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Communications Research: Final Research Report

May 16, 2013
Courtney Cooper, Kensey Gooch, Ilana Israel, Tessa Jones, Ian MacInnes


























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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction to Projects.3
2.0 Informal Research Brief4
3.0 Focus Group Assignment..8
4.0 Survey Assignment ...16
5.0 Conclusions and Interpretations .25
6.0 Reference List....25
7.0 Appendices (focus group moderators guide, survey questionnaire, transcripts, list of
hours, etc.) ...26


































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1.0 Introduction to Projects
Through our informal research briefs as well as meeting with Rhonda Robinson, our group was
able to conclude that the Womens Resource Center lacks publicity and awareness among both
Elon students, and the surrounding area. In order for the Womens Resource Center to expand
they need to make themselves better known in the community. This would lead to more
volunteer opportunities and consistency, which would eventually contribute to financial and
company growth. Thus over the course of the semester our group has taken part in both a Focus
Group project as well as a Survey project. Each project allowed us to gather data, which will
prove relevant in garnering more volunteers and support for the Womens Resource Center on
Elon Universitys campus.

Our Focus Group consisted of 13 participants, who each took part in a 46-minute long
discussion. We had two separate forms of video recording, which allowed for sufficient
coverage of the event. Each of the participants contributed to the conversation and their
input was honest as well as beneficial to the topic at hand.

Our focus group provided us with feedback that allowed us to draw conclusions in regards to
how the Womens Resource Center should expand as an organization. This experience in
particular allowed us to conclude that it was important to target Elons campus specifically in our
research for increasing the organizations presence on Elons campus would enable the Womens
Resource Center to experience greater support within the community.

As stated, our focus group allowed us to narrow down our overall goal for this project. Our
survey was geared towards Elon University students and focused on the potential of creating
volunteer opportunities for students through the Womens Resource Center. Our team created a
12-question survey using Google Forums and 129 participants took part in the questionnaire.

Our Survey project allowed us to draw conclusions about what motivates students to volunteer as
well as specific criteria that would create an ideal internship for students.

Overall the data we collected was extremely insightful as well as helpful in terms of the
expansion of the Womens Resource Center.









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2.0 Informal Research Brief

Section I: Introduction
The Research Objective
This informal research brief contains information pertaining to the Womens Resource Center in
Alamance County (WRCAC). This research brief will be beneficiary to COM 362 and the
WRCAC. The collected information included in this informal research brief will help to better
identify the current status of the WRCAC in the community and where research could be
conducted in best meeting the needs of the WRCAC.

Sources of Information
Secondary research for this informal research brief will include information gathered from
Rhonda Robinsons visit to the classroom, the WCRAC website, and the WRCAC 2011
Business Plan.

Table of Contents
This informal research brief begins by analyzing findings on the WRCAC including background
information and the target audience in which it provides services for. It then discusses the
mission of the WRCAC and an overview of it does for their targeted audience. This information
is then followed by the specific services it provides. Next, the WRCACs marketing plan and
public relations techniques are discussed. Lastly, its financial plan and current donors are
reviewed.

Section II: Detailed Findings
Organization Background and Target Audience:
According the Womens Resource Center in Alamance County Business Plan created in April of
2011, the idea to implement the WRCAC was inspired from the grassroots advocacy effort
during the creation of the First Womens Agenda in Alamance County in 1988. The Womens
Resource Center of Alamance County was then officially established in 1991 in response to the
growing need for a place dedicated to providing services and programs for women in the
Alamance County area. The WRCAC facility is now currently located within First Presbyterian
Churchs Presbyterian Outreach Center and acts as a source of information for all women within
the Alamance community (WRCAC 2011 Business Plan). Rhonda Robinson discussed during
her class visit that the WRCAC works primarily in helping women and their families, but can
offer assistance to men as well. The WRCAC is governed by a Board of Directors and is run by
three full time staff including an Executive Director, a Director of Development and Community
Programs, and a New Choices Program Coordinator (WRCAC 2011 Business Plan). The current
Executive Director is Dion Terry (wcrac.org). The WRCAC is also run by one part time
Administrative Assistant, three standing committees (Executive, Finance, and Governance), and
other committees that are created as needed dedicated to carrying out other business such as
Public Relations or Fund Development. The WRCAC offers programs for displaced homemakers,
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women with children, businesswomen, and those interested in pursuing advocacy for womens
issues (WRCAC 2011 Business Plan). Main career programs that the WRCAC offers include
New Choices and Working Womens Wednesdays. It also offers community programs including
Growing Up and Liking It and fun, networking opportunities for members through interest
specific clubs (wrcac.org).

Mission Statement and What They Do:
The Womens Resource Center of Alamance Countys mission statement states, To help
women and their families improve and enrich their personal and professional lives through
education, support services, networking and community resources (wrcac.org). The general
overview of what it does as described on its website is, address the need for programs and
services specifically for women in Alamance County and to provide a center conveniently
located to serve as a clearinghouse for information for all women in the community. The
Womens Resource Center in Alamance County is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt non profit organization
that serves Alamance County as well as parts of the surrounding counties of Caswell, Person,
Orange and Guilford (wrcac.org).

Specific Services
The WRCAC offers four main services to women in the Alamance County area. The first two are
career services and include the New Choices Program and the Working Womens Wednesdays
lunches. The New Choices Program was implemented specifically for the assistance of displaced
homemakers and underemployed or unemployed adults. The program was developed to offer
individual coaching, personal planning, and specific goal setting for those in need of support
during tough times of transition such as family breakups, financial downturns, health issues, or
loss of a job. The program assists women in tasks such as resume writing, budget counseling,
filing out housing or services applications, or gaining financial assistance for rent or tuition. All
services are free of charge and purely for the benefit of the women in getting them back on their
feet and helping them better their lives personally and professionally. The second main career
service the WRCAC offers is Working Womens Wednesdays lunches. It is the only opportunity
offered specifically for businesswomen in the Alamance County. The Working Womens
Wednesdays Program is in its tenth year and offers monthly networking luncheons where guest
leaders and speakers from all over are invited to the Alamance County to speak to fellow
businesswomen about professional strategies and how to improve opportunities for themselves
within the work world. The second two services the WRCAC offers are its community programs.
The first and one of its most popular programs is the Growing Up and Liking It Program, which
is a workshop dedicated to aiding the communication between mothers and daughters (ages 9-
12) on puberty and bodily changes during the growing up process. It is not only educational, but
also promotes positive and open communication between parent and child about such topics in a
non-embarrassing way. The WRCACs last main program encompasses a variety of fun
networking activities for members including a book club, theatre group, and hiking club
(wrcac.org).
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Current Marketing Plan and Public Relations Techniques
According to the WRCAC 2011 Business Plan, the WRCAC has multiple public relations
techniques incorporated into its marketing plan to best promote themselves to the public and gain
financial support. These marketing techniques included within the Business Plan and on its
website are listed below:
An existing database that has accumulated 4,500 contacts since 1995
A newsletter covering its latest news, highlights, and information that is showcased on its
website and sent out to 750 members, donors, sponsors, nonprofits and others
Membership within the Alamance County Area Chamber of Commerce, which allows the
WRCAC to promote its events through the Chamber Connections magazine, website, and
monthly packages that are sent to all members
Use of the United Ways Community Council list-serve to inform other non-profit and service
organizations in the Alamance County region about WRCAC programs and services
The Executive Directors and Program Directors involvement on various business and
service committees in the Alamance County region to further promote and educate others about
the WRCAC
A well-organized website that encompasses all content regarding WRCAC, allows easy,
direct access for payments and donations, and offers online member registration
An account with Constant Contact, a program that allows the WRCAC to track e-mails sent
out to over 1,000 contacts including media outlets throughout the state, program participants, and
members. The tracking analyzes and displays data on how many e-mails were read, clicked
through to the website, and opted out of
Sponsorships from Times-News and Time Warner Cable that generates over $25,000 in
profits for and brings over 1,500 people to the WRCAC Annual Herb Festival
Membership outreach events put on by the Membership Committee to assist in recruiting
more members within the Alamance County region and help retain current membership
A social media presence on Facebook and Twitter to further help promote its events,
programs, profit shares, and communicate with the public
Events that support and promote the WRCAC in the Alamance County region such as its
Annual Herb Festival, Catwalk 5K, WRC night at the Burlington Royals game, wine dinners,
and profit shares with restaurants and an ice cream place

Financial Plan and Donors
The WRCAC 2011 Business Plan lays out how the WRCAC is funded and supported. Support
for the WRCAC comes from the North Carolina Department of Administration through the
North Carolina Council for Women, United Way of Alamance County, private foundations,
sponsorships with business, donations from individuals in the community, and fundraisers such
as its Annual Herb Festival. During Rhonda Robinsons visit to the classroom, she discussed a
need to show those who donate how the money is being used and why there is a need for it. In
strategically doing so, it could help in gaining more grants. Percentages of how much money
comes from where is listed below:
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State funding accounts for 28% of revenue
o A competitive grant of $60,000 from the North Carolina Council of Women is
given to the WRCAC annually to go towards the New Choices Program
Fundraising accounts for 27% of revenue
o Biggest fundraising event is Annual Herb Festival where it has raised $25,000
to go towards WRCAC programs and services
Individual contributions account for 13% of revenue
o This includes membership dues and donations
United Way accounts for 11% of revenue
o Supports clients in the New Choices Programs
Family and corporate foundations account for 3% of revenue
o Designated for the New Choices Program
Corporate donations aside from program and fundraiser scholarships account for 2%
of revenue

Section III: Summary and Implications
The Womens Resource Center of Alamance County mission is to offer women and their
families an opportunity to better their personal and professional lives through education and a
variety of services and programs. It educates and helps women through programs and services
such as the New Choices Program, Working Women Wednesdays, Growing Up and Liking It,
and interest specific clubs for members. Currently, it has solid marketing techniques such as:

An e-mail data analysis system
A social media presence
Newsletter
Events
Involvement with other non-profit organizations in the area

However, when WRCAC news was searched on the web, there were slim to no results by any
media coverage in the area. In addition, it is lacking in numbers of followers for its Facebook
and Twitter. This is a definite area of improvement because more followers could better get its
cause out to the public and help gain awareness.
Aside from state funding, fundraising accounts for a large portion of its revenue. Therefore, the
organization must ensure that it promotes large events such as Annual Herb Festival in the most
efficient ways possible to attract more attendees and bring on more sponsors who would like to
be associated with the event and WRCAC.
There are opportunities for research in finding out how many people know about the WRCAC on
Elons campus because increased awareness could bring the organization more volunteers and
help in promotion and gaining donations for the organization.

