2 Weber State University Master of Professional Communication Tammy Eppens April 12, 2013 3 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………….4 Issues Analysis………………………………………………………………….……5 Audience Analysis………………………………………………………….………..6 SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………………7 Goals………………………………………………………………………………….8 Message Strategies…………………………………………………………………..9 Success Metrics………………………………………………………………………9 Timeline……………………………………………………………………………..10 The Mission Statement……………………………………………………………..11 The Logo…………………………………………………………………………….16 The Facebook Page…………………………………………………………………33 The Website…………………………………………………………………………38 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..42 References…………………………………………………………………………..45 Appendices……………………………………………………………..………..48-54 4 Everyone Deserves a Photograph Introduction For most of my adult life, I have considered photography to be my heavy hobby. It has been a creative outlet juxtaposed against the regulatory environment of my day job. Before the digital age, I spent three semesters hunkered down in a dark room at West Suffolk College in Bury St. Edmunds, England, experimenting with exposure and coaxing black and white images onto blank white paper. My first digital single lens reflex Canon camera had a measly eight megapixel resolution, but I was hooked at first click. My digital camera gave me instant feedback. I could be as creative as I wanted to be and get immediate satisfaction. I was no longer concerned about wasting a roll of film or the cost of developing ten rolls at a time. I could grab my camera on a whim and practice a concept I read about in a book. I also started to believe I might be a good photographer. Two years ago, my son’s friend asked if I would photograph his wedding. I was honored to be asked, but felt overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task at hand. I signed up for as many workshops as I could find on photography, digital developing, posing, and the business of photography. It was at one of these workshops that the seed for ‘Everyone Deserves a Photograph’ was planted. During one particular question-and-answer session a fellow workshop participant noted that the seminar leader’s photos were always perfect and beautiful. The photographer explained that she always vets her clients. She looks at their online profiles to see if they are ‘pretty’ enough. She only takes events at ‘classy’ venues. In other words, she only accepts ‘perfect and beautiful’ customers. 5 I have an extraordinary respect for this photographer, but what she said bothered me. I would never turn down a client because of their looks, their size, or their style preferences. Everyone is beautiful in some way. The thought kept going through my head, “Everyone deserves a photograph.” As I have contemplated this whisper, it has grown to encompass the idea that everyone deserves a photograph--even if they can’t afford it. Every mom deserves a photograph of her child. Every couple deserves a photograph of their wedding day. Every family deserves a photograph. Every high school senior deserves a photograph. Everyone Deserves a Photograph is a project dedicated to the idea that all people deserve to have images created of the special days in their lives. Issues Analysis On searching the Internet, I found there are many charities dedicated to providing free photography services for various market segments, particularly military families, sick and dying children and adults, breast cancer victims and survivors, pet adoption services, and adoptive families (www.shuttermission.org ). There are also photography charities whose mission is providing a creative outlet to at-risk youth (www.photcharity.org) and to give a voice to marginalized communities (www.photovoice.org). However, I found only one charity, Help-Portrait (www.help-portrait.com), dedicated to providing portrait services for those in need. There are several Utah groups, but none is very active. The most inexpensive portrait studios are located in department stores. Target and JC Penny offer packages ranging from $50 to over $200. These are studio-only sessions, 6 thereby limiting the scope and creativity of the offering. There are no wedding or event offerings. For many families, even this low cost is prohibitive. My vision is to start with a small group of volunteer photographers in the local area. The sessions will be limited to three babies, three families, three high school seniors, and one wedding for a total of ten events. If there is enough support for continuing the project, I will reevaluate in the summer of 2013 for a second round of sessions in the fall. Another facet to an ongoing charity might be to teach people to fish, so to speak. Almost everyone has some sort of equipment that can capture images. In fact, a friend of mine who runs a shelter in California once told me America has the most prosperous homeless people on the planet. They can’t afford a house, but every one of them has a cell phone. Starting a nonprofit organization is a daunting task for one person to take on singlehandedly. The cost and time commitment of incorporating a 501(c)(3), maintaining a website, fundraising, and recruiting volunteers are prohibitive. Therefore, EDAP will initially be a seed project. Audience Analysis There are three distinct audiences for this project: existing charitable organizations (churches, shelters, clothing distribution centers, food banks, etc.), the photography community at large, and potential donors and financial supports in Weber and Davis counties. Each audience needs to be reached in order for Everyone Deserves a Photograph to succeed. If time allowed, I would conduct an online survey with the photography community to determine the level of support for this project. As it stands, I have contacted several 7 professional photographers to gauge their level of support. So far, I have not had any negative feedback. I would also do a phone survey with the directors of local charities to best determine the need. I have assumed there is a need without formal interviews with those working with this demographic on a daily basis. I have, however, spoken with some of the pastors at my church who have been very supportive and have given me the contact information for local nonprofit organizations. SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS:  Intrinsic motivation to succeed (requirement for graduation, personal goal).  Established contacts within the photography community.  