Riverkeeper Final Project

R I V E R K E E P E R
M E L I S S A BA R R E TO, T H O M A S D R E W, K I R ST Y N S COT T

W H O I S R I V E R K E E P E R ?
Mission:
To protect the environmental, recreational and commercial integrity of
the Hudson River and its tributaries, and safeguard the drinking water
of nine million New York City and Hudson Valley residents.
Riverkeeper got its start as the HRFA (Hudson River Fishermen’s Association) in 1966. It was formed by ﬁshermen that were concerned with protecting their livelihoods and the pollution of the
Hudson River. It has become the leading organization dedicated to protecting the “environmental, recreational, and commercial integrity of the Hudson River and its tributaries, and to safeguard the
drinking water of nine million New York City and Hudson Valley residents.”

STAT E O F A F FA I R S
• Current membership: 4,000
• Activated members spend time near the Hudson
• World exposure aids in prompt to serve Riverkeeper
• Immediate and delayed gratification
While there has been a decline in giving and membership to nonprofits, Riverkeeper has stayed relatively steady. Despite the $299K drop in donations from fiscal year 2013, there are still $425K in
donations and contributions receivable noted at the end of FY 2014. They currently have 4,000 members, but they would like this number to grow to 5,000 by the end of 2016. Dana’s insights were
invaluable in terms of deciding the segment Riverkeeper should target to reach this goal. She was frank about proximity to the river being a strong factor in participation and the differences in
immediate vs delayed gratification. It was noticed from the call that “younger people want RK to show them right away that they can make an impact; older people already know that activism can
make an impact and, for them, their RK activity is another ‘notch in their belt’ - one more step in a lifetime of activism.” These current differences were crucial to understanding the segments that
would eventually help us craft the right audience

G OA L
To increase membership* by 25% by the end of
2016.
*Members are individuals who donate at least $1 to
Riverkeeper.
SMART goals are incredibly useful, yet underutilized by many members of organizations. These goals are to be speciﬁc, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Taking into account the
goal that Riverkeeper wants to reach, we’ve determined their SMART goal to be, “To increase membership (individuals who give at least $1 to Riverkeeper) by 25% by the end of 2016.”

P O P U L AT I O N OV E RV I E W
Population of Hudson River Valley: 9M
Population of Manhattan: 1.7M
While the Hudson River Valley is home to 9M residents, we thought that it would be important to attempt to get the most bang for our buck in terms of advertising budget. With that in mind, we
decided to focus on the 1.7M people that live in Manhattan. Though there are a plethora of demographics we could have utilized to separate Manhattanites into groups, a small budget logically
leads to more efforts being spent on free platforms. Social media usage is incredibly high amongst the millennial population, and we recognized that 591,460 Manhattanites fit into this category. We
wanted to ensure that the Riverkeeper staff had the grand picture of the millennial population, particularly because they are often depicted as young 20 year olds. In fact, the largest subsegment of
the millennial population is between the ages of 30-34. Young adults are often depicted as not having money, but individuals in the early stages of their career certainly have the money to give a
dollar to a worthwhile organization. Dana gave us a lot of information via the phone report, but one of the most interesting findings was that proximity to the river seemed to be correlated with
Riverkeeper engagement. While there are parks on the east side of Manhattan, there are miles of park that stretch down the west side between the Hudson River Park and Riverside Park. In an
effort to truly engage the target segment, we utilized the community reports provided by each Manhattan district to map the expected number of millennials living in communities that are west of
6th Avenue. Not only are they more tied to the River because it is more accessible for their use, but Dana also suggested that younger individuals like to see an immediate difference. They are more
likely to see an immediate difference in a community that is close to their own.