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Research Sources:

Robinson, Rhonda. Class visit. 18 Feb. 2013.

"Women's Resource Center in Alamance County Business Plan." Www.wrcac.org. Women's
Resource Center of Alamance County, 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 01 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.wrcac.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/WRCBusPlan-approved-4-4-11.pdf>.

"Women's Resource Center in Alamance County." Womens Resource Center in Alamance
County. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013.

3.0 Focus Group Assignment
Background
The Womens Resource Center of Alamance County was officially established in 1991 to
address the needs of women and their families in Alamance County. It now work with women in
surrounding counties such as Caswell Person, Orange, and Guilford as well. They are currently
located within First Presbyterian Churchs Presbyterian Outreach Center. The Womens
Resource Center acts as a source of information for all women within the Alamance community
and offers programs for displaced homemakers, women with children, businesswomen, and those
interested in pursuing advocacy for womens issues (WRCAC 2011 Business Plan). The
Womens Resource Centers mission statement states, To help women and their families
improve and enrich their personal and professional lives through education, support services,
networking and community resources (wrcac.org). A general overview of what they do as
described on their website is to address the need for programs and services specifically for
women in Alamance County and to provide a center conveniently located to serve as a
clearinghouse for information for all women in the community. The Womens Resource Center
in Alamance County is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt non profit organization that serves Alamance
County as well as parts of the surrounding counties of Caswell, person, Orange and Guilford
(wrcac.org).
According to the WRCAC 2011 Business Plan, the WRCAC has multiple public relations
techniques incorporated into their marketing plan to best promote themselves to the public and
gain financial support. These techniques include an e-mail data analysis system, a social media
presence, newsletter, events, profit shares, and involvement with other non-profit organizations
in the area. Their most effective form of communication is through word-of-mouth and their
mailing list. However, they have little to no media coverage in the Alamance area, they are
lacking in numbers of followers for their Facebook and Twitter, and their organization is not
well-known throughout the Elon community, especially to students.
Aside from state funding, fundraising accounts for a large portion of The Women
Resource Centers revenue. Therefore, large events such as their Annual Herb Festival are
primary ways they gain awareness throughout the community, thus increasing grants and
bringing on more sponsors who would like to be associated with the Womens Resource Center.
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Research Objectives
Our main research objectives in conducting the focus group were to:
Gauge the Womens Resource Centers current level of awareness in the Elon student
body
Discover how and why students join volunteer organizations and determine the most
effective ways in communicating volunteer opportunities to Elon students
Discover the level of interest students may have in attending Women Resource Centers
fundraisers
Gain Elon students opinions as about the beneficial aspects of promoting volunteer
opportunities with this organization
Determine what role gender may play in students attitudes toward the Women Resource
Center, and find a more effective way to appeal to male students in gaining volunteers and
awareness
Figure out whether internship opportunities during the school year or summer with the
Womens Resource Center would appeal to students, and what would entice them to intern (i.e.
paid versus unpaid, class credit, convenience, experience)
Acquire students feedback on the best ways for the Women Resource Center to build a
stronger presence and gain awareness throughout Elons campus

Procedures and Methodology:
We conducted a focus group of 13 participants as our primary form of primary research.
This falls within the interpretive paradigm because it is highly subjective, there is no one right
answer, and the researchers are able to chime into the conversation and ask questions that relate
to a participants answer.

Steps in Focus Groups:
1. The first step in focus group research is to define the problem. After completing our
informal research briefs, and meeting with Rhonda Robinson, we were able to conclude that the
Womens Resource Center lacks publicity and awareness among both Elon students, and
surrounding counties. It was surprising that a company that has been around for 21 years only
has three full-time employees and only 250 likes on Facebook. In order for the Womens
Resource Center to grow, and assist more women, they need to make themselves more well-
known in the community. This would lead to more volunteer opportunities and consistency and
eventually contribute to financial and company growth.

2. The second step is to select a sample for the focus group. Our group initially thought
about conducting a focus group of both Elon students and faculty. We thought this would
provide us with a lot of idea generation across an age spectrum, and from people who are from
the Burlington area. After attempting to contact 8-12 participants, it was obvious that the faculty
had difficulty committing to the date and time we were going to hold the focus group. We then
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made the decision to reach out to only students, and attempt to recruit an equal number of males
and females to participate. We constructed an email to send to our peers requesting their
participation. The email is as follows:

Dear Student,

I am taking a Communications Research Service Learning class this semester, and our
group will be conducting a focus group pertaining to the Womens Resource Center in Alamance
County. We thought your insights would be valuable to the research we are conducting. Our
focus group will be held in McEwen on March 13th at 5:30 p.m. Please meet in the lobby of
McEwen. It should last no longer than an hour. We would greatly appreciate your help and
participation. The focus group will be documented; however, it will be completely confidential.
Refreshments will be provided. Please let me know if you will be able to attend by Sunday at
noon so we can finalize numbers.

Thank you!

We were fortunate to have a response and 7 males and 6 females agreed to attend.

3. Next, we decided the number of groups to be held. With the 13 participants scheduled
to attend the first focus group, we determined that their input would be sufficient for the
assignment. One focus group should allow us to gather all of the necessary information for our
research topic.

4. & 5. The following steps were to prepare the focus group protocol and develop a set of
procedures to follow. We would inform the participants that this would be an informal discussion
of their knowledge, opinions and understanding of the Womens Resource Center. They were
made aware that the focus group would be taped, and that it should last approximately 60
minutes. They were also informed that all of their responses would be held confidential. Ilana
Israel was our focus group moderator, and she would then ask if there were any questions prior
to getting started. If there were no questions, we would begin the discussion, following the
moderators guide, and asking our own questions based on the participants responses.

6. Conducting the focus group session went just as planned. The researchers had reserved
camera equipment earlier in the day, had printed copies of the moderators guide prepared for
discussion. The researchers arrived at McEwen at 5:00 p.m. on March 13th to set up the location.
The focus group was held in room 210, the desks were set up in a semicircle, and the snacks and
refreshments were at a table in the front of the room. This was a controlled environment that
would best suite the needs of the researchers, and it would allow for the best visibility when
recording. We had two separate forms of video recording to make sure we had a backup
recording. The participants showed up around 5:25-5:30 p.m., and we allowed them to help
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themselves to snacks and drinks prior to getting started. Once all of the participants took their
seats, we began the discussion. Each of the participants contributed to the conversation at some
point, and nobody was shy to give their input. The answers were honest and beneficial to the
topic at hand. All of the participants were cooperative and stayed for the duration of the 49
minute long discussion. After the concluding question was answered, we thanked them for their
time, and encouraged them to take food on the way out. The researchers reassembled the
classroom and imported the video recording to a computer for analysis and transcription.

7. The final step when conducting focus groups is analyzing the data. This is often the
most time-consuming and tedious step. Transcription is the process of listening to everything that
was said in the focus group discussion, and typing it into an organized document. This allows us
to better examine our data. It is important prior to data examination to review and confirm the
research questions and goals. The researchers reviewed the data with an open mind looking at
what is said and what is not said, such as body language. The researchers will look for emphasis
on certain topics and explore why participants may have felt that way. The researcher will look
for themes, and by using the constant comparison technique, the researcher will develop
hypothesis testing at the end of the evaluation. This will allow us to, search for relationships and
themes among categories (p. 118).

There are some advantages and disadvantages to focus groups. The advantages include
answering the questions why or how. They can be conducted in a short period of time, and
they are typically cost-effective. There is also a lot of flexibility in the question design, which
can lead to idea generation. Some disadvantages include participants talking too much, or not
enough, data cannot be generalized, and they cannot answer how many or how much.

Some of the categories and questions that added to the flow of discussion include:

How do you think the unemployment rate in Alamance County compares to that of your
home town? (9.3% in Alamance County and in North Carolina has an unemployment of 9.4%,
Chapel Hill 5.2%, Charlotte 8.2%, Raleigh 6.7%, Greensboro 8.8% and the USA 7.9%) This
question was to allow us to get a greater understanding of Elon students knowledge of the socio
economic factors in Alamance County.

Have you heard of the WRC and if so how or where did you hear about it? If you have
not heard about the WRC what do you think it is? This question was designed to look at Elon
students awareness of the Womens Resource Center.

What do you look for in an organization that you volunteer for? (interaction with children,
adults, elderly, planning events, numerical data, physical labor etc.)

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Being a student at Elon, what media channel or form of communication reaches you the
best? Are there any ways that you feel are ineffective? (table tents, email, Moseley tabling, evols,
message boards, facebook groups, posters, white board notes, etc.)

The WRC organizes fundraisers throughout the year including profit shares at Yo Zone
and BWW, with their major event being the Herb Festival (explain) . Would you attend these if
you knew about them and the organization.
We found that our procedures for conducting the focus group was very efficient, and
gave us great insights of the opinions and knowledge Elon students have about the Womens
Resource Center. We believe we can use this information to make strategic recommendations
that will ultimately benefit the Womens Resource Center, and lead to more consistent volunteers,
and financial growth.

