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Goodwill Industries International

State The Problem/Challenge

Goodwill Industries International’s existing online publishing efforts did little to engage web

visitors about Goodwill’s mission, and overlooked golden opportunities to correct general

misconceptions about the mission by not methodically demonstrating how shopping and

donating support community programs and services.

Issues To Be Addressed

Goodwill Industries International (GII) enhances the dignity and quality of life of individuals,

families and communities by eliminating barriers to opportunity and helping people in need

reach their fullest potential through the power of work. In 2009, Goodwill’s network of 165

independent, community-based agencies in the U.S. and Canada helped 1.9 million people train

for careers — including individuals who have disabilities, lack education or job training, or face

employment challenges.

The most common misperception of Goodwill’s mission is that the organization exists in order to

operate its retail stores. In a 2004 public opinion survey, International Communications Research

discovered that while more than 90 percent of respondents had heard of Goodwill Industries and

53 percent reported donating in the past year, only 26 percent could correctly identify Goodwill’s

mission as training people for jobs. Contributing to the public’s lack of mission awareness was

a web site that did not express GII’s mission in a dynamic way. Individuals coming to the site for

shopping and donation information could access these sections of the site without encountering

information about Goodwill programs and services, making commonly accessed parts of the site

missed opportunities for boosting mission awareness.

The site also declined to capitalize on the multitude of mission-centered success stories of

individuals who overcame employment challenges and found jobs with support from Goodwill.

The few stories featured on the site were third-person journalistic profiles housed in the

newsroom section of the site – an area infrequently visited by site visitors. By not collecting and

disseminating these stories in a prominent way, GII inadvertently silenced those best able to tell

Goodwill’s story and missed a chance to connect with site visitors on a personal level.

Finally, static, one-directional content did little to correct the public’s misconception of

Goodwill’s mission, giving visitors little reason to return to the site beyond their initial visit and

little opportunity to gain exposure to Goodwill programs and services. The dearth of internally-

produced, frequently updated content also proved to be an obstacle in engaging GII’s social

media fans and followers with Goodwill’s mission.

Define The Target Audience

Goodwill Industries International considered the needs of three primary audiences when

developing its mission-focused online publishing platform:

• Goodwill shoppers and donors: A significant number of GII’s more than 16,000 daily site

visitors come to www.goodwill.org looking for shopping and donating information. Recent

analytics show that every 10 seconds, an individual visits the GII web site to locate a Goodwill

retail store or attended donation center. Educating this influx of shoppers and donors already

coming to the site about Goodwill’s mission was consequently a top consideration when

planning new online publishing efforts.

• Potential and existing Goodwill program participants, volunteers and staff: Those individuals

who have improved their lives through involvement with Goodwill can best demonstrate to

others how the agency’s mission is carried out in local communities. Engaging this audience to

participate in a solution highlighting their successes was a key priority.

• Goodwill social media supporters. Social media fans and followers are the primary sources of

online conversations about Goodwill. Engaging this audience on a personal level was crucial in

helping a broader public connect with and support Goodwill’s mission.

Goals & Objectives

After considering the challenge and target audiences, Goodwill Industries International decided

to launch a mission-focused, first-person success-story blog that would meet the following goals

and objectives. First, GII aimed to build mission awareness among Goodwill shoppers and

donors who visit the site through a blog that would:

• Instill a strong mission presence on the GII web site

• Spotlight the services Goodwill provides to people facing various employment challenges and

representing a diversity of demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds

• Demonstrate the geographic reach of Goodwill programs and services

• Solicit feedback (though comments and contact us e-mails) demonstrating enhanced mission

awareness Second, GII sought to forge an ongoing connection between site visitors and

Goodwill program participants, volunteers and staff in order to increase public interest in

Goodwill’s mission over time. Specific blog objectives included:

