MEJO 332 Public Relations Writing

APPLES Client Portfolio

Chatham Habitat for Humanity
Dani Bieler, Lane Hawkins, Lilly Hyde, Jordan Putnam, and Ryan Smoot
 

April 23, 2020

Communication Audit

Background

Right now, in the United States, there is a severe housing crisis, with millions of people

lacking access to affordable homes. Per a Forbes article published in February of 2020, this

country needs at least 7.2 million more affordable units to mitigate the crisis. In North Carolina

alone, over 17,000 families are spending more than half of their collective income on housing

costs and utilities, making them severely cost burdened, according to the most recent report

published by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Without access to affordable homes,

families are forced to forego financial security in lieu of receiving the most basic necessities,

such as shelter, water, and electricity.

The concept for Habitat for Humanity began in the early 1970s on a small farm outside of

Americus, Georgia. Clarence Jordan, a farmer and biblical scholar, along with Habitat’s eventual

founders, Linda and Millard Fuller, developed the idea of “partnership housing,” where those in

need of affordable shelter worked alongside volunteers to build nonprofit, sustainable housing.

After working with the “Fund for Humanity” in Georgia, the Fullers took their concept to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, then called Zaire, to establish safe housing for communities
in the country. After much hard work, the program returned to the United States and was

officially founded as Habitat for Humanity International in 1976. 

Since the 1970s, Habitat for Humanity has grown to operate in all 50 states, as well as in

over 70 countries. Habitat’s efforts have helped more than 29 million people receive affordable

housing through community support.

Habitat for Humanity maintains its professional media presence through Habitat for

Humanity’s newsroom. Experts on topics such as affordable housing, residential home

construction, community development, volunteering, international development, and many other

areas are available to the media through the Habitat newsroom. News media members may

request interviews, comments, and high resolution photographs and video footage by contacting

newsroom@habitat.org directly. 

Chatham Habitat for Humanity, an official chapter of Habitat for Humanity International,

was founded in 1989, when 65 people gathered at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in

Chatham County, North Carolina, to devise a plan to combat their community’s sub-standard

housing. Today, Chatham Habitat, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, serves low-

income families primarily in the towns of Pittsboro and Siler City. To date, the organization has

provided affordable housing to over 130 families in the Chatham community.

Chatham Habitat defines its mission as working “in partnership with God and people to

create self-help opportunities for families to own affordable homes, improve their lives, and

strengthen their communities.” The organization strives to achieve this mission through a variety

of efforts, including home construction and educational programs, which are carried out by both

Habitat staff and community volunteers. Chatham Habitat is funded by donations, family
mortgage payments and funds raised at two ReStores, which sell donated furniture and

construction supplies.

Chatham Habitat maintains its media presence through professional Facebook, Twitter,

and Instagram accounts, as well as through an e-newsletter accessed by subscription.

Currently, Chatham Habitat consists of a 21-person staff and a board of directors with 11

members.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

 A local subset of a nationally recognized nonprofit which gives back to communities by

providing houses for those in need

 Clear and easy to use website-- clearly labeled navigation menu, attention grabbing

“Donate”, “Volunteer” and “Apply” buttons, easy to navigate to blog

 Mission statement on homepage of website

 Contact information clear and found easily at the bottom of each page

 Blogs are posted at least every month

 Website contains links to social media to drive traffic to their sites

 Very active Facebook presence, multiple posts per week about events their audience

might be interested in

Weaknesses

 Blog page needs to be updated, there has not been a blog post since January
  It is difficult to find the link to sign up for the e-newsletter, which an important

communication tool

 Need for better photography on their website and social media

 Facebook posts need to focus more on driving traffic back to their website to encourage

volunteering or donating

 There is little to no information about upcoming events or partnerships on their website

Opportunities

 Increase awareness of the organization’s mission in the community

 COVID-19 has raised the importance of having safe, comfortable housing to shelter in

 Creating more blog posts about organizational events and updates on how the

organization is benefitting families

 Use Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits in order to have free digital ad spend

 Increase media relations effort to have more stories and news releases appear in local

news outlets to increase awareness

 Expand social media base with more activity and higher quality photos/videos

Threats

 Fundraising is quite difficult currently since donors may be going through financial

hardship amid COVID-19, and most people donate to charities that can provide

immediate relief for those affected by the pandemic

 Poor website layout may prevent people from learning more about the org, volunteering

or donating
  At least three other Habitat for Humanity chapters in the area that compete for donations

and volunteers

 Lack of awareness about the chapter outside the immediate Pittsboro area

 Volunteers may become disengaged with the organization during the stay-at-home order

Recommendations

 Have 2-3 scheduled posts on Facebook and Instagram per week. 

 Create 2-3 blog posts per month to help engage volunteers. 

 Take more photos showing what the organization is about how they are helping their

community.

 Post more photos on their social media and website.

 Create social media captions that will drive traffic back to their website to encourage

volunteering and donating.

 Create engaging social media captions that have a clear call to action. 

 Add a search bar to their website to help visitors better orient themselves and learn about

future volunteer and donation opportunities. 

 Add a more eye-catching link to sign-up for the e-newsletter on their website.

 Give COVID-19 updates on social media to inform volunteers/donors.

 Create interactive virtual experiences to help keep volunteers engaged during the stay-at-

home order. 

 Create more opportunities for free advertisement in the community.