The Keokuk Plan

Executive Summary

This plan details objectives, projects, and tactics directed at creating increased engagement. The plan will provide new actions to transform the way our organizations interact with both general Keokuk residents as well as working professionals. The Hoerner YMCA, United Way of the Great River Region, and Keokuk Chamber of Commerce hope to increase civic pride through volunteer recruitment. COVID-19 puts an incredible strain on Keokuk’s community. Because of this, the plan will be in place for use when the crisis abates. The plan will be shared by the three organizations.

Background

Keokuk is a city in southwest Iowa struggling with resident satisfaction. Since 1960, the population has continuously declined. However, as one of the largest cities in the area, it acts as a hub of resources for surrounding towns. Industrial expansion has driven people out of residential areas on the south side, and the area has a significantly higher number of rentals and empty houses. While Keokuk has an aging population, just under a third of households have one or more children under 18. This is noteworthy when considering how we reach the general population of Keokuk, as that public can be further broken down to households with children and households without children.

As an economic hub, Keokuk has several small businesses. These businesses are owned by people who are already invested in the community, which opens an opportunity to create and begin Corporate Social Responsibility programs, as is scripted in the plan. Corporate Social Responsibility is an ideal of community interaction, based in mutually beneficial relationships between businesses and nonprofits. Businesses provide resources such as money or volunteers, and in return get both reputation in the community and interpersonal benefits such as increased leadership from their staff. These businesses also provide another target public. Working professionals in Keokuk are likely to get news and information from their workplaces. Young professionals are also some of the most generous volunteers.

Before beginning this process, Keokuk had a large amount of research done. The compiled information is a testament to the power of research. Because of this, the plan does not include research of publics or communication streams. However, the plan does call for an analysis of previous projects at the end of the year. These analyses will allow the clients to identify which parts of the plan are most successful, and which need to be adjusted or replaced to better continue the mission of volunteerism and civic engagement. 

Our three clients, the Hoerner YMCA, Keokuk Chamber of Commerce, and the United Way of the Great River Region, hope that increased involvement will strengthen community ties and give residents a peek into the positive changes being made. They intend to focus this increased involvement in bringing people in as volunteers. This plan is intended to make volunteer recruitment possible for each of these organizations through scripting corporate social responsibility programs with local businesses, creating new streams of interaction between the organizations and residents, and scripting ways to address negative interactions.

Hoerner YMCA was founded in the late 1800s and has been active in the community since. Their mission statement is to put Christian principles into practice. It has three full-time staff members and a large part-time staff (2/12 interview).

The United Way of the Great River Region was founded in 2016 through a merger of two older United Way chapters. Their mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good (United Way Website). They have three employees and highlight the need for professionals on their board of directors. 

The Keokuk Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1920. It has three employees, only one of whom is full-time. Their mission is to foster economic and community development for Keokuk. Their current goal is to make Keokuk the best place to work, live, and play. 

All of these organizations share the same goal for Keokuk as well as the same target publics. They are small nonprofits with few full-time staff. They share board members, volunteers and donors, as well as interacting frequently (2/12 interview). None have a strong social media presence, and without much local mass media, this makes it difficult to get information out to the public.

As of writing this plan, COVID-19 is running rampant across the United States. The organizations’ operations have halted as all non-essential work is done from home or closed. Mark Smidt of the YMCA has lost his job. As this plan is implemented, it is important to remember that the crisis we are currently experiencing will have changed things in unpredictable ways. This plan will work for all of the organizations as it lays out overarching themes and guides productive interactions between the organizations and residents of Keokuk. It will also guide the organizations in partnering with businesses in the area to create CSR programs, which is explained further below.

Businesses with CSR program potential

Businesses that have corporate social responsibility have more positive benefits within their community which sheds a more positive light on their organization. Corporate social responsibility can also create a more positive workplace environment. Additionally, employees enjoy working for a company that has a good public image. Many companies around the world have established charitable programs that Keokuk businesses can follow and apply within their own companies. 

Because CSR is centered on the idea of mutual gain, it is important that organizations partner with businesses who share the same goal, either overall or for the specific project being accomplished. This plan includes the creation of an events or volunteer needs calendar shared between the non-profits. The calendar makes it easier for businesses and non-profits to match their desires and time preferences.

Two Rivers Bank and Trust and Climax Molybdenum are two businesses within Keokuk that have already created a positive reputation for themselves through their charitable work. Keokuk businesses can adopt many of these same initiatives to help boost their own corporate social responsibility. Employers can match their employees’ donations, reward employees for volunteering their time, and offer paid work time to employees who are volunteering. Companies can take it one step further and organize their own volunteer events. Nothing promotes a shared sense of corporate responsibility like seeing everyone volunteering their time and effort together. 