• Facilitate a regular stream of incoming success stories and associated media (i.e. photographs

and audio files) from Goodwill program participants, volunteers and staff

• Provide a venue for site visitors to interact with and respond to success story contributors and

GII

• Grow blog readership over time as measured by unique page visits

Finally, the blog should extend the reach of Goodwill’s mission-focused content across multiple

online publishing platforms and social media networks. Top priorities included:

• Integrate blog content into new and existing Goodwill-driven sites, including a new mobile site

• Engage GII’s social media followers by cross-posting blog content on prominent social

networks

• Offer site visitors easy opportunities to share and subscribe to blog content

• Engage GII’s network of 165 community-based organizations to cross-post content on their

sites and social networks and in newsletters.

The Plan

Goodwill Industries International launched the “My Story” blog and podcast in late 2009 in

conjunction with an overall site redesign. Published on a weekly basis, the mission-focused blog

features the first-person stories of Goodwill program participants, volunteers and staff who have

improved their lives through their involvement with Goodwill. The GII online media team

works with Goodwill member agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada to identify potential blog

contributors and coordinate submissions. Contributors must be able and willing to articulate their

challenges before coming to Goodwill and explain how Goodwill programs and services have

empowered them to better their lives. Contributors record their stories as voice mail messages

on GII’s Cisco Unity Unified Messaging platform; these stories are then transcribed into an

approximately 250-word blog post for use on the site. Photographs of the contributor are also

required, and receive prominent placement on the GII home page and individual blog post.

The written blog post is accompanied by a podcast recording of the contributor telling his or her

story. The audio account, which can be played on an in-page viewer or downloaded for free

through the iTunes store, ensures blog accessibility for individuals with visual impairments or

who face literacy challenges. New content appears on the site each Monday, and is promoted on

GII social media networks and external sites. It is also distributed by e-mail internally at GII, in

order to reinforce a staff culture that is “people-first” and with an emphasis on mission.

The Deployment

Goodwill Industries International began outlining plans for a mission-focused blog in spring

2009, in conjunction with an overall redesign of its public site, http://www.goodwill.org. In June

2009, GII hired a new communications specialist with experience in nonprofit blog development

and oversight to manage its blog.

The GII online media team refined blog elements through early October 2009. The team selected

“My Story” as the blog name for its simplicity and descriptiveness. Submissions procedures

supporting documentation for blog contributors were also developed during this time.

On November 2, 2009, GII officially launched the “My Story” blog as an integral element of the

redesigned web site. Janie Marsh, GII’s 2009 Kenneth Shaw Graduate of the Year, was selected

as the first program participant to tell her story on the blog, honoring her achievements in

overcoming substance abuse and a history of incarceration.

Google Analytics was employed on the blog from the beginning to track blog readership and

information about individuals reading the blog. GII extended the reach of Goodwill’s mission in

January 2010 by making the “My Story” podcast available for download through the iTunes

store. Each week’s podcast is now automatically added to the store and distributed through

iTunes to podcast subscribers. In June 2010, GII featured the first video contribution shot

expressly for use on the “My Story” blog. Though technological capacity currently limits the

agency’s ability to integrate videos into every post, it is now poised to take advantage of future

opportunities that help put a face on Goodwill’s mission.

Challenges And Obstacles

Goodwill Industries International anticipated that collecting written accounts to use in the blog

would prove challenging due to the varying abilities of Goodwill program participants. Without

support from local Goodwill staff, many contributors would experience difficulties composing a

written narrative. Given that many contributors now hold full-time jobs, coordinating this time to

work with Goodwill staff on their stories could be an obstacle.

Recording the contributors telling their story was a desirable alternative, but the differing

technological equipment and know-how at Goodwill member agencies needed to be overcome.

Not all agencies could be counted upon to have digital recorders or computer microphones.

