I wrote this Audit as a group assessment in one of my university courses, PR Strategy, During this process my group and I had to work closely with the organisation and provide them with information about how we believe they could improve. The name of the organisation has been replaced with Organisation X or X to respect the organisation's privacy.

1. Organisation X
Communication Audit
2018
Audit by: Amber Abra, Angus Brown, Mereki Duck,
Hanna Markham, Allannah Penny, Elizabeth Symington

2. 2
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 4
2. Methodologies 4
2.1 SWOT Analysis 4
2.2 PESO Factors 5
2.3 Quantitative & Qualitative Data 5
2.4 Coffman’s Strategic Communication Matrix 6
3. Current Situation 8
3.1 Strengths 8
3.2 Weaknesses 9
3.3 Opportunities 10
3.4 Threats 10
4. Factors affecting organisational communication practices 11
4.1 Internal Audience 11
4.2 External Audience 12
5. Communication Needs 13
5.1 Effective Internal Communication 14
5.2 Effective External Communication 14
5.3 Clear Delivery of Messages 15
5.4 Public Recognition 16
5.6 Increase Communication Participation 16
6. Communication Activities and Strategies 16
6.1 Website 17
6.2 Social Media 17
7. Recommendations 21
7.1 Website 21
7.2 Intranet 22
7.3 Advertising 22
7.4 Social media 23
7.5 Newsletter 24
7.6 Budget 25
8. Conclusion 27
9. Reference List 27

3. 3

4. 4
1. Introduction
Organisation X has several goals and objectives. X’s overall goal is "to promote,
encourage and empower volunteers in their contributions to the community, and to
support and resource organisations in their utilisation of volunteers" (X, 2016).
As noted on X’s website their objectives are:
Details have been removed for privacy reasons.
2. Methodologies
In writing this communication audit a number of methodologies were used to
assess both the internal and external strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats of the organisation. The methodologies have looked at X’s target publics and
the most effective way to reach them, this ensures time and resources are spent
efficiently (Gregory, 2009). These methodologies included guidelines like the ‘strategic
communication audit matrix’ (Coffman, 2004), ‘PESO factors’ and ‘SWOT analysis’,
as well as quantitative and qualitative data gathered through various social-media-
monitoring tools like ‘LikeAlyzer’ and ‘Keyhole’. These methodologies have helped to
provide a detailed analysis of X’s needs, as well as providing the structure for the
fragmentation of their wider audience into key target publics to be reached through
various pathways.
2.1 SWOT Analysis
Prior to identifying target publics and segmenting them into various
demographics, an analysis of the current practices of the organisation and the
environment where it operates must be undertaken; this is known as a ‘SWOT
Analysis’ (Harrison, 2010). A SWOT analysis provides a brief overview of the;
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organisation (Mahoney, 2017,
p.84). These include both internal and external factors and the basis of this analysis
lies in observing every possible influence of/on an organisation. In the case of the X,
the strengths included their recognition and reputation within their community, and
having pre-established social media accounts with followings.

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The primary weaknesses that have been identified were both two-way internal
communication and their website; with the latter largely stemming from the colour
scheme and ease-of-navigation. However, there are opportunities to fix these issues
with more frequent newsletters and updated website design. There is also the potential
to increase the awareness of their organisation by partnering with the university and
advertising to different publics. As X is the largest organisation of its type in the Hunter,
its main threats are not other volunteering organisations, rather it is organisations that
require volunteers sourcing them without X’s assistance, making them uninvolved in
the process and thus potentially losing memberships.
2.2 PESO Factors
PESO factors can help to identify which types of media are being utilised and
which would be the most efficient for future use. The PESO model identifies four types
of media; paid, earned, shared and owned, with each of these having a different level
of influence on publics (Macnamara, Lwin, Adi & Zerfass, 2016). Paid media includes
advertising, and through analysis of media consumption (Deloitte, “Media
Consumption Survey 2017”, 2017) it has been identified that advertising on online and
print newspapers would be the most cost-effective to reach X’s target audience,
retirees and over 50s. Earned media could be gained through a media release being
sent out to local newspapers about an outstanding volunteer or upcoming event.
Shared and owned media are already present in the forms of social media accounts
and a website, however they are currently not being optimised and have little
community engagement, particularly on Instagram and Twitter. Each of these forms of
media will help to reach different target publics, not only including potential volunteers,
but also businesses seeking volunteers.
2.3 Quantitative & Qualitative Data
“The success of a communication strategy depends on how well a practitioner
analyses and explains research findings” (Mahoney, 2017, p.69). The findings in this
audit primarily came from the use of social media tools like ‘Keyhole’ and ‘LikeAlyzer’,
as well as analysing publics’ media consumption. Social media analytics help to
“obtain important feedback for improvements” and can monitor “user opinions about

