Salvation Army Final Report

Website Development and Increased Community Awareness and Involvement Report

Prepared for The Salvation Army of San Antonio

The Cardinal Consultants: Lauren De Leon, Marisol Martinez, Montoya Rover, Andre Turner, and Sophie Yanez

University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX.

Community Awareness and Involvement Report 2

Executive Summary

The Salvation Army’s mission and objectives are to meet human needs in Jesus’ name

without discrimination. The tools needed to accomplish these immense obligations are extensive

and vital to the organization’s sustainability. The Salvation Army of San Antonio was in need of

an internal evaluation, a website assessment, and an environmental scan to determine how they

will improve upon their main objectives. The Cardinal Consultants were appointed to assess The

Salvation Army of San Antonio’s website in order to localize it, to increase overall visibility and

traffic, to increase stakeholder engagement, and to increase younger generation involvement.

This report provides an in depth evaluation of our research, findings, and finally our

recommendations.

Assessing the internal and external factors of the organization was imperative to our

study and was conducted through a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats)

analysis and a comparative analysis. Our findings led us to recommend creating more access for

their website users, increasing social media development, and strengthening stakeholder

engagement including the Millennial generation through social media channels, specifically

Facebook and Twitter. Through research and analysis of relevant data, The Cardinal Consulting

Group formulated these recommendations:

In order to increase website traffic: redesign the website to serve as a resource; as

opposed to a reference as it is in its current state.

In order to increase awareness of programs and services: improve partnerships (local and

national) with schools, church organizations, and government bodies.


In order to increase millennial awareness and involvement: utilize social media outlets as

a tool to reach the Millennial demographic.

The Salvation Army of San Antonio needs to utilize available tools at this time so they

can continue to thrive and serve the people who look to them for answers. Various nonprofit

organizations have begun employing these strategies that have proven success. An executive

meeting should be conducted to discuss the implementation of our recommendations and to

ensure key management staff of the San Antonio chapter are on board with these strategies.


Table of Contents

Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………….2

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………… 4

Website Development and Increased Community Awareness and Involvement Report................6

Research and Data Compilation...................................................................................................6

Stakeholders...........................................................................................................................7

Best Practices and Website Measures..................................................................................7

The Environmental Scan.......................................................................................................8

Awareness of Programs and Services........................................................................................11

Millennial Awareness and Involvement.............................................................................14

Millennial Scan.....................................................................................................................14

Millennials and Social Media..............................................................................................16

Recommendation.................................................................................................................20

Website Traffic.............................................................................................................................21

Website Metrics...................................................................................................................22

Comparative Analysis........................................................................................................24

Recommendation................................................................................................................29

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………30


References………………………………………………………………………………………..32

Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………………....37

Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………………....38

Appendix C……………………………………………………………………………………....39

Appendix D………………………………………………………………………………………40


Website Development and Increased Community Awareness and Involvement Report

The Cardinal Consulting Group comprised of five graduate students from The University

of the Incarnate Word, interviewed four San Antonio Salvation Army (SASA) employees for the

Website Development and Increased Community Awareness and Involvement Report for the San

Antonio Salvation Army. Among these employees were Dr. Robert Garcia, Development

Director and Juan R. Reyes, Business Administrator. The consulting group conducted research

pertaining to non-profit success measures; local and national non-profit website design; social

media best practices; and engagement data regarding Millennials. The consulting group also

performed an environmental scan of the city of San Antonio, prepared a SWOT analysis for

SASA, and prepared a website comparative profile measured against two local non-profits:

Haven for Hope and SAMM Ministries. The analysis was conducted for the purpose of

discovering means of increasing website traffic, programs and services awareness, and millennial

involvement and awareness.

Research and Data Compilation

The research that was compiled for this report was gathered from October 1, 2013 to

November 27, 2013. The data used in this analysis is compiled from a variety of sources.

Information from a guided tour of the facility, given by the client, was incorporated into the

study. Client responses from several open-ended questionnaires were used to supply internal data

about the local organization, its stakeholders, and the surrounding community. Additional

external resources utilized for the scan included: 2010 U.S. census data, the 2012 U.S. Mayor’s


conference data on homelessness and poverty, philanthropic journals, scholastic journals, and

material pulled from the Internet.

Stakeholders

In addition to general demographics collected, much of the research focuses on

information pertaining to the primary SASA stakeholders identified within the scope of this

project; these stakeholders include: participants, volunteers, donors, and partners. Specific

statistics and data regarding stakeholders can be found in the Stakeholder’s Manual included

with this report.

Best Practices and Website Measures

In order to gather information for increasing Millennial awareness, participation, and

volunteer and donation opportunities for the San Antonio Salvation Army, common trends and

best practices were researched at a national level. The majority of the millennial information

came from Achieve Guidance’s 2013 Millennial Impact Report; in which an online survey was

distributed through 14 research partners. Findings from the report included a usability test that

was conducted for nine non-profits’ online presences. This report covered website, social media

page, email, and mobile app data. The research included in this report spans from 2010-2013,

and includes responses from 11,675 Millennials. Millennials are defined as individuals born

between the years of 1979-1994 (Achieve Guidance, 2013).