Using GII’s Cisco Unity Unified Messaging voicemail platform as outlined above obviated the

need for external equipment and provided an easy solution for recording program participants

telling their stories. Contributors can record stories of up to five minutes in length through the

platform. Finally, since many Goodwill program participants have disabilities, insisting that

contributors tell their own stories would preclude certain individuals from participating.

Individuals who are not capable of articulating their own stories may thus elect to have a family

member or Goodwill representative share their story on their behalf.

Results

In the ten months since the launch of the “My Story” blog and podcast, GII has been successful

in increasing mission awareness among Goodwill shoppers and donors, forging an ongoing

connection between site visitors and Goodwill blog contributors, and extending the reach of

Goodwill mission-focused content across multiple online publishing platforms. In August, the

blog was recognized with a 2010 APEX Award of Excellence in the “Microsite and Individual

Pages” category for communications effectiveness and excellence. **Building Mission

Awareness** The blog establishes a prominent and permanent mission presence throughout the

GII web site. In addition to appearing in the individual weekly blog post, “My Story” content is

published in the following online venues:

• Contributors are featured prominently on the GII home page, engaging site visitors in

Goodwill’s mission from the moment they first visit the home page.

• A link to the “My Story” blog appears as a permanent fixture in the right sidebar throughout the

site, accompanied by a custom icon and text reading “Read how we’re changing lives through

the power of work!”

• Select contributors are highlighted on “Goodwill for You” pages that detail the programs and

services Goodwill provides to a variety of groups.

• “My Story” content is fully integrated into Goodwill’s expanding online publishing efforts,

including the Donate Movement microsite (http://donate.goodwill.org), the Donation Impact

Calculator (http://donate.goodwill.org/support/calculate-your-impact/ ) and the GII mobile site,

scheduled for launch in September 2010. GII has successfully used the blog to spotlight a wide

variety of job training, employment placement and other support services provided by Goodwill

agencies. The 44 individuals who have contributed to the “My Story” blog to date have benefited

from Goodwill programs supporting people with disabilities, people with criminal backgrounds,

veterans, immigrants, seniors and youth – just to name a few. Blog contributors have also

highlighted the geographic reach of Goodwill programs and services, representing 35 Goodwill

agencies across 25 states. GII is actively recruiting contributors from new states and Goodwill

agencies with a goal of using site visitors’ geographical location to display a contributor who

benefited from services in their area. In conjunction with the launch of its Spanish web site in

October 2010, GII plans to feature its first success story offered in both English and Spanish.

From the comments GII has received on “My Story” blog posts [Appendix A], it is clear that this

increased focus on promoting GII’s mission services has been successful in educating site

visitors about how their Goodwill donations impact their local communities.

**Forging Connections between Site Visitors and Blog Contributors** GII staff members work

with local Goodwill agencies to facilitate a regular stream of incoming blog submissions and

associated media, providing a medium for site visitors to interact with blog contributors. Since its

inception, the blog has featured a new contributor each week and regularly operates with a

minimum of 2-3 contributors waiting in the queue to be featured. Enabling the commenting

feature on the blog has allowed site visitors to interact with both blog contributors and GII. Site

visitors leave an average of three comments on each “My Story” post, and have left as many as

11 comments in response to a single blog post. The majority of comments express empathy and

support for the contributor, while other contain questions about the contributor’s experience or

about similar GII programs and services in other locations. On occasion, the blog contributor will

come back to the comments section of his or her post to respond to feedback from site visitors.

[Appendix B] Readership of the blog has risen steadily since its launch: at a rate of 7.6 percent

each month — it is more than double the growth rate of the overall site (3.7 percent) during the

same time period. More than 34,227 unique visitors have accessed the “My Story” blog during

the past ten months, logging 47,874 unique page views. The most-viewed page continues to be

our archives page (http://www.goodwill.org/my-story), linked at the bottom of every post with a

“Hear more stories from people like (contributor name)” prompt.

**Extending Content across Multiple Online Publishing Platforms** GII has excelled in

extending the reach of mission-focused blog content across multiple online publishing platforms.

