a local and international take on PR for a non-profit organization

1. Natalie Borrowman
EVENT REPRESENATIVE, EMAIL
COORESPONDER AND SOCIAL
MEDIA COORDINATOR

2. About Natalie
 From the Villages, Florida
 Graduated from Belmont University in 2016
 Has two degrees in Spanish and Social Entrepreneurship
 Works primarily as the Social Enterprise Manager for Mission
Lazarus

3. About Mission Lazarus
 Mission Lazarus was founded in 2004 by
Jarrod and Allison brown. It is a Non-profit
organization that gives opportunities to kids
and families in Haiti and Honduras through
four programs: agriculture, education,
medical, spiritual.

4. The Mission Lazarus logo depicts the
four main ministries:
o Agriculture- people are trained by
farmers to learn how to harvest
crops and produce beef, milk, coffee,
and vegetables
o Education- people are offered early
childhood development care and
training in vocational schools
o Medical- medical care is offered to
the people in order to reduce
sickness and promote health
o Spiritual- Mission Lazarus works with
local preachers to start churches in
their communities

5.  “In Honduras and in Haiti we have
programs where kids who wouldn't
be able to go to school, are given an
opportunity to attend our programs
and we pay them to attend… so it
encourages them to come.”
 “ In our program they learn both the
trade with their hands... and they also
recive three years more education
than the government provides.”
Out of the four
programs, Natalie
primarily works
with the
education
ministry in the
vocational
schools where the
kids learn
leatherwork,
carpentry and
sowing skills.

6. These are some products that are made in the
vocational schools.

7. Although Natalie’s formal job title is Social Enterprise
manager, her day-to-day job encompasses much more
Program Development
 Especially when working in Honduras,
Natalie focused a lot on program
development. She was in charge of
the development of new products, the
production schedule, and the
materials needed to make the
product, all while working alongside
the main leather instructor.
“Triage”
 Every day is different for Natalie. There
isn’t ever really a set schedule. Her job is
more often than not based on whatever
task is most important at the time,
whether that be packing suitcases that will
be sent to Haiti or unpacking a shipment
of new products.

8. Consistent Tasks
 Aside from her somewhat unpredictable
schedule, Natalie consistently manages
Mission Lazarus’s social media, answers
customer emails and works with potential
partners or wholesalers.

9. Regarding
social media
 “I plan out weekly all the different posts on our
multiple platforms. We have our Mission Lazarus
platform, we have our social enterprise platform,
we have our coffee platform as well.”
 “I plan out how all the blog posts and email blasts
and I decide what will you, as a client, see about
our brand. And its interesting to kind of see both
sides, because I know a lot of the interworkings, so
I can really pull on heartstrings sometimes when I
make posts, because I have access to the story of
how a certain family was really impacted by
Mission Lazarus.”

10.  “I am consistently answering
customer emails. So I am that
person, and that face that
interacts with our clients.”
Regarding
customer
service

11. Regarding
relationships
with partners
 “The products that the boys make in the
schools go out for sale, so we have an
online store, and we also sell in stores
around the city. So if we are interacting
with someone in that capacity I handle the
relationship side of things. So sometimes
its going over to someone’s house and
showing them products and telling them
the story so that they know its more than
just a bag…”

12. Natalie in Honduras

13. “
”
Its cool to have such contrasting experiences.
It makes you realize that what seems so
important here, doesn't matter there, because
at the end of the day these people are just
trying to survive.
NATALIE BORROWMAN

14. Reflecting on Her Time in Honduras
 Natalie spent 4 months working on
location in Honduras and now she works
exclusively in Nashville. Although she had
an amazing experience being able to work
in a hands-on environment, she feels that
her talents best benefit the non-profit
when she is in the U.S.
 “I have better business skills. We could try
to sell our products in markets there and I
could do the same job there, but the
market there just can’t really support itself,
so we do better here selling products in
the U.S.”
 ”But I loved being [in Honduras], I loved
walking to the school and hanging out
with the guys while making products and
having conversations with them…”

15.  “I knew going into my job that I wasn't going
to know everything… So if there is something
I dont know I recognize that I am only 22 and
if I’m not capable of doing something myself I
can ask someone who is capable...”
 “In a lot of ways I still feel like a kid and I am
still learning but I would hope that one day in
the future I can be that professional who
someone young, like me now, can come to
when they have questions.”
Natalie does not
consider herself
to be a
professional by
any standards
and recognizes
that she still has
many new things
to learn

16. “
”
“Public relations involves the way that you display and
interact with your clients or with your market and audience.
So, it is vital for a business like ours which is heavily reliant
on donors and customers, to have a strong public relations
front so that we are really able to convey our story and have
people supporting what we do, otherwise we can’t do the
work that we get to do in Honduras and Haiti”
NATALIE BORROWMAN
When asked to define public relations…