While researching website success measures, there were some data limitations for the

consulting group regarding access to the current success measures SASA uses; due to this

limitation, the most common measurement practices utilized by non-profit organizations were

researched. Many different research assessments specific to non-profits existed in this area; the


2013 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study was selected because of its relevant nature and large sample

size. The 2013 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study was compiled by M+R Strategic Services and N

Ten (Nonprofit Technology Network). In the study, the results of 1.6 billion email messages sent

over 45 million subscribers, 6.5 million online gifts totaling $438 million raised, and 7.3 million

advocacy actions were analyzed (M+R Strategic Services, 2013) .

The Environmental Scan

An environmental scan of San Antonio and parts of the nation was performed to discover

important demographics about the surrounding community, valuable stakeholders, and the non-

profit organization SASA. Utilizing a collection of data from a variety of sources and a SWOT

matrix analysis tool, SASA’s significant internal strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities,

and threats were identified and used to develop possible strategies for implementation.

The analysis of the data is represented in the attached SWOT matrix (Appendix A).

Effectively utilizing the SWOT matrix requires creating a list of factors in each of four

categories: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The factors are then numbered. At

least one numbered factor from each intersecting row and column of the matrix are then analyzed

in combination to determine strategies to combat possible weaknesses and threats, or to

capitalize on strengths and opportunities. This results in a number of strategies that can be

identified as strength-opportunity strategies, strength-threat strategies, weakness-opportunity

strategies, or weakness-threat strategies. The coded numbers listed next to the strategy reference

the factors considered when creating the strategy.

Utilization of the SWOT resulted in a list of possible strategies in the formulation of the

recommendations found in this report. Among these strategies, these five were found to be most


viable: create a bilingual website, increase public awareness and access through SASA’s social

media outlets, integrate Google Analytics to improve metrics and set benchmarks, market to

younger generations through partnerships with church youth groups and school districts, and

simplify the website to promote ease of access for volunteers and potential donors.

With the assistance of employee interviews, an internal scan of the organization revealed

strengths such as a strong support system from national headquarters, a dedicated staff, and a

local marketing company that assists with video imagery. SASA recognized that there were areas

needing improvement (R. Garcia and J. Reyes, personal communication October 17, 2013). A

weakness found was that a small number of staff members, relevant to the number of duties,

proved insufficient to maintain several programs efficiently. Furthermore, new volunteers were

needed; with only 40 of every 250 being new each quarter (J. Lowe, personal communication

November 7, 2013). Most of SASA’s volunteers were repeat volunteers, and the organization

relied on their assistance throughout the year to help staff accomplish tasks. Also lacking was

youth participation, especially from the largest cohort: Millennials. While many organizations

possess a web department dedicated to maintaining the website and social media outlets, not one

SASA staff member was completely dedicated to the task; making it difficult to update and

maintain information for stakeholders. The materials offered from headquarters lacked a local

orientation that the community could relate to when viewing. Although the national headquarters

offered a large amount of resources and support, the San Antonio chapter lacked visibility;

creating issues for the local awareness of services SASA provides the community (see Appendix

A for complete data set).

Results from the environmental scan provided relevant information about the San

Antonio (SA) community. Approximately 20% of the 1 million people that reside in SA were


found to be below poverty level, and could utilize SASA’s services (U.S. Conference of Mayors,

2012). With a median household income less than the national average, an unemployment rate

of 6% (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2012), and 1 in 879 housing units falling under foreclosure

(U.S. Department of Commerce, 2010), the community was found to be in need of housing

assistance and lacking disposable income. In San Antonio, 63% of the population was reported

as Hispanic/Latino and 46% of the languages spoken in homes were foreign (U.S. Department of

Commerce, 2010)

A majority of the downtown San Antonio homeless community was found to be severely

mentally ill, physically disabled, or unemployed (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2012). The major

causes for homelessness reported were loss of income and the lack of needed services (Ryan,

2012). Homeless deriving from Texas accounted for 5.2% of the 2012 Census homeless and

transitional shelter population. Increasing partnerships among city agencies, private agencies,

religious organizations, and other groups working to end homelessness can assist in achieving

awareness, involvement, and assistance with the societal issue of homelessness (U.S. Conference

of Mayors, 2012).

Statistics of San Antonio revealed volunteers gave a total of 49.1 million hours equaling

$1 billion of service contribution to the community in 2011. Most volunteerism was categorized

into two groups: religion and education services. In addition, the research indicated people

preferred volunteering their services to help neighbors (The Federal Agency for Service and

Volunteering, 2011)).

According to Charity Navigator (2012) most donations came from individuals,

approximately 72%, in 2012. Arts, environmental, and animal organizations saw the largest


increase in donations; indicating donors were returning to personal giving priorities that were

strayed from during the height of the recession in favor of supporting food banks and other

human service charities. Historically, religious groups received the largest share of charitable

donations. The next largest sector was education, comprising 13% of all donations. Focusing on

religious and education areas for building new donor relationships, and marketing in specific

forums such as arts, environmental, and animal organizations, may increase personal giving

(Charity Navigator, 2012).

Online spikes in giving occurred primarily within specific times, days, and situations.

