UNC PR students honored in N.C. PRSA’s Inspire Awards for fourth consecutive year

Public relations students in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media received an Award of Excellence and the Best in Category Award at the North Carolina Public Relations Society of America Inspire Awards.

Seniors Emily Booker, Tyler Hardy, Erin Kelley and Stacey Northup created the winning research-based public relations campaign for their client, Real Change, a collaborative effort to end panhandling and homelessness in Orange County.

“Real Change struggles with the challenges of educating people to give to street outreach instead of directly to panhandlers,” said assistant professor Nori Comello, who advised the students. “Because panhandling activity tends to take place close to businesses located near campus, efforts would need to engage those businesses and the University community as key stakeholders.”

The winning campaign featured a community-wide contest for artistically designed donation boxes in the shape of homes. The donation boxes would be placed in the downtown Chapel Hill area – serving as attractive donation collection points, educational sites and business sponsorship opportunities. The idea engages all key stakeholder groups, and Real Change has chosen to implement the campaign this year.

The campaign was developed as part of Comello’s “PR Campaigns” course in fall 2012. Students reviewed literature about the issue and conducted primary research with key stakeholder groups.

They conducted a survey of UNC students, and they interviewed students, a business owner, a director of a similar campaign to end homelessness in Asheville, and a volunteer who serves as an advocate for homeless individuals in the community. The research sought to capture the community’s views of panhandling and homelessness, and to generate ideas for educating and fundraising.

With input from the client, the students identified the objectives of obtaining at least $5,000 in donations, reducing panhandling by 25 percent after one year, and recruiting 10 businesses as sponsors.

UNC Hussman School student have received top honors in the N.C. PRSA student competition for the past four years.