Experienced photographer.  Excellent persuasion and presentation skills.  Experience in association management: organized a large state-wide event in South Dakota to commemorate 100 years of statehood (included fundraising, volunteer recruitment, artist and performer recruitment, media relations, etc.). WEAKNESSES:  No existing infrastructure to build on.  Limited budget resources.  Limited nonprofit experience.  No established contacts within the targeted nonprofit communities. 8 OPPORTUNITIES:  No similar photography charity working in the Weber/Davis County areas.  Community need for quality photography services targeted to individuals and families who would not otherwise have access to photography services. THREATS:  Existing charities not yet recognized which are vying for the same audience.  Competition for resources from other nonprofits.  Community burnout from too many requests for support (time and money).  Distrust within the photography community (competitive jealousy). Goals  To raise awareness of Everyone Deserves A Photograph with existing nonprofit organizations (shelters, clothing distribution centers, churches, food banks, etc.) in the greater Ogden area.  To raise awareness of Everyone Deserves A Photograph within the photography community in the greater Ogden area (to include photographers and photography retailers).  To raise awareness of Everyone Deserves A Photograph within the greater Ogden community in order to solicit financial and in-kind donations. 9 Message Strategies  Create base of support in the photography community through Facebook campaign: –reach out to existing photographer friends and direct them to the Everyone Deserves A Photograph page. --ask each new contact to spread the word on their personal photography page. --direct each new contact to the Everyone Deserves A Photograph website to sign up to volunteer.  Create base of support in the nonprofit community through traditional marketing campaign: --develop brochure for distribution. --send introduction letter with brochure and website information. --contact targeted nonprofit directors and set up appointments to discuss Everyone Deserves A Photograph and how best to work together to identify those who can benefit from this project.  Raise awareness of Everyone Deserves A Photograph within the greater Weber/Davis county public through press coverage: --write press release for distribution to local media outlets.  Create general base of support through website updates and blog posts. Success Metrics I will judge success by the following parameters:  Successful recruitment of at least ten volunteer photographers.  Successful completion of ten charity photography sessions  At least 100 ‘Likes’ on the Facebook page. 10  Coverage by local media (Standard Examiner or Weber State newspaper). Timeline  Develop a logo (Completed January, 2013).  Develop a website/blog (Completed February, 2013).  Post first blog entry (First entry posted February 24, 2013).  Develop a brochure (Completed January 31, 2013).  Start a Facebook page (Completed February, 2013).  Send introduction letter to local nonprofits (By March 15, 2013).  Write a press release (Completed February, 2013. Send by March 15, 2013).  Recruit photographers (Start by February 1, complete March 30, 2013).  Hold volunteer meeting, if necessary (May 2013).  Ask for nominations (Start by February 1, ongoing as volunteer hours permit).  Book session appointments (Ongoing based on demand).  Begin shooting (Start by April 1, ongoing based on demand).  Summarize the project and submit final analysis (Complete by March 4, 2013). 11 The Mission Statement I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time. --attributed to Thoreau, Voltaire, Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain among others, but probably the translation of a line written by Blaise Pascal in Provincial Letters, Letter XVI. The challenge in constructing a mission statement for Everyone Deserves a Photograph was to be simultaneously descriptive and concise. In her article “How to Write a Nonprofit Mission Statement”, Havlat (2011) says, “You want your nonprofit’s mission statement to clearly identify your beneficiaries” (low-income individuals and families), “express how you help them” (provide free photography sessions), “and inform your reader what your nonprofit hopes to accomplish with its efforts” (give back to the community). Fritz (2013) says to think of a mission statement as an “elevator pitch.” She advises the statement should say what your organization is about in 30 seconds. “If you can’t do it in that time frame, your mission statement is too complicated.” With that framework in mind, I drafted a rough mission statement for Everyone Deserves A Photograph: Everyone Deserves a Photograph is a community of photographers whose (mission/passion) is to provide professional photographic services to individuals and families when life circumstances (restrict resources) (when there is no budget for pictures). While this sentence passes the 30-second rule, it is not complete or impactful. In an Internet search on “How to write a nonprofit mission statement,” the collective advice was to get outside feedback, ask stakeholders for input, hold a focus group. Bloom (2013) writes, “No matter how good the first draft of your non-profit mission statement sounds, it should be considered a draft. The next step is to test on people who were not involved in the writing. These individuals can point out jargon and missing 12 information. Incorporate this feedback into your draft to create a working mission statement.” With the goal of developing and refining the mission statement for Everyone Deserves A Photograph, I first held a focus group then tested the final draft with the Facebook community. During the focus group, I presented the initial mission statement draft and explained the vision and goals for Everyone Deserves A Photograph. The focus group consisted of six individuals, including photographers and volunteers for other nonprofit organizations. The first question I posed was, “Who is our audience? Who are we trying to reach with our communication strategy?” The consensus was there are two audiences: the photography community that will be tapped for volunteers and the existing nonprofit community who will provide nominees for Everyone Deserves A Photograph free photographs. The second question was, “How do we address the beneficiaries of Everyone Deserves A Photograph using dignified language without sounding condescending or vague?” While the beneficiaries of Everyone Deserves A Photograph services are not a direct audience, the goal was to develop a mission statement that is neither demeaning nor patronizing. The focus group first clarified the intent of the mission statement:  “These are people who want good photos, but it’s just not in the cards for them right now. It’s not about the charity; it’s about one of those simple pleasures that’s almost a luxury.”  “How do you say ‘needy’ without saying ‘needy’?” 13 The focus group then came up with the following verbiage:  “People who need an opportunity for a photo.”  “People who don’t have the resources to capture memories.”  “It’s like life has gotten in the way, not that they don’t have the money necessarily. They are busy and don’t have the resources.”  “Needy. Low-income. Financially challenged. Poor. Restricted budget. Under-privileged.”  “When you thought a family photo wasn’t possible.”  “Matching talented photographers to families who don’t otherwise have the means to purchase professional photography services.”  “Doing the right thing for their families.”  “Picture yourself worthy. Picture yourself honorable.”  “People who aren’t financially capable, less fortunate, no budget, money is a challenge.”  “Picture yourself giving back.” (The group agreed this sentence should be central to Everyone Deserves A photograph branding material)s. I tested the following mission statement on the Facebook community: “Everyone Deserves a Photograph is a community of photographers dedicated to providing professional photographic services to underprivileged families and individuals.” The response was overwhelming. While most people said they liked the idea of the mission, the consensus was the term “underprivileged” was too harsh. Following are comments from the Facebook survey:  “I’m not crazy about ‘underprivileged’ because it seems a little patronizing.” 14  “Underprivileged sounds judgmental.”  “Use low income or people in need because it sounds softer”.  “Try individuals and families who desire but can’t currently afford professional photographs.”  “My Toys for Tots organization uses the term ‘less fortunate’ because it sounds less judgmental.”  I prefer the term, ‘those in need’ or ‘those who can’t currently afford’ because it sounds more matter of fact: you want pictures but you can’t afford them. We can help.”  “Pare down the entire statement to ‘providing professional photographic services, etc.’ without the preamble.  “Try ‘underserved’ in place of ‘underprivileged.’  “Use ‘income challenged’ or ‘people who are unable to pay for the luxuries of life.’”  “Everyone Deserves a Photograph is a community of photographers whose passion is to provide photographic services to individuals and families when life’s challenges make it difficult to budget for family photos.” I also looked to several recognized nonprofit organizations for insight into respectful mission statement verbiage. Habitat for Humanity uses the term, “people in need.” Goodwill speaks to enhancing “dignity and quality of life of individuals and families by strengthening communities…and helping people in need reach their full potential.” 15 The Salvation Army is concerned for “the needs of all humanity…in The Army’s tradition of helping those in need.” The American Red Cross “exists to provide compassionate care to those in need.” The Food Bank for New York City works to end food poverty in New York City by providing 400,000 free meals a day for New Yorkers in need. I also found terms like “income stability,” “human potential,” “human dignity,” “human respect,” “those with the fewest resources,” and “life has equal value.” Because so many national nonprofit organizations used the phrase “in need” rather than “underprivileged”, I did a final revision: Everyone Deserves a Photograph is a community of photographers in northern Utah providing professional photographic services to those in need and tested it against the earlier version: Everyone Deserves a Photograph is a community of photographers whose passion is to provide photographic services to individuals and families when life challenges make it difficult to budget for professional photographs. The final revision was the clear favorite. It passes Havlat’s test by clearly identifying the beneficiaries: “those in need”; how we help them: “providing professional photographic services”; and what we hope to accomplish: “a community of photographers in northern Utah” giving back to the local area. It also stands up to Fritz’s 30-second elevator pitch rule. It says what our organization is about in less than ten seconds. Following is a sample of comments from the Facebook survey on the final draft:  “I like this version. It’s cleaner, easier to read. When I read the second one I get bogged down after ‘life challenges.’ It’s too wordy. The phrase ‘those in need’ is straight to the point and not at all condescending. I like it.”  “This mission statement clearly communicates what Everyone Deserves A Photograph is all about. It answers the who, the what, and the why.” 16 The Logo If a website is the home of a charitable organization (93% of nonprofits surveyed by Miller [2013] for Nonprofit Marketing Guide said a website is very important to their marketing success), the logo is the heart. Since home is where the heart is, an impactful logo gives life to the brand image of an organization. Applegate (2012) writes, “Your design work should always reflect who you already are as an organization, never the other way around. A graphical style that works well for a large, multi-national non-profit may not work at all for a local grassroots organization. Even the highest quality, most impactful graphic design work should always come second to the message and voice of your organization.” Everyone Deserves a Photograph is a grassroots organization whose mission is to provide high-quality photographic services to individuals and families who cannot afford professional photographs. Therefore, the goal of branding for Everyone Deserves A Photograph is to create visual impact while attracting volunteers, donors, and public attention. With these goals in mind, I set out to develop a logo that would articulate the mission of Everyone Deserves A Photograph. The first element of the Everyone Deserves A Photograph logo is visual. The shutter is symbolic of the camera as a whole. Every photographer (our target volunteer base) will instantly recognize its significance. Stafford, Tripp and Bienstock (2004) say, “logo perceptions (i.e., beliefs and feelings) are critical if the logo is to achieve its intended purpose: creating a positive perception of the company or brand the logo represents…logos 17 perceived to have more familiar meanings were liked more than those perceived to have an unfamiliar meaning.” Stafford et al. conclude, “Given that the image of a logo affects perceptions of the organization, the image characteristic seems to also be a critical factor when targeting volunteers.” The second element is word: Everyone Deserves a Photograph. This title encompasses the mission of the organization in four words. The challenge was to find a font that stands out while at the same time is timeless. Wyatt (2013) advises against using gimmicky fonts: “They're the equivalent of typographic chintz and there's a reason why most of them are free. For sheer professionalism's sake you should avoid them at all costs.” 