Most giving occurred during the weekday working hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., significantly

dropping in the noon hour. One-third of donations were evident in the month of December.

Annual increases of 10% were evident in the last 3 days of the year. Donors were more likely to

consider new giving options when large disasters occurred. Contributing to charities through a

tool, such as Network for Good showed a 13% increase in donations (Charity navigator, 2012).

The highest rated charity sites built strong connections with their donors. Charity sites

with branded website pages achieved seven times more donations on average than organizations

using generic pages. New non-profits are popping up faster than the rate of funding, and more

non-profits focusing on social service in the coming years is the likely projection (Charity

navigator, 2013).

Awareness of Programs and Services

SASA would like to see the community become more aware of the wide array of services

and programs that are available to it through the organization. Currently, SASA is most closely

associated with thrift stores and the annual Red Kettle campaign. Increasing program and service


awareness has the potential to increase community participation and engagement. Partnering

with corporations, schools, and churches is an effective means to increase awareness.

Industry Standards

Both for-profit and non-profit organizations benefit from the existence of corporate

partnerships. Partnerships can provide an organization with increased program relevance,

increased political relevance, increased visibility, and expanded reputation and revenue streams

(Hitachi Foundation, 2009). Partnering with businesses that have a strong following in the

community increases visibility within that community. Involving some form of partnership

among city agencies, private agencies, religious organizations, and other groups working to end

homelessness assists in achieving program success (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2012). In San

Antonio there are a total of 109,195 surrounding firms to consider for partnership (U.S.

Department of Commerce, 2010). This includes a large number of faith-based high schools,

universities, and colleges; most of which have a community service requirement.

Having partnerships is more effective in creating awareness if those partnerships are

made visible. Most non-profits provide a list of the organizations with which partnerships exist.

Some of these lists are very extensive. No such list for SASA was able to be found; although

data shows that partnerships do exist with organizations such as Haven for Hope, OLLU, and

UIW (J. Lowe, personal communication November 7, 2013). More information on stakeholder

awareness can be found in The Stakeholders Manual included with this report.

Recommendation

After analyzing the data, we recommend SASA improves partnerships (local and national)

with schools, church organizations, and government bodies; partnering with others, specifically


neighboring churches and schools, can aid in increasing involvement, awareness, and retention

of volunteers. This would also allow SASA more flexibility in redirecting valuable resources to

neglected areas of the organization and strengthening relationships and awareness within the

community. Strategies that can be implemented in pursuit of this goal include:

Make current partnerships visible to the public. This includes all current and future

partnerships. Partnerships cannot increase awareness if potential stakeholders are not

aware that they exist. This can be achieved by providing a list of partners the community

can access, and ensuring SASA is included on partner's lists.

Partner with local faith-based high schools. These institutions are typically private

institutions, and can require up to 100 hours of community service over a 4-year period

for graduation. This will also enable SASA to build relationships with stakeholders at a

young age that can carry on through adulthood.

Partner with local colleges and universities. These institutions are typically well

established within the communities in which they exist. Also, many of these

organizations are committed to serving those communities. Colleges and universities

offer the unique advantage of providing non-profits with highly educated, yet

inexperienced, individuals poised to enter the workforce.

Partner with local and state government bodies. Most municipalities within the San

Antonio greater area boast a police department, fire department, and a number of

committees. These organizations are highly visible in the communities they serve. More

importantly, these organizations are highly trusted and relied upon by those communities.

Use the well-known Red Kettle campaign to increase awareness of programs and

services. The addition of a programs and service list to Red Kettle displays can be


beneficial in two ways. The abundance and visibility of these displays will expose this

program list to a large number of individuals. Also, the list itself will inform Red Kettle

donors of the programs that their donations support.

Millennial Awareness and Involvement

Increasing millennial awareness of the programs and activities that SASA offers to the

community was mentioned as a priority during initial interviews (R. Garcia and J. Reyes,

personal communication October 17, 2013). It was hoped that by increasing awareness of these

programs, San Antonio’s younger generation would be more apt to becoming involved through

volunteer or donor opportunities. Social media presents an opportunity for Millennials to witness

SASA at work with the people it serves. All generations have been adopting new social

behaviors by taking advantage of social technologies online to interact in unprecedented ways.

However, the Millennials show the highest percentage of usage habits for Facebook, Twitter, and

YouTube (Convio, 2012).

Millennial Scan

There are a few things SASA should be aware of when working to attract this generation

of young people. According to a report released from Georgetown University's Center on

Education and the Workforce; Millennials are taking longer to launch careers, but it's not entirely

their fault. Young job seekers are having trouble finding work and making money because of

structural changes in the economy that have been taking place for some time (Berman, 2013).

Millennials prefer working for organizations that provide meaning and flexibility more so

than money and are more likely to quit a job that does not work to meet their needs. Growing up

with a support system engineered to assist and acknowledge their every success puts them at a


disadvantage in a workforce built by older generations; one which reserves success

acknowledgement for the organization, not the individual. However, challenging economic times

do not change their values. Millennials themselves were found to be the most optimistic

generation despite these economic challenges; 88% believed they either have, or will have,

enough money in the future to achieve their long-term financial goals (Bell, 2012).

