Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Marketing

Advisor/Mentor

Harris, Flint

Abstract

In the United States, there are 23,000 youth each year who age out of foster care (Morris, 2021). Aging out occurs when the youth turn 18 and are no longer under the provision of child welfare, as they are considered legal adults. Most of these youth, however, do not have stable support systems to fall back on, due to not being adopted during their time in the system. Because of the lack of financial and emotional support, 20% will immediately encounter homelessness, 60% will engage in criminal activity, and 50% will have no steady income within four years removed from the system (Morris, 2021).

There are many nonprofits in the state of Arkansas that are working to address this issue, bringing about real solutions, and aid for these youth in crisis situations. Two of them that I interned with are Saving Grace NWA and Immerse Arkansas. Saving Grace NWA is a nonprofit that provides safe housing for women ages 18-25 who are facing homelessness or have aged out of the system. They provide career programming, educational assistance, counseling, and coaching programs that establish an avenue for these women to find a better future. Their farm in Centerton, AR will have the potential to house 50 young women upon the completion of their project, with six phases of the program, including The Pink Shirt, Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, and Senior Seminar phases. These phases introduce the participants into the program and prepare them for their journey into independence. Immerse Arkansas is in central Arkansas with locations in Little Rock and Conway. Immerse works with youth from crisis who have aged out of foster care, face homelessness, runaways, and victims of trafficking. They assist them with past trauma, educational programming, transitional housing, and more. They also have a six-step plan in place for transforming youth including Assessment, Create a Plan, Build a Circle of Support, Equip with Tools, Work the Plan, and Overcome.

Both nonprofits have different ways of achieving the same goal: to assist youth who are facing a variety of crisis situations. Through this project, I recognized the similarities and differences in their programming, how they measure successful impact, as well as the marketing strategies they employ. I have analyzed their marketing campaigns and how they attract donors, volunteers, as well as the youth who need their assistance. I have also compiled the best practices from both organizations on their marketing tactics and impact measurement.

This project matters because it will give these nonprofits ways to continue to make a positive impact in the life of youth in crisis situations and to learn and grow in ways that they may not have recognized before. By looking to other nonprofits with similar programming, and analyzing their program success, they can improve their own programs to better serve youth in the state of Arkansas as a whole. It will also assist the marketing world in recognizing the best marketing strategies for nonprofits to employ and how marketing tactics are utilized to fund and achieve the successful impact of each organization. Ultimately, this project shows how the youth in the state of Arkansas are better off because of the existence of both organizations.

Keywords

nonprofit; nonprofit marketing; impact measurement

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