organization has opportunities to significantly increase brand engagement on social media platforms and see a substantial increase in its reach. Since the organization
currently has a low number of followers, Youth Oasis has an opportunity to successfully
implement a social media campaign centered around fundraising and/or awareness.
Additionally, with the growing number of displaced children in Louisiana, Youth Oasis
has the potential to expand its services to cover a larger number of children in need.

Threats:
As an established nonprofit, it is difficult to receive federal grants to cover expenses
such as utilities, employee costs and other operational expenses. Nonprofits and local
shelters are in competition for federal funding. With the decrease in federal funding it
is difficult for Youth Oasis to keep its doors open.

Conclusion of SWOT:
Youth Oasis needs drastically improve their presence on online media and throughout
the Baton Rouge area, and they have the potential to do so. Because the need to house
homeless youth is endless, Youth Oasis has the ability to not only grow as a successful
organization, but they can also expand its services to cover more children in need.
Ultimately, Youth Oasis needs more brand awareness in order to receive more funding. Youth Oasis overall goal in the next year would be to increase brand awareness
through timely, short and informative posts on the webpage and social media sites
to increase engagement with Youth Oasis communication methods, leading to more
financial support in 2015.

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Objectives and Project

Action Plan

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Action Plan
Target Audience:
Target audiences include parents and families in the Baton Rouge area and potential
donors such as business owners and individuals with a disposable income. Youth Oasis will also focus on targeting past donors in order to maintain a positive relationship
with them.

Goal 1: To increase Social Media Presence

Objective A:
To increase social media posts at specified intervals to 2-3 times a week beginning in
Dec. 2014.

Strategies and Tactics:

1. Develop time-released posts, including information about upcoming events, op-

portunities to get involved and posts to encourage donations, for Youth Oasis to distribute daily posts on Facebook and Twitter to engage the defined target audience.

2. Share on Facebook and retweet on Twitter posts related to Youth Oasis

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Action Plan
Measurement and Evaluation:
To measure this objective we will visibly see posts delivered 2-3 times a week on
Youth Oasis timeline.

Objective B:

To increase Facebook likes by 50 percent and Twitter followers by 100 percent by

April 2015.

Strategies and Tactics:

1. Find and follow users relevant to Youth Oasis

2. Interact with sponsors using emotional appeals to encourage repeated
donations and involvement

3. Interact with audiences on Facebook and Twitter by responding to them

4. Develop and implement a social media challenge in which each LSU Greek

organization posts a photo of its letters on Youth Oasis Facebook page.

Members of the sorority/ fraternity have to like the photo and the page.
The sorority/fraternity that gets the most likes on its photo gets $150
donated to its philanthropy.

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Action Plan
Objective C:
Establish consistent messaging on all social media platforms about the purpose and
mission of the organization by Jan. 1, 2015.

Strategies and Tactics:

1. Develop time-released posts for Youth Oasis to distribute daily posts on Facebook and

Twitter.
2. Design a how-to-post flier teaching Youth Oasis how to set up these posts each Mon

day.
3. Send out a monthly newsletter to create favorable attitudes towards Youth Oasis in in

order to increase trust with the public by 10%.

Measurement and Evaluation:

Develop a survey using Survey Monkey featuring Youth Oasis mission, website content and
Facebook. Use this survey to determine the users understanding of Youth Oasiss purpose. After
reviewing the survey results, use the information collected to develop a clear, concise and consistent message across all Youth Oasis platforms. Distribute monthly newsletter containing the clear
message to all sponsors and volunteers. In April of 2015, resend the survey to see how the understanding of the organizations purpose has changed

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Action Plan
Goal 2: To increase donations through

online donation outlets
Objective A:
Increase online donations by 15 percent by Dec. 2015

Strategies and Tactics:

1. Attach a Donate here button at the bottom of every email newsletter and

accept donations through Razoo, the company Youth Oasis is familiar with
using
2. Attach a link to donate in tweets and Facebook posts

3. Send out fundraising letters before every event benefitting Youth Oasis

Objective B:
Develop a contact database for potential sponsors in the Baton Rouge area by Feb. 1, 2014.

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Action Plan
Objective C:
To encourage donors to accept the challenge to raise $120,000 to cover operational
costs of YARC for the 2015 calendar year.

Strategies and Tactics:

1. Develop an emotional campaign and accompanying video
2. Create a social media campaign focusing on a New Years Resolutionthe campaign

will encourage potential donors to make a difference in a childs life as their New Years
Resolution, which can be achieved with Youth Oasis
3. Prepare video with Youth Oasis director asking for help
4. Develop creative hashtag, #YesToYARC, to encourage donors to tweet or share about

their donation. Example, Im saying #YesToYARC for a year to help keep its lights on!

Measurement and Evaluation:

Carefully measure the amount of online donations received during the 2014 calendar year versus the 2015 calendar year and compare the two to determine if donations increased by 15 percent. Record contact information for past sponsors and anyone who donates, attends an event or
volunteers in order to establish database of potential sponsors in the Baton Rouge area. Monitor
monthly donations to YARC to determine progress toward raising $120,000 in the 2015 calendar
year.

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Action Plan

Link to video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub64VAv8Wl8&feature=youtu.be

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