Millennial Population: 591,460
Total 2010 Population: 1,662,701
Non-Millennial Millennial

25-29 35-39
30-34 20-24

Millennial Non-Millennial
Community 1
Community 4
Community 2
Community 7
Community 9
Community 12

P O S S I B L E S E G M E N T S
ESTABLISHED UPPER EAST SIDERS
WEST SIDE MILLENNIAL
“MANHATTANITES”
LIONS AND BOBCATS
When discussing possible target segments we took into account three different groups of people. We came to the conclusion that each possible target segment would not only be interested in
Riverkeeper’s initiative, but also directly affected by the absence of clean water in their daily lives.

We discovered that each possible segment presented unique differences in psychographic, demographic, behavioral, and influencer characteristics, which directly impacted the role of
communications for each segment. We generated names for our three possible segments according to geographical area and psychographic characteristics:

Established Upper East Siders, West Side Millennial Manhattanites, and Lions and Bobcats.

The Established Upper East Siders possible segment is comprised of 40-55 year olds that are opulent in nature, accomplished in life and influenced by whatever gives them a favorable ROI. They
make 150k a year or greater and have an education level of a graduate degree or higher. Accessibility, ROI and a spouse or significant other are the biggest influencers to this target. When
engaging with this possible segment, we want them to feel accomplished and influential when joining RiverKeeper. Our role of communications for this segment will ensure that the target feels
appreciated and valued as a longstanding New York citizen — a citizen that we want to have a say in the health of New York’s waterways.

The Lions and Bobcats segment consists of college students between the ages of 18-24 years old that attend either of the two main Universities based in the city of Manhattan -- Columbia and
NYU. This target segment is representative of the typical New York City college student that leads a hectic and fast paced lifestyle. This type of student also is in the midst of finding him/herself and
is addicted to and easily influenced by social media. Quick fixes to problems as well as the feeling of instant gratification are things that this target loves. The health of the ecosystem is big to this
target, and they often times look to do whatever the “right thing” is to do when it comes to social causes and philanthropy. We want our communications initiatives for Riverkeeper to cause this
target to feel that they are representative of the core and the future of the RiverKeeper mission by investing early in the organization and what it stands for. Furthermore, we want this target to
realize the benefits of RiverKeeper as a non profit organization in the form of extracurricular activities/volunteer experience that can be added to their college resumés.

The final possible segment, and target segment of our choice, is the West Side Millennial Manhattanites. This group is between the ages of 20-39, lives west of 6th Avenue, and is very active. They
are proud to live in New York, even if the goal isn’t to stay in the city permanently. Working out 3x a week is a must for this group, and they consume the recommended daily amount of water at
minimum. The average income for this group is between 55-95k, and they are easily influenced by price, accessibility and their peers. We want the target to feel grateful for what they get to enjoy
because of RiverKeeper, but also that those benefits might go away if RK ceases to exist. Additionally, we want the target to feel empowered to make a change, even though it is small. The target
will respond with gratitude and in fear of not having a clean water source.

S E G M E N TAT I O N A N A LYS I S
Geographic: East vs. West vs. Campus
Demographic: 18-24/20-39/40-55
Behaviorgraphic: Active/Opulent/Hectic
Influencers: ROI/Social Media/Peer
Psychographics: Self-exploration/
Accomplished/ “New Yorker”
West Side Millennial Manhattanites

- Millennials who live west of 6th Avenue, strive for a healthy lifestyle, are budget-conscious, value philanthropy, feel pressured for time, enjoy their friends, and love actively exploring New York.

Established Upper East Siders

- Accomplished New York residents living on the upper east side in their 40s-50s that care about ROI, are passionate about the city’s wellness, have time for philanthropic efforts, and prefer the
finer things in life.

The Lions and Bobcats

- College students that either attend Columbia or NYU and are addicted to social media, easily influenced by trends and friends, in a self-exploration life stage, hungry for instant gratification, and
socially conscious.