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them, their products and services” (Benthaus et al., 2016, p.127). Two-way
communication can happen on these platforms, with publics being able to leave
feedback and engage directly with X. Fostering this feedback is a great opportunity for
X and will only help to increase community awareness and entice volunteers. As it
stands now, LikeAlyzer revealed an overall engagement rate of 2% on Facebook and
less than 1% on Twitter. This is calculated through dividing the number of
likes/followers the page has with the number of likes, retweets or comments that an
average post gets (“Meltwater – LikeAlyzer”, 2018). However, qualitatively speaking
X’s social media accounts have a good structure, with an optimal mix of content; good
post-length and a quick response time to messages and comments. X’s website has
room for improvement, as highlighted in the client briefing. These changes are centred
around the website’s design and ease-of-navigation, with overall functionality being a
slight issue. Furthermore, the website’s traffic has increased over the past year, but
memberships have not; indicating the website’s need for an improved navigation to a
‘sign-up’ section.
2.4 Coffman’s Strategic Communication Matrix
Coffman’s ‘Strategic Communication Audit Matrix’ is a useful tool to illustrate
the effectiveness of an organisation’s current practices and areas in which they can
improve (Coffman, 2004). The performance maturity scale is indicative of how well the
organisation undertakes a task, and the higher the score on this scale, the higher the
organisational commitment to the integration or performance of the task.

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(Figure 2.4)
In the case of the X, they have a somewhat planned strategy, but it is lacking a
guided direction. The vision of supplying volunteers to organisations and providing
volunteers with custom-fitted volunteering based on their skills is present throughout
the organisation. However, segmentation of specific target audiences and how to
reach them is unclear. This could improve through the development of targeted
messages, through advertising and social media use; and as these changes are
undergoing, there is a need to monitor and evaluate their progress. Also, while there
is currently a monthly newsletter that is produced by X, there is a need for more
frequent two-way communication internally, to allow a shifting roster of volunteers to
be up-to-date on relevant information and practice.
Overall, X has a good base to build upon. Through the implementation of; better
internal communication systems, advent of a new website design and improved social
media use, X will optimise their internal communication and further engage with their
desired target publics.

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3. Current Situation
X is the largest non-for-profit volunteering organisation in NSW, and expands
over 11 local government areas throughout the Hunter region (X, 2016). They have
over 80 volunteers that function internally for the organisation, and a total of three
paid staff, one working full time and two working part time. Their internal
communication consists of a monthly newsletter as well as emails; the volunteering
employees do not have set days of work. The aim of the organisation is to provide
volunteering opportunities for individuals in the community along with organisations
that are seeking volunteers (X, 2016).
They currently utilise different ways of communicating to the public such as
their website, as well as having 5 active call centres throughout the Hunter area and
social media accounts. X have several outreach offices through the broader hunter
area while their main office operates in Newcastle. X run several programs to create
interest and connect people willing to volunteer to suitable areas of work, such as
‘Bridge to volunteering’ and ‘volunteer pathway to employment program’. They also
have a networking function on their website called ‘MOViNN’ (Managers of
Volunteers in Northern NSW), which is a way for organisations to network and
support each other (X, 2016).
Organisation X has several strengths and weaknesses that currently affect
their communication practises, and with this there are several opportunities and
threats for the organisation. From their operational environment, an effective analysis
on their current situation and strategic communication has been documented in this
audit.
3.1 Strengths
3.1.1 Established and active social media accounts
Established social media accounts show X is a recognisable organisation with
a following that are interested in their content. It is an effective way to “deliver
messages, obtain feedback and keep in touch with publics” (Mahoney, 2017, p.154).
This is a strength as it has allowed the business to have more exposure cost free. X

