East Bay Coalition for the Homeless - Roger Williams University

Executive Summary
The East Bay Coalition for the Homeless is a program of the East Bay Community
Action Program that provides housing and support services to homeless families. While
the EBCH provides valuable services to the community, its work is not well known or
recognized. Thus, while the need for assistance for the homeless has increased,
donations have not kept pace.
The EBCH requested assistance from Roger Williams University through the
Community Partnerships Center. The EBCH requested support in the form of a
branding study and a marketing strategy to attract new donors and to increase funding.
The project was undertaken by three classes: Marketing Research in the fall of 2012 and a Special Topics Marketing
class and a Web Development Center class in the spring of 2013. These last two classes began their work individually
and then formed cross-disciplinary groups to complete the work.
Although the EBCH does have a website and is using social media, neither avenue is being used to its fullest potential.
What follows are suggestions to enhance these efforts to help achieve the dual goals of increased awareness and
increased funding. More specifically, the report details plans for communicating the EBCH’s story via specific marketing
objectives, strategies and tactics which include a new logo and tag line and a new website.
The report suggests strategies that can be incorporated into the current work flow and builds upon the current work
of the EBCH. The report also presents ways in which to create a more efficient platform for completing marketing
tasks, creating opportunities for awareness and knowledge of the EBCH, and increasing consideration of the EBCH
as a potential donation focus.
The EBCH is viewed as a hard-working small organization. Instead, it needs to be viewed as a small organization
making an important impact on individual families and on the East Bay Community. Accordingly, we suggest repositioning
the organization to highlight the ways in which it is different from other Rhode Island organizations that
address homelessness so that it will occupy a unique place in people’s minds.
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