Detailed Findings
When looking at our focus group using the constant comparison technique, which is a
four step process that uses placement of information into categories, then changing and
elaborating on categories leading to finding relationships between those categories and common
themes they share, then the final stage is creating the data found into a theoretical structure. The
constant comparison technique categories that the questions we used fall into are: volunteer work
and organization participation, internship knowledge, knowledge of the Womens Resource
Center in Alamance County and the suggestions they have for the interaction of Elon University
and the Womens Resource Center.
The focus group was housed in a classroom in the communications building McEwen at
Elon University. We had a total of 13 participants both men and women. It lasted 46 minuets.
The moderator was Ilana Israel and there were four other representatives from the documenting
group. These members included Courtney Cooper, Kensey Gooch, Tessa Jones and Ian
MacInnes. The room was set up in a circle with the moderator as part of the circle allowing for
everyone to feel included and making sure they knew their opinions were valued. The focus
group was being filmed, everyone was notified at the beginning of the focus group that the video
was for our personal use only and it would not be shared, any information that would be shared
would be anonymous. The camera was located in the corner of the room and there were
refreshments for the participants at the front of the room.
The focus group was conducted with 13 participants men and women and the goal of the
focus group was to gain a greater understanding of the knowledge of Elon University students
and what they knew about the Womens Resource Center in Alamance County (WRC). We
understood that they would potentially have no pervious knowledge of the organization so we
explained the organization to them and asked them personal questions about volunteer and
organization participation that they do at Elon along with seeing what they thought was
important for an internship. The goal for the internship question was to provide information to
the WRC about what attracts an Elon student to partake in an internship and what they are
looking for in terms of types of tasks during their internship. The last major category that was
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covered in the focus group asked the participants how they like to hear about an organization and
what makes them participate in fundraisers for that organization.
We heard from most of the participants that they are involved in sororities and fraternities
on campus and participate in volunteer work that is part of their organizations or places that are
of interest to them. M4 said, For me at least the club that Im involved in has to do with my
major so its more of an academic standpoint. This comment shows that building a connection
with majors that are interested in the values of the WRC would be beneficial to the organization
and the students. With the responses we received it was important to notice that students partake
in fundraisers such as profit shares when they are interested in the organization along with if it
has partnered with an organization they are part of. For example sororities, fraternities, service
sororities and fraternities, club sports and other campus sponsored organizations.
Participants stated that it was important that they were passionate about the organization
if they are going to spend time with the organization. We asked the participants if they have ever
volunteered for an organization that was lacking advertising in the community and if so were
they inclined to increase awareness. F1 said, I think you have to be very passionate, uh, about
what youre advertising for or trying to get the word out about, uh, I would say unless I was
really passionate about what it was, I would actually say no I would. Just because there is so
much to do in one day. But if it were like, uh, my dad, my dad was really sick with cancer, if it
was something about cancer research, I would be all over that. But something that I may be not
as familiar with and this is no disrespect, but like something physical or mental disease, because
Ive never experienced that first hand, I dont think I would be as willing to get the word out
about it just because I dont know. I didnt mean to offend anyone. Im sorry if that did. This
again proves the need for reaching out to people who are passionate for the values that the WRC
has. As mentioned above partnering with organizations and educational majors on campus would
benefit the WRC with students that are educated about the WRC along with passionate about the
values that the WRC has.
The focus group also discussed the involvement of the students in internship positions.
We wanted to see how the students would react to open internship positions at the WRC and
what types of tasks would they be interested in. We asked a question about would students be
interested in an internship that encouraged students to partake in grant writing. The answers we
received were all similar to the response by Red who said, I think like there has to be more of
an interest just like grant writing or whether or not you like the organization. This draws
another direct link with the aspect of interest in the organization is a number one factor for why
people volunteer, support and intern with an organization. So raising awareness of the WRC
would help to provide the information to students to spark this interest and increase the WRC
supporters.
The majority of the focus group was spent asking the participants how they think that
Elon students could contribute to helping the WRC. We discussed that the WRC has internship
opportunities and inquired if people would be interested in them. The majority of responses we
received was that people would not be as interested because they are not connected to the
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organization, but they would be more inclined to help with volunteering and supporting the
organization. M1 explained to us what they thought about doing an internship there it would be
important to have a connection, I mean I think, I think with something like that, after hearing
about that, if you just, there are plenty of people I know at Elon who have single moms, like who
were raised by singles mothers who could relate to something like this and like be willing to
spread the word about an organization like this to be beneficial towards this organization. If all it
takes is getting people to understand why its important. Like after, like now that I know, I,
clearly would more than happy to share that YouTube link or change my cover photo. I think the
difficulty is getting people to understand the importance. The WRC does profit shares and the
participants seemed to say that if their organizations (sororities, fraternities, academic clubs etc.)
on campus teamed up with the WRC there would be a large inclination to go to these profit
shares. One of the participants F6 said, I know that sororities and fraternities do that. Ive seen
them team up and its like these proceeds go to this instead of actual philanthropies and I think
that that would work really well especially because with sororities theres over 150 people in
each one so its like even if that many people go its already like that many people. Others in
the group agreed that it would help to reach a large number of people.
Joining up with organizations were not the only suggestion that we received. The
participants were inclined to suggest ways to advertise such as word-of-mouth, College Coffee
representatives with giveaways (for example: sunglasses, pens, candy and USB drives), handing
out flyers and classroom white board messages. One of the participants M4, suggested It would
be interesting if you could get them to put their brand on like solo cups and sell them by the
stacks before the weekend. This is something that we thought it was thinking outside of the box.
We are unsure if it is possible, but it will be something we will take into consideration as we
build this partnership. The suggestions that were given to us will be used to help target the
questions that will be asked in our survey and help us to determine the right way to address the
final proposal to best benefit the WRC.
We can draw a few conclusions from this focus group and these include; joining forces
between an organization on campus and the WRC would be very beneficial for increased
volunteer work and donations, advertising suggestions from the participants provide a student
insight of how they would get connected with an organization and finding students who are
passionate about the cause such as womens studies majors would be important to finding people
who are interested in internship opportunities and long term volunteer work. Creating a
partnership between Elon University and the WRC will take a large amount of advertising,
however targeting the correct audiences will be key to creating a lasting viable connection.

Summary & Implications
Our focus group provided us with feedback that allowed us to draw conclusions in
regards to how the WRC should expand as an organization. It was concluded that increasing their
presence on Elons campus would enable the WRC to experience greater support within the
community.
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Joining forces between the WRC and an organization on campus would prove to be a
beneficial partnership. In this regard the WRC would need to align with an organization that is
passionate about their cause as well as provides students with an incentive to join in this effort.
As stated students mainly join organizations on campus due to personal interest or academic
motivation. Thus the WRC should target students from an interest standpoint as well as an
academic standpoint. This implies that the WRC should target organizations such as Elon
Volunteers or Greek life, which have philanthropic interests. In turn, the WRC could partner
with academic organizations. Students in both the Business School and Communication School,
specifically, would be able to benefit from working with the WRC. Furthermore, Womens and
Gender Studies minors would have both an academic and personal interests with the organization.
Upon establishing a partnership within Elon University, the WRC will need to promote
their organization on campus. Students within our focus group provided us with a multitude of
ideas that would allow the WRC to raise campus awareness about their cause. Firstly, it was
suggested that College Coffee representatives would prove a useful tactic. In order to gain
attention from the student body, representatives could pass out free incentives such as sunglasses,
pens, candy and USB drives. Furthermore, while a single speaker would be able to discuss the
WRC on a broad spectrum; students noted that having numerous individuals who have benefited
from the WRC talk to students individually at College Coffee would be helpful as well. Both
options would cement the WRCs presence on campus as it would provide students with a
tangible experience of the WRCs work. Students also discussed the effectiveness of flyers.
Flyers could be passed out in popular meeting spots such as Moseley or dining halls. In turn,
flyers can also be hung in academic buildings or study areas. Flyers have the ability to serve as a
constant reminder about upcoming WRC events as well as the organization in general. To
supplement the use of flyers, students also cited the value of white board messages. White board
messages would mean that WRC advertisements would be seen in classrooms campus wide.

By partnering with an Elon University organization in combination with campus advertisements,
the WRC should be able to generate enough publicity to create a following within the student
body. This will ultimately enable the WRC to expand as an organization. Students have the
ability to financially support WRC related functions such as their Herb Festival or profit shares.
In turn, students can fill internship positions or partake in volunteer efforts. The WRC will need
to be specific in recognizing their key audiences in order to implement this course of action.









16
4.0 Survey Assignment

After conducting our focus group, we were able to gain greater insight regarding the
knowledge, opinions and preferred channels of communication of our target market. The next
step in our research project was to conduct a survey. We ended our data collection with
responses from 129 participants. Our team created a 12-question survey using Google Forums
and it was designed to answer new research questions pertaining to the Womens Resource
Center. Our objectives for this survey were to further explore the reasons students do or do not
participate in volunteer opportunities and what incentives, both tangible and intangible, that may
sway their decisions. We wanted to understand and analyze the forms and channels of
communication that would best reach and influence our target audience. This survey will provide
us with valuable information that will allow the Womens Resource Center to effectively
promote volunteer opportunities, recruit a consistent volunteer base and heighten it capital from
profit shares by increasing participation. Our survey had two open-ended questions, and 10
close-ended questions, including one rating question, an eight-part Likert scale question, four
checklist, three forced-choice questions, and one dichotomous question.