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should aim to work more consistently on their social media accounts to attract and
maintain a prominent audience.
3.1.2 No decrease in current memberships
Current memberships for X have remained the same with no decrease in
memberships over the years. This is a great sign however can also be an issue of
plateauing; it also shows that the organisations are willing to remain members with
X.
3.1.3 Largest volunteering centre in the Hunter region
This is a great strength to hold, as it can guarantee greater control and hold
over the market for X. It also means that X is a unique organisation.
3.1.4 Established partnerships and memberships in the hunter region
Being an organisation that has been successfully running for over 30 years
now proves it has established a usual client base and consistent members and
volunteers. Maintaining partnerships is an effective way to solidify connections within
the community.
3.2 Weaknesses
3.2.1 Monthly newsletter lacks in up to date information
X employ a monthly newsletter, which outlines the current issues and news
regarding the organisation and roles and responsibilities for employees. This is a
great way of communicating information internally, however having it monthly is not
promoting constant communication between their volunteers and paid employees.
3.2.2 Corporate logo and image needing an update (as outlined in client briefing)
X currently have a very striking and familiar logo and image however it is
recommended that it be updated, as it is becoming more aged and less appealing to
modern audiences. This will also encourage new interest in the organisation.
3.2.3 Unclear separation of the target publics
X cater for a range of different age groups, however it is clear that distinction
between each target public has been blurred. By segregating each group, better

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analysis can go into creating effective strategic communication plans that will be
appropriate for that particular target market.
3.3 Opportunities
3.3.1 Possibility for promotional strategies such as blog, weekly updates for both
external and internal publics
The use of a blog is a unique way to showcase X to the broader community,
and can feature personal stories and past experiences of volunteers or organisations
that are proud members of X. This can allow for a people to understand what they
can achieve through X.
3.3.2 Develop more corporate partnerships in the hunter region through schools,
university etc.
HVC thrives off partnerships with local businesses and organisations.
3.3.3 Develop relationship with University of Newcastle
Many university students seek experience during their degree, developing a
relationship with the uni would mean that students would use HVC to find volunteer
work.
3.4 Threats
3.4.1 Companies not requiring out of house organisation to gain volunteers
Although X is the only of its kind within the area, they do face the issue of
organisations using their own resources to acquire volunteers for their business. This
can rule out any significant reason for utilising X.
3.4.2 Public complaints on social media accounts leaving a bad impression of the
organisation
Social media is a prominent communication pathway today and is used for
promoting businesses. Engagement on social media can be two-way, organisations
have no control over the reactions to their posts, such communication can be
effective if positive however the negative comments can be out of hand and lead to
further implications for X. A survey conducted in 2013 found that “almost half of

