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Running head: DMDHelp.ORG

DMDHelp.ORG
Strategic Communications Plan-Final Submission
Kenneth Farshchian, Angelique Thurnall, Lori Green
Salt Lake Community College
Business Communications BUS-2200-401-Su16
Instructor Kristi Grooms

DMDHelp.ORG

Mission Statement

DMD Help.ORG is a new non-profit organization whose mission will be is primarily to

raise awareness and solicit donations funds and collect clinical data in support of global efforts to
find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disorder characterized by
progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. This group will be is part of a larger network of
organizations and researchers working to put an end to the terrible suffering of hundreds of
thousands of children with all types of muscular dystrophy. Their website is http://dmdhelp.org
(DMD, 2016).

Purpose / Objective
We have created a broad communication mix in an effort to reach the widest audience
possible for DMD Help. Since the organization is very new and federal non-profit 501(c)(3) tax
exempt status is still in pending, our aim is to create a robust communications plan, with a
variety of supporting media elements that can be utilized once approvals are obtained and
marketing can legally begin.
In alignment with their stated objectives, the primary purposes of our communication mix
are to help DMDHelp.ORG:
1. Increase community awareness of DMD and other forms of muscular dystrophy
2. Direct interested persons to the DMDHelp.ORG website where they will be able to:
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Join the organization

DMDHelp.ORG
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Become a volunteer

Make one-time and automatic monthly donations

Access educational and support resources

Share their stories and experiences

Secondary objectives are to:

1. Support start-up activities for this important non-profit organization at minimal cost to the
sponsors and contributors
2. Raise funds from the community that will go directly to muscular dystrophy research

Learning Objectives
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disorder characterized by progressive
muscle degeneration and weakness. Since DMD.Help.ORG is specifically focused on Duchenne
Muscular Dystrophy, we have concentrated our research on how best to craft the message about
this specific form of the disease and in what ways we can successfully reach those affected by it.
Since the causes of this organization do not have broad audience appeal, ensuring that marketing
funds are allocated strategically across diverse communication channels and that the right
messages are used attain the widest possible engaged audience becomes extremely important.
According to a recent study by Cornell Food & Brand Lab published in Nutrition
Reviews Journal (2014, pg. 4-11), the type of health-related messaging that is most effective will
vary based on the characteristics of the target audience. For instance, negative messaging about

DMDHelp.ORG

the devastating effects of the disease may appeal more to persons highly involved in the field,
such as medical professionals or patients and their families. For them, the negative message can
be a call to action. Alternately, positive messages such as strides in research or success stories
will have greater appeal to the general public or those that have less knowledge of the disease.
Another website supports these findings. Medical News Today (MNT), who sponsor a
website titled The Most Effective Health Messages states that they have concluded that when
creating health-related communication, the message will be most effective and have the widest
reach if it is presented positively.
As our primary objective states, gGuiding people to the DMDHelp.ORG is particularly
important to our campaign. In a web article entitled How to Drive Traffic to Your Website,
Richard Darell (2015) recommends that knowing your audience beforehand is the vital.
Consumer research should always be performed in advance of marketing efforts. Additionally, he
notes that quality and well-developed content and an appealing design are also critical to a
websites sustained traffic.
Our research also shows that the target audience will be best determined when the
specific purpose of the communication is considered. For this reason we have separated our
audience analysis into two areas:
Target Audience for Donations
The top three known target audiences for donations are individuals with families affected by
DMD, women, and young adults (Cabrera, 2012).

DMDHelp.ORG

1 in 3,500 males are born with DMD.

http://archive.unews.utah.edu/releases/03/mar/dystrophy.html

Roughly 94,000 women in Salt Lake City.

http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/SEX255215/4967000#flag-js-X

Roughly 73,215 young adults in Salt Lake City.

http://www.towncharts.com/Utah/Demographics/Salt-Lake-City-city-UT-Demographicsdata.html

1. Target Audience to Recruit Volunteers

The best audiences for potential volunteers are college students and families affected by DMD.