18 Applegate (2012) goes on to say, “Your logo is the image that will define your organization more than any other. Remember that the goal is recognition. When working with your designer to create a new logo, the key to making a popular and recognizable logo is to combine all of the elements listed here: size, style, color, typography, and originality.” The graphic artist offered the following initial design options based on the input I gave him: Option #1 19 Option #220 Option #3 21 Option #4 22 Option #523 Option #6 24 Malloy (2012) advises the first step in creating a good logo is to understand what makes a good logo. He says a good logo should first be memorable, then effective, describable and scalable. Wyatt (2013) says the final step in the design process is to “send it round to your mates and family for a bit of feedback. Look at it sideways, look at it upside down and reverse it. Look at it every which way you can.” To that end, I looked to my friends and family on Facebook to provide initial feedback. In the first round of vetting, fifteen people responded to my request for input; logos #5 and #6 received the most positive feedback. Following are comments about logo #5:  “I really like the shutter, and when it is part of the font it didn’t stick out as much to me. I liked the text around the shutter too. Very cool logos.”  “I like the font—it feels happy.”  “I like #5 just because it looks clean and the aperture logo stands out when not in the wording.”  “#5 because it “is the most clean/clear.”  “I like option #5 best; the others are too visually noisy, and #1 screams Spiderman for some reason.” 25 Following are comments about logo #6:  “It is the font. I like the crispness and the fact that the aperture circle is the biggest thing. Maybe better with a slightly larger font.”  “#6 kinda looks like a seal, the idea of a seal-of-approval seems to go with the word ‘deserve.’”  “This one is sleek and not too busy. I like the shutter too. Don’t change a thing.”  “I’m not sure why, but I like #6. My gut just tells me that’s the best one.”  “Number six looks classy as opposed to the big red letters.”  “Number six seems more balanced and stands out more than the others, maybe because the black is the dominant color.”  “I think #6 is more classy: “It’s the one that looks the most ‘you.’”  “Number six is nice and clean.” Logo option #3 got the most negative feedback:  “The shutters looked like bloodshot eyes to me.”  “Number three kind of creeps me out…I’m scared!!”  “Number three is too loud for me.”  “Number three is too gaudy.” Based on the first round of testing, I asked the artist to develop one more option using the layout from #5 and the font from #6. I then tested three final design options: 26 Option #1 27 Option #2 28 Option #3 29 Twenty-five people responded to my request for feedback on the second round of logos. Seventeen of those responding preferred option #2. Following is feedback about option #2:  “I like being able to read the business name a little easier.”  “I prefer the crisp font of #2.”  “I like #2, but move the text up and enlarge the font of ‘Everyone Deserves’ (justified to the top lateral tangent of the circle), then move ‘A Photograph’ to the centerline and add a bar of color at the bottom.”  “Option #2 is the least abrasive. People don’t want to think that you take action sports photography.  “I like the classy font used in #2.”  “I like that you used the font from #3 in option #2. My eye wants it to be a rectangle.” Logo option #3 came in a close second. Following is feedback about option #3:  “I think the design draws the eye in more. It makes you want to read the business name.”  “I like that it is a seal-style logo with the focus on the shutter.”  “It’s easy to read and pleasant on the eyes.”  “I like #3 because it isn’t typical and I think you can do more with it in stationery, sales aides, and advertising.”  “#3 is more friendly. I like how it pulls you in and makes you want to read the logo…but I’d make the lettering bigger.” 30 Those who preferred option #1 said they liked the bold color and casual font. However, most thought the rounded font with the round icon was too much:  “It makes me think you are going to have me dress up like a hippie for my picture.” Another aspect of the logo design is color selection. Malloy (2012) writes, “It’s been said that color is one of the strongest forms of non-verbal communication available—and it plays a big role in how a logo is perceived by the target audience. Colors can evoke anger, happiness, a sense of power, and everything in between.” In his article on logo design, he suggests red (our font color) provokes feelings of “action, adventure, aggressiveness, happiness, love, passion, and strength,” while black (our icon color) provokes feelings of “mystery, simplicity, and tradition.” Further, Hynes (2008) concludes, “Results strongly indicate that consumers make clear judgments about the image of a firm from the logo design and have strong opinions about which colours are appropriate for different corporate images.” She said that to be effective the logo “must serve as a signature of the company, by clearly linking the shape, design or colour to the organization it represents.” The words most often associated with the color red (our font color choice) in this study were passionate, dynamic and exciting. Lauren Labrecque and George Milne (2012) found the color white is most often associated with sincerity, red with excitement, blue with competence, black with sophistication, and brown with ruggedness. From their research they suggest, “Marketing managers might use color knowledge to choose an appropriate color scheme for logos, packaging, advertisements, storefronts, and websites that will create and reinforce a specific brand personality...A brand can use color to create a distinctive personality, which may be strategy for differentiation.” 