Women and Children First is a nonprofit organization that provides services to victims of domestic violence in Arkansas, including crisis intervention and shelter. In the last year, the organization housed over 582 individuals and provided services to thousands more. However, it relies heavily on volunteers to run its programs. The top need is attracting and retaining more volunteers. The organization believes recruiting college students could help, as Arkansas ranks high for college volunteer rates. Younger volunteers could help through social media to raise awareness. An effective communication plan is needed to gain more long-term volunteers to help the organization grow.

1. Jessica Franklin
Strategic Communication Principles
9/12/2016
Professor Amy Barnes
Women and Children First
Women and Children first is a nonprofit organization that “provides crisis intervention,
safe shelter, social and legal advocacy and support services” to women and children
who have been victims of domestic violence (Women and Children First website). This
organization was started in the Little Rock community, however, it is open to the entire
state of Arkansas. According to a recent statistic on its website, Women and Children
First housed over 582 individuals in its shelter, including over 200 children. The
organization also offered seven core services to thousands of Arkansans this past year.
However, it takes more than a few people to run these services. The top organizational
need for Women and Children First is attracting and retaining more volunteers.
According to the Women and Children First website, some of the core services it
provided to Arkansans in just the last year are : “providing crisis intervention, case
management, emotional support, totaling 1,408 support group hours and 1,948
individual support hours; answering 12,542 crisis calls; provided more than 541 case
management hours and support services to families seeking permanent housing free of
violence after leaving the shelter; and giving more than 50 presentations in the
community, as well as 7 radio/TV interviews.” All of these services require volunteers in
order to be successful. A representative for the organization believes that more
volunteers could also lead to more donations and resources.
Currently there are three different ways someone can volunteer for the organization.
According to the Women and Children First website, someone can be a direct service
volunteer, an indirect service volunteer, or be a part of a volunteer group. A
representative for the organization said that the volunteer rate is falling because
volunteers come and go by choice; and also because the organization currently does
not have a volunteer coordinator to organize everything. The representative also stated
that in our society not everyone is aware of domestic violence, which prohibits them
from volunteering and being advocates for the cause. Last, the organization is in
competition with Dorcas House, another women and children of domestic violence
shelter. The representative said that people in Arkansas are partial to Dorcas House
because it is religion based and WFC is not.
The organization has thought of ways to increase volunteers, but is having trouble
implementing its strategy, an organization representative said. Women and Children
first is looking for college students to volunteer because the organization hopes these
students will get connected at a young age and be more consistently involved as they
get older. The organization believes another benefit of attracting a younger generation

2. would be an increase in awareness because young people can spread the word to
millions through various media outlets.
Getting college students to volunteer should not be an issue. According to statistics
given by the Corporation for National and Community Service, Arkansas is ranked #17
out of all the states for having 34.4 percent of college students volunteer each year. The
organization now needs an effective plan to gain volunteers, particularly young or
college student volunteers. An increase in volunteers would benefit the organization in
numerous ways. The International Erosion Control Association stated in its volunteer
management chapter that volunteers “helps build organizational strength” from “growing
and retaining members,” which is exactly what Women and Children are hoping to do.
Another benefit of attracting younger volunteers is that they are media savvy. According
to Pew Research Center, people within the ages of 18-29 are the highest percentage of
social media users on all sites with the exception of Linked in. Social media and other
media outlets can be used as a strong tool to help an organization raise awareness.
According to the Physicians for Human Rights Tools and Resources, “The power of the
media is a tremendous asset when it comes to getting our message out to the public,
and an educated, motivated public can create demand for change. In addition, media
exposure can increase your legitimacy and clout within the community.” If Women and
Children first gain volunteers, especially younger ones, it has a greater chance of
spreading awareness and growing its organization. The organization needs a
communication plan on how to attract and retain long-term volunteers.

3. Works Cited
http://phrtoolkits.org/toolkits/student-chapter-toolkit/advocacy-and-education/media-and-
publicity-raising-awareness/
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/
https://www.wcfarkansas.org/
http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/VIA/VIA_rankings_national.pdf