K E Y I N S I G H T S
• Turning new members into lifelong
members
• Social media reach
• Proximity to the Hudson River
• Millennial involvement with charitable
organizations
When deciding which group to target first, we honed in on four main points of emphasis: Turning new members into lifelong members, the power of social media reach, the proximity of the
prospective target market choices to the Hudson River, and the potential amount of Millennial involvement with charitable organizations. The chosen target segment for our recommendation had to
be the segment that could most easily satisfy our points of emphasis. The West Side Millennial Manhattanites segment gives us the best chance in terms of accomplishing all of our initiatives.
Since the age range of this group starts in the early 20’s, there is room for new members that will hopefully turn into longstanding members. In comparison to the other possible target segments,
this segment poses the highest level of potential growth, given that the demographic age range spans nineteen years (20-39). According to emarketer.com, Millennials (ages 18-34) are engaged on
their mobile devices by way of social media a total of 47.8 hours per month. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr and Twitter were the top five platforms used for the survey. This is an extremely
powerful level of social media reach that can be utilized by targeting this specific segment. Living west of 6th Avenue in Manhattan allows the residents of this target to be in close proximity to the
Hudson River, which is important for many reasons, most notably on-site volunteering. Lastly, the potential involvement of the Millennial group in RiverKeeper as a charitable organization is
promising. According to emarketer.com, 34% of Millennial respondents to a survey said that they prefer brand to send them great deals when connecting over social media. What better deal is
there than donating a dollar in order to keep your drinking water clean? Additionally, 30% of the survey respondents said that a cool account with great content keeps them coming back. By
completely making over RiverKeeper’s social media platforms, millennials will be engaged and membership will increase.

TA R G E T AU D I E N C E : W E ST S I D E M I L L E N N I A L
“ M A N H AT TA N I T E S ”
We evaluated Riverkeeper’s current audience segments in order to arrive at our recommendation. Riverkeeper’s goal of increasing their membership by 25% in one year is a stretch, but still realistic
if the right target audience is chosen.

We had to consider Riverkeeper’s proposed budget as well as conduct research on the proposed segments. The in-depth analysis along with Dana’s commentary proved that geographics and
psychographics would be the most pertinent in terms of electing our target to aid Riverkeeper in reaching their objectives.

In order to ﬁnd the audience that would be the most active in responding to Riverkeeper’s outreach, we followed the data trail that was paved by our research. We suggest the new segment of
20-39 (millennial) manhattanites, both male and female, that live west of 6th Avenue as the geographic and demographic base. The major psychographic factors to help narrow this audience are a
love of hanging out with friends, value place on quality at a lower price point, attachment to New York as a temporary or permanent home, and the values placed on philanthropy that clash with a
felt lack of time.

Our team recommends the continued outreach to current members, but also proposes that Riverkeeper begin activations to reach this target.

P E R S O N A S : JA M I S O N - 2 9
• Works as an associate digital
producer
• Recently trained for his first
marathon in Riverside Park
• Participated in the ALS ice
bucket challenge on FB and IG
• Lives with 2 former frat
brothers in Hells Kitchen
• Conscious of spending, but
loves craft beer
• Loves group activities, but
hates to plan them
Jamison – 26

- lives in Hell’s Kitchen with 2 roommates

- wasn’t an avid runner, but trained for the marathon this fall

- subscribes to Quartz

- works in video production

- doesn’t cook much, but shops at Whole Foods and Westside

- heavy user of IG, utilizes Facebook

- follows a lot of NYC inﬂuencers

- TimeOut user

- Used to do philanthropy with his fraternity, but now just participates on social media

- Is conscious of his spending, but enjoys craft beer

P E R S O N A S : K A M I E - 2 3
• Lives alone on the UWS
• Is a brunch fiend, but still
likes to cook for herself
• Pinterests her way through
the greenmarket on her way
home from SoulCycle
• Mentors kids occasionally, but
doesn’t have as much time
• Considering an MBA after two
more years at Ogilvy
• Wanders around the parks for
IG photos
Kamie – 24

- lives on the UWS

- likes to cook, but still likes to go out to eat

- chose her neighborhood because of ease in getting around

- in graduate school

- works largely with underprivileged children as her community service

- heavy user of IG, Facebook, Vine

- fears that the environment won’t be good for her kids even though she doesn’t work with those organizations