Millennials were also found to be the most educated generation the United States has

seen yet, especially the female population. Of this generation, 60% of women have attained at

least some college credit; compared to 52% of women from Generation X, and 34% of Baby

Boomers at the same ages. They are more competitive and skilled, technically advanced, highly

educated and adaptive thinkers (Delaney-Busch, 2013). Carnavale, Hansen, and Gulish (2013)

found that despite troubling trends in the labor market and changing sociocultural norms,

Millennials’ median household income remains the highest of any generation at similar ages.

Research indicates marketing should focus on this broader growing donor base. In the next 10

years, 900 baby boomers will leave the workforce leaving Generation X to fill the gap. An

abundance of job vacancies means more Millennials entering the workforce in higher income

leadership positions; this may increase automatic monthly contributions, especially if marketed

materials target what Millennials value (Bell, 2012).

Although volunteer rates show volunteerism by Millennials rising, nationwide it is still

not as high as previous generations. Millennials possess a do-it-now enthusiasm, energy, and

passion to do what they love. Volunteerism is increasing; possibly due to a lagging job market

and a desire to be creative in exploring their skill sets or creating their own opportunities

(Stewart, 2013). Millennial volunteers are eager to begin utilizing their skills in the labor force.

This young generation seeks marketable job experiences, such as internships or skill-based


volunteerism, to add to their resumes and increase their competitive advantage and likelihood of

being hired (Delaney-Busch, 2013). Data suggests that skill-based volunteering with a non-profit

organization serves as a bridge to employment for both college students and recent veterans.

About 81% of human resource representatives take skilled volunteerism into consideration

during hiring and agree that volunteering creates more desirable college graduates (Delaney-

Busch, 2013). Increasing Millennials’ involvement, as volunteers or interns, capitalizes on their

advanced skills, positive attitudes, and builds a relationship with possible future donors.

Millennials and Social Media

SASA currently evaluates website traffic through donations received and number of users

who access the site. This analysis was heavily based on industry standards due to the limitations

on current data regarding SASA’s website traffic. As the search began for ways to increase

stakeholder engagement and develop the website for SASA, it became evident that social media

is one of the prime channels SASA should focus on.

Social media is one of the fastest growing, and most effective means of increasing

business in for-profit or non-profit organizations. Social media refers to online communication

channels that facilitate interaction and media distribution between people. Social media outlets

are websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or participate in social

networking (Oxford, 2013). It allows for participation, engagement, and real-time feedback on

the part of supporters and constituents (Convio, 2012). In 2012, 47% of Americans learned about

causes through social media or online channels (The Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy,

2012).


As SASA looks to increase its overall visibility and stakeholder engagement; further

emphasis on social media channels, such as Facebook and Twitter, needs to be implemented.

Social media continues to evolve in this highly technological world; quickly becoming a tool for

organizations in meeting specific objectives. Social media will allow SASA to integrate many

functions at once such as: increasing their visibility through picture and story sharing; increasing

volunteer, donor, partner, and participant involvement; and utilizing it as a fundraising tool. A

recent study shows that 54% of stakeholders are more likely to support a cause through social

media rather than offline. Of individuals who support non-profits on the social web, 56%

confirmed that compelling storytelling is what motivates them to take action on behalf of those

non-profits (Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, 2013).

Many organizations continue to have questions as they add social media elements to their

marketing plans. Some questions include information on resourcing, understanding best

practices, learning specific tools, and measuring return on investment. As with any new process,

it takes time to learn and implement social media into marketing efforts. In time, this can become

a seamless task once an organization knows what works best for their audience. It is important to

fully understand one’s audience in order to successfully evaluate how the development of social

media will impact an organization.

Facebook is one the largest and most successful social media channels; with over 1

billion users accessing and using the site each month (Zuckerberg, 2013). At the beginning of the

year, 98% of non-profit organizations in the United States were using Facebook (Laird, 2012).

The average Facebook user has 130 friends; therefore an organization’s message can be shared

exponentially through a friend or referral. SASA currently has approximately 450 likes on

Facebook. Considering there are over 1.3 million people in San Antonio, this shows Facebook is


not being utilized as well as it could be. Additionally, the average non-profit Facebook fan page

has 31,473 users, defined as people who “Like” a fan page (eNonprofit survey, 2013).

Twitter is an online social media channel that allows individuals to keep in touch

instantly. Twitter was built with the main purpose to accommodate users by updating through

their mobile phones. Twitter allows businesses to send updates to their customers, and allows for

intra-communication with employees. It can be used as an effective tool to communicate

immediate information or concerns that are relevant to stakeholders. By the end 2012, 74% of

non-profit organizations in the United States were using Twitter (Laird, 2012). The hash tag

symbol (#) is used to display trending information. This is another tool that SASA can begin

taking advantage of to increase its visibility. Using the hash tag for various marketing

campaigns, such as the Red Kettle Parade, will trend the information on Twitter; allowing more

individuals to re-tweet and have access to it. The term “tweeting” refers to the action of using

Twitter to post content.