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respondents were more likely to engage with brands on social media if they posted
pictures” (Black, 2014).
4. Factors affecting organisational communication practices
Strategic communication is underpinned by how an organisation responds to
issues, and what communication tools are utilised in achieving communication goals
(Mahoney, 2017, p.12). X has a wide-ranging target audience, spanning across a
number of demographics. Their audience can be segregated into two categories:
internal and external. Their internal audience consists of their employees, while their
external audience spans across their customers and member/organisations. Each of
these categories require different communication strategies in order to deliver effective
messages.
4.1 Internal Audience
X’s internal audience consists mainly of employees and volunteers that work within
the centre. Employees are often considered an organisation’s "most important public"
and "internal communications as the first frontier in the battle for the customer"
(Chmielecki, 2015, p.25). While X is a not-for-profit organisation, they still rely heavily
on customer relations and service provision. Even though HVC is an organisation that
exists to meet the volunteering needs of the community, it is still crucial for them to
ensure that they are cultivating lucrative relationships with organisations that may help
to build funding. Budget and time are huge barriers for X’s internal communication
strategies. X have stated they struggle to maintain ongoing communication with staff
because there are no set working hours. Communication should happen more
frequently, and preferably face-to-face, however this is not always possible for an
organisation like X. The effectiveness of X’s internal communication strategies is
heavily impacted upon by the structure of the workplace and the way this influences
the flow of information.
Internal communication problems can directly impact upon the productivity of a
company (Chmielecki, 2015, p.25). Improper and inadequate information, lack of
message acceptance, and a lack of - or unsuitable - evaluation and feedback

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(Mahoney, 2017, p.18). Research has found a number of ways to ensure that internal
communications can become effective and overcome barriers (Chmielecki, 2015,
p.25). To summarise this research, in order for internal communications to function
adequately it should reach three basic objectives:
1. Any information communicated internally should be clearly understood and
accepted by the audience
2. The majority of the audience should be clearly motivated or become direct
participants in the communication
3. The end resulted the communication is achieving "improvement in one or more
of the core success components: sales, product quality, workforce performance
and satisfaction, profitability and ultimately customer satisfaction" (Chmielecki,
2015, p.26).
4.2 External Audience
X have two types of external public’s, organisations/member and, potential
volunteers. As a result, their external audience consists of a wide range of
demographics and organisations across a number of different regions. Each of these
have different barriers to overcome throughout the communication process.
X faces a number of barriers when it comes to their external publics as they are
spread across a variety of ages, locations, cultural backgrounds, and socio-economic
status’. This makes social media a highly useful resource as it enables the
organisation to target publics quickly, directly and in a wide variety of forms. The
primary way that X currently communicates with these publics is through social media,
word-of-mouth, referrals and their website. Social media platforms have become an
established channel for communicating and broadcasting a wide range of information
(Benthaus et al., 2016, p.127). Social media should be used critically, but it has been
embraced by a number of professionals as it “makes it possible to communicate
directly with public groups, bypassing the filtering processes of journalists and other
gatekeepers” (Valentini, 2015, p.171). Poor information filtering can directly impact
upon the quality of the communication process (Valentini, 2015, p.171), something
which X should consider when utilising these tools.

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Social media is a great tool for targeting their non-professional publics, but this
casual communication channel may not be adequate for targeting professional
organisations and corporations. Some of the barriers X faces when communicating
with organisations is their disengagement with appropriate communicative pathways.
A primary goal when using social media as a tool is to encourage engagement from
target publics, so it is a great demonstration of information seeking and processing.
These are both traits of active publics, these are "important initiators of (rather than
targets for) public relations programs because they are most likely to be aware of and
concerned with what organisations are doing" (Karlberg, 1996, p.272). Another barrier
is X’s evaluation and interpretation of the results of their communication campaigns. It
is also important to keep track of analytics from social media channels, as without
these their effectiveness as communication tools becomes unmeasurable (Benthaus
et al., 2016, p.127). Social media analytics can help companies to “obtain important
feedback for improvements” and can monitor “user opinions about them, their products
and services” (Benthaus et al., 2016, p.127).
Brand recognition is an important tool for facilitating effective communication
between organisations and audiences (Benthaus et al., 2016, p.128). If X wants to
improve their reach and reputation, they should ensure they are a more widely
recognised part of the Hunter community. There are several ways they can do this,
including paid advertising, social media, and media exposure. Associating HVC with
trusted avenues such as local newspapers would enable a better flow of
communication between the organisation and their publics (Benthaus et al., 2016,
p.128).
5. Communication Needs
Organisation X have several communication needs and in order to conduct
their organisational activities they need to ensure their communication is consistent
and all their messages are successfully transmitted and that these needs are met
(Mahoney, 2017, p.132). Overall, communication within the organisation needs to be
constant and consistent otherwise confusion, conflict and disconnections may arise.
Through an analysis of X’s communicative activities and strategies it is clear to see
that they do have a system for constant two-way communication through the back