Hypothesis and Research Objectives/Questions
We predicted that current students at Elon University only volunteer with non-profit
organizations that have a strong presence on Elons campus. This area of focus is most relevant
to the case at hand, because if proven to be true, that is where the Womens Resource Center
would want to focus their efforts in gaining awareness on Elons campus. We would assist them
in this by offering them the content found as a result of our survey. It is then up to the Womens
Resource Center to use this information in creating a presence on Elons campus, and possibly
partnering with a growing campus organization. Our main research objectives in conducting the
survey are as follows:
Our main research questions are:
What is the Womens Resource Centers current level of awareness throughout the
Elon student body?
How and why do students join volunteer organizations and what are the most effective
ways in communicating volunteer opportunities to Elon students?
When is most convenient for students to volunteer with non-profit organizations?
Would students attend Women Resource Center fundraisers if they knew more about
the organization?
How does gender play a role in their attitude towards the Women Resource Center?
Would students, after hearing more about the Womens Resource Center and its
mission, consider volunteering for or attending events sponsored by the organization?
What are the best ways for the Women Resource Center to build a stronger presence
and gain awareness throughout Elons campus?
The study population for our survey was all students (male and female) that currently attend Elon
University. We wanted to get students perspectives on volunteering and the reasons behind their
17
involvement in particular organizations. The population age range was 18-22, the typical age of
undergraduate students ranging from freshmen (1
st
year students) to seniors (4
th
year students).
The sampling frame for the survey was the total number of each individual group
members Facebook friends that currently attend Elon University. The sample that was drawn
was a nonprobability sample. We drew a nonprobability sample because it was not possible that
our results be generalized to a larger population given the time constraints for this project. We
also did not have the time or money to conduct a more formal, probability sample.
We drew a volunteer sample, meaning we collected data from subjects who decided to
participate in our study. The survey was available for respondents to fill out at their convenience
on social media and through e-mail (that was sent to our classmates). Respondents elected
themselves to participate in the survey. We had anticipated 100 answers to begin with, but our
sample size (the number of people who actually responded to the survey) ending up being 129.
We initially set out to achieve 100 responses due to a frame of reference for surveys that had
been conducted for this class in the past.
Our method for fielding the questionnaire was distributing it across social media to all our
Facebook friends and through e-mail to all our classmates. Procedures that we took in reducing
the non-response and increasing the response rate included captioning our survey post by asking
Elon University students to take our survey in helping us out for a class project. We posted it
up a couple times over the course of a week to keep it up on our friends news feeds and remind
them to please help us out and take it if they had not already. We also posted it in our Facebook
groups for organizations we are affiliated with, such as club sports or sororities. The e-mail that
was sent out to our classmates explained our survey and asked for their participation as well.
Our survey questionnaire consisted of 12 questions regarding volunteer information,
fundraiser participation and knowledge of the Womens Resource Center. Our questions
included:
What is your graduation year?
Have you ever heard of the Womens Resource Center of Alamance County?
What is an ideal volunteer opportunity?
How much do you agree or disagree with the following in regards to why you may or
may not volunteer?
What media channels work best in informing you about organizations and their
volunteer opportunities?
What days during the week are preferable to volunteer?
What are preferable times during the day to volunteer?
How often do you participate in profit share events for organizations that you
support?
What would be an incentive for you to attend a WRC profit share?
The WRC organizes fundraisers throughout the year including profit shares at Yo
Zone BWW, with their major event being the Herb Festival. Would you attend these if
you knew about them and the organization?
18
What is your gender?
Each of the 12 questions listed above can be linked to our research questions. The
hypothesis states that current students at Elon University only volunteer with non-profit
organizations that have a strong presence on Elons campus. To support our hypothesis, we
created a variety of research questions that allowed us to ensure we were targeting our sample
correctly and provide valid information in our findings.
Our first research question stated: What is the Womens Resource Centers current level of
awareness throughout the Elon University student body? In response to this research question,
we formulated the survey question that stated: Have you ever heard of the Womens Resource
Center of Alamance County? This survey question was used to provide us feedback in
determining the WRCs current awareness on the Elon campus.
The second research question stated: How and why do students join volunteer organizations and
what are the most effective ways in communicating volunteer opportunities to Elon students? We
asked three different types of questions in our survey to expand upon this research question:
What is an ideal volunteer opportunity? How much do you agree or disagree with the following
in regards to why you may or may not volunteer? What media channels work best in informing
you about organizations and their volunteer opportunities?
The third research question we created stated: When is most convenient for students to
volunteer with non-profit organizations? We found it important that the WRC know when
students are available to help with the organization so they can bring on more volunteers, plan
events, or promote activities during these times. This will hopefully lead to consistency in their
volunteer efforts. In our survey we asked two questions in regards to this question that stated:
What days during the week are preferable to volunteer?, and What are preferable times during
the day to volunteer?
The fourth research question that we created stated: Would students attend Women Resource
Center fundraisers if they knew more about the organization? This research question was
expanded upon through the creation of two different survey questions that stated: What would
be an incentive for you to attend a WRC profit share?, and The WRC organizes fundraisers
throughout the year including profit shares at Yo Zone BWW, with their major event being the
Herb Festival. Would you attend these if you knew about them and the organization?
Coincidentally, the fifth research question we created stated: Would students, after
hearing more about the Womens Resource Center and their mission, consider volunteering for
or attending events sponsored by the organization? This question was simultaneously expanded
upon by those same two survey questions: What would be an incentive for you to attend a WRC
profit share, and The WRC organizes fundraisers throughout the year including profit shares at
Yo Zone BWW, with their major event being the Herb Festival. Would you attend these if you
knew about them and the organization?
The sixth and final research question we created stated: How does gender play a role in their
attitude towards the Women Resource Center? We used a demographic question to answer this
that stated: What is your gender? We asked one other demographic question that stated: What
19
is your graduation year? We asked this question to make sure we were only getting responses
from current Elon students.
All of the questions we presented in our survey were used to gain further insight into the
volunteer habits and characteristics of the Elon University student body. We surveyed 129 Elon
students and found the results to be consistent with our hypothesis. We constructed each question
in order to answer our research questions that we posed at the beginning of the study.
Findings
All of the questions we presented in our survey were used to gain further insight
into the volunteer habits and characteristics of the Elon University student body. We
surveyed 129 Elon students and found the results to be consistent with our hypothesis. We
constructed each question in order to answer our research questions that we posed at the
beginning of the study.
One of our most anticipated questions on the survey was whether or not people had
heard of the Womens Resource Center of Alamance County. According to our data, 67% of
respondents had not heard of the WRC. This tells us that the WRC has not done a good job
at connecting with the Elon University population. The organization needs to get its name
out there so that people can be more familiar with it. If no one knows about the
organization, then they have no way of getting involved with it. This statistic directly
correlates with another survey questioned we created: The WRC organizes fundraisers
throughout the year including profit shares at YoZone BWW, with their major event being
the Herb Festival. Would you attend these if you knew about them and the organization?
The results for this question were clear, as 75% of the total respondents said they would be
likely or very likely to attend a WRC event if they knew about them. But only 42 of the 129
respondents answered that they had heard of the WRC. This ties directly back to the
research question we created in the beginning: Would students attend Women Resource
Center fundraisers if they knew more about the organization? According to the data, the
response to the question is yes, people would indeed attend more events if they had heard
of the WRC.
Its also interesting to look at the respondents graduation year, specifically the
upperclassmen. 104 of the 129 who took the survey plan on graduating in 2013 or 2014.
Figure 1.0 below breaks up the upperclassmen by year and whether or not they have heard
of the WRC.
20

Figure 1.0


The graph above shows that a majority of students in the class of 2013 (25 students)
and from the class of 2014 (41 students) had not heard of the WRC. This shows that the
WRC hasnt done a lot to market itself towards Elon students thus far. These students have
been at Elon University for three or more years and havent heard anything about it. This
further proves that if the WRC wants to draw in more students, it needs to gain awareness
on Elons campus first.
We also sought to gather information as to what draws students to volunteer with
organizations. We came up with eight categories of volunteer incentives including:
personal interest with the organization, whether or not their friends were involved with
the organization, whether or not they enjoy volunteer opportunities, whether they like to
work with specific age groups, if they volunteer for class credit, if they get a sense of
accomplishment, or if they think it looks good on a resum.

Figure 1.1


21
The chart above in Figure 1.1 displays the percentage of people who had some sort
of agreement (agree or strongly agree) with each of the incentives we listed in our survey
as to why people volunteer. As you can see, the three biggest categories were volunteering
gives the respondents a sense of accomplishment (86%), they enjoy volunteering (82%)
and they have a personal interest in the organization (80%). What we can gather from this
data is that people like to volunteer for organizations that they like or feel a connection
with. People dont see volunteering as a business opportunity to further themselves or
their networking ability, but rather a self-esteem or happiness booster.
Another statistic we wanted to measure was which day of the week people were
most likely to volunteer on. Figure 1.2 displays the results for this question. What we have
gathered from this question is that people are more willing to donate their time on the
weekends as opposed to the workweek. This is most likely due to respondents work and
academic schedules during the week. With class and organization obligations, people
simply do not have as much time to volunteer during the week. According to the data,
people are more available on weekends, which is why Friday, Saturday and Sunday
received such high results.

Figure 1.2

To further get a sense of when people are available, we also asked the question,
What are preferable times during the day to volunteer? and labeled the answers as
Morning, Mid-day, Afternoon, and Evening. We found that a majority (69%)
answered that they would most likely participate in the afternoon; whereas only 28%
answered they would be willing to volunteer in the morning and 23% in the evening. This
is most likely due to respondents class and social schedules. People go to class in the
morning and many people attend social events at night. Therefore, according to the data, in
order for the WRC to gain the greatest number of volunteers, it should host events on the
weekends and in the afternoon.
Figure 1.3 displays the data from the survey question: What media channels work
best in informing you about organizations and their volunteer opportunities? E-mail got
the highest percentage of respondents, followed closely by Facebook and word of mouth.
Facebook is an efficient way to get the word out because its very easy to post statuses, web
links, pictures, information, and link to other forms of social media. Its also an effective
method because people can easily send out information to a large number of friends in a
22
short period of time. Word of mouth is effective because people get first-hand information
about a volunteer opportunity. Word of mouth is such a popular method of informing
because people can better explain in person details and logistics for volunteer
opportunities. This easily spreads the word and gets more people interested in attending.




Figure 1.3


After gathering data about volunteering habits, we wanted to figure out how often
people are actually volunteering for their respective organizations. To do so, we asked the
question: How often do you participate in profit share events for organizations that you
support? The categories for the questions were as follows: 0-3 times per month, 4-8
times per month, 8 or more times per month, and never. The most popular was 0-3
times per month with 79% of the respondents vote. Based on the data, the WRC should
conduct profit shares 1-3 times a month to gain the most student attendance.
Tying into the previous data, we sought out what would entice Elon students to
attend WRC profit shares. According to the data, people want to go to profit shares because
their friends are going. Profit shares are primarily a social event, with the volunteer and
supportive aspects as an added bonus. Its interesting to note that each of the three
answers offered received over 50% of respondents votes. Therefore, its safe to assume
that hosting a profit share in a social setting, at a popular restaurant, or teaming up with
23
another organization on campus would be efficient ideas in getting people to attend. The
data for this question is also represented in Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.4
The last research question that we posed dealt with gender and attitude towards the
WRC. Two of the questions that we asked on our survey were relevant in helping answer
this question. The female to male breakdown of this survey was 83% female to 17% male,
with 1% choosing not to answer. Figure 1.5 demonstrates the attitude of our male and
female respondents towards volunteering for the WRC.

Figure 1.5


According to the data, only a little more than half of the males (54%) would be likely or
extremely likely to attend WRC events after knowing more about the organization. This is
compared to 76% of the female respondents that said they would be likely or extremely
likely to attend WRC events after knowing more about the organization. This is most likely
24
due to the fact that the survey was heavily skewed towards the female population (reword
somehow with data backing this up). However, according to the data, women are more
likely to volunteer and help out with WRC events and fundraisers than men are.

