National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Communications Plan
Situation Analysis
The NAACP represents, advocates for, and fights injustices against people of color, particularly African Americans. According to a report on the NAACP website, Our history (2022), the organization uses activism to drive successful campaigns that ensure African Americans’ rights are respected. For example, after a long period of struggle with labor unions representing white people, the NAACP achieved economic justice for African Americans in 1930 (Robnett, 2020). Observing the organization’s activism actions reveals that it uses social media to run various campaigns and plan for protests if the relevant authorities fail to address their demands. Internal stakeholders of the NAACP include legal professionals who advise on the legal implications of the organization’s activities, as well as activists who educate and plan social campaigns. Internal stakeholders are trained professionals with a positive attitude toward social justice, equality, and African American rights. The NAACP’s external stakeholders include the general public and the organization’s financiers. Every member of the public who is passionate about advocating for the rights of people of color is considered an external stakeholder of the NAACP.
The external evaluation of the company shows that its focus is creating cultural awareness across its areas of operations (Godfrey, 2016). The organization’s primary goal is to ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to opportunities and resources. The NAACP’s legal arm, the Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., capitalizes on racial injustices in the country. The public and financiers, the NAACP’s external stakeholders, help the organization achieve its goals and objectives. Members of the public, for example, have taken part in the organization’s successful campaigns, such as the fight against police brutality.
Problem Statement
According to Rosenhall (2020), the NAACP is experiencing leadership conflicts, which have resulted in the resignation of the majority of the organization’s presidents in recent years. The success of the NAACP’s activism and advocacy activities is heavily influenced by the organization’s leadership. As a result, once the leadership conflicts are resolved, the NAACP is poised to achieve greater success in the fight for African Americans’ rights and privileges. Members of the NAACP must create an effective organizational structure that clearly defines the duties of each position, including leadership roles. Furthermore, an effective communication channel is required to ensure consistent and smooth communication among leaders, thus improving mutual understanding.
Goals
The NAACP seeks to eliminate leadership conflicts within the organization to achieve its goals and objectives more easily.
The NAACP seeks to establish proper communication strategies/channels that will improve mutual understanding among the organization’s leaders.
Objectives
Goal – Eliminating leadership conflicts
Design and implement five leadership-coaching initiatives in the next year.
Increase the understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each position in the organization by 50% in the next six months from the staff self-evaluation templates.
Goal – Communication strategies
Enhance communication and presentation strategies among leaders that will result in a 40% reduction in questions and inquiries during presentations.
Increase leadership collaboration through six leadership meetings in the next six months.
Increase E-mails and direct messages response rate in the organization from the current 80% to 95% within the next six months.
Target Publics and Interviews
The Organization’s Leaders
The primary publics in this campaign are the organization’s leaders, including the chairperson, CEO, and department heads. The primary publics are the campaign’s ultimate targets and the ones who will be most affected by the campaign. This campaign aims to provide these audiences with a relevant leadership approach as well as a thorough understanding of their roles and responsibilities to reduce the rampant leadership conflicts that sabotage the organization’s goals and objectives.
The Organization’s Staff
Employees within the organization are also important internal publics in this campaign. The campaign’s goal is to ensure that all positions in the organization have a thorough understanding of their roles and responsibilities. As a result, the campaign will have an impact on every member of the organization’s staff.
Members of the Public (African Americans).
The organization’s services are primarily aimed at African Americans. They also make up a sizable portion of the NAACP’s financiers, as the organization receives some of its funding from the general public in the form of donations. As a result, the rampant leadership conflicts within the NAACP have an impact on their ability to achieve the set goals and objectives. Consequently, members of the African American community are critical external audiences for this campaign. Their perspectives on leadership and communication issues within the NAACP will be useful and influential in the development of key messages, tactics, and strategies for the campaign.
In-depth interviews will be conducted with one representative from each of the three public groups. As a result, interviews will be conducted with one leader, one member of staff, and one member of the general public. According to Gill and Baillie (2018), the interview method is essential in qualitative research because it allows for the collection of respondents’ views, opinions, beliefs, and experiences. The interviewees for this campaign will be contacted via their email addresses to schedule the interview questions. The interviews will be structured, and the following questions will be asked.
Interview Protocol
The focus of the NAACP is to advocate and fight for the rights of people of color. In an attempt to improve the efficiency of the organization in accomplishing this responsibility, this interview seeks to collect your experiences and views about the communication and leadership aspects of the organization. In this interview, you should expect questions regarding your general demographic data and your views and experiences regarding communication and leadership within NAACP. Your participation is highly appreciated.
Interview Questions
What is your age, occupation, and in what capacity do you serve NAACP?
What is your opinion regarding the recent resignations of NAACP’s presidents?
Are leadership conflicts significant forces preventing NAACP from achieving its goals and objectives?
How well do you understand your roles and responsibilities within NAACP?
Which is your ideal organizational structure and why do you think it should be implemented at NAACP?
Which approach should be adopted to ensure that every individual within NAACP understands their roles and responsibilities?
How do you rate the current state of both vertical and horizontal communication at NAACP?
What are some of the major challenges facing the current communication structure at NAACP?
How does communication influence NAACP’s activities?
What communication strategies should be adopted to improve the quality of communication within the NAACP?