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end of their website and number of other systems but they are very strained and not
as effective as they should be.
Arguably the most important need X have surrounds their internal and
external communication, they need to ensure their messages are being
communicated clearly to their different public groups and they are using a number of
different pathways to reach each group (Mahoney, 2017, p.145). The needs listed
below are something X could improve on and in turn this would lead to better
communication. Several recommendations have been made based upon these
needs.
5.1 Effective Internal Communication
In order to ensure that the organisation functions correctly their internal
communication must be effective and deliver all key messages to persuade people
to act (Mahoney, 2017, p.132). At an internal level X need to ensure that they use
effective pathway and tools to communicate with their staff and internal volunteers, if
what they use is not effective tasks and internal activities will not be completed due
to the lack of effective two-way communication. Tools that could be implemented
include an employee intranet and an increase in the frequency of the newsletter, this
will be further explored among the recommendations section of the audit.
X, along with the analysis has highlighted that there is a slight issue within in
this area, due to the different hours done by their staff and volunteers. It has been
discovered that communication across the board is very hard to coordinate, the
recommendations made should help to improve this. Developing and maintaining
internal communication would also help to further develop trust within all employees
(paid or not) and this has a large affect upon the effectiveness of employees and
activities (Wulandri, 2018, p.56).
5.2 Effective External Communication
The relationship and communication style they have with their second public
group, the organisations/members is very different, the organisations are responsible

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for giving X roles to match their potential volunteers with. Again, the analysis shows
they need to have effective two-way communication with this group.
Moving onto the final group, the potential volunteer, the relationship here is
different again. The tools and strategies they use to target this group need to be very
effective, because they hold a key role in the organisations work, without the
potential volunteer X would have no one to match with their member organisations
and their roles. The analysis shows that use of social media and other forms of
advertising is the most effective way to target this group because they are not a part
of the organisation, a combo of one way and two-way communication is needed
here. When communicating with their external public X must consider what their
messages are saying and ensure they reflect the strategic objectives of their
organisation, as listed above (Mahoney, 2017, p.144).
5.3 Clear Delivery of Messages
A need within any organisation is to have a clear delivery of messages
(Mahoney, 2017, p.133), this can be quite difficult within X because of their several
public groups and the different demographics within them. The analysis shows that
without effective communication and clear delivery of messages the functioning of
the work X do would be affected dramatically. The messages X develop must be
relevant to each of their different public groups (Mahoney, 2017, p.133) and each
media platform, like social media or radio must be targeted in a different way so it
can be understood and suitable for this type of media (Mahoney, 2017, p.134).
The various different demographics with X’s public groups can make
communication strategies quite difficult because they have to create messages and
content that each different demographic will engage with. As shown by Riel and
Fombrum in Mahoney an organisation can have multiple strategic plans operating at
once, X need to have a plan in place of each public group, otherwise their
communication will not be effective (2017, p.53). Using multiple platforms (including
social and traditional media) would help HVC to achieve this.