Implications
Through surveying a sample size of 129 Elon University students, our group has been
able to draw various conclusions about the Womens Resource Center and how it should proceed
in terms of generating a larger following on Elon Universitys campus. First, it is significant to
note that 67%, more than half, of our sample has never heard of the Womens Resource Center.
This is important as it illustrates students lack of knowledge in regards to this organization. In
order to build a following among Elons student body, the Womens Resource Center will need
to act upon the following points.
Our survey showed us that students will volunteer at an organization due to personal interests,
involvement of friends, personal enjoyment, working with a particular age group, class credit,
resume builder, and lastly a sense of accomplishment. What this means for the Womens
Resource Center is that it needs to create opportunities that fulfill these needs. This could be
done in a variety of ways. Some examples are working with an on campus organization,
partnering with a class for student credit, or offering activities that involve a particular age group
such as women over the age of 40 looking to reenter the job market.
The survey further illustrated the best channels of communications through which
students can be reached. In ranked order, e-mail, Facebook, and word-of-mouth are the top three
ways students are informed about organizations and volunteer opportunities. This means that the
Womens Resource Center should target students directly by using these forms of
communication.
Our survey also explored how to create an ideal volunteer opportunity by asking students what
times and days of the week were most convenient for them to volunteer. Most students stated
that weekends (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) were the most convenient days of the week to
volunteer. In turn, students stated that the afternoon was a preferable time to volunteer as well. It
would be beneficial for the Womens Resource Center to offer volunteer opportunities during the
weekends in the afternoon, as this time period would draw the largest amount of students.
Our results show that 67% of our sample size would attend a Womens Resource Center
sponsored event if they were aware of the event and organization. This is a positive fact as it
shows that more than half of our sample size would be willing to attend an event sponsored by
the Womens Resource Center. The Womens Resource Center should capitalize on this fact by
taking into consideration the points above. The survey shows that creating a partnership with an
organization would be beneficial because this would not only create awareness, but create a
support system and community for the Womens Resource Center as well. By executing a
successful PR plan, the Womens Resource Center would be able to draw from a greater pool of
volunteers and supporters.
When reviewing the data we received from our survey, we noticed a majority of women
participated in the survey. This was an over-representation of the population, but the Elon
25
University Student body is 41% male and 59% female. Our survey data was 17% male and 83%
female respondents. We hoped to receive 100 responses to our survey, and we exceeded our goal
by receiving 129 responses. Our sample consisted only of Elon students and, therefore, to get a
higher response rate we had to create a short survey so that people would take the time to
participate. One of our major shortcomings was having to use Facebook as a way of promoting
our survey. This meant that the only respondents were our Facebook friends, classmates who
received our survey link by e-mail and other Facebook users who belong to group pages on
Facebook. This potentially could have created a bias, by having only our friends and classmates
take this survey more of them were likely to have heard of the Womens Resource Center than
your average Elon Student.
In subsequent research we could try to acquire more demographically diverse participants,
including gender, faculty and staff. In future studies, we would pre-test our questions, as well as
use a variety of media outlets to promote our survey, other than just Facebook. Our survey
results support our hypothesis, and the data we collected answered our research questions. In the
future, the Womens Resource Center can use this information to get Elon students more
involved.

5.0 Conclusions and Interpretations
We found that students are more inclined to participate with volunteer
opportunities for organizations that personally appeal to the students. Based on our
research techniques and our overall project for this class, we have concluded that it would
be beneficial for the WRC to create a partnership with students at Elon University and
existing organizations on the campus. These partnerships could lead to more awareness
and potential volunteers along with increased promotion, bringing in more donations for
the organization. From the findings in our focus group and survey projects, we suggest that
the organization reaches out to the students through email, flyers and through college
coffee. Creating partnerships with existing student organizations would be most beneficial
in reaching the greatest amount of students at Elon. With this partnership, more students
would be willing to participate with the organizations profit shares and events. As of now,
not too many students at Elon University have heard of the Womens Resource Center, so
we feel that spreading awareness is the Womens Resource Centers biggest priority.


6.0 Reference List

"Women's Resource Center in Alamance County Business Plan." Www.wrcac.org. Women's
Resource Center of Alamance County, 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 01 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.wrcac.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/WRCBusPlan-approved-4-4-11.pdf>.

"Women's Resource Center in Alamance County." Womens Resource Center in Alamance
County. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013.


26
7.0 Appendices (focus group moderators guide, survey questionnaire, transcripts, list of
hours, etc.)

Appendix A

Focus Group Moderators Guide

Thank you for participating in the focus group today. My name is Ilana Israel. Today you will be
asked to discuss your experiences, opinions, and perceptions of the Womens Resource Center in
Alamance County.

We want to hear all the positives and negatives and any ideas/suggestions that you may have. We
would like your comments to be frank and honest; there are no right answers. We are looking for
your thoughts and insights. You are the experts and we want to hear from you.

[GUIDELINES]
Here are a few guidelines. This is a relaxed and informal discussion.

This session is being taped so please allow one person to speak at a time. Your comments are
entirely confidential. The focus group is expected to last about 60 minutes and during that time
we encourage all of you to contribute to the discussion. Are there any questions? If not, we will
get started.

Lets begin by going around the room introducing ourselves. Tell us your name, where you are
from, and your year in school.

Thank you. Now I want you to discuss the topic at hand.

What is your impression on the socioeconomic demographics in Alamance County? This could
include family life, income level and neighborhoods.

How do you think the unemployment rate in Alamance County compares to that of your
hometown? (9.3% in Alamance County and in North Carolina has unemployment of 9.4%,
Chapel Hill 5.2%, Charlotte 8.2%, Raleigh 6.7%, Greensboro 8.8% and the USA 7.9%)

Have you heard of the WRC and if so how or where did you hear about it? If you have not heard
about the WRC what do you think it is?

For those of you who dont know what the WRC is, it is a non-profit organization in the
Alamance area established in 1991 that serves women and their families through a number of
programs and services designed to assist them in bettering and enriching their lives.

27
This fiscal year they have helped a few hundred people, which has grown since last year. The
WRC employs three full-time staff members and relies heavily on volunteers and donations.

Lets talk about your experiences in volunteer work and the organizations that you are involved
in on campus.

How did you hear about the organizations that you are involved in? Was there an incentive? Do
you feel a sense of reward within these organizations and if so what is it?

What do you look for in an organization that you volunteer for? (interaction with children, adults,
elderly, planning events, numerical data, physical labor etc.)

What age did you get involved with service work? If youve never participated volunteering for
an organization, what has held you back? Would you be interested in volunteering if you were
more informed of opportunities?

Have you ever felt like your organization is not advertised in the community and if so have you
contributed towards efforts to gain awareness for your organization?

Being a student at Elon, what media channel or form of communication reaches you the best?
Are there any ways that you feel are ineffective? (table tents, email, Moseley tabling, EVols,
message boards, Facebook groups, posters, white board notes)

The WRC organizes fundraisers throughout the year including profit shares at Yo Zone BWW,
with their major event being the Herb Festival (explain) . Would you attend these if you knew
about them and the organization?

In what ways do you think the WRC could best inform Elon students about their organization?
Do you think if you were more informed, you would attend one of their fundraising events?

To the guys, would you actually be interested in helping out with an all (majority) female
organization?

In what ways would you want to assist with their events? (promotion, volunteering at the event)

Are any of you inclined to write grant? Or have any of you written grants before?

The WRC has internship opportunities. How would you normally find an internship that is
posted at Elon?

If the internship was paid or unpaid would that guide you in making a choice to intern there?

28
Would you be interested in staying at Elon over the summer and interning for the WRC if you
received class credit, and gained overall experience?

Now that you know more about the WRC in your honest opinion would you be more inclined in
volunteering with the organization? Would you also think that it would be beneficial for Elon to
promote volunteer opportunities for this organization?

Are there any other topics that you want to discuss?

[CONCLUSION]
We want to thank each of you for participating in this group discussion this evening. The
information you have given us is of enormous value to us. Does anybody have any questions
before we wrap up? Then we thank you for the time you have spent with us this afternoon.

Appendix B

Transcription

M=Moderator, M1-6= male, f1-6= females, R1-3= researchers

M: We really appreciate you guys coming out today, um, and were here to like discuss, um,
your opinions, perceptions and experiences and then, um, major focusing on the womens
resource center in Alamance County, which some of you may know about and some of you may
not. And, um, so were going to get started

R1: And these are open ended questions if you feel like you want to pitch in and give your input
thats great if you dont really know, you dont have to say anything and we dont necessarily
have to go in any order so if you feel like you want to talk about it just feel free

M: And its going to last about 60 minutes and we encourage you guys to contribute to the
discussion, ask other questions and we will get started. So, um, lets get to the topic and I would
like to know what your impression on the socioeconomic demographics of Alamance County are,
um, and this could include like the family life that you see, um, income level in the different
neighborhoods that youve experienced while being here at Elon and the surrounding community.

F1: Um, I know I work at a church, and the congregation now is only like 50 people and I would
say probably 90% of that population is like over the age of 75, so,

M1: No way.

F1: and, yes way!

29
M1: Seventy

F1: Oh Im so sorry. They still use canes and they have, oh we both do, oh we both, I forgot you
were here. And, um, Im kidding, I love my boyfriend. Um, we, so in in that respect we have
talked to a lot of these people and tell us like when they were younger, because none of them
have moved out, they were apart of a congregation of 2,000 people, Im sorry 1,000 people, so it
was a lot bigger, um, so my personal experience is that Elon, Burlington is made up of older,
grandparents, of, I dont want to say low income, but like on, probably on, welfare and are just
gliding by.

M: Ok, and does anybody else have anything since, even I mean the new station at mill point is
surrounded by, you know, lower income neighborhoods does anybody else like have any

M1: Well, um, like I think when you go to store and stuff like youll see the people or youre like,
oh my God, um (laughter) I dont know, thats been my experience. However, there are, like
sometimes I went on a couple walks or running, like if you take that right across from Sheraton,
theres like this huge neighborhood with all these really nice, upper, middle class homes and like
families and kids who like, I think do things like not in Burlington. I think most people who live
in Burlington commute. I dont think Burlington is like the Mecca for where theyre going to
high school, school, like, things like that. I dont know if that answers the question.

M: Yeah definitely.

F2: Theres like sorta like a trailer park ish community near the station at mill point and its just
very, looks very, low income, but there are also really really nice neighborhoods, so its like
really diverse.

M: And from what like you guys have experienced, do you, what do you guys think the
unemployment is in Alamance County as it compares to like your hometowns, um, does anybody
have like a rough guesstimate?

M2: Oh, with like a number?

M; Yeah, just like a percentage, or even just a comparison. Do you think its like more higher
unemployment or

M2: I think its higher unemployment. Im from a mid-developed like city. Its not big, but with
areas with like a lot of unemployment but I htinkk here especially there is. But if you go into
Elon though, there are nice neighborhoods in Elon. Like

M1: Yeah, You just look for them.
30

M2: Obviously there not going to be sticking out in Burlington too much. For a number I would
say like 15% unemployment maybe?

M3: Yeah I think compared to, especially compared to Elon students, I mean this is a private
institution, a lot of these students come from very wealthy families, very wealthy communities,
so I think that, I think that um, yeah theres definitely a higher rate of unemployment in
Alamance County in comparison to most Elon students.

M: Ok, go.

F2: Um, I think Burlington, from like what I know about it, used to be like a textile industry so a
lot of what fuled the economy was like the textiles and um as soon as they closed that down it I
definitely think that left a negative impact on the Burlington economy. And I think now a lot of
the jobs that are, even though the unemployment rate, even if it is similar to those in our
respective towns, I think a lot of the work is more like part time work and manual labor, um, sort
of more like blue collar work.

M1: Um, I actually would guess that the unemployment rate is lower than bigger cities, just
thinking about like because the population of Burlington I dont really think is too high, or not
like higher than most, I would say that Burlington is a pretty small city. Like most people dont
know what Burlington is. Im from Atlanta, where like a lot of people, like people who have
families are like struggling to find work. I feel like Elon really does run the economy in
Burlington. If you look at all the fast food restaurants, all the like, there are so many stores in B,
like down church street, its like restaurant, restaurant, restaurant. So I think that a lot of people
have opportunities for employment. I dont think it would be too hard to find work in Burlington.