It is important to find out what techniques work for other organizations that utilize

Twitter in order to be successful with these channels of marketing. Best practices for Twitter

include tweeting about things that people care about. Abrahams and Lasica (2011) found that

linking newsworthy events that people are already interested in and relating them to an

organization’s cause is important to stakeholders. It’s also suggested to follow the 60-30-10 rule;

implement 60% re-tweets and pointers to promote items from other users or sites, 30% to

conversation and responses, and 10% to announcements and events (Abrahams & Lasica, 2011).

Constructing a planned routine for tweeting will help your Twitter page increase visibility, and

allow your organization to measure the impact Twitter has relating to your marketing plan.


The synergistic potential of all these capabilities combined makes social media a superb

marketing tool. Social media encompasses a wide spectrum of forms; all of which offer

marketers direct, or indirect, ways to reach customers and monetize their marketing efforts.

Giving more time to Facebook and Twitter will increase SASA stakeholder engagement and

increase the organization’s overall visibility. In addition, it will attract younger generation

involvement; as the Millennial’s are the key social media generation.

Millennials are highly selective about which organizations they engage with in a crowded

and noisy market place. They value authenticity, variety, and actionable information regarding

non-profits (Achieve Guidance, 2013). True community management for SASA will need to go

beyond scheduling updates and monitoring tweets. In order to engage this generation, there is a

need to create an honest, friendly environment where followers are treated as collaborators. The

2013 Millennial Impact Report found that 79% of Millennials’ chief motivation for getting

involved with a non-profit was because they were working for a cause they were passionate

about.

Achieve Guidance and Johnsons Grossnickle Associates (2010) found when a Millennial

donor uses technology to find out about a non-profit organization, Google is usually the donor’s

first stop; with 86.4% of respondents citing the search engine. Another 71.5% rely on email, and

51.2% use Facebook to find information on organizations. This generation uses websites as

default locations to find basic information about organizations. If they like the information they

find about an organization’s mission and programs, use of donor funds, and volunteering

opportunities, they will most likely use social media as a tool for staying connected (Achieve

Guidance, 2013).


Sharing is embedded in Millennials’ DNA, and it is often the first action that is taken that

demonstrates their interest for a cause. Data shows that 75% of Millennials are likely to share

content on social media if they believe in the cause. They are also more likely to share a non-

profit’s information if the messaging has images and videos incorporated into it. (Achieve

Guidance, 2013). Social media creates an instant feedback loop that tells organizations what this

audience finds interesting and worth disseminating to their friends and family. Furthermore,

Facebook can also be a tool for SASA’s fundraising efforts. Facebook added the charitable

donation option to its website; making it easier and more accessible for users to give donations.

The average annual donation through social media grew from $38 in 2010 to $59 in 2012 (Laird,

2012).

Recommendation

Based on an analysis of the data collected, we recommend SASA utilize social media as a

tool to reach the Millennial demographic. In order to achieve the best possible results, SASA

should incorporate the following social media practices:

Build a content schedule that includes what topics will be covered in the social media

post. The schedule should include outlines for the message and specific details for when

and where the message will be deployed. The content schedule should also identify ways

program staff can contribute materials such as videos or pictures. An example template

for a social media content calendar can be found attached to this document (Appendix B).

Collect personal stories and photos of people SASA has helped in order to inspire

Millennials to be passionate about SASA’s cause. SASA hopes to localize the website to

represent the San Antonio community; having a dedicated volunteer at each event around


the city in charge of documenting photos and video can accomplish both of these tasks.

These photos and videos can be used for social media, press coverage, and the website

blog.

Millennials prefer action-oriented content (donate, sign, volunteer, etc.) in their email

posts and social media; realign the current email campaigns to focus on these areas. Make

sure the volunteer and donate pages are easy to use and direct.

Delegate administrative duties to a few people within the organization in order to

maintain and manage social media outlets. The more frequently pictures and status

updates are posted, the more information will appear in friend’s newsfeeds. This will aid

in increasing visibility.

Research indicates the focus on marketing should emphasize the broader growing donor

base. In the next 10 years, 900 baby boomers will leave the workforce, leaving generation

X to fill the gap. An abundance of job vacancies means more Millennials entering the

workforce in higher income leadership positions, which may increase automatic monthly

contributions, especially if marketed materials target what Millennials value (Bell, 2012).

Increase marketing to online social networks during the highest traffic times and days,

specifically the last 2 days of the year. Statistics show that the last 2 days of the year can

account for 22% of an organization’s annual dollars; with a concentration of donations on

December 31 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. in each time zone (Charity navigator, 2012).

Website Traffic

SASA would like to see an immediate increase in website traffic and an increase in

awareness and support from the local community. SASA would also like to see the website

become a valuable platform for donors and volunteers. The current website does not make


volunteering or donating, easily accessible for potential stakeholders. By not providing ease of

access and serving as a direct access point to the organization, the website creates a break in the

engagement process with SASA. This can decrease volunteerism and donations by making the

visiting of the website an end-process function, as opposed to a start-process function.

Website Metrics

Research suggests that the best measures for determining whether or not a non-profit’s

website is successful in helping the organization to achieve their goals and objectives is not

based solely on website visits. Data is a crucial component of measuring website success, but

with the growth in accessibility to data, there comes the need to sort through increasingly

complex quantities of it. However, just because something can be measured does not mean it

needs to be considered a success metric (Harstein, 2013).