Just adopting charitable programs is not enough. Companies need to be educating their employees on the volunteer programs and incentives available to them. Many employees don’t take advantage of their volunteer incentives because they are not aware of them. The most successful strategy for creating awareness is collaboration through one-on-one conversations. COVID? This means you have to appeal to people's “What's In It For Me.” Clarity when communicating guidelines and program goals will make it easy for employees to give.

Developing the Strategic Plan

The following sections discuss the geographic and corporate environment of Keokuk, the target publics the plan is centered around, and the product the plan is meant to produce. Environment discusses the place Keokuk holds in the surrounding communities and the valuable resources within the city. Target Publics breaks down the publics of young professionals by communication stream, habits, and values. Finally, Product describes the overarching goals for the plan– volunteerism and civic pride– and explains the hurdles that must be overcome for the plan to be successful.

Environment

This section will outline the elements of Keokuk’s environment most crucial to the creation and implementation of the plan. These include the geographic makeup of the city, the resources Keokuk offers to its community as well as those surrounding it, and the business environment in the city. 

Keokuk is located in Iowa’s southeast corner and is along the Mississippi River. Keokuk’s total land area is 10.6 square miles. Keokuk’s downtown area is the core area of the city. The Hubinger/Roquette Plant area within Keokuk’s boundaries is physically constrained because of its location along the riverfront. The Northwest Growth area of the city has a number of major new developments. The Northeast growth area of the city is a residential area. The geography of Keokuk is spread out with rigid districts, which contributes to the disconnect local citizens feel for their community. 

The city of Keokuk presents itself as an economic resource hub for the surrounding small towns in the tri-state area. From schools, a hospital, and the YMCA, Keokuk offers these amenities to surrounding rural regions that might not offer or have the ability to sustain these services. These services create an environment in which those who do not live in Keokuk still have strong ties regardless. The YMCA offers its services to its 2200+ members that come from not only Keokuk, but from various towns in the tri-state area. Further, Keokuk has a multitude of small and large businesses available to its residents and those from the surrounding area. Large businesses oftentimes not only provide employment to local citizens, but to those who do not reside in Keokuk as well. 

Because Keokuk is a resource hub for the surrounding communities, it has some larger corporations as well as small local businesses. Larger corporations include Amsted Rail, Climax Molygbdenum, and Hy-Vee. Amsted Rail and Climax Molygbdenum already have CSR programs in place. Hy-Vee has charitable giving programs in place, but there is no documentation of a CSR program which includes employee volunteerism. The official statement found online says that stores tailor programs to the community it exists in (hy-vee.com). While large corporations can be valuable partners, they often prefer to donate money rather than time due to the way they run their businesses. Large corporations are often more strict about the number of hours worked as well as staffing to maximize productivity. Fitting their specific needs can make it difficult for small nonprofits to partner with them. 

Keokuk also has a variety of local businesses, including many restaurants (KACC Directory 2018). Small businesses have their own set of pros and cons. Small businesses are often more invested in the community around them because the owners as well as employees live within the community they serve. They are also often better connected to the social network of the community. However, because small businesses have a smaller staff that usually work longer hours, it is more difficult for them to fund or even allow extra time off. For these businesses, it is recommended that CSR programs focus on planned days of service when the business is closed. These programs can also be based off of Two Rivers Bank and Trust’s model, as they are a local small business with a functional and thriving CSR program.

Target Publics

We identify target publics to focus the scope of our project so that we can build an efficient plan to execute. Target publics identify our audience so that we can build a plan to reach our goals. Each target public has its own environment, behavior, and attitude. The two target publics we have identified in this plan are young professionals and local citizens. Within each of these target publics, we have identified sub-publics with their own specific needs and the communication streams we will use to meet those needs.

Young Professionals

Keokuk wants to attract young professionals to the area. From 1950 until 1980 the median age in Keokuk remained around 32 years. By 2010, the median age of Keokuk had jumped to 40 years, which is two years older than the median age in Iowa as a whole. There are a variety of factors that can contribute to a rising median age. One of those factors is younger people want to move to larger cities around the country. In order to compete with those larger cities, Keokuk needs to make employment more attractive to young professionals. Companies that adopt corporate social responsibility and other incentive programs will be more successful at attracting, hiring, and retaining young professionals. Social media and young professional’s place of work are two communication streams that can be used to attract this target public. 

Scripting new CSR programs with local employers and creating a social media plan are two projects that will help attract more young professionals to the area. Within young professionals, we have identified the sub-public millennials. This sub-public has its own specific needs and communication streams.

An improved social media presence will help reach millennials by providing them with a visual sense of what is going on in the community. Posting on Facebook about volunteer opportunities and the impact volunteers have on Keokuk can motivate millennials to go out and make a difference themselves. Social media is also a great tool for recognition. Volunteers can be recognized and celebrated for their volunteer efforts.