1 in 3,500 males are born with DMD.

http://archive.unews.utah.edu/releases/03/mar/dystrophy.html

SLCC total enrollment is about 32,000.

http://www.usnews.com/education/community-colleges/salt-lake-community-collegeCC07456

University of Utah total enrollment is about 24,000.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-utah-3675

DMDHelp.ORG

Audience Analysis
Our research also shows that the target audiences will be best determined when the specific
purpose of the communication is considered. For this reason we have separated our audience
analysis into two areas:
Target Audience for Donations
The top three known target audiences for donations are individuals with families affected by
DMD, women, and young adults (Cabrera, 2012).

1 in 3,500 males are born with DMD.

http://archive.unews.utah.edu/releases/03/mar/dystrophy.html (Flanigan, 2003)

Roughly 94,000 women in Salt Lake City.

http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/SEX255215/4967000#flag-js-X (US Census
Bureau, 2015)

Roughly 73,215 young adults in Salt Lake City.

http://www.towncharts.com/Utah/Demographics/Salt-Lake-City-city-UT-Demographicsdata.html (Towncharts.com, 2016)

Target Audience for Volunteers

The best audiences for potential volunteers are college students and families affected by DMD.

1 in 3,500 males are born with DMD.

DMDHelp.ORG

http://archive.unews.utah.edu/releases/03/mar/dystrophy.html (Flanigan, 2003)

SLCC total enrollment is about 32,000.

http://www.usnews.com/education/community-colleges/salt-lake-community-collegeCC07456 (US News & World Report, 2016)

University of Utah total enrollment is about 24,000.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-utah-3675
(US News & World Report, 2016)

Our Facebook page is intended to target a broad audience and solicit donations used to fund
research in four promising areas of clinical exploration aimed at therapies or an eventual cure for
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It is likely that the page will appeal primarily to those who have
family members, friends, or associates with the disease and that this subset of the population will
comprise most of the traffic to the page.
Our team created two online Smilebox videos featuring information about
DMDHelp.ORG. This social media channel has a different audience than Facebook and is often
used by educators to aid in student learning. The purpose is to widen our reach and appeal to a
broader social audience.
We also created a poster, flyer, and a direct mail postcard that can be used in fundraising.
These products would target a more focused audience, perhaps through health fairs, DMD
events, door-to-door campaigns, placement in medical facilities and hospitals, and a variety of
feasible settings. The direct mail postcard could be used to solicit donations from individuals

DMDHelp.ORG

who have joined the organization or previously donated. It could also be used to solicit members
in a broader market area mailing.

Messaging Goals

To increase awareness of the disease

To give those who want to donate or volunteer the information they need to do so
To inform those seeking knowledge about the disease and share current medical research
To give those patients and families the resources they need to keep a realistic outlook and
to find the support they need

Key Messages

DMD affects primarily young boys, causing suffering and shortened lifespan.
There are various avenues of promising research underway that could slow the progress
of DMD or eradicate the disease entirely. Funding is desperately needed to accelerate the

pace of scientific advancement. The public's help is vital.

There are resources for families that need help coping.
Our communication plan seeks to convey these key messages to the public in ways that

will evoke a sympathic and generous response. Through education and awareness it is our desire
that our audience will understand the plight of these children, become better informed about
muscular dystrophy, desire to join with DMDHelp.ORG, and get involved in various ways to
find a cure for the disease.

Channels / Media Mix / Reach

1. Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/DMDHelp.org/

DMDHelp.ORG

Our Facebook page is intended to target a broad audience and solicit donations used to fund
research in four promising areas of clinical exploration aimed at therapies or an eventual cure for
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It is likely that the page will appeal primarily to those who have
family members, friends, or associates with the disease and that this subset of the population will
comprise most of the traffic to the page.

2. DMD poster, flyers, and direct mail postcard

We also created a poster, flyer, and a direct mail postcard that can be used in fundraising. These
products would target a more focused audience, perhaps through health fairs, DMD events, door-

DMDHelp.ORG

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to-door campaigns, placement in medical facilities and hospitals, and a variety of feasible
settings. The direct mail postcard could be used to solicit donations from individuals who have
joined the organization or previously donated. It could also be used to solicit members in a
broader market area mailing.