Based on the information gathered from interviews with the SASA employees, we are

using volunteer signup conversions, donor conversions and website entry points as the success

metrics to measure whether or not the website is serving as a successful channel for the

organization. According to David Harstein (2013), the following three metrics were found to be

the most applicable for most non-profit organizations: landing pages that lead to the most

conversions, traffic sources that lead to the most conversions and pages with the highest exit rate.

To clarify, a landing page is the first page a website visitor is directed to when visiting a website;

a conversion is the successful completion of a website goal such as a visitor making a donation

or signing up to volunteer (Harstein, 2013)

For most non-profit organizations, the purpose of having a website is to help the

organization increase stakeholder awareness and enable participation from its visitors.


Examining which landing pages are ultimately leading to the most conversions will show an

organization the most effective pages on their website. Knowing this information will allow

SASA to focus on driving more traffic to pages that generate the most donations in an effort to

boost online fundraising efforts (Harstein, 2013). In order to measure these types of conversions,

organizations use tools such as Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a service offered by

Google that generates detailed statistics about a website's traffic, traffic sources, conversions, and

sales.

When looking at conversions for non-profits, it is helpful to look at which traffic sources

are directing the most visitors (that ultimately convert into donors or volunteers) to the website.

With the use of Google Analytics, non-profits are able to track traffic sources to the site. The

most commonly tracked sources are:

Search Traffic – Visitors that arrive to a website by typing a phrase into a search engine

and clicking a link in the search results.

Referral Traffic – Visitors that arrive to a website by clicking a link on another website.

Examples of referral traffic would be visitors from articles written about an organization

or links to a website from a social media outlet.

Direct Traffic – Visitors that arrive to a website by typing a URL directly into their

browser. Direct traffic also includes visitors who bookmark a page on a website in their

browser, and later use that bookmark to revisit the site.

Campaign Traffic – Visitors that arrive to a website by clicking a link that has been

tagged as part of a campaign. Such links are commonly found in email newsletters.


Knowing which traffic sources are leading to the most conversions will provide SASA

with the necessary context to rethink where and how online resources are focused (Harstein,

2013).

Comparative Analysis

MSDS is a New York-based design firm that specializes in nonprofit website design &

branding for financial services & technology companies. In 2013 a comparative website analysis

was performed by MSDS for 10 global non-profit organizations. This framework was used to

build a comparative profile matrix for SASA. The score card utilized by MSDS measured the

following:

Design - Design sets the tone for the brand, establishing credibility and reinforcing trust

in an eye's glance. The best non-profit websites are clear, easy to use, and encourage

users to explore.

Messaging - Effective content strategy delivers the message from the audience’s point-of-

view clearly and concisely; bringing key messages to the forefront.

Engagement - Propelling audiences to action is essential. The best non-profit websites

offer users clear ways to get involved and persuasive reasons to do so.

Imagery - Photography is essential to emotionally connecting audiences to non-profit

causes and putting people in the middle of the action; information, graphics, and data

visualization help make complex concepts simple.

Storytelling - Sites that leverage storytelling communicate the human narrative of a non-

profit’s cause.

Sociability - Social tools create deeper engagement; giving a non-profit's community

good reasons to share content.


The website comparison conducted for the Salvation Army, Haven for Hope, and SAMM

Ministries websites reviewed the following categories derived from MSDS’s measures:

Enabling volunteers - This measure was based on the level of accessibility to the

volunteer page for a visitor and ease-of-access to volunteer registration. This section

corresponds to MSDS’s scorecard components of design and engagement.

Enabling donors - This measure was based on the level of accessibility to the donor page

for a visitor, as well as user friendly capability for the visitor to donate funds to the

organization. This section corresponds to MSDS’s scorecard components of design and

engagement.

Social media integration - This measure was based on the level accessibility to the

organizations’ Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages. Also considered was whether or

not the blog page had information that was recently updated and relevant. This section

corresponds to MSDS’s scorecard components of messaging, storytelling, and sociability.

Informative component - This measure was based on the visibility of a current time frame

for events taking place and transparency for the allocation of donations; contact

information accessibility and visibility for what volunteers would be doing when they

sign up were also taken into consideration. This section corresponds to MSDS’s

scorecard component of messaging and engagement.

Localized component - This measure was based on whether or not the website

represented the San Antonio community in pictures, blog post entries, partnerships, and

bi-lingual capability. This section corresponds with MSDS’s scorecard components of

imagery and messaging components.

Enabling volunteers and enabling donors were selected as comparative components based on


the impact they have on non-profit organizations. SASA expressed the website’s ability to reach

out to potential volunteers and donors as a long-term goal. In 2010, Wicks and Lundahl

conducted over-the-phone surveys with 78 homeless shelter administrators on assessing

volunteer activities and the needs of homeless shelters. It was concluded that shelters value, and

rely, on volunteers to meet a wide array of residents’ needs and shelter operations. However,

volunteers often failed to meet the needs of shelters; a problem that could likely be resolved

through improved communication (Wicks, Lundahl 2010 source 1). The website is a tool to

successfully communicate with current and potential volunteers and donors. Similar to

volunteering, donations contribute a great deal for non-profit organizations; in 2012, 72% of

donations came from individuals (Charity Navigator, 2012). The ability to access information is

critical.

