The Coalition of Immokalee Workers

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a non-profit organization that is based in Florida.
The organization is founded on the need to advocate for the human rights of workers. The
organization has achieved tremendous success in the past (Drainville, 2008). In particular, it has
fought against human trafficking, gender-based violence, and social responsibility. CIW has
helped authorities investigate slavery operations. The organization has, over time, established
a unique partnership with workers, and this has helped the organization to advocate for the rights
of workers (Gonzalez, 2005). The selected area that the plan covers is public relations. The paper
proposes a strategic plan that helps the organization achieve success in the area of public
relations.
Any non-profit organization needs to build a strong and beneficial relationship between
the organization and the public (Rinrattanakorn, 2012). Through robust public relations, the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers can build trust and credibility, and this can help the
organization to achieve its goals. A positive image can help the organization come up with more
donors, and this can help ensure that the organization achieves its financial goals. A public
relation campaign is more effective compared to a paid advert (Saxton, & Waters, 2014). The
organization stands to achieve a lot from a public relations campaign compared to what the
organization could achieve from paid advertising. The general public is likely to trust a company
that has a better public relations program. Favorable mentions could benefit the organization.
A public relations program can help people to think more positively about the
organization. There is a lot of information about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Both
positive and negative information exists about the company (Curtis et al., 2010). The most

ASSIGNMENT 6 3
effective method to fix the reputation of the organization is through a strategic public relations
program. In the digital age, individuals can easily access information online. The implication is
that through public relations, the organization can take control of its reputation online. Many
organizations get a bad reputation for doing nothing wrong. It is, therefore, imperative for the
organization to ensure that it establishes strong public relation campaigns.
Strategic planning is complicated, and this means that every organization must be ready
to face the challenges associated with strategic planning. One of the challenges revolves around
coming up with a strong plan that will fit the organization (Hu, Kapucu, & O’Byrne, 2014). The
plan has to cater to the unique needs of the organization. The plan must take into consideration
the evolving environment. Technology is one of the things that is ever-evolving. The
organization needs to set meaningful priorities to achieve the results. Gaining the commitment of
all employees in the organization will also be a challenge. Strategic planning relies on the right
attitude. If the stakeholders do not embrace the plan, the plan is bound to fail (Cho, Schweickart,
& Haase, 2014). Most organization fail to succeed owing to partial commitment. It is difficult to
have every stakeholder committed to the strategic plan. Another problem relates to financial
constraint. Implementing the strategic plan will require a huge budgetary allocation. The
organization is a non-profit organization that will need financial belt-tightening. The
organization may be reluctant to spend on public relations (Berke & Smith, 2009). However, the
challenge can be overcome through an analysis of the advantages of the public relations
program. Social media has also eased the process of public relations, and the organization can
take advantage of the limitless possibilities offered by social media.

ASSIGNMENT 6 4

References

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Cho, M., Schweickart, T., & Haase, A. (2014). Public engagement with nonprofit organizations
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Curtis, L., Edwards, C., Fraser, K. L., Gudelsky, S., Holmquist, J., Thornton, K., & Sweetser, K.
D. (2010). Adoption of social media for public relations by nonprofit
organizations. Public relations review, 36(1), 90-92.
Drainville, A. C. (2008). Present in the world economy: The coalition of Immokalee workers
(1996–2007). Globalizations, 5(3), 357-377.
Gonzalez, M. (2005). Awakening the Consciousness of the Labor Movement: The Case of the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Undergraduate honors thesis, Department of Political
Science, University of Notre Dame.
Hu, Q., Kapucu, N., & O’Byrne, L. (2014). Strategic planning for community-based small
nonprofit organizations: Implementation, benefits, and challenges. Journal of Applied
Management and Entrepreneurship, 19(1), 83.
Rinrattanakorn, P. (2012). Public relations campaign. Sripatum University.
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