Megan Turner Communication Audit History The organization began in 1962 as the Animal Protection Society of Chapel Hill.

The primary goal was to advocate for animal welfare. From 1979-2004, the organization operated under a government contract. It served as the county animal control services and an open-admission animal shelter. They also provided general health and nutrition care for animals. In the late 1990s, the organization moved to Mebane. When the government contract ended, the APS reopened as a closed-admission, guaranteed adoption center. In 2008, the organization was renamed Paws4Ever. The organization today now operates as an adoption and training center. The adoption center serves as a placement partner for animals transferred from other county shelters. The training center offers life skills, puppy training and agility for dogs. Services Offered Paws4Evers tagline is Educate. Care. Adopt. Train. These are fulfilled through the various services offered at the adoption and training center. Educate: - Various programs are held at the training center. The function is to educate the public. o An example is the upcoming Holistic Canine Health seminar featuring Dr. Doug Knueven. Care: - Staff and volunteers care for the animals of Paws4Ever. This is evident in the commitment to be a closed-admission guaranteed adoption center. Adopt: - The adoption center staff, as well as volunteers, work to keep animals happy and adjust to find forever homes. - The animals are promoted at a variety of events to help spread Paws4Evers message. Train: - The training center offers dog training with a number of classes. Mission

Paws4Evers mission statement as stated on the website: Paws4Ever is dedicated to improving animal welfare and fostering a humane community, and building strong positive bonds between people and animals that last a lifetime. Key Figures Board of Directors Caroline Green, President Perry Dowd, Secretary Ann Petersen, Treasurer Kendall Page DeWana Anderson Joanne Andruscavage, Executive Director Sarah Gray Lamm Debbie Leonard Trish Rafalow John Wise

Program Managers Katy McClure, Volunteer Program Manager Tracy Carroll, Training Program Manager

Methodology In order to evaluate Paws4Evers communications among its publics, a survey was developed for both staff (internal publics) and volunteers (external publics.) Both surveys were administered through the Google Docs Form feature. The executive director distributed the staff survey and the volunteer program manager distributed the volunteer survey. The first five questions of the staff and volunteer survey were identical. The goal of these questions was to determine how aware the publics were of communication efforts, as well as how effective they believe the efforts to be. The volunteers had five additional questions to determine what improvements they believed Paws4Ever could make. These results were primarily used for constructing the social media plan.

Both surveys can be found in the appendix. Results of Audit Process Internal Communications The first goal of the survey was to determine how aware staff were of the communication tools that are being used. All staff members, were aware of the use of Facebook and the website. Only 80 percent were aware of the use of email. Most striking was that only 20 percent, one respondent, knew about the Twitter account. The second goal was to assess how well staff knew the mission statement. All responses provided touched upon the key mission of Paws4Ever. Therefore, I think most staff members are well aware of the mission and serve it in there every day work. Some of the comments staff provided include improving animal welfare, we house and care for the animals until they find their forever homes, and all the critters are very well cared for. The third objective, to determine how consistent the logo is, showed the majority of staff view the logo as inconsistent. Of the respondents, 40 percent believed the logo is consistent, as compared to 60 percent that believed it was not consistent. The fourth question, that evaluated overall communication efforts show that staff believe communications efforts are poor. On a scale of one through ten, one representing weak communication, staff gave Paws4Ever an overall rating of 3.6 indicating the communication efforts are poor. Only one of five respondents gave Paws4Ever a rating above five. The final question determined if Paws4Ever is reaching its objectives. Only one respondent replied yes, as compared to two that said no. Additional respondents stated, No, but there is improvement, and Staff is awesome. Board of Directors needs to step up to objectives. External Communications The first goal of the volunteer survey was to determine how aware volunteers were of the communications tools being used. The results found that volunteers are mainly aware of email and website as compared to other communications tools. 96.4 percent were aware of email and 87.3 percent were aware of website. The next most aware tool was Facebook with 58.2 percent of volunteers being aware. The most striking result was that only one volunteer was aware of the

