Madison McCormack

Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity

Final Project
01/16/2022

Organization Analysis and Review

The organization I chose to study is Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity. The

services that this organization provides is neighborhood revitalization and building homes for

families in need. This organization is a local chapter of a national organization. Central South

Carolina Habitat for Humanity addresses the issue of non-affordable housing and repairs. Their

mission statement is “Putting God's love into action, Central SC Habitat for Humanity brings

people together to build homes, community, and hope”. I picked this organization because I have

been personally involved with volunteering to build homes for Habitat. They are an organization

I believe does important work and I support their mission.

SWOT Analysis

One strength of Central SC Habitat is there is a variety of volunteer opportunities posted

on the Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity website, which are easy to sign up for. This

easy sign up process allows for the organization to use many volunteers to complete its

homeownership and neighborhood revitalization projects. Another strength is the Central SC

Habitat is that it is a well known organization so they are easily able to help house families

through funding from donations, grants, and interest free mortgages of homeowners.

One weakness is Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity homeowners only qualify

for a home if they are below a certain income, which leaves people who are still considered in
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poverty with no help. Another weakness is the organization relies heavily on volunteers which

can make it harder to complete their companies goals.

One opportunity is the involvement in social media apps and trends would allow for more

awareness of the organization and therefore bring in more volunteers. A second opportunity

would be student outreach to those in need of service hours would allow more consistent

volunteers.

A threat would be the COVID-19 virus and new variants offer a threat to the company to

maintain volunteers and homebuilding projects. Another threat is The low-cost building efforts

of the company may not allow homeowners to have long lasting or efficient homes.

Environmental Scan

People are receiving information about Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity

through their Instagram and Twitter, as compared to their website where they used to get most of

their information. The information they want to access is about volunteer events and

accomplishments of the organization. Some donors and volunteers are not very technologically

savvy. This may cause a gap in communication to older members involved in the organization.

Between 2010 and 2019 the household income has gone from $51,523 to $62,059 and in

Richland from $45,944 to $52,905. The income for both counties has gone up since 2010. This

affects the market in which Central SC Habitat is building homes. The organization has more

families they need to serve because less people can afford homes as income levels go up and

prices in homes rise.

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Audience Analysis

Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity's main audiences are student volunteers and

low-income individuals and families. Student volunteers are typically from the ages of 16-23.

Their education level is high school diploma or lower. Their income levels are none or up to

42,000 a year on average (Sineriz, 2021). The beliefs and values of this group are: creating

relationships and networks, working to meet a goal, freedom and security. Low-income

individuals and families are another main audience who have a large range of age and race.

Individuals make $16,100 or less in income and typically have a high school diploma or less.

Their values and beliefs are security, community and kindness.

Social Media

The social media of Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity uses are Instagram and

Twitter. On Instagram the organization has 277 followers, and 1551 followers on Twitter.

Central SC Habitat uses its Instagram to give weekly updates on events and volunteer

opportunities sponsored by the organization. On Twitter, the organization uses polls and news

associated with the company to gather public opinion. The organization does not respond to

negative comments, which allows it to not be associated with any negativity.

CSR
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The local community in which Central SC Habitat for Humanity and its parent

organization Habitat for Humanity International are typically among the most susceptible to

climate change's effects and pollution. Events like wildfires, hurricanes, floods,tornadoes, and

droughts are caused by these issues. Habitat has adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development made by the United Nations members in 2015. Habitat also partners with families

to build energy efficient homes that can be resilient against disaster.

Fundraising and development

The majority of fundraising for Habitat comes from donor galas or balls- which is an

event where Habitat for Humanities donors pay a fee to attend which goes towards the

organization. During this event donors can also donate more money. Habitat for Humanity holds

different annual build fundraisers each year, but in the last year Central SC Habitat held an event

called “Womans Build 2022” in which they held a workshop to teach women about

homeownership. People can become a silver, gold or platinum sponsor. The more you donate the

more recognition and involvement with Habitat and building projects you recieve.

Crisis Communication

When it comes to a crisis, there are three major scenarios for Central South Carolina

Habitat for Humanity to prepare. The first scenario would be a volunteer injured on the job. This

is an event that is moderately likely to happen but would not cause the company major damage.

A message of regret and new safety measures being installed should be communicated through
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Habitats website and local online newspapers. The spokesperson for this event should be the

leader of volunteer events.

The second major crisis that could occur could be an employee/volunteer death while on

job. This is not a very likely event but would cause significant damage. A message of extreme

condolences and regret should be communicated, as well as opening an active invesstigation.

The message should be delivered by the CFO or CEO of the organization on a popular news

broadcast and other smaller news outlets.

The third major event to prepare for is natural disaster. This is a fairly likely scenario that

would not badly damage the reputation of the organization unless Habitat took no action to help.

A message of condolences and regret to any people injured or passed away. As well as Central

Habitat of SC will offer a disaster team to help with the community and Habitat homeowners.

The message should be communicated by the CFO or CEO on local broadcast news.

Advocacy

Central SC Habitat advocates for individuals and families below the poverty line, and

those who can no longer afford housing and basic needs. Its advocacy is effective because

Habitat for Humanity advocacy efforts have helped pass legislation for affordable housing. For

example in 2018, the U.S. The House of Representatives approved the Housing Opportunities

Made Easier, or HOME, Act, because of Habitat.

Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity could advocate for its clients by tackling

the issue of hunger. Habitat helps families in need build and finance homes, but they do not

always help with issues of hunger and paying for groceries. By helping advocate for hunger
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relief programs, Central SC Habitat would be able to support an important cause affecting its

clients. Using social media with infographics about the issue of hunger could be a good way to

advocate the issue. Linking a website to where people can donate or volunteer to help hunger

relief programs should be included. Attaching this information to the organization website would

also be a great way to advocate and help the clients they serve.

Connections

The success of Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity can be attributed to many of

the factors discussed in this analysis. The organization's success in social media outreach has led

to its goals in advocacy to be reached. From the social media analysis- its Instagram has 277

followers and 1551 followers on Twitter. This following has allowed its audience to advocate for

the Housing Opportunities Made Easier, or HOME, Act which has successfully passed by the

U.S. The House of Representatives in 2018 per the advocacy analysis. Central SC Habitat is a

well known organization that has and will continue to thrive because of its relationships with the

Midlands community and its variety of volunteer efforts.

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References

What we do. MIDLANDS HABITAT. (n.d.). Retrieved December 30, 2021, from

https://www.habitatcsc.org/what-we-do.html

Housing and climate change. Habitat for Humanity. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2022, from

https://www.habitat.org/about/climate-change-position

Income guidelines. South Carolina Legal Services. (2021, December 15). Retrieved January 5,

2022, from https://sclegal.org/income-guidelines/

Sineriz, M. H. (2021, November 5). What is the average college student's income? The

Classroom | Empowering Students in Their College Journey. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from

https://www.theclassroom.com/what-is-the-average-college-students-income-13656104.html
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