31 Interestingly, seven people included comments about color in their feedback on the logo design:  “I like the red lettering.  “Play around with other font colors to see how it looks.”  “The color should be more prominent.”  “Try making the font green or blue.”  “Try filling the shutter icon with colors from the color wheel.”  “Use something other than red. Red means stop, don’t enter to me.” Incorporating green would invoke feelings of calmness, health and healing, luxury, wealth, nature, and tranquility; blue would suggest authority, calmness, confidence, dignity, success, tranquility, and trustworthiness (Malloy). One person saw the color red from a negative perspective, and there is evidence to support that opinion. In the article How Color Affects Your Spending (Real Simple, March 2013), the editors write, “Marketing experts say that people subconsciously associate specific colors with specific social or cultural messages…just like a stop sign, a red placard can make consumers hit the brakes. It serves as an alarm.” On the other hand, black is the color of sophistication; blue “connotes trust and dependability;” burgundy is the color of “all things rich;” green is used to attract environmentally friendly consumers; orange is associated with “fairness and affordability;” pink has calming effects; violet is associated with royalty; white “suggests simplicity and purity;” and yellow “evokes energy.” From this feedback, the artist developed the following prototypes for the final logo: 32 33 The Facebook Page Creating a Facebook page in and of itself is like launching a sailboat without a rudder: It will bob around out in the water, but it won’t go anywhere. Olivier Blanchard writes, “In order to serve any purpose at all, a social media presence must either solve a problem for the organization and its customers or result in an improvement of some sort. In all things, purpose drives success.” (Social Media ROI). In our New Media course last summer, Ty Sanders introduced the OASIS framework as it pertains to social media best practices. Before starting a social media campaign, he said you need to set your goals and quantify your objectives, i.e., make sure they’re specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely; you need to know your audience; you need to develop a strategy; you need to plan your implementation; and you need to continue measuring your goals in order to achieve long-term sustainment of your social media campaign. The first step in developing the Everyone Deserves A Photograph Facebook presence was to write the objectives: 1. The Everyone Deserves A Photograph Facebook page will target photographers, resulting in ten volunteers in one month. 2. The Everyone Deserves A Photograph page will target the greater friend audience, resulting in five shares within two weeks. 3. The Everyone Deserves A Photograph page will generate interactive content which will result in ten comments and/or likes per post. Next, we asked, “Who do we want to reach with our Everyone Deserves a Photograph page?” There are four audiences for this project: individuals and families who can’t afford professional photographs; volunteer photographers; the greater northern Utah 34 nonprofit/charity community; and the community as a whole. I determined that the Facebook page would be primarily targeted to photographers in order to raise awareness of the project and recruit volunteers. My strategy is to actively create and push interesting and relevant content out to the followers of the Everyone Deserves A Photograph page. In its ‘Best Practices’ advice, Facebook recommends posting once per day to keep interest up. They suggest varying content between questions, captivating graphics or video, and fill-in-the blank posts. Facebook also suggests posting pictures and asking followers to come up with the best caption, sharing exclusive news stories, creating an event, or creating a poll. Facebook will soon be launching a new feature: Graph Search. Graph Search allows users to find an organization like Everyone Deserves A Photograph using key words associated with the organization’s page. Graph Search essentially uses sub-categories to index pages so that users can find topics of interest to them. It’s basically a more sophisticated Facebook search engine. Haydon (2013) outlined the following ways to maximize Facebook page visibility for organizations like Everyone Deserves A Photograph: 1. Tweak Your Page Category. To change the page category, I selected the Edit Page drop down menu from the administrator page and selected ‘edit info.’ Under ‘category’ we selected ‘Companies & Organizations’ and ‘Community Organization.’ Those descriptions best matched the mission of Everyone Deserves A Photograph. 35 2. Tweak Your Page Sub-categories. Facebook allows you to select up to three sub-categories to describe your organization. These are pre-populated by the Facebook team and are not customizable, probably to keep the search engine as clean as possible. I selected ‘Photographer,’ ‘Charity Organization,’ and ‘Community Organization.’ 3. Complete Your Address. This is self-explanatory. I added an address so that Graph Search will allow users to search for local nonprofits their friends like. 4. Complete Your About Section. The information in the ‘About’ section should contain keywords which allow people to find the organization in a search. It is important to describe the organization without getting bogged down in technical jargon. I used the mission statement: “A community of photographers in northern Utah providing professional photo services to those in need.” 5. Tag Your Photos. Although I do not yet have a large portfolio of photographs associated with Everyone Deserves A Photograph, tagging future photographs will increase the visibility of our page in a Facebook search. 6. Pay Attention to Photo Descriptions. The author suggestions using clear descriptions when labeling photographs because Graph Search indexes keywords to use in searches. 