Crisis Communication Assignment

What organization did you select?

I selected Boys Town as the non-profit organization to review.

What online communication channels did you review? Please include the appropriate links.

I looked over their website, Instagram and Twitter.

https://www.boystown.org/Pages/default.aspx

https://instagram.com/boystown?igshid=1o8lk6cwdb9rv

https://twitter.com/BoysTown?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

What type of messaging did you see that was shared in recent weeks? Examples: brief status updates, blog posts, video messages, etc.

On their website, Boys Town offers a response from their organization about COVID-19. It provides an idea on how they are supporting and serving those in their communities. They also asked for donations in more than just money. They asked for cleaning disinfectant, hand sanitizer, face masks, isolation gowns, face shields, etc. 

The first post about COVID-19 on their Instagram is titled “Talking to kids about the coronavirus”. It provides tips on how to talk to children about what they are hearing and what is going on with the virus. 

Their Instagram and Twitter provide content on how to cope with the stress of the virus and being home with the family. At Least three times a week, Boys Town offers helpful tips, crafts, activities, fitness ideas and more that families can follow to stop the craziness of the virus. 

Did these messages receive any feedback? If so, what, generally, were the common themes or tone of those responses?

One thing that I noticed on their Instagram was a comment that noted how Boys Town hadn’t posted anything regarding what they are doing to protect their residents and staff during COVID-19. That was the only comment that I found in the past month of their posts on Instagram. 

On Twitter, Boys Town experienced similar responses. No one responded to their tweets, but an average of 20 followers “liked” their tweets. 

Do you think the organization you selected has done a good job of managing the crisis through their communication channels? Why or why not?

Boys Town Instagram responded to a comment about their residents and staff with a link to their website. Someone replied that there were no specifics except for trying to meet less in person. Boys Town responded that they updated their website response with a few more specifics. I think Boys Town has done a tremendous job getting out activities for families to follow. The communication they offer is positive, but I do wish they would post on their Instagram or Twitter what they are doing to protect their staff and residents instead of just in their response on their website. They did well managing the crisis through their communication channels.