Social media integration was chosen as a comparative component; there was an expressed

interest in reaching a younger crowd and increasing program awareness in the initial interview

(R. Garcia and J. Reyes, personal communication October 17, 2013). Data suggests that 15-18%

of donations are referred directly from Facebook (Zuckerberg, 2013), and 41% of non-profits

attribute their success to a detailed social media strategy (Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, 2012).

SASA is also celebrating its 125th anniversary. Combined with a stated informal three-year plan

to further develop the organization, this was perceived as an opportunity to utilize social media

and let a diverse group of individuals know how long SASA has been serving San Antonio. . The

first year of this plan will be dedicated to increasing awareness. The second year will be focused

on exemplifying SASA’s commitment to the community. The third year SASA would like the

community to commit to the organization (R. Garcia and J. Reyes, personal communication

October 17, 2013). Social media integration can increase this occurrence.


The ability for the website to be informative was also chosen as a comparative

component. SASA expressed a desire to have a highly intuitive site that enhances the experience

of the user in initial interview questions (R. Garcia and J. Reyes, personal communication

October 17, 2013). The structure of information classification has an important role in the

usability of websites. Information needs to be in the optimum location in order for visitors to

navigate easily around the website. Information organized in the correct location speeds up the

information retrieval for users and provides a good user experience of the website (Nawaz,

2011).

The localized component was chosen as a comparative component because of SASA’s

belief that this was critical to the success of the website in the initial meeting (R. Garcia and J.

Reyes, personal communication October 17, 2013). In order to localize the website, SASA has to

exhibit extensively what the organization is doing for the local community. SASA is a charter of

a national organization. This was identified as an obstacle when being compared to the top two

local competitors (see Appendix A). Both of these organizations are local organizations that are

native to San Antonio.

The three non-profit organizations were then scored from one to three in each

component; one being the best and three the worst. A mean score was then calculated for each of

the organizations. This process is represented in the attached comparative analysis matrix (See

Appendix C).

Haven for Hope scored the highest in enabling volunteers. The website provided

potential volunteers with specific instructions and contact information. There was also an

individual and group application available for download. SASA’s website directed potential

volunteers to contact the local Salvation Army or utilize Volunteer Match; Volunteer Match


requires volunteers to undergo a registration process.

Haven for Hope and SAMMinistries were scored equally in enabling donors. Both

websites had a donate button, or link, that took the visitor directly to a page where the visitor was

able to enter their payment information. SASA’s donate button redirected the visitor to another

page; the links on that page redirected the visitor to yet another page before a donation could

actually be made.

Haven for Hope scored the highest when it came to social media integration. Haven for

Hope had the highest number of followers on Facebook and Twitter. The homepage was

embedded with a Facebook newsfeed. Every time Haven for Hope updated the organizations’

Facebook page, the visitor was made aware. SASA’s website did have links to social media

outlets, but no feed.

SAMMinistries scored the highest when it came to the informative component. The

organization’s website was very easy to navigate. The organization also included an

accountability page. This accountability page included links to SAMMinistries most recent

financial reports. To further the organization’s transparency, a link to Charity Navigator was also

provided. Charity Navigator is a third party service that rates charitable organizations, and

publishes those organizations’ IRS tax information for public viewing. SAMMinistries did an

excellent job of exhibiting the organization’s ability to provide these figures, and answer visitor

questions. SASA did not provide visitors with local statistics, nor a means by which to obtain

local statistics.

Haven for Hope ranked the highest in the localized component. The organization was

very adamant about what the organization does for San Antonio in its mission statement and in

the video included on the homepage entitled, 1000 Faces of Hope. The video was very powerful,


and exhibited the diverse group of locals that Haven for Hope services. Haven for Hope also

included a very extensive list of local partners, and the services that these partners provided.

SASA’s website did not provide any information regarding local partnerships. Also, much of the

information on the site was oriented towards the national organization as opposed to the local

charter.

After calculating the mean score, Haven for Hope ranked the highest on our website

comparison with a score of 1.4; SAMMinistries second with a score of 2; and SASA third with a

score of 2.8 as can be seen in the Comparative Profile Matrix (Appendix C).

Recommendation

Based on an analysis of the data collected, we recommend that SASA redesign their

website to serve as a resource for their stakeholders as opposed to a reference as it is in its

current state. There are a number of changes that can be implemented to achieve this goal:

With San Antonio having a 63.2% Hispanic population, the addition of bi-lingual

accessibility to the website is a necessity. Bilingual materials are crucial for outreach. A

bilingual website would be beneficial for mass communication in increasing awareness

of services that SASA provides to the local community. Implementation of bilingual

accessibility could increase program awareness, community involvement, volunteering,

and donating among Spanish-speaking households.

Create a volunteer page that enables volunteerism. Downloadable materials and standard

information on qualifications (if any) should be available to begin the volunteering

process. Contact information for Volunteer Services should be included on the page;

along with instructions on how to complete the volunteer process. An email link should


also be included for visitors to allow greater access to information and Volunteer

Services.

