Title

Reimagining Non-Profit Communications: The Importance of A Digital Media Plan for Rhody Outpost

Author(s)

Madeline BurttFollow

Major

Public Relations

Second Major

Political Science

Minor(s)

Spanish

Advisor

Bell, Regina

Advisor Department

Public Relations

Date

4-2021

Keywords

non-profit organization; Rhody Outpost; social media; digital media; communications

Abstract

Ever since social media went viral in the early 2000s with the platform MySpace, the theory of what media is, and how to spread one’s ideas, has never been the same. The emergence of digital media, specifically, social media, has reimagined what it is to market products, organizations, and ideas. With the ever-growing population of social media users, it is important now more than ever to develop a strong, consistent social media presence, no matter how big or small an organization might be, and the findings of my Honors Project prove just that.

In this Honors Project, I will be focusing on the importance of a digital media plan for the University of Rhode Island’s own non-profit organization, the Rhody Outpost, and will be addressing the question of: Why does the Rhody Outpost need a social media presence? Through this project, I answered this question by consulting experts in the field of hunger and poverty, such as the Food & Housing Security Coordinator for URI, and the Director of the URI Feinstein Center for a Hunger-Free America. I also created and distributed a survey to URI students that asked questions surrounding social media usage and social media content preferences that gave me invaluable insight into the digital media habits of students at URI.

Evident from the findings of my survey, as well as consulting with experts in the field of hunger and poverty, it is extremely important for the Rhody Outpost to develop a digital media plan, as many URI students consume and share media digitally in this new age of social media. This project demonstrates the revolutionizing of how students consume media, and how non-profit organizations such as the Rhody Outpost should use this revolution in increasing accessibility to more students.