These platforms include the online Goodwill-driven sites detailed above, as well as GII social

media networks and external sites. The personal nature of the blog and the rich media that

accompany it make it prime material for engaging GII social media fans and followers. Every

Monday, blog content is posted on GII’s Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and (when accompanied by

video) YouTube pages. “My Story” posts regularly receive more than 11,000 impressions on

Facebook, and contribute to Mondays being GII’s highest interaction day on the site. [Appendix

C] GII encourages site visitors to share its mission-focused blog posts with their social networks

through social media sharing buttons embedded in each post. Visitors have the option to “like”

the post on Facebook, tweet the link on Twitter, or use the Add to Any button to share,

bookmark or e-mail the content. Since its inception, blog content has been shared and “liked” on

Facebook more than 400 times. GII President and CEO Jim Gibbons furthers the reach of “My

Story” blog posts each week by using them as inspiration for his weekly Huffington Post blogs,

available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-gibbons/. Lastly, agencies across the Goodwill

movement frequently cross-post content on their sites, in newsletters and on social networks. In

addition to filling a content need for local agencies, these acts of sharing extend stories of

Goodwill’s mission to a broader audience. [Appendix D]

The Team

The four members of GII’s online media team coordinate with the organization’s graphic artist to

produce the blog each week: GII Senior Director of Online Media Arlene McCrehan oversees

the “My Story” blog and podcast, ensuring content aligns with GII priorities and objectives

before publication on the site. GII Communications Specialist Jenni Baker manages the blog

and podcast content production process. She solicits success story submissions, including audio

recordings, photos and release forms. She is responsible for editing the submissions for length

and content, while maintaining the contributors’ intent and original voice. GII New Media

Specialist Cody Switzer produces the weekly podcast accompanying the blog, editing the

original sound files for content and quality. He has led GII in experimenting with video to record

contributors telling their story for the blog. Switzer is also responsible for publishing weekly

blog content on GII’s social media networks. GII Online Media Manager Adam Stiska prepares

the image of the blog contributor and a byline for the GII home page, and pushes the new story

live each Monday morning. GII Graphic Artist Tom Roszkowski isolates contributor images for

use on the GII home page.

Tools involved

**Recording** Blog contributors record their stories as voice mail messages by dialing into a

toll-free number connected to GII’s Cisco Unity Unified Messaging platform. The platform

integrates with the GII Microsoft Exchange client, delivering a usable .wav file of the voice mail

message directly to an e-mail inbox. GII staff members use a USB-powered Logitech

microphone to record the podcast introduction and end cap.

**Editing** GII uses the digital audio editor Adobe Soundbooth to prepare the podcast file for

dissemination. The software enables staff to edit the original contributor recording for content,

length and quality, and to merge it with the GII-voiced introduction and end cap for a fluid

recording. Contributor photographs are prepared for the home page and individual post using

Adobe Photoshop. The written blog copy is transcribed from the recording and edited using

Microsoft Word.

**Dissemination** GII uses the WordPress open source content management system as the

primary vehicle for publishing blog content and related media. Podcasts are displayed on the

WordPress site via the Audio Player plugin and pushed out through the iTunes store using the

Podcasting plugin. The following plugins are also used on the page to facilitate social media

sharing: Simple Facebook Share Button, TweetMeme Button and the Add to Any:

Share/Bookmark/Email Button. Newly published blog content is promoted on GII’s Facebook,

Twitter, Flickr and (when appropriate) YouTube accounts. GII President and CEO Jim Gibbons

extends the reach of “My Story” contributors through his Huffington Post blog at

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-gibbons.

**Presentation** Matrix Group International provided design templates for the blog and web

site, with a focus on reinforcing Goodwill’s mission more effectively and showcasing it as an

organization with diverse programs, including job training and employment opportunities. The

agency recently won an Interactive Media Award for its work on the site.