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5.4 Public Recognition
Another need that X have, which was identified within the client briefing, is to
become more recognisable within the public. This can be classified as a need
because public image and reputation is a key factor in X’s appeal to the public
(Mahoney, 2017, p.27). Arguably, their reputation has influence upon all their
activities, without it they would not be able to recruit internal volunteers, members or
potential volunteers.
Another way for X to increase public recognition is to obtain some paid or
earned media through traditional channels like newspapers and TV. X currently have
no traditional media coverage (newspapers, radio, etc). While this does not have a
great impact upon the functioning of the organisation it would help to improve the
public’s perception of the organisation and give them some publicity.
5.6 Increase Communication Participation
A need that was identified within the client briefing was the potential for
volunteers to share their stories, either on a social media or another platform. By
allowing this to be done it could be used as free publicity and facilitate shared media.
While there the risk of negative experiences being shared a crisis action plan would
help this, by immediately reacting to the issue it would help to combat the problem
(Mahoney, 2017, p.182). This action plan could involve a simple reply of “we are
sorry you had a bad experience with your organisation, please send us an email and
we’ll see if we can help out”.
6. Communication Activities and Strategies
X currently communicates through a number of channels, including; their
website, word of mouth, health professionals, social media activity and workshops.
These different channels all tend to communicate with different desired publics. X has
a three specific needs that are to be addressed:
 Increasing the capacity of community based organisations partnering with X
 Recognising and celebrating volunteers

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 Increasing the participation rate of volunteers and volunteering.
6.1 Website
Organisation X’s website currently operates via a front end and back end. The
back end of this website is designed from scratch and can only be accessed from
within Organisation X’s by its employees. This website struggles to meet the current
needs in terms of internal communication, replacing it with an intranet would be more
effective.
6.2 Social Media
X has four main social media sites:
 A Facebook page
 A Twitter,
 A YouTube channel; and
 An Instagram.
These sites specifically target their younger audience (Quan-Haase & Young,
2010) and are a good for quick information dissemination without cost. Social media
has the potential to increase the participation rate of volunteers as information can be
shared easily (Hughes, 2018). However, this can only happen when the pages are
used effectively. Posts are not created with enough frequency to gain attention.
6.2.1 Facebook:
(Figure 6.2.1: INSERT LINK)
The X Facebook page has just over 1,000 likes. It is the third search result on
Google, but there is currently no link to their Facebook page on their Google business
profile. Their Facebook page contains a ‘Call to Action’ button, as shown in Figure
6.2.1. This links to a page on their website with contact information for both volunteers

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and organisations. This has the potential to be more effective by changing the button
from saying ‘Book Now’ to something clearer, like ‘Contact Us’ or ‘Volunteer’.
Statistics from Likealyzer show that on average they post 0.3 times per day.
These posting times however are inconsistent and not frequent enough to gain
adequate attention. A majority of posts are accompanied by photos and links, which
is great for engagement (Mahoney, 2017). Studies have shown that the most effective
way to engage with followers is through native Facebook videos, which HVC does not
generally employ. Likealyzer also shows the page has a 2% engagement rate, which
is calculated by dividing the total number of people talking about the page with the
number of likes. They receive little engagement with their posts. Majority of them
receive no comments or feedback. However, there is a total of 8 reviews of the
organisation, each of them overwhelmingly positive. The page itself likes over 100
other pages, mostly consisting of relevant organisations. This ensures communication
and visibility across all boards.
6.2.2 Twitter:
X’s twitter page currently has 354 followers. They have 331 posts with an
average of 2 likes and 1 retweet over their 10-year commitment. They have a 0.74%
engagement rate. To their disadvantage, X does not utilise any original hashtags or
content, and a great majority of their posts that do contain hashtags are retweets. A
number of their tweets contain photos, this is beneficial as people process images up
to six times faster than words (Mahoney, 2017). As the same with Facebook, majority
of the accounts they follow are fellow volunteer organisations and charities.
6.2.3 YouTube:
They employ a YouTube account, and this is linked on the X website. They
currently have 1 subscribe and no original content on the page. The site contains only
two playlists made up of relevant content from other channels. Use of social media
analytics would be beneficial to X as they can “obtain important feedback for
improvements” and can monitor “user opinions about them, their products and
services” (Benthaus et al., 2016). It is crucial that practitioners take full advantage of
the interactive and dialogic capabilities afforded by new media platforms. X may use
this platform to upload videos of volunteers telling their experiences and potentially

