Project YASH sets up Social Media Team to Spread our Mission.
"One of the biggest struggles for us as we initiated Project YASH was expansion—how would we spark interest? Where were we supposed to look? How should we divide up the responsibility? Word of mouth was not generating enough of an influx, so we turned to other methods, most notably, social media. We set up a social media team that shared the responsibility of content creation and idea generation, a team that first introduced us to the outside world via Instagram.
Through offering insight into our programs and promoting recruitment, enthusiastic high school students began actively reaching out, looking for service opportunities and a chance to help out. Our management team also took steps to introduce Project YASH in their respective districts, whether it was through school or outside organizations.
We grew from a handful of volunteers to a committed 50 within a year. The messaging towards the special needs participants was a bit trickier–we had to make use of preexisting connections and keep our audience (parents) in mind. We made full use of WhatsApp groups, asked to collaborate with other autism awareness organizations, and sent emails to special needs schools in different parts of New Jersey. At 75 volunteers and participants today, we are constantly looking to broaden our reach and grow Project YASH as much as possible.