3. Two Smilebox online videos

http://www.smilebox.com/play/4e44517a4f54417a4e7a553d0d0a&blogview=true&ca
mpaign=blog_playback_link&partner=msncd
http://www.smilebox.com/play/4e44517a4f54417a4f444d3d0d0a&blogview=true&ca
mpaign=blog_playback_link&partner=msncd

Our team created two online Smilebox videos featuring information about DMDHelp.ORG. This
social media channel has a different audience than Facebook and is often used by educators to
aid in student learning. The purpose is to widen our reach and appeal to a broader social
audience.

4. Twitter account

DMDHelp.ORG

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5. Links to dmdhelp.org website

6. Chuck E. Cheeses FUNdraiser- 15% of all proceeds from the event are donated to the
non-profit organization.
http://www.chuckecheese.com/birthday-events/fundraising#nonprofit
7. Smiths Community Rewards- Upon DMDHelp.org enrollment in Smiths Community
Rewards program, a portion of total spending at Smiths by all shoppers registered to
support the organization will be donated quarterly to the non-profit organization.
https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/topic/community-rewards

Budget
Since the non-profit organization DMDHelp.ORG is in early stages of development and
government tax exempt status is pending approval, we are not able to initiate our
communications plan yet. Once approvals are obtained the marketing channels we developed
will be utilized by the organization. For this reason, no budget is needed at this time. We are in
the process of requesting $500 from SLCC to support this communications plan. The contact

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person we are working with is Lucy Smith. We plan to use the funds to print flyers, posters, and
direct mail postcards. We are also using the funds to cover the cost of postage. We will use any
remaining funds to promote the Facebook page through a couple of search tools.

Tactical Plan
Following are the action steps we have used in creating this communications plan.
Start
Date

Due
Date

05/20/16

05/23/16 Create Google Doc and group discussion to begin work on

Team Charter assignment.
05/27/16 Collaborate on Team Charter assignment.
05/28/16 Submit Team Charter assignment in Canvas.
06/06/16 Create Google Doc and group discussion to begin
Fundamentals of Communication Product assignment.
06/06/16 Request approval from Professor Grooms to use
DMDHelp.Org in this assignment instead of the topics
proposed.
06/06/16 Share DMDHelp.ORG website elements with team for use
in media mix.
06/15/16 Collaborate on Fundamentals of Communications Product
assignment.
06/15/16 Build Facebook page.
06/15/16 Design Smilebox video.
06/15/16 Create direct mailer and flyers.
06/16/16 Use Google Doc to create final submission in APA format.
06/17/16 Submit Fundamentals of Communications Product
assignment.
06/20/16 Create Google Doc and group discussion to begin work on
Strategic Communications Plan.
06/26/16 Research potential media channels and mechanisms for
fund-raising that we could include in the plan.
07/03/16 Continue to enhance and refine media elements, particularly
Facebook page and website.
07/03/16 Create poster.
07/03/16 Create Twitter account.
07/03/16 Create more social media.
07/09/16 Request SLCC funding for media campaign.
07/09/16 Use Google Doc to create final submission in APA format.

05/23/16
05/27/16
06/03/16
06/03/16

06/03/16
06/06/16
06/06/16
06/06/16
06/06/16
06/16/16
06/17/16
06/18/16
06/20/16
06/27/16
06/27/16
06/27/16
06/27/16
07/04/16
07/04/16

Task

Person
Responsibl
e
Angelique
All
Kenny
Lori
Lori

Kenny
All
Kenny
Angelique
Lori
Lori
Kenny
Kenny
All
All
Lori
Kenny
Angelique
Kenny
Lori

DMDHelp.ORG
07/10/16
07/12/16
07/12/16
07/15/16

07/18/16

07/22/16
07/26/16
07/29/16
07/31/16
07/31/16

07/10/16 Submit Strategic Communications Plan assignment.

07/12/16 Request meeting or conference call with Professor Grooms
to get clarification on feedback from assignment.
07/17/16 Meet with Professor Grooms.
07/17/16 Establish an email group discussion to collaborate on
revisions to the Strategic Communications Plan Final
Submission.
07/25/16 Finish Strategic Communications Plan Final Submission to
facilitate creation of PowerPoint needed for the next
assignment- Final Communications Campaign.
07/28/16 Redo Smilebox videos using images from DMDHelp.ORG
to avoid copyright infringement issues.
07/28/16 Create PowerPoint presentation from template for Final
Communication Campaign assignment.
07/30/16 Collaborate on and enhance PowerPoint presentation.
07/31/16 Submit Final Communication Campaign assignment.
07/31/16 Turn In Strategic Communication Plan Final Submission
assignment.

