Research brings knowledge and devotion to organization

When Debra Krittenbrink, the executive director of Bridges (then ILSY), first came to speak to our class in January, I would venture to say 98 percent (if not more) of us had not heard of this organization, or any other organization like it. Being completely unaware and ignorant about the functions and goals of this organization meant I had a great deal to learn! So, to get started, just as the PR ‘RACE’ model suggests, I began with research.

My group, High 5 Public Relations, began with primary research by interviewing Debra. From this initial interview, we gained a lot of background knowledge about the organization. It began in 1996 with a high school counselor giving homeless students school supplies from the trunk of her car. Since then, it has made substantial positive growth. In 2004, it became a United Way agency which led to greater credibility and funds. Then, in 2005 the Norman Rotary Clubs joined with the Norman Housing Authority to raise $100,000 to build a new facility for the organization. As part of our secondary research, we conducted a media audit, and we found that this large monetary donation brought a lot of media attention to Bridges, with the majority of stories appearing in The Norman Transcript. We also learned from our initial interview that Bridges now serves almost 200 students annually.

After we gathered this background information, we conducted surveys and a focus group. The surveys gave us quantitative information about how many people were aware of Bridges. (Only about 16 percent of those polled had heard of the organization in February). The focus group provided us with qualitative information about what the public though of the current name (ILSY) and what could be done to improve this name. Some of the most unanimous things discovered in the focus group was that the word ‘youth’ should be replaced with ‘students’ and that the title of the organization should be an actual word. High 5 PR used this valuable information to successfully conduct our campaign.

I have come a very long way from not knowing anything whatsoever about organizations that assist homeless students in January. After learning everything that Bridges offers and seeing the success stories in its students, I not only did my assigned work because I had to for class, I truly have a heart for this organization now. I would definitely be interested in volunteering at a place like this in the future.