M: Um ok were just going to throw some statistics out there. In Alamance County, 9.3%
unemployment rate. Um North Carolina in total is 9.4%. Um Chapel Hill is 5.2, Charlotte 8.2,
Raleigh 6.7, Greensboro 8.8. And the US as a total is 6.7% so that just gives you the idea that
Alamance County has a very high unemployment rate

F1: What was it again?

M: 9.3

F1: Oh my God

M: Yeah and like we were kind of shocked to find that out too when we were looking it up and
so this is, you know, were going to talk about the nonprofit organization and introduce that. So
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for those of you, actually were going to ask, have any of you heard the Womens Resource
Center in Alamance County? Um, yeah, ok. And if so what have you heard about it?

F2: It was when you were doing your research so I dont actually know about it myself. It was
more of I know you were researching about it and spitting out random facts.

M: Ok so for those of you that dont know what the Womens Resource Center is, its a
nonprofit organization that is based in Alamance County. It was established in 1991. Um their
main service is serving women and their families through a number of different programs and
services that they offer. Um and their goal is to assist them in embittering and improving their
lives. Um this could be anything from they help people who cant reach their um you know
payment for their rent so they help them pay their rent for the month. Um they help women find
jobs in the community. Um its not just a womens based organization, they do help men, but its
mainly focused on women and families. Um they also have networking, community networking
to get women to be able to get back into the workforce, um training for jobs and that kind of
thing. A lot of people think that um nursing assistants is the only option. Um, and so, thats they
are trying to show them that there are other options for work in the community and like how to
get them back into the community. So Id like to talk a little bit about your volunteer work. Um
that youve done in the past, but also at Elon and then the different organizations youre apart of
on campus. And what, how did you hear about the organizations youre involved in, is there an
incentive, is there a sense of reward like with being a part of these organizations? Like clubs,
fraternities, sororities, volunteer options?

F3: I dont volunteer but like I think most of the clubs that I got involved in its because a lot of
the people I know were getting involved in similar things, so.

M: Go ahead.
M4: Thanks. For me at least the club that Im involved in has to do with my major so its more of
an academic standpoint.

M: Mhmm

F4: Uh the club Im involved in is CCM which is the Catholic one and I do a lot of volunteer and
service with the club and a lot of international trips with them and I guess that was a big
incentive for me because I could go to Jamaica and help people at the same time.

M: And have you ever, what age did you guys get into service.

M5: For me it was around fifth grade.

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F5: Um I grew up going to a YMCA sleep away camp and we did a lot of stuff in the area. So
probably 4
th
grade really opened my eyes up to it.

M2: Um like I dont know since like grade school I guess uh like when I would join like a soccer
club most of the kids were like immigrants or refugees from like different countries and so that
opened my eyes to like that and then I found out my coach worked at like a center for like newly
settled refugees so like I got to that and then I found out that some of my best friends were like
living under much worse circumstances than I could have imagined. But like, yeah.

F4: Um through middle school and high school I volunteered at the writing center for disabled
kids and that was really rewarding.

M: So if youve ever participated for an organization that you feel like um hasnt been advertised
in your community or you feel that like people dont know what its about and you feel like that
should be known to the community and advertised in like a more effective way, would you be
interested, if you were connected with an organization to help them out to advertise and if so,
what ways would you think would be more beneficial.

F1: I think you have to be very passionate, uh, about what youre advertising for or trying to get
the word out about, uh, I would say unless I was really passionate about what it was, I would
actually say no I would. Just because there is so much to do in one day. But if it were like, uh,
my dad, my dad was really sick with cancer, if it was something about cancer research, I would
be all over that. But something that I may be not as familiar with and this is no disrespect, but
like something physical or mental disease, because Ive never experienced that first hand, I dont
think I would be as willing to get the word out about it just because I dont know. I didnt mean
to offend anyone. Im sorry if that did.

M: Ok, um, and so, the WRC, within the community like they do profit shares at yozone and
buffalo wild wings and um they have a huge fundraiser in the spring thats the herb festival, its
coming up in April. And they sell like plants for peoples gardens and thats like their biggest
fundraiser and they raise about 10,000 dollars and thats like what helps them fund them
throughout the entire year. If, for example, like a lot of us go to profit shares for fraternities and
sororities, would you be interested in going to profit shares if you knew about them within Elon,
like if you knew about the organization like there were message boards or something like that
that were telling you about it would you be more inclined to go and if so like what kinds of
places would you like to do profit shares at.

M?: I feel like something like that with sororities and fraternities we don't necessarily always
know where the money is going to. I think they put boards up when you go but it's just like oh
were having a profit share for something that they rarely show before what you go where the
money's going. I feel, I feel like profit shares at like Buffalo wild wings and Redbowl that's
33
something because it's local to us in the area but I feel that if you really want more students to
get involved in those profit shares that they as a corporation should team up with an organization
and do it together because then it's more relatable. You know like your friends in that
organization all go for the friend but you're also more inclined to go.

M: Right and that was um actually our next questions so thats perfect. In what ways do you
think the Womens Resource Center could best inform Elon students about their organization?
Do you think like if they got like involved with E-Volunteers or something like that, um, or like
teamed up with a sorority or fraternity or um like other organizations and go to know their them
and have partnerships with that, do you think that would be beneficial and would you participate
in more of their community events if there was more of a partnership between Elon and them?

F6: I know that sororities and fraternities do do that. Ive seen them team up and its like these
proceeds go to this instead of actual philanthropies and I think that that would work really well
especially because with sororities theres over 150 people in each one so its like even if that
many people go its already like that many people.

F4: And I think thats already like a stigma issued with Burlington, so I think that if they paired
up with an on-campus organization wed be more likely to support the cause.

R1: Ill just add onto that. If you guys were to go volunteer at something like the herb festival,
what types of things would you want to help out with. Would you want to help out with the
planning, setting it up, actually working the event or promoting it, anything like that, um,
specifically what would you get the most out of?

F1: Well what goes on at it? What is an herb festival?

M: So the herb festival they have like, theres four local vendors from North Carolina, they have
greenhouses, and they have plants, um, such as like herbs from your garden, they have tomato
plants, lyches, and different kinds of things like that and they are organically grown, um and so
um they sell like the baby plants for you to plant in your garden um and then you can harvest
them.

R1: And its their biggest fundraising event every single year, um, just with so many people
coming out and its also supporting growing local just the community within Burlington.

M: So a lot of you guys like walk around campus everyday. Theres the video boards in Moseley,
the table tents in the dining halls, um you get Facebook group invitations, stuff like that, what
channels do you think are best ways to communicate to Elon students about different profit
shares and different things going on. You know, is it emails I know were swamped with emails
34
and I know a lot of emails are not very good. Twitter, Facebook, what do you think are the best
channels that get to you the best?

M2: Well I think for me individually like its not really the yeah its easy to get an email and just
disregard it. Theres so many that you get from Elon everyday, so I think like physical
advertisements are a good channel. Especially on our main streets being more developed and
you can pretty much put up anything and, um, like in acorn. Everyone goes there at one point.

M1: Um I think word of mouth advertising is pretty much popular. It definitely is. Um, um and I
think just like, I dont know, like ways that Ive seen successful in getting people to come is like
hey whats in it for me? Or like something like this or if youre the hundredth person. Just giving
a little incentive. Like I know thats not what its about. But it is effective.

M4: Um I think that those two things are also really really good um but on top of that social
media is definitely something that we all use. But its so easy to see an event and just kind of be
like eh whatever, you know? So I think that you need to use it in like creative ways whether it be
like sharing an advertisement picture about it, or maybe a YouTube video promoting the event or
just the fact that its on the wall instead of just an event is harder to ignore.

F1: Yeah I agree. Go ahead.

F6: I know personally not that many people do this, but like, and I know its a pain to do this, but
I feel like when you have those little flyers that you hand out that you actually hand out to people
because I feel like people arent actually going to take it and throw it out because its rude and I
think people have a little more manners than that so at least they hold it for a little bit and maybe
they will read it and then like throw it out when they like get away from you but like at least
theyre like probably going to see it so that works for me.

M: Um and for the guys in the room, for like because its a majority female organization,
however they do like assist males and they dont turn anyone away, would you um, be inclined
to help out with this organization? I want your honest opinion.

M1: Probably not.

M4: Probably not.

M2: Nah I mean unless they expanded and advertised more.

M3. I definitely dont like Id go out of my way to, you know what I mean?

M: Mhmm.
35

R2: Does the name turn you away? Just because its called the womens resource center.

M5: I dont want to sound sexist or anything but it sounds like more like something for women
to do. And thats not something, like he said, I would I would go out of my way to do.

M3: And also just by the name it seems like maybe you could contribute less to it as men.

M: Ok just changing it up a little bit, they have internship opportunities, and Im sure a lot of you
have done and participated in a lot of internships while being at Elon, um, how did you find these
internships? Were they listed on the Elon Job Career Network, or if youre Comm majors did
you go to Mrs. Tonkins office, or how did you acquire these internships.

F1: In Elon?

M: Like any, like in general, like any that youve had in the past while youve been at Elon.

F1: Uhhh well when I went abroad in London we had internships but that was through the school
in London. Ive actually found Elon, and it might just be because of my major, as like very
unhelpful. Very unhelpful.

R1: Have you tried to pursue getting an internship by meeting with the career center? Or like
how, Im curious how you find them unhelpful.

F1: I have. I have met with the career center but that was actually more for, I had to learn how to
write a real resume, which is funny. Um, but I have yeah. And Im a part of like the emails we
get and um and then responding back. I just find that it takes a while and that people take their
good ole time and getting back to you. Yeah, Ive just found that I get more accomplished when I
do it myself. Sorry.

M2: Id like to second that. Like Ive been through the career center and like the office stuff and
Ive been unsuccessful so far. But its more like just oh yeah, just send us an email, give us your
information yeah. And I understand rejection but like if you dont ever hear back from
somebody, regardless, I feel like Elon, never, theyre never in touch with you.

F3: Um I joined an organization for my major and I got my internship through like a job fair type
of thing and I thought that that was a really effective way because there wasnt like a middle-
man and I think dealing with Elon a lot its like did I not get the internship because there was a
miscommunication or what? And the career fair was nice because you are speaking directly with
someone from the company and they see you and understand and make dealing with Elon.

36
M4: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I feel that um, networking and going out and actually
finding those connections first hand is just the best way to establish who you are and its almost
as if its a mini interview right on the spot. Uh, I know Im looking for an internship for over the
summer, and I know Ill ask a friend in my position if they know people in the industry, if they
can connect me, to know that Ill go and find that position. So, I feel that first hand stuff is much
more affective than other services Elon could provide.