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Kenny
Lori
All
Lori

Lori

Angelique
Kenny
All
Kenny
Lori

We are considering several additional fund-raising ideas to personally raise funds for
DMDHelp.ORG. These would be sponsored and coordinated by our three team members via
word-of-mouth, social media, and private correspondence with our associates.
Chuck E. Cheeses FUNdraiser- 15% of all proceeds from the event are donated to the non-profit
organization.
http://www.chuckecheese.com/birthday-events/fundraising#nonprofit
1. Smiths Community Rewards- Upon DMDHelp.org enrollment in Smiths Community
Rewards program, a portion of total spending at Smiths by all shoppers registered to
support the organization will be donated quarterly to the non-profit organization.
https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/topic/community-rewards

DMDHelp.ORG

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Sustainability
Sustainability will be achieved through utilizing the media strategies we have created to
foster donations and increase membership over time for to the DMD Help website. Our principal
goal for this communications campaign is to increase traffic to their website where contributions
can be made and volunteers can be enlisted.
Debrief
Our group worked well together, although we sometimes interpreted the group
assignments differently and needed clarification and coaching. From the outset, we focused our
efforts on DMD Help, which allowed us sufficient time to create many different media channels
aimed at assisting this new non-profit organization once they are able to actively promote their
cause. We feel proud of our communications plan and the media resources we have created.
We learned a few lessons along the way. The first was that legally, without federal nonprofit tax exempt status, we could not move forward with any of our communications plans. This
changed our strategy a little. We originally were going to take advantage of SLCC funding and
get started with some of the media mix. Unfortunately, federal approvals are still pending so we
will need to hand off our plan and the various communication elements we made to the
organization for future use.
We also learned that creating a style guide and sticking to it are essential to avoid
copyright infringement. In the end, our final media elements only contain proprietary images and
content from the DMD Help.ORG website.

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Of less importance, we learned that Google Docs is a great collaboration tool but it is not
user-friendly when trying to format a document according to APA standards. We wasted a lot of
time trying to reformat our drafts into our final submission-worthy documents.
In conclusion, this plan required a substantial time investment from each group member
but provided some valuable educational insights. Most importantly, we are proud to deliver
media tools and channels to DMD Help that will enable them to launch and sustain their
organization. Each member of our group is now passionately engaged in this cause.

Works Cited
Cabrera, D. (2012, December 18). 3 Target Demographics to Boost Nonprofit
Fundraising and Engagement Results in 2013. Retrieved from Miratel
Salutions Inc.: http://www.miratelinc.com/blog/3-target-demographics-toboost-nonprofit-fundraising-and-engagement-results-in-2013/
Commerce, U. D. (2015, July 1). Quick Facts. Retrieved from US Cencus Bureau:
http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/SEX255215/4967000#flag-js-X
Darell, R. (2015, March 28). BIT Rebels. Retrieved from How to Drive Traffic to Your
Website by Knowing Your Target Audience:
http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/target-audience-telling-want-listening/
Kevin Flanigan, M. (2003). U of U Developed Rapid Direct Sequence Gene Test
Offers Accurate, Economical Way to Detect Muscular Dystrophy. Salt Lake
City, UT: University of Utah.
Medical News Today. (2015, January 16). The Most Effective Health Messages.
Retrieved from Medical News Today (MNT):
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/288002.php
TownCharts Think Tank. (2016, July). TownCharts.com. Retrieved from Town Charts
USA: http://www.towncharts.com/Utah/Demographics/Salt-Lake-City-city-UTDemographics-data.html

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US News & World Report. (2016). US News & World Report Education Rankings and
Adivice. Retrieved from US News & World Report/Education/Colleges:
http://www.usnews.com/education
Wansink, B. &. (2014). When Do Gain-Framed Health Messages Work Better Than
Fear Appeals? Nutrition Review, 4-11. Retrieved from Food & Brand Lab:
http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/research/when-do-gain-framed-healthmessages-work-better-fear-appeals