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internal volunteers also giving their experience at X. This would increase engagement
and create a sense of ‘personality’ for their brand.
6.2.4 Instagram:
Instagram has 29 posts and 372 followers. They average between 20-30 likes per
post. They currently employ a range of hashtags such as volunteerism,
volunteeringisfun, and volunteersrock. However, they do not utilise a X hashtag. The
more hashtags they tagged on a post, generally the more likes they get. This would
be beneficial to use more hashtags to increase traffic to their Instagram page and
their website.
7. Recommendations
7.1 Website
7.1.1 Appearance
In order to appeal to and gain more exposure, X should update their website.
Although the website functions correctly, by updating the photos featured on their
website and making the logo and colour scheme more appealing to the eye it will
ensure each person who clicks on the site will have a visually satisfying experience.
The goal is to capture the viewer’s attention through an aesthetic look this will increase
the want to engage the website. Along with changing the colour scheme, making the
website more accessible to their users, and potentially linking their social media to
update automatically with each new post will not only increase their website
engagement but will also keep their users to stay up to date with their social media.
Removing the back end of the website and replacing it with an intranet (as explored
below) would potentially improve internal communication.
7.1.2 Updating the Logo
In the client briefing and notes it was mentioned that X would like to develop a
new logo for their organisation and MOVIIN activities, however the analysis shows that
updating the logos they currently have would be more beneficial, a lot of people

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already recognise X for this logo changing it completely may cause some confusion.
An update to the colours and shapes would be sufficient enough to give HVC a new
look and increase public recognition, while staying familiar to those who know them
by their current look.
7.2 Intranet
X would benefit immensely from developing an intranet. The intranet could be
used a platform to share files and tasks between employees and internal volunteers.
The intranet can be used to share multiple different things, while also providing the
space for immediate communication between all internal publics. They could then
employ the intranet to highlight a volunteer of the month and showcase work the
organisation has done. It is recommended that X develop and transition to this method
in the next 12 months.
7.3 Advertising
7.3.1 Newspaper
One of the many techniques to making sure an organization is recognizable
and known to the public is through advertising. X would benefit immensely through
heavier general advertising. Since their target publics are at such different age ranges,
they would benefit most from advertising specifically to each age group. Advertising in
a local newspaper would benefit X with their senior audience. Local newspaper ads
vary in price due to the size of the ad, whether the ad is in colour or black and white,
as well as where in the paper the ad is located. It is estimated that a quarter page ad
can be anywhere between $570 to $600 and this ad will cycle in the paper for up to
one full week. It is recommended that X produce at least five newspaper ads
throughout the calendar year to continue to market towards this public group.
Some local newspapers might even find a sponsor for the ad since HVC is a
not for profit organization.
7.3.2 Media Releases
A technique X should employ to gains some promotion and traditional media
coverage is write and send out a media release two to three times a year. The media

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release could be a spotlight on one of their volunteers or about what they do. If
publications’ choose to share this X will gain some free publicity and become more
recognisable in the public.
7.4 Social media
In order for X to gain more recognition and exposure, they will need to completely
revamp most of their social media platforms. It is recommended that X generate their
own hashtag of to be used on every post across all accounts.
7.4.1 YouTube
X’s YouTube account has a lot of potential in terms helping them to gain
engagement. It is recommended that X use the company 90 Seconds video to help
create content. 90 seconds services range from $455 for either an editor or
cinematographer or $910 for both on one project. X should produce original video
content at least once a month to continue the growth of their channel and maintain
their audience’s attention. Video content could include X interviewing internal
volunteers to share their experiences and/or showing the behind the scenes of a
volunteer event among various others. Overall, since X specifically noted that they
wanted to improve their communication with their target publics visually consistent
YouTube content is the route to accurately achieve this.
7.4.2 Instagram
Currently X’s Instagram account is not the most consistent in terms of posting
during peak times. It is recommended that X register their Instagram page as an
organisation so they will be able to see their audience’s insights. These insights
include audience demographics, peak engagement times for posting each day of the
week. After doing this, X will also be able to promote their Instagram through ads.
Instagram ads start from $1 per day. It is recommended that X allot anywhere between
$20 - $50 per month on promoting their original content depending on the frequency
of their posts. It is recommended that they spend on average of $5 per post on
advertising to get more profile taps as well as likes on their posts.