F: Um Ill usually hear where other people um, from Elon have interned and asked them if they
liked that. And Ill start researching those companies and maybe similar ones and thats how I
find them.

M: And, so their, they write a lot of grants, and thats one of their biggest ways of funding. And
right now they are trying to apply for some grants to, um, provide stipends for people who do do
internships at their organization and would that be an incentive for you to do an internship if you
received a stipend versus unpaid and if so would any of you be inclined to get an internship to
write grants because thats their thing and it would be good experience for you if you go into a
field where you might have to write grants in the future um because a lot of organizations dont
let interns write grants as much. Um, is that something that any of you would be interested in?

Red: I know for sure that, um, a lot of, especially with students who, um, are trying to stay in
school as well, a really good thing about Elon that they do stress is like part time internships. So
instead of studying abroad winter term you could always do a part time internship. And I think, I
know that a lot of my friends have done that part time internships in the community and they
have offered a stipend. But uh, the difficulty with that is, it goes back to what you were saying, is
you have to be passionate and a lot of the stipends are on the lower end side and the amount of
hours you put into it doesnt equate to like a job you could be working on campus. So while the
stipend definitely is an incentive, I think like there has to be more of an interest just like grant
writing or whether or not you like the organization.

M: And, um, if you were staying at Elon over the summer for another reason, um, like you got a
job on campus, would you be interested in volunteering within the community like while you
were staying during the summer because there is less going on. Um, and if you knew about
organizations more, would you be more inclined to like volunteer and if so what kinds of
volunteering would you be willing to help out with? Like promotion, um, volunteering at certain
events they hosted, you know, or going in and helping with grants? Like what would be your
ideal of going in and volunteering? Like different tasks that you would do. Mhmm.

Curly: During the summer when youre hanging around you dont have classes to go to, unless
you are taking a summer class. Even then its not as demanding of a schedule so I think that
would be a better time to start doing something like that.

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F? I personally like to go to events. Like if its volunteering more so than like, Ive seen a lot of
people do paperwork just because I like to interact with people.

M: Ok, so, like if you were to assist in like going to events to their promotional activities, how do
you think, do you think the best way for them would be to join up with an organization and you
get word of mouth confirmation about these events and then you would go to them like even for
the guys who said that you werent necessarily interested in helping out the organization would
you still go to the profit shares and participate in their events if other people were going even
though it is for the womens resource center.

M5: Yeah if its by word of mouth and it sounds like something that I would like to do, then
probably. And, like you said, if more people were going then Id get that feeling that a lot of
people were going and Id be more interested that way.

M: Um and then this is kind of like our concluding question, but this can kind of go in a lot of
different directions. Um, now that you know more about the Womens Resource Center, in your
honest opinion, and Id like to know as many people as possible, would you be more inclined to
volunteer with this organization, or go to the events that they have if we are able to boost their
advertising on campus or join with another organizations?

M2: Um, I think if you could join with another organization, I think thats the best way to get
through to other people and about it.

F? Yeah I agree.

M5: Definitely.

M4: Absolutely.

M: Okay.

M1: I think with like better, um, I dont know. Ive literally never heard of it until just now. So,
um I think maybe better advertising, things like that. Cuz I think like or or team up with
something people automatically go to. I think thats probably the most effective way to get things
across. I think like be there at midnight meals, or college coffee, or like stuff like that. Things
that people are going to go to. Just being there and talking about it. Getting the word out so
people hear about it.

F?: Especially like two things like Pandoras pies or like fat frogs. Two things that students go to
every day. Like that.

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F1: Anything on campus, would be more beneficial. Even if its like teaming up and having
something wouldnt be as beneficial as like putting it right on campus where its in peoples
faces because truly until it is at that point, people will walk away, because thats just human
nature.

R2: But even to the point if they came and did a classroom visit, how would you feel about that?
Would you just be like oh its just another speaker or would you be like ok now I know more
about it. Or would you want a different way for them to communicate like midnight meals or if
they came in and spoke at some conference or if they came and interacted, what would you guys
say? Like how would you feel? What would, what would be the best way for them to come in?

Teal: I think it would be the manner in which they communicated and its also how they
approached the communication of their organization because if theyre going to lecture you,
theyre going to lose at least half of the class. If they said like alright well heres a powerpoint
and were going to go through it point by point. But if it was I guess more interactive and a
peoples pride and appealing to peoples need to feel wanted and that sort of thing I think it
would be very beneficial. Like even if you like a take home pen or something. Like some
physical you could literally put in someones hands and say call us or email us or you know
that would help. That sort of thing would be good.

M5: I was going to say something like you said like a college coffee type of thing would be good.
Because every time a speaker comes to class I dont really listen to a thing they say and I just
really dont care. Not to be rude I just really dont care about what they say and then they pass
around a sign up sheet and I just dont even look at it, so. And I mean Im not, they dont teach
you anything about your class. Im not listening to anything you say, Im just trying to get ready
for my class.

M1: Um I also think an effective way of communication is the most key, um, having worked
with a company each summer where I kind of had to build it from the ground up and get people
interested in the job before I could even, before I could even pick for the job. Um, its the way
communicating with them and asking them questions in order to get them to relate before even
telling them what the thing is. You know, like, whatever, hi how many of you have ever blank
and people raise their hand. Getting them invested immediately, just however big or however
small, getting them invested emotionally in what you are doing and having someone passionate
tell them about the project is, I think, the best way to get people interested.

Red: Um, I think like a really good thing human service majors do, um, is have a partnership. I
know with some classes, this also sounds pretty horrible, but a lot of the times when its
mandatory for the class of course the students are going to pay attention. If a teacher says oh
this is on the test they will be more inclined likely to pay attention. So if theres like some kind
of initiative to set up like with this organization in the class, where like they would have to go
39
and volunteer or like they would have to, I dont know, bait them in some way and that was like
a part of their class, I think that would definitely expose their name as an organization on Elons
campus and also increase the amount of volunteers.

F3: Um, I was going to say in addition to or even instead of going to actual classes, is going to
meetings for certain organizations because its more likely that the people there want to be there
versus a class where the people are just kind of sleeping through it. So if they went to an
organizations meeting people probably want to be there and they can kind of target their
presentation to that type of, um, interest.

R1: Something that, um, I found surprising, this organization has been around since 1991 and
they only employ three full time employees, um, and theyre each in charge on one specific area,
um, I thought that was pretty surprising just because its been around for 21 years. Um, do you
guys think that there might be a reason for that? Or if you think that they should grow, how do
you recommend they expand and in what ways?

M2: I think, I mean they havent had any growth, so I mean from what you just said like its been
21 years and they havent done anything. Obviously they need someone on campus, someone
affiliated with Elon, at least. And I mean, divvying up their areas is fine, but 3 or 4 cant mange
an entire business, even if its a non-profit. So, the gotta expand a little bit before it catches on
with something as big as Elon because you cant just break into this market, I dont know,
whatever were called, but they need more people.

F1: Can you just reiterate what the Womens Group does?

M: Yeah. So, they help women in their families, like through different things, like job training
and so for example, Ill just do an example, if a woman female had three kids and got divorced,
and her husband was the financial, like keeper or, like breadwinner of the household, the woman
is trying to find an apartment, she doesnt know where to go, she doesnt know what to do. The
organization helps her find somewhere to live, would help her pay her rent if she couldnt do it
for the first time, would help her to get back into the job market through training and through,
you know, different kinds of jobs that are available. Um, the have a big community network.
They have working women Wednesdays where they have, like Elon professors and people like
that. They just bring in and build a community network of people who are women professionals.
Um, they have people people who are like professionalis within the community who come and
talk to them about differnet options and like outside the box thinking of womens careers. Um,
and then they do counciling for, you know, just emotional, like counciling for children and adults
and they do workshops as well.

R1: They have workshops as well.

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M1: So what can students do?

M: Um, so strudents, theyve had interns like, they have one intern now and she really helps with
grant writing, which is their biggest thing. But they do have volunteers that come and when
someone calls to get services from them, they have like a two minute introduction phone call and
basically its like, what do you need, what do you want. And they help answer the phones and
questions and things like that, um, you guys can jump in too. Um, they help with different
paperwork and other stuff that needs to get done but the biggest part is like volunteering and they
need help with their herb festival thats coming up because they have like corporate sponsors and
interactions with that. And they have a Facebook, thats not really well used but they try and use
it.

R1: They have like 200 something likes on Facebook but they say that they serve like over 400
women every year, and odds are that the majority of those women probably have a Facebook and
maybe even those people who are volunteering, they rely so heavily on volunteers and you
would feel that those volunteers, even though some of them are older, they, a lot of people have
Facebook nowadays. And so, we were also going to ask, how do you think they could grow their
Facebook population. Whether its a lot of events that they have to create. We were thinking it
could be uploading a cover photo for the event or make a video promotion rather than sending
out their bi-annual newsletter. Like, do you think that youd be more inclined to read a newsletter
that gets sent out twice a year? Or would you be more likely to show a YouTube video that
shows images of the herb festival and have people talking about their experiences.

M1: I mean I think, I think with something like that, after hearing about that, if you just, there are
plenty of people I know at Elon who have single moms, like who were raised by singles mothers
who could relate to something like this and like be willing to spread the word about an
organization like this to be beneficial towards this organization. If all it takes is getting people to
understand why its important. Like after, like now that I know, I, clearly would more than happy
to share that YouTube link or change my cover photo. I think the difficulty is getting people to
understand the importance.

R2: I think its a good idea that you guys were saying that we need someone from the
organization whos passionate about it to come in and tell people about what they do, who they
are things like that. Um, and I think its a better idea not to come to the classrooms, to go to a
college coffee type event, but how many of us actually go to college coffee?

F1: Oh hell yeah!

R2: Yeah but I go, I go and get a donut and I peace, like, you know?

M1: Yeah.
41

F1: Thats true.

R2: Like do any of us really listen to the speaker thats there?

M1: yeah but thats so boring. Its like why. Theres nothing going on. Its like someone, if there
was like a booth, right at the front with like someone talking, or like,

F1: There is though.

M1: Well then there just like, I never notice them. Like if they make themselves noticeable.
F1: Well dont yell at me.

R1: So if there were an event where someone would come and speak do you find that like,
writing on the whiteboards in every classroom and see that, do you look at that and be like oh
that looks really interesting I want to go to that or is it something that catches you off guard like
a Moseley table, oh wait maybe Ill stop and listen, they have cupcakes, I want to get a cupcake.
Like you need an incentive to go to it or would you go on your own?