Local Citizens

Volunteer engagement and participation in Keokuk comes almost exclusively from business owners and professionals. Every day community members make up a large percentage of the Keokuk population and their volunteer engagement and participation would make a huge difference for volunteerism within Keokuk. Ways to reach this audience are through the churches, word-of-mouth, Radio Keokuk, and social media. Promoting volunteerism through non-digital channels is necessary since some local citizens do not have access to a digital medium. 

The everyday people who live in Keokuk have low morale and civic pride. Keokuk’s social media is full of negative comments about the city. Keokuk is not very active on their social media, so the people who are visiting Keokuk’s social media sites are mostly seeing negative comments associated with Keokuk. Improving Keokuk’s social media sites by highlighting positive things going on in the community can help boost morale and civic pride. Additionally, responding to the negative comments on Keokuk’s social media sites can help promote Keokuk’s public image. Techniques to combat negative comments online: acknowledge the issue, apologize, provide an explanation, and/or invite the commenter to discuss the matter in private. There are also many community members in Keokuk who are struggling to just make ends meet. They are working long shifts and are not motivated to spend their free time volunteering.

Creating a social media plan and a script to combat negative interactions online are two projects that will help volunteer engagement and participation with local citizens. Within local citizens, we have identified citizens who frequently attend church, parents of young families, high schoolers, and citizens with low morale and civic pride as sub-publics who have their own specific needs and communication streams. 

Citizens who frequently attend church

There are many opinion leaders within the churches to help promote volunteerism. The churches can help spread the word about volunteer opportunities during services, through weekly bulletin announcements, emails, and small groups. Getting local leaders from the community churches to help support the three non-profit organizations is one project that will boost volunteerism within this target public. The opinion leaders within the churches can shift to digital group meeting methods of delivery like Zoom or Webex. Not everyone within this target public has access to WiFi and can make the shift to a digital method of delivery.

Parents of young families

Parents of young families are great candidates for volunteerism. They can be reached through social media and newsletters put out by the school. Connecting the church target public with the parents of young families and also creating family-friendly events are two projects that will help boost volunteerism within this target public. 

High Schoolers

High schoolers are another source of potential volunteers. Instead of reaching out to the Keokuk high school as a whole, target students involved in extracurriculars. These students can be reached through the adults that run the programs. Students involved in youth groups, sports teams, and other clubs are more reliable since they have an adult figure holding them accountable for their actions. Students involved in extracurriculars are typically responsible and disciplined. High schoolers are also motivated to volunteer because they can put it on their college application. This target public can be reached through their parents, teachers, and coaches. Offering a reward for students who put in so many volunteer hours is one project that will help attract more high schoolers toward volunteerism.

Product 

In this section, civic pride and volunteerism are further explained to clarify the end goal of the plan. Volunteerism and civic pride are described here according to their importance, the obstacles needing to be resolved, and the projects which address them.

The Narrative

Through the community needs assessment conducted by Hoerner YMCA, the need to boost overall morale and to engage the community through means of volunteerism became apparent. Boosted morale and volunteerism are connected and go hand-in-hand. By increasing engagement through acts of volunteerism, civic pride within Keokuk should increase as volunteer rates increase. In this section, we will discuss how to achieve this social “product.”

The Social “Product”

We have developed a two-part social “product” when considering the issues that Keokuk and the three organizations face. The two parts include: A.) The idea of boosting civic pride within Keokuk, and B.) Getting the target publics to engage in behaviors related to volunteerism.

A.) Product: The Idea of Civic Pride

The city of Keokuk already offers many things for its residents to be proud of, from its “reverent sense of history and culture” (City of Keokuk, 2018) to its beautiful location along the Mississippi River. Keokuk offers small-town charm while still maintaining amenities not often found in smaller cities, such as a community college, hospital, and armory. 

The basis for bolstering civic pride within the community is present, however, overcoming the pessimistic attitudes that have afflicted the community requires a more proactive approach. We have formed objectives with the idea of creating a business environment in which civic pride is boosted and maintained. 

Firstly, getting involved in social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, is necessary.  Not only would these platforms provide an avenue for making volunteer opportunities more accessible (Business 2 Community.com, 2012), but it would also be beneficial to boosting more positive engagement within the community. Through social media, organizations can show the efforts being put in by other community members to make Keokuk better. A 2020 research study showed that volunteers increasingly want the impact they make through volunteering to be shared via social media (Cison PR Newswire, 2020). It is also essential in dealing with negative engagement in a polite and cordial fashion. Generally, social media platforms act as a highlight reel to one’s life or business. In that same way, social media platforms for Keokuk should highlight what makes Keokuk and its people great. 

Additionally, a social media presence is more important than ever in light of the outbreak of COVID-19. With limited access to other channels of communication, a strong social media presence offers a means for the three organizations to acknowledge the trials and tribulations affecting the community while relaying information on various avenues of support or reference.