7. Create a Username. I created the username Everyone Deserves A Photograph as a customer URL for the page: www.facebook.com/EveryoneDeservesAPhotograph The default URL assigned by 36 Facebook was a conglomeration of numbers and letters before changing to the custom name. 8. Continue Creating Killer Content. Haydon (2013) says the most important key to establishing a Facebook presence is to continue, “parsing out great content.” If people are talking about your page, video, photograph or update, the page will continue to show up in the newsfeed. I looked to some of the top ‘liked’ nonprofits on Facebook for content examples. On Sunday, March 3rd, 2013, the National Public Radio page shared a link about an article commemorating Pink Floyd’s Dark Side, 49 Years Later. The link had 875 likes, 326 shares, and 80 comments. The US Olympic Team featured an article about Olympic wrestlers in light of the sports’ exclusion from the next Olympic Games. The link had 547 likes, 42 shares, and 13 comments. Unicef posted about the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan and included a photograph of three adorable children. The article had 1793 likes, 286 shares, and 52 comments. The Humane Society of the United States showed a photograph of one of their volunteers holding a dog that had been rescued from a commercial breeding facility in North Carolina. Their call to action was a plea to sign a pledge to stop puppy mills. The post had 9940 likes, 2761 shares, and 643 comments. The Wounded Warrior Project simply posted a photograph of a wounded soldier learning to “fly.” The photograph had 2222 likes, 194 shares, and 42 comments. On a local level, The St. Anne’s Center Homeless Shelter page shared a photograph from a theater night at the center. The photo had 24 likes. The United Way of Northern Utah shared a quote from Dr. Seuss with a graphic featuring the Cat in the Hat holding the tag line “Live United.” The post had three shares and six likes. The Northern Utah Chapter 37 of the American Red Cross shared video, posted announcements, and shared news stories. While the organization updated the page frequently, there was little or no interaction with their community of followers if measured by likes or shares; none of the content had elicited interaction. These organizations could benefit from a more coordinated effort to push relevant content to their respective Facebook communities. Questions and fill-in-the blank type statements tend to elicit more interaction. I implemented the Everyone Deserves A Photograph Facebook page in stages. First I created the page and tested several iterations with friends. I tried different banner photographs, logos, and mission statements before I pushed the page out to a broader audience. When I was satisfied that the page reflected the purpose of Everyone Deserves A Photograph and was tailored to the appropriate audience, I began inviting Facebook friends to like the site. Within 24 hours, the page had over 30 likes. To continue to build the audience, I broadened the reach and asked several of the initial fans to spread the word by sharing the page. This broader reach pulled in an additional 50 likes. Finally, we reached out personally to several fellow photographers and asked them to share the page with their followers. This personal recruitment resulted in additional shares and pushed the ‘like’ count to over 100. Within a week, I had recruited five volunteer photographers, enough to begin marketing Everyone Deserves a Photograph to fellow charity and nonprofit organizations in Northern Utah. Long-term sustainment is the final task and is on-going. The challenge will be to create engaging content that is not only relevant, but is interesting, challenging, and thought provoking. Future content will include photographs, interactive questions and fill-in-the-38 blank posts, video links, polls, and announcements. See Appendix H for a comprehensive posting schedule for the first six weeks. The Website The website for Everyone Deserves a Photograph was a challenge. I am not a web designer, nor do I pretend to be. If I had unlimited funds I would have hired someone to design the page. I can write; I didn’t know the first thing about designing a blog or web page. My first question was: “What’s the difference between a blog and a website?” Where else to turn but the Internet? The site Brand. Build. Sell. asked my question for me: “Ok so, let me get this straight. Is a blog a type of website? (http://www.brandbuildsell.com/blog-vs-website/).” I didn’t feel so bad when they said a lot of people have a hard time distinguishing between the two. “The answer is simple. A blog is a TYPE of website. A website is really anyplace you can visit online with URL and allows you to view content. So essentially EVERYTHING on the Internet is a website.” The authors advised using a blog as a foundation, then adding features based on the purpose of the website. “The single most defining feature of a blog is the frequency of updated content on the homepage. New content on a blog is by default added to the homepage of the blog at the top.” This helps with search engine optimization because every time you add something new to the blog, the search engine spider finds the new content and adds the information to the web. A web page is static. Even new information is difficult to find because the search spider can’t find new content. 39 With a blog, every time you add new content it’s like notifying the search engines there is new information on your site. “The search engines will visit your site and index your site more often than a static website.” Besides all that, a blog is cheaper than a website. Although I just said I am not a website designer and would have hired it done had I the funds, in the end I paid only $25 to purchase a domain name. The hosting and template on Wordpress are free. In contrast, I paid $500 for my personal photography website and an additional $150 every year for hosting. My next novice question was, “What does it mean to ‘host’ a website?” I know I’m paying for the privilege to host my www.tamarakayphotography.com page, but what am I getting? According to Wikipedia, “a web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web.” The difference between my free Everyone Deserves A Photograph blog and my paid photography website is all about the complexity. My photography website requires more bandwidth to support multiple online galleries, a portrait proof site, and flash capabilities—hence the yearly hosting fee. The Everyone Deserves A Photograph site is simpler. Before building the blog for Everyone Deserves A Photograph, I asked, “Who is the audience?” The audience for the website is broader than that of the Facebook page. While the Facebook page is directed more specifically at the photography community in order to drive volunteer participation, the website provides information for the entire Everyone Deserves A Photograph audience. The website audience includes not only photographers, but also fellow charitable organizations and the community as a whole. It is a gathering place for volunteers as well as a hub to nominate people in need of professional portraits. 