F1: I actually, no, I think that if its writing on the chalkboard if its one, chalkboard, whiteboard,
oh my God, if its something like this, for the one real classroom Im in, I read it every single
time Im in there because Im by myself. Mosesley tables I walk by all of them unless its for my
sorority thats the only way I would stop. So, um, so I I I think this is effective. In terms of
college coffee, I really dont know, um, how you would get peoples attention because we are all
like that. We are all like get your coffee and then peace. The only. The only way I, is like when
someone is already talking when coffee starts like out of politeness you do stop and listen and
whether or not the subject grabs your attention and whether or not you stay to listen.

Teal: I think something else that would be really effective would be to get the people that have
benefited from the program to mingle with the people at college coffee and to share their stories
because I think that is going to be, you see the impact that the organization had on their lives and
you have the representative right there and you can grab a pamphlet or whatever it is, I think that
would be really effective.

M: And do you guys think like, the like, the organization fairs at the beginning of the year, you
know first and second semester, there was one in Moseley that just happened, but do you guys
think the one outside in the Fall that like a lot of people go to and theres like E-Volunteers and
stuff like that and they sometimes have representatives from like coppertop and that kind of thing.
Do you think that would be a beneficial location for people? Like do you, are you more inclined
to stop and listen to people at those kinds of things and sign up for lists there than you are just
through college coffee?
42

M1: Probably. I mean Ill be honest, with me its all about the free shit. For me, thats the reason
Ill go to a table. Honestly, its if they have something that I can get. Well I mean its not like I
dont give a, you know. It gives me incentive to go and then I like listen and can relate.
Otherwise Id be like, why would I?

F1: Convenience is also a big issue. The more convenience, the more willing people are.

F3: I feel like its also the org fair, especially this fall one, its mostly freshmen. And I feel like
they are the ones who are gung-ho to join things and get involved and meet people, so I feel like,
I think for something like that would be good especially if a freshman if they go and like the
organization then you have someone who will go and will help you out with that in the next four
years.

R3: What if they offered like a Working Womens Wednesday for Elon and for the women of
Elon, would you go? Like a networking event for, or like giving professional advice to female
students at Elon. Like would you consider that at all?

F3: I think it like depends. Like I dont go to the career fairs because Im an english major and I
dont feel like any of the jobs that come to the job fairs are in my line of what I could do with my
major. So if it was something that I feel I could relate to or would be beneficial to me then Id go.

R3: Yeah maybe just focus on advice. Not networking necessarily, but just focusing on how to
get a job and like how to think creatively outside the box

F1: I would go if my friends were going. Such a follower.


M: And just because weve mentioned a lot of like free giveaways and stuff what are you ideas
that you guys would be really excited about. Like obviously were talking smaller scale just
because they are a non-profit organization but what are some things that are cool and catch your
eye and are different that youve seen recently that youd be intrigued to go up to a table at.

F4: I like sunglasses

M: Yes.

G: Like with the cool sides

M4: And its sunny out

M3: Yes.
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M5: What Ian was saying what that he just got this cool little USB that had a bottle opener on it
so I would definitely go after that.

F1: How does that work?

M5: Its a USB, but it has a bottle opener on it. Yeah on my keychain or something.

M: Yeah go back to the little free things or like raffles.

F3: Stickers. Or you could make it spicy with like an ipad. Probably not, but like a basket of
candy.

M6: Ill tell the truth. I dont really care whats handed out to me. Honestly if someones like
assertive enough and hands me this and says hey take this free product. Then Im just like sure,
absolutely Ill take the object because it benefits me somehow whether it be sunglasses or pen or
somehow. And normally their logo is printed on the fricken object and so, usually it has their
website for more information, so I think anything free in general is like, you know, effective.

F4: I think also, a lot of the local businesses hand out their cups with like their logo and phone
number on it and like a pen you might lose that but a cup youre more likely to use on a more
regular basis, you see it all the time.

M2: Golf tees

M: Golf tees?

M2: Like collecting like different golf tees I think is pretty cool.

M4: It would be interesting if you could get them to put their brand on like solo cups and sell
them by the stacks before the weekend.

M1: And then youd have a lot of pictures posted on Facebook. And then tag it (laughter).

R1: I don't know if any of you know, but lunch buddies is a program that Elon sponsors and is
programed with um, and its where students can go volunteer at a local elementary school and
just sit with young children at lunch, and just talk to them. Do you think it would be worth Elon
and the Womens Resource Centers time and effort to try to form a partnership, like a formal
partnership where people can go to the volunteer center and say I want to somehow help the
WFRC and what can I do. And that way every time the Womens Resource Center would have
an event it would be promoted all throughout Elon, do you think it would be worth it and the
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students would respond positively or do you think that before that happens it really needs, like
you need to do more research on if it would even be successful, if students would be interested?

F1: To be a lunch buddy?

R1: No like to be a partnered program through Elon. Because right now we have some faculty
and staff that work there or volunteer there. To bring the Womens Resrouce Center in as an
official EV Volunteer program that is like sponsored by Elon, so students can go to the volunteer
center and say how can I help? And they can say well we have the Womens Resource Center
and heres what you can do. Do you think students would take advantage of that or not really be
interested?

M: And they also do the thing where they take the vans and fill the bus and they you know, go to
KopperTop for the day and they, like, you know, volunteer days and they join up with Elon and
Elon takes like one of their buses and like takes people over there. Is that more of an incentive,
like if Elons joining forces with them?

F2: I mean I think it would be beneficial, but I think they also need to have more consistent
volunteering jobs for people to actually do. Because it sounds like, or at least this is my
impression, it sounds like they need help with their big events and they maybe need a little bit
more help, maybe one or two people for grant writing, maybe three people for grant writing, I
don't know what goes into grant writing. But um, or answering the phone, but like it sounds like
if you had a big, if you filled up a bus of people I feel like youd have four people standing
around saying well this is not very beneficial, beneficial use of my time. Um and they probably
wouldn't come back. So they would need consistent work every week this needs to get done sort
of thing.

F3: I think also, on busy times, like getting off campus is a pretty big move so if there was any
way that you could do anything something for them remotely or they could come here or like
something that didn't involve going off campus if that were possible if you could.

M: Would that be something, of like your interest if your, you know, to help them with like their
Facebook posts and stuff like that and you could do that from wherever you wanted and they
provided you the information or you were creating cover photos for them, and that would be
considered an internship um, not a paid internship but you kind of get to choose your hours but
you just have to understand that this is something that youre going to do, would that be
something because a lot of Elon students, I mean we all know how to use Facebook pretty well,
effectively, and the cover photos. Um, would that be something that you d be interested in
because you guys know how to do it already and its something that you could do from here
without having to go to the organization.

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F3: Yeah, but I feel like its best when you can do things on your own time. Especially for a
small.

M4: Yeah, it sounds like they need help with their social media polls. I dont see why you
wouldnt want students involved in that, because were the most capable of that.

F1: Actually, Im so so-, actually I kind of have a little bit of a different opinion, only because
that church, that I was saying we were involved in, like every Wednesday night at 7, I know
thats where I have to be. And, and its only an hour long like we sing for an hour with people
that have all these like life stories and invite us over to their houses for dinner and like its very,
it is a community in it of itself and theres like seven music theater majors, and we, we all go.
And like, as silly as that sounds its like I often times have more fun in that hour than I do on a
Friday night at a frat party or at the bar, simply because it is, it is, it is, real life. Its a chance to
get outside of the Elon bubble. Its a chance to remind yourself, like why are you are here. Why
you are doing this. It, it kind of rejuvenates you, so Id actually say if they, if they really wanted
volunteers, really wanted people to help out, you have to find people, again it keeps coming back
to this, that are passionate about it and that's what you like to do. And then you say, you know I
dedicate two hours of my week and Sunday morning to this service. And then its done. As long
as I think, its an interactive thing, and its constantly evolving and even if its a small group of
people, who are highly interested in what is going on and the purpose of their surveying. I think
youd get more out of that than a Facebook group. Because you can advertise all you want, but
no ones gunna go if nobody wants to, so, thats all.

M: Um, and so with that being said, if they had a consistent thing like every Wednesdaythey
have the Womens Working Wednesday... but if they had a thing where people could interact
with the people who are benefiting from the organization on Thursday with like coffee night or
something and like, you could go, and just like mingle around with the people who are there and
volunteering and just like talking with them because that was one thing, that a lot of us like as
women at Elon have future plans, and goals, and career choices that we want to do and those are
some of the careers that they consider like outside the box of people within Alamance County of
people dont necessarily see those careers. So would you find it, like nice, and refreshing to be
able to like, not mentor, but like go and talk and have that personal interaction with someone and
be able to be like, these are my future career goals like you can do it to kind of thing, um and
would you feel like that was beneficial, like you kind of have like lunch buddy but its more of
like a coffee buddy do you find that you would do something like that if it was like one hour a
week, um and it was a consistent thing?

F2: I would.

M: Yeah, I probably would too.

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R3: What about the guys?

M: Like if there were guys are the organization would you be interested in like going and being a
mentor with a guy?

M5: It would be better hearing from a guy, yeah.

M4: Its more relatable.

R2: Um, I guess we can just do a little recap so were not like putting words in your mouth. Um,
so you think itd be better if people got information first, as opposed to going gung-ho and you
know, like, volunteer for this, volunteer for this instead of, and having nobody know what it is.
And you also think that it would be better if the organization was more interactive with Elon
because thats the best way, correct?

M4: Absolutely.

R2: And if think there was a consistent like, do this every Wednesday or do this every Tuesday
thing, that would be better than just come volunteer whenever you want.

M4: Yes, because then it puts faces to that organization. Because you meet a person whos
actually impacted by that and youre going to know who they are, you know? So that, gets you
that much more of an incentive to be like, I wanna help people out like Ruth.

M1: It creates, it creates a, giving a time creates a liability

R2: And is giving a time a more motivational factor as opposed to like I guess I could go now.
Like if you know youre going Wednesday at one oclock, youre more inclined to go
Wednesday at one oclock?

All: Yes.

M6: Also, I just think its more of like a commitment factor

M: And just like, touching base like having them come and be representing their organization at
college coffee or different things like handing out the flyers like you were saying, and giving out
some pens or something like that and that just kind of gets the word out there instead of like a
Facebook event and also teaming up with a sorority or a fraternity or organizations could be
more inclined to help out

F1: Definitely sorority or fraternities

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M: And if you had a connection with the organization and hearing personal testimonies of how
they impacted lives and helped them or mens lives would that be an incentive to join because
you have those personal connections.

M6: Yeah definitely the personal connections

F4: Yeah.

M: Ok, well thank you guys so much for coming. I really appreciate it

All clap.

RAll: Thanks guys.