- likes to take walks and take pictures of the city

- avid water drinker

- shops at greenmarkets and neighborhood store

P O S I T I O N I N G STAT E M E N T
To West Side Millennial Manhattanites,
Riverkeeper is the only nonprofit that keeps the
Hudson clean and allows New Yorkers to save
money on clean water consumption and
empowers businesses to do the same, so that
everyone can enjoy New York to the fullest.
Based on our chosen target segment, we developed the following statement for Riverkeeper. It serves to point out the beneﬁts that Jamison and Kamie would ﬁnd most applicable to their lives
without disregarding the work that Riverkeeper wants to herald.

M E S S AG E T H E M E
• Asked Millennial audience about current
efforts
• Social media branding - recognizability
We recommend Riverkeeper to shift its current social media posts from informational to insightful and inspirational to initiate action. West Side Millennial Manhattanites are engaged in the social
media world and thus will engage in River Keeper’s Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. Therefore, Riverkeeper should promote that becoming a member will help the organization
preserve the water in order for Manhattanites to continue enjoying affordable drinking water and continue enjoying outside activities by the river.

Quarter 1-January through March 2016

Estimated new members: 200

Branding (Year-round)— We propose Riverkeeper to develop a strong visual brand across all of their social media platforms starting with their first post in 2016. Every social media post should have
a consistent color palette as reflected on the organization’s website color scheme of blue, green, and white. Riverkeeper’s logo should also be included in every image, as well as a consistent filter
and font, in order for users to easily recognize the organization on every social media platform.

Messaging (Year-round)- Riverkeeper’s current message on social media is informative with jargon that many followers may not understand. Instead, we suggest Riverkeeper shift their messaging
from informational to insightful. Posts should include what the organization is doing for Manhattanites but also answer the audience’s question, “What's in it for me?”

Riverkeeper should also inform followers about their different partners that are directly related to their lifestyle and capitalize on related community hashtags, i.e Brooklyn Brewery and #onthetable.
Most importantly, Riverkeeper should encourage their social media followers to become members. Sign up for Governor’s Ball - Governor’s Ball is a three-day music event held at Randall’s Island
in New York City. In 2016, the event will be held from June 3-5. It is Riverkeeper’s best interest to attend Governor’s Ball and set up a booth where they can best target our recommended target
audience.

M E S S AG E T H E M E
• Asked Millennial audience about current
efforts
• Social media branding - recognizability
With the proposed budget, they can purchase 15 tickets to give away for new members during a social media contest and purchase promotional materials leading up to the event, as well as
promotional materials for the event. Attending a new event will give Riverkeeper new exposure and access to our recommended audience. Riverkeeper should announce their attendance to the
event as soon as possible in the first quarter.

Organizational Day of Service (Year-round) - The Millennial Impact Report is utilized by a variety of for-profit and nonprofit entities to understand millennial attachment to philanthropy. Individuals
between the ages of 20-39 herald organizations that do community service and 34% of them are willing to pay more for a product if it helps other individuals. Viral experiments like the ALS Ice
Bucket Challenge and the plethora of hashtags pushing for causes like #bringbackourgirls are proof that millennial engagement is high. The problem is not their want to do service, but their
perceived lack of time in which to do it. 92% of millennials want to work for a company that does community service work because they feel like they do not have the time to do it themselves.
Instead of continuing the uphill battle of trying to get millennials in front of your organization, put your organization in front of millennials. We recommend that Riverkeeper reach out to a variety of
millennial-friendly organizations (Google, Droga5, The XO Group, etc.) to get on their ballot for their community service day. This will get the target audience engaged without making the same
mistake of waiting for individuals to come to the organization. Millennials tend to stay involved with an organization once they are truly exposed, and are more likely to donate to organizations that
are supported by their place of employment.