Secondly, an integral part of increasing civic pride amongst the citizens relies on achieving increased volunteerism. Businesses of Keokuk implementing Corporate Social Responsibility programs instills in employees, as well as local citizens, that they care about the greater good of the community. It also creates a working environment that employees feel proud to be a part of (Weinger, 2017). In these ways, civic pride can begin to grow and remain in the community. 

Thirdly, the three organizations should look to boost efforts with networking and building strong relationships with local opinion leaders. According to the theory of two-step flow, opinion leaders exist within communities, and their own opinion has influence over the group of people that subscribe to their ideology (Bobbit & Sullivan, 2014). Forming solid relationships with opinion leaders of Keokuk can offer connections to recruit volunteers as well as creating a feeling of solidarity between the three organizations and opinion leaders. 

Creating an environment in which civic pride outweighs pessimism can present itself as a daunting task. In the next section, we will discuss the projects we have curated to engage the target publics with behaviors related to volunteering. 

B.) Product: Volunteerism

Getting the everyday citizen to willfully volunteer can be tricky. Many of the target publics have jobs, families, and/or other responsibilities to tend to every single day. Creating a situation in which volunteering is possible for these groups is the challenge. Increased volunteer rates depend on creating a stronger social media presence, encouraging local businesses to implement corporate social responsibility programs, and forming strong connections with local opinion leaders.

Firstly, increased engagement on social media platforms could increase the number of citizens being made aware of what volunteer opportunities exist (Business 2 Community.com, 2012). Creating a social media plan that addresses how to properly run and manage a social media page is needed to ensure the best possible outcome of online interactions with the public. Further, the three organizations should aim to engage negative comments in a respectful and positive way. Negative engagement should not be ignored and should be dealt with in a manner that projects a genuine feeling of wanting to assist citizens and their concerns. A negative social media environment does not promote civic pride and therefore would not promote volunteerism. 

After enacting and following a social media plan, the three organizations should plan on analyzing the efforts made to create a stronger social media presence at a later date. Here, they will figure out what elements of the plan have been effective and ineffective. After the analysis, adjustments can be made accordingly. 

Secondly, Corporate Social Responsibility programs are all about creating a win-win situation between a business and its stakeholders. A business can serve its community while maintaining a positive public image. This is important because today’s consumer climate calls for businesses to seek more than just a profit (Weinger, 2014). For the three organizations, businesses that offer CSR programs can create an extremely viable means of bringing in volunteers and retaining them for future activities. Under this plan, Hoerner YMCA, United Way of the Great River Region, and Keokuk Chamber of Commerce, will collaborate to script CSR programs with local employers. 

The first step is identifying key businesses that have the means to implement a CSR program. The next step is to contact and inform the business about the benefits of CSR and what it could do for both parties. Finally, if a business is willing, the three organizations should partner with the business to script a CSR plan that aligns with the goals of both parties. 

To maintain a cohesive flow amongst The Hoerner YMCA, United Way of the Great River Region, and Keokuk Chamber of Commerce, they should collaborate to create a shared nonprofit schedule. This would make it easy in aiding businesses in knowing what volunteer opportunities are available. 

After these projects have been completed, it is time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the efforts to persuade Keokuk businesses to implement CSR programs. The important questions to answer are “What’s working?” and “What’s not working?”

Thirdly, during our meetings, there was mention of previous engagement with local churches. Reaching out to past partnerships/connections could be beneficial in bringing in more volunteers. Establishing a strong relationship with community opinion leaders open doors to recruiting more volunteers. Oftentimes, youth groups within churches are open to volunteer opportunities to get the group involved with the community in a meaningful way. At the very least, churches haven bulletins that are distributed to its congregation. Encouraging church leaders to insert an announcement in a bulletin about available volunteer opportunities could be an effective way to recruit volunteers. 

Other viable opinion leaders include teachers and coaches. Teachers and coaches have influence over the student body that they lead. Oftentimes, educators are open to offering incentives to students in return for donating their time. The incentive can be anything, whether it’s some form of extra credit, or just simply creating an opportunity for students to obtain volunteer hours for college applications. Additionally, getting in touch with high school coaches could result in recruiting team members to get involved with volunteer activities. Coaches often hold their student-athletes with high accountability, meaning there are consequences for bad grades, not attending practice or games, or not attending a required team activity like volunteering. 

After making efforts to connect with various opinion leaders in the community, it is important to analyze how the efforts made have been received by the citizens of Keokuk. 

The next section will briefly describe the main goal of the plan and the objectives we have created to achieve this goal. 

Goal: To improve civic morale through increased volunteerism.

Assuming a link between volunteerism and civic pride, we have designed a volunteer recruitment program in which all three nonprofits, YMCA, United Way and Chamber of Commerce have a cohesive network of volunteers.