Twitter account. The next result determined if volunteers are aware of the mission statement. Many seem to be aware of the main goals of the mission. Therefore, the mission statement is being communicated well to volunteers. The third question determined if volunteers believed the logo was consistent. The majority, 83.6 percent, believe the logo is consistent. Only two respondents, 3.6 percent said no the logo was not consistent. One specifically noted that the bumper sticker is not consistent. The question that assessed overall communications is much different compared to the staff responses. The average ranking of Paws4Evers use of communication was 7.1 out of 10, with 10 being strong communication. 45 of the respondents rated the communications above a five. Only five rated it below. When asked if Paws4Ever was reaching its objectives, 76.4 percent responded yes. Only 5.5 percent responded no. Volunteers offered suggestions to improve communications. One comment was that Sometimes I feel it is preaching to the choir. This suggests volunteers want different messages than those provided to the general public. Key Findings between External and Internal Publics Both groups are poorly informed that Paws4Ever has a Twitter account. Across the two groups, the highest awareness was of Email, Website and Facebook. More volunteers believe the logo is consistent as compared to staff. o This could be because the staff members see the logo more often. o However, in the survey results one volunteer stated, I dont remember the logo. Overall volunteers view the communication efforts higher. o This combined with the incongruity with the logo suggest there could be something going on internally. If staff members are unhappy, they could view communications negatively. Despite this a large majority of external publics, volunteers are pleased with the communication efforts.

SWOT Analysis Strengths: Large number of volunteers o Help with: Walking dogs Canine Companions (CC) Socializing with cats- Feline Friends (FF) Resale Store Adoptathon Special Events/Projects Communications strategies (website, Facebook, email) reach volunteers and supporters. Large number of adoptathons allow animals to reach larger presence within the community. Paws4Ever collaborates with organizations/companies that share the same interest (Phydeaux.) Events reach a variety of people and interests. They are located between Orange, Chatham and Caswell counties. This is beneficial as the placement partner for these county animal shelters. It is one of the few closed-admission guaranteed adoption centers in the area. Since Paws4Ever operates as a nonprofit organization, it has certain benefits such as being exempt from taxes.

Weaknesses: Small staff The logo does not appear on all communications materials. The surrounding community may not be aware of Paws4Evers services. The center is located in a rural area away from surrounding cities.

There is a limited budget.

Opportunities: Since there are many colleges nearby, Elon University, UNCChapel Hill, Duke, etc., there is an opportunity for more volunteers. If Paws4Ever reaches out to these organizations, they can increase volunteers. Paws4Ever can reach out to media sources to get more coverage of the organization, as well as individual animals. Democrats tend to support animal rights more. The counties, Chatham, Caswell and Orange, representatives are all Democrat.

Threats: There is competition for volunteers with government contract open-admission animal shelters. There can be negative attitudes toward animals in general. Other nonprofit organizations are competing for volunteers time.

Conclusions and Recommendations Based on the results of the staff and volunteer survey, it is clear some improvements could be made to Paws4Evers communications efforts. Website The following recommendations are based on my observations as well as volunteers comments. To begin, the website tabs should highlight what section of the site you are on. The home tab is differentiated, but no are tabs are. As the screenshot below shows, the user is on the about page, yet the home tab is highlighted. It would be more user-friendly if each section is highlighted.

Also, a Twitter icon should be added beside the Facebook icon. If other social media accounts are added, they should also have links. This could account to why so few staff and volunteers are aware of the social media accounts. Although a large number of volunteers and staff are aware of email, there should be a link to sign up to receive emails on the website. The main problem cited by volunteers was that the site does not consistently update info like new animals, events and volunteer opportunities. For example, many of the dogs and cats do not have bios, other than more to come soon! Volunteers expect this to be up-todate. One volunteer stated, I think visitors want a realistic representation of which animals are available, more info on them and more photos. Volunteers also desire a section including info on animals that have been adopted. Another suggestion was to include a wish list on the website. Also, volunteer hours should be included on the website. Social Media In order to better use social media, the directors should attempt to either use the plan I have created or sit down and come up with a purpose and structure for the use of social media. Quarterly Newsletter I think Paws4Ever could gain more reach if they crafted a quarterly newsletter similar to the design I proposed. This could be posted on the website, emailed and printed to have a few copies at the center, as well as supporting organizations like Phydeaux.

The newsletter designed by the staff for March 6, 2012 is effective, however, it has limitations. The top has a large banner for users to edit. Having this at the top of the email could limit how much of the rest of the email is viewed. Some may only see the top of the email and assume there is an error.

In order to have people view and read the newsletter it is important that it flows and is error free. One specific format issue is that all pictures do not appear in the same location. Build relationships with media Another option to further reach is to reach out with the surrounding media outlets. This will get more coverage for Paws4Ever and lead to more awareness for the organization.