The "donate now" button should link the potential donor directly to a page where

payment information can be input and donations made. The addition of a dropdown

menu on the payment screen can allow visitors to select where donated funds go. This

will bypass the need to visit an options page, and increase ease-of-access for

stakeholders. Links and information on other ways to donate can be included at the

bottom of this page.

To further localize the site, SASA should reevaluate the orientation of information on its

website. Currently, the majority of information available for visitors is oriented towards

the national organization. This orientation should be shifted towards local events, stories,

and SASA’s history.

Alter the color scheme of the website to include lighter colors. Lighter colors such as

blue, yellow, and green have been found to illicit positive emotional responses; dark

colors, such as gray, were found to elicit negative emotional responses (Hemphill, 1996).

Negative emotions can lead to avoidance behaviors, which can negatively impact online

interactions with potential stakeholders.

These implementations can be seen in the website mock-up contained in Appendix D. An

online, limited-function version of the mock-up can be found at http://www.johnfrazee.com/sam.

Conclusion

The Cardinal Consulting Group, comprised of five graduate students from The University

of the Incarnate Word, were tasked with identifying means by which website traffic, programs


and services awareness and Millennial awareness and involvement can be increased. Through

research and analysis of relevant data, The Cardinal Consulting Group formulated these

recommendations:

In order to increase website traffic: redesign the website to serve as a resource; as

opposed to a reference as it is in its current state.

In order to increase awareness of programs and services: improve partnerships (local and

national) with schools, church organizations, and government bodies.

In order to increase millennial awareness and involvement: utilize social media outlets as

a tool to reach the Millennial demographic.

A number of pursuable strategies have been identified and documented within this report for

each recommendation. These strategies can be utilized as stand-alone implementations, or in

combination, to achieve the desired results within the scope of this project. A stakeholder’s

manual and website mock-up have been developed based on the findings found within this report

to aid in implementation. This report and all deliverables are to be presented to the client

December 2, 2013.

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Appendix A


SWOT Matrix

SWOT Matrix for San Antonio Salvation Army

Opportunities:1. prevalence of social media use2. faith based universities and high schools have community service requirement3. many high schools and universities have list of suggested organizations4. monthly giving 5. millennials6. google analytics7. holiday season8. branding campaign9. San Antonio population is large and growing10. Storytelling

Threats:1. Other local charity organizations (Haven for Hope)2. Other organizations offer full transparency (Samministries)3. The economy4. Their largest donor demographic is aging and dying5. High poverty levels in SA equal lack of disposable income6. Not an actual local charity7. Millennial attention span (ADHD)

Strengths:1. Charter of international charity2. Local marketing company providing campaign imagery and video3. Email marketing campaign4. Receive bag of groceries campaign 5. well-known Red Kettle campaign

SO strategies:-Social media integration into email fundraising campaign (S3,O1)-Build a local testimonial campaign using marketing company (S2,O1,O10)-Use holidays and Red Kettle to increase visibility on social media (S1,S5, O1,O7)

ST strategies:-“no questions asked” grocery campaign (S4,T5)-use international body to form more visible partnerships with local charities (S1, T1)-Use marketing company to create series of short you tube videos (S2, T7)

Weaknesses:1. Small group of repeat volunteers2. Relatively low visibility3. Limited autonomy within local chapter4. lack of resources5. lack of staff6. lack of access for the public7. no bilingual website8. lack of visible partnerships9. new leadership10. lack of metrics

WO strategies:-Create a bilingual website (W7, O5, O9, O10)-Increase public awareness of and access to SASA’s social media outlets (W2, W6, O1, O3)-Integrate Google Analytics to improve their metrics and set benchmarks (W10, O6)-Increase visibility through marketing using holidays as touch points (W2,O7)-partner with local faith based universities and high schools (W8,O2,O3)

WT strategies:-Market to them while they’re young; partner with schools and church youth groups (W1, T4)-Simplify website to promote ease of access for volunteers and potential donors (W6, O4, O7)-build database of verifiable local statistics (W10, T2)

Appendix B


Social Media Calendar

Day # Day # Day # Day # Day # Day # Day #





Social Media Calendar Month

Facebook: Facebook: Facebook: Facebook:

Blog: Blog: Blog: Blog: Blog:

Week Theme: Facebook: Facebook: Facebook: Facebook: Facebook:


Twitter: Twitter: Twitter: Twitter: Twitter:

Facebook: Facebook:








SaturdaySunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday


Week Theme: Facebook:


Week Theme: Facebook: Facebook: Facebook:

Important Reminders

Appendix C


Comparative Profile Matrix

Comparative Profile Matrix San Antonio Salvation Army Haven for Hope SamministriesEnabling volunteers• Accessibility• Ease of access

3 1 2

Enabling donors• Accessibility• Ease of access 3 2 2

Social media integration• Facebook• Twitter • Youtube• Blogs localized and updated

3 1 2

Informative• Where is the money going?• Mission focused? 3 2 1

Localized• Bilingual• Upcoming events• Partners list

2 1 3

Mean Score 2.8 1.4 2

Appendix D


Website Mock-up Homepage

Appendix D


Website Mock-up Volunteer Page

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