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7.4.3 Facebook
Facebook is the most frequently used and the most popular of all of HVC’s
social media accounts. It is updated more frequently and receives adequate number
of likes and engagement. However, X has room for improvement, it is recommended
that X post at least three original Facebook posts per week with relatable hashtags,
including the hashtag . X should make use of Facebook advertising and spend
between $7 - $10 per month. Another issue X expressed was with getting more
volunteer feedback and experiences that they could share and know what areas to
improve upon. It is recommended that X create a survey through SurveyMonkey to be
able to receive honest and thorough answers about a volunteer’s experience with the
organisation. X could then link the survey to a Facebook post asking for feedback as
well as email it to their current internal and external volunteers. All in all, the analysis
shows that X is on the right track with their Facebook content. However, X is
recommended to improve on their original content, engage more in the comments
section, post on a more frequent basis, as well reach out to their audience for feedback
in order to see how they should improve.
7.4.4 Twitter
X’s Twitter account is the least updated of the organisation’s social media as
well as has the least original content. It is recommended that X refrain from retweeting
as much and instead opt to quote-tweet the content to add their own caption and/or
own hashtags. X would also benefit from engaging more with their audience by
replying to tweets, starting a Twitter poll to spark engagement, or by simply ‘favouriting’
more tweets.
7.5 Newsletter
X noted that they publish a monthly newsletter to keep all staff updated due to
the mix of schedules. X’s current newsletter is approx 1-2 pages in length, the analysis
of this showed that this is not long enough to include a month’s worth of information
nor is it truly highlighting the great things this organization does. It is not an effective
tool in maintaining communication because it is not published enough. By increasing
the frequency of the newsletter too fortnightly the problem of communication between
the volunteers would improve. Within the newsletter, each department should have a

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set and completed tasks list, this will help keep everyone up to date with each
department and showcase the achievements each department has made since the
previous newsletter. It is recommended that they keep the Talking the Talk with Tony
section, this will maintain the personal aspect of the newsletter and the relationship
individuals have with director, Tony Ross. Also, adding a volunteer of the month to
every edition of the newsletter will help the internal volunteers build relationships with
each other and get to know a volunteer they might not have known due to difference
in schedules.
7.6 Budget
7.6.1 HVC’s given budget: $10,000 - $15,000
 Newspaper ad: $570 - $600 per week (depends on size of the ad)
o Total allotted with recommendation: $2500 - $3000 (for 5 ads - each ad
with one-week span)
 90 Second video: $455 - $910 per project
o Total allotted with recommendation: $6,000 (for 12 months’ worth of
content)
 Logo: $20 - $75 per hour (dependent on which company HVC goes with)
o Total allotted with recommendation: $375 (budgeting for $75 per hour
for 5 hours)
 Social Media Advertising:
o Instagram: $30 - $50 per month
o Facebook: $7 - $10 per month
 Use of budget: $9350 - $9975 for calendar year
8. Conclusion
Throughout this audit Organisation X’s communication needs, activities and
operational environment have been analysed and as a result a number of
recommendations around their internal and external communication have been
formulated. Organisation X have a strong base to build, with established social
media accounts and a number of other systems already at play most of the
recommendations have been made to further improve and develop these. By utilising

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the information and recommendations that have been provided, Organisation X’s
overall communication system would improve greatly in terms of increasing
business, productivity and widening the brand and public recognition.
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