40 With that audience in mind, I decided to include four pages: About, Gallery, Volunteer, and Nominate. The front page will include updates about coming volunteer events and stories from the volunteers about their experiences. The ‘gallery’ page will include portraits of participants who allow their images to be used. The ‘volunteer’ page includes a form to fill out indicating the types of sessions the photographer prefers shooting along with their availability times and contact information. The ‘nominate’ page is where people can nominate individuals or families who want, but can’t afford, professional portraits. It includes a form to fill out with the name of the nominee and the reason for their nomination. Finally, the ‘about’ page includes the mission statement for Everyone Deserves A Photograph: A community of photographers providing professional photographic services to individuals and families in need. In the book Writing for the Web, Kilian says there are three principles to impactful webtext: orientation, information, and action. “Visitors need two kinds of orientation: background knowledge about the site, and navigation aids to help them get around.” The information included on the site should be both clear and correct. “Your text should be understandable at first glance, even to readers with little formal education…If readers must puzzle over unfamiliar or ambiguous words, you are making them work harder than they need to.” Further, the site should be correct in terms of proper grammar and spelling. Errors in either can send a message that the organization is not competent. Finally, Kilian says the website must include a call to action. “What action do you want your readers to take as a result of absorbing the information on your website?” The Everyone Deserves A Photograph website adheres to these three directives. The home page of the site includes a short narrative about average income and the poverty level in northern Utah. The language is clear, correct, and simple. It also includes a call to action, 41 directing readers to either the nominate page to nominate a deserving recipient, or to the volunteer page to volunteer time. I tried out several different templates from both Themeforest and Wordpress. In the end, I decided on the Twenty Twelve template design. It is clean, easy to read, and simple. I didn’t want a bunch of graphics cluttering the design. With Twenty Twelve, the Everyone Deserves A Photograph logo is the featured element of each page. The landing page will be updated with current information about volunteer meetings and success stories from photo sessions. Because the program has not yet set up any portrait sessions, I used photos of my friends and family to add a personal touch to the site. Going forward, the gallery page will include photos of volunteers and any images of participants who release their portraits for use in promotional materials. This is a touchy area given the charitable nature of Everyone Deserves A Photograph. While I would like to use as many images as possible of the people we select for free photographs, I also understand they may not want the world to know they can’t afford even the most basic photographs from Target or JC Penney. 42 Conclusion The Everyone Deserves A Photograph project is not finished; it is just beginning. Each element of the media campaign is in place: logo, letter to local charitable organizations, press release, blog, and Facebook page. The Facebook page has already garnered 112 likes and five shares and has directed photographers to the website where six have signed up to volunteer. The strength of the project is in its service orientation. I have not encountered anyone who does not believe there is a need for this service. It has been encouraging to see the support for this service grow over the past couple of months. At every turn, when I reached out to my Facebook friends I got substantial feedback on whichever element I was testing. I also had no problem recruiting for a focus group in my home. I did not have to lure participants with dinner or gifts. There have also been challenges along the way. I selected a fellow photographer to be my second advisor in hopes he would help with graphic and website design. He has extensive experience in building a brand and web presence with his own business and was more than willing to sign on to help with this project. Unfortunately, he had outside time commitments that precluded his participation in the final stages of this projected. I was able to call on other marketing and photography experts as well as my Master of Professional Communication colleagues for additional assistance. The unknown is still whether there is truly a need for the service Everyone Deserves A Photograph provides. I waited to launch the final recruitment push for nominees until I got volunteer commitment from other photographers. This is a huge time commitment and 43 I knew I would not be able to handle more than a couple sessions myself. Now that I have several volunteers on board, I will send out the brochure and information letter to local charitable organizations, schools, and churches. I will also send the press release to local media in order to raise awareness of Everyone Deserves A Photograph within the community. Other groups I have not yet contacted in order to raise awareness include local photography clubs, photography stores, and private photography studios. All of these organizations could potentially drive both volunteers and worthy nominees. Another time-consuming aspect of this project is the commitment to continued Facebook presence. The only way to maintain any visibility on this fickle social media site is to push interesting content out nearly every day. I have not done a good job at driving content yet because of the time involved in writing a final project paper. In the next few weeks I will implement my content push in order to recruit