We also recommend Riverkeeper to sign up for a day of service in the New York Cares website. New York Cares develops 1,500 volunteer projects throughout the year with organizations in the
New York City area. Riverkeeper will greatly benefit by signing up because they will get new volunteers to learn about their efforts; once engaged, they will most likely become members. They also
prefer to perform smaller actions, like taking part in New York Cares, instead of fully committing to an organization. Once our recommended target audience signs up to volunteer, they will most
likely become members and continue to engage with the organization once they understand their efforts.

AU D I E N C E I N T E R AC T I O N
• Campaign and #withoutthewater
• Organization Day of Service
• Governor’s Ball activation
Quarter 2- April through June 2016


Social Media Engagement (Phase 1)- We advise River Keeper to create a social media engagement by asking members to post pictures enjoying the city with the hashtag #withoutthewater.
Members will have the chance to win tickets to the Governor Ball music festival in June, as Riverkeeper purchased 15 tickets to give away in the first quarter. Winners will be announced two weeks
prior to the event and will be asked to share their experience thanks to Riverkeeper.

Governor’s Ball final social media push - The music event will be closely approaching and, it will be essential for Riverkeeper to promote their attendance across all of their social media channels.
Approximately 150,000 music lovers attend the event so, it is necessary for River Keeper to have fresh material and handouts to give to engage new members. Leading up to the event,
Riverkeeper’s logo and organization information will be displayed on the event’s flyer and website. This should generate new followers and will also generate new members.

AU D I E N C E I N T E R AC T I O N
• Campaign and #withoutthewater
• Organization Day of Service
• Governor’s Ball activation
Quarter 3- July through September 2016


Social Media Engagement (Phase 2) - After gathering posts from #withoutthewater across all social media platforms in the second quarter, Riverkeeper can now use their Photoshop skills to edit
the images. The purpose of the hashtag will be to manipulate those images to illustrate Manhattanites enjoying the river with Riverkeeper’s advocacy efforts and without. To illustrate, a millennial
may have posted an image of themselves kayaking on the river. River Keeper can edit the water with waste to highlight what the river may look like without their conservation efforts and tag the
original poster. Our recommended target audience will be able to imagine a future without Riverkeeper and will incite them to become members. West Side Manhattanite Millennials, our target
audience, will willfully become members after realizing that Riverkeeper’s efforts preserve the water and help keep drinking water affordable.

Quarter 4- October through December 2016


Analyze social media engagement- At this point, Riverkeeper should have posted all of their social media engagement examples. They will be able to analyze engagement and determine what
posts created a social media buzz. By doing so, they will be able to pick one of their partner organizations to host a volunteer event and have a final push to target the West Side Manhattanite
Millennial.

Total new members: 1200

CO N C LU S I O N
• Target Audience: West Side Millennial
Manhattanites
• Brand story holds millennial attention
• Riverkeeper as empowering and part of daily
life
Riverkeeper is an organization with a lot to oﬀer to the entire Hudson River Valley, but targeting and segmenting allows for the opportunity to reach an audience in a previously unparalleled way.

We want to reiterate who the target audience is and why we chose them, ensure that Riverkeeper recognizes that a cohesive, recognizable brand story is crucial to success, and position
Riverkeeper as the nonproﬁt that comes to you every day via community service opportunities and through your tap itself.

A P P E N D I X
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/projections_brie:ing_booklet.pdf
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/neigh_info/mn12_info.shtml

A P P E N D I X
http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Chart.aspx?R=169095
http://casefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MillennialImpactReport-2014.pdf
https://www.battery.com/powered/survey-says-not-all-millennials-are-hooked-on-social-media/
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/music-festivals/6590779/governors-ball-has-best-year-yet-says-producer-
looking
http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Chart.aspx?R=169096&dsNav=Ntk:relevance%7cbrands+social+media+millennials
%7c1%7c,Ro:6,N:406,Nr:NOT(Type%3aComparative+Estimate)
http://www.riverkeeper.org
http://www.riverkeeper.org/about-us/
http://www.riverkeeper.org/about-us/:inancials/
http://governorsballmusicfestival.com
https://www.instagram.com/riverkeeper/

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