the final volunteer photographers and begin to schedule session appointments. Had I more time, I would have also worked with some fellow photographers to develop a recruitment video which could be posted on the website and linked from the Facebook page. The video could include case studies of people who benefited from the service as well as how giving back to the community benefited the volunteers. This will be a project for this summer. A few logistical questions still remain. How many sessions will we accept? How will we terminate the service if it gets overwhelming? What parameters will we use to select worthy nominees for portrait sessions? Will we offer prints or just CDs of the final images? Do we require insurance of any kind? Would organizing as a 501(c)3 be beneficial? What kind of fundraising should we do? 44 While these are all valid questions, the first step is to take the first step. The mission of Everyone Deserves a Photograph is to provide professional photographic services to northern Utah families and individuals who are in need. As the community of volunteer photographers comes together to fulfill this mission, I will get a clearer picture of how to manage the minutiae. There will likely be changes along the way; however, the framework is in place to begin the project and successfully see it to fruition. 45 References Alder, Laurel Cannon (2009). The Art of Forming a New Nonprofit: A Step-By-Step Guide. Retrieved from http://www.utahnonprofits.org/images/stories/publications/art-of- forming-a-new-nonprofit.pdf Applegate, Tiffany. (2012, February 24). 5 Rules For Non-Profits To Avoid Design Pitfalls. Retrieved from http://www.applegateconsultinginc.com/myblog.asp?blogid=8&postid=11 Barry, Frank. (2012, March 2). Content Marketing: 5 Non-Profit Success Stories to Learn From. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2012/03/02/content- marketing-non- profits/ Blanchard, Olivier. (2011). Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization. Indianapolis, IN: QUE Publishing. Bloom, Leah. (2013). How Do I Write a Non-Profit Mission Statement? 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Retrieved from http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/pro-guide-logo-design-21221 Ziser, David A. (2010).Captured by the Light: The Exxential Guide to Creating Extraordinary Wedding Photography. Berkley, CA: New Riders. 48 Everyone Deserves a Photograph Facebook Page Everyone Deserves a Photograph Website www.everyonedeservesaphotograph.org Appendix A 49 Everyone Deserves a Photograph Brochure Appendix B 50 Appendix C DATE XX, 2013 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION ADDRESS ADDRESS CITY, STATE ZIP CODE Dear ______________________ We are writing to introduce ourselves to nonprofit service organizations in northern Utah because we need your assistance. Everyone Deserves a Photograph is a community of volunteer photographers providing photography services to individuals and families who may not be able to afford professional portrait sessions. We are currently accepting nominations for high school senior, infant, bridal, wedding, individual, and family photo sessions. Please visit www.everyonedeservesaphotograph.org to nominate a deserving family or individual today. Sincerely, Tammy Eppens (801) 389-2047 51 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Everyone Deserves A Photograph Accepting Nominations for Free Photo Sessions Everyone Deserves A Photograph, a group of volunteer photographers in northern Utah providing professional photographic services to families in need, is currently accepting nominations for free high school senior, infant, bridal, wedding, individual, and family photo sessions. “Every mom deserves a photograph of her child. Every couple deserves a photograph of their wedding day. Every family deserves a photograph. Every high school senior deserves a photograph. Everyone deserves a photograph, even if they can’t afford it,” says Tammy Eppens, the group’s organizer. Everyone Deserves A Photograph is a seed project to fulfill the requirements for the new Master of Professional Communication degree at Weber State University. Visit www.everyonedeservesaphotograph.org to nominate a deserving recipient or to volunteer as a photographer. Contact: Tammy Eppens tammyeppens@gmail.com 6025 Breeze Circle Ogden, UT 84403 (801) 389-2047 ### Appendix D 52 Appendix E Sample Photo Release Form Name or Organization Address City, State, Zip Permission to Use Photograph Event: ____________________ Location: ___________________ I grant to [insert name or organization], the right to take photographs of me and my family in connection with the above-identified event. I authorize [insert organization], its assigns and transferees to copyright, use and publish the same in print and/or electronically. I agree that [insert name or organization] may use such photographs of me with or without my name and for any lawful purpose, including for example such purposes as publicity, illustration, advertising, and Web content. I have read and understand the above: Signature _________________________________ Printed name ______________________________ Address __________________________________ Date _____________________________________ Signature, parent or guardian _______________________ (if under age 18) 53 Appendix F Budget Domain registration (www.everyonedeservesaphotograph.org)………… $25 Logo design……………………………………………………………...$200 Brochure printing………………………………………………………...$150 Volunteer meeting refreshments……………………………………....….$150 Miscellaneous printing …………………………………………………...$100 Photo supplies (CDs, etc)…………………………...……………………$100 Photo printing……………………………………………………………$200 54 Appendix G Facebook Push Content Schedule Week one:  Tuesday--Post photography hint.  Thursday—Share content from the organization 100cameras. Week two:  Tuesday—Ask “What is your preferred editing software and why?”  Thursday—Share photograph from National Geographic. Week three:  Tuesday—Post photography hint.  Thursday—Share content from 100cameras. Week four:  Tuesday—Ask fill-in-the blank question: My favorite portrait lens is ___________.  Thursday—Share photograph from the Pulitzer Prize finalists. Week five:  Tuesday—Post photography hint.  Thursday—Share content from 100cameras. Week six:  Tuesday—Ask “What is your favorite time of day to shoot?”  Thursday—Share photograph from Time magazine archives. This schedule will be adjusted based on participation from the Facebook community.