5 Year Plan.

[Rob]

Hello everyone,

I am pleased to publish TeenHelp's new 5 Year Plan. Over the past few months we have spent much time reviewing our services, seeking feedback, completing surveys and holding discussions with our members, which has helped us to understand experiences of our members and what ideas they have to take TeenHelp forward. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this so far, we have really appreciated this and it has shown us just how many members we have who are passionate, thoughtful and have great ideas!

From this we have produced a series of objectives which we can all work towards over the next 5 years. Beneath each of these will be a series of projects that our Staff will work on and each year we will review and update the plan, seek feedback and agree new priorities for the year ahead.

Below is our plan:

2022-2026 Action Plan

This is a summary of our main objectives and the key priorities which will help us to achieve these priorities for our community.

1) Our members will have a great time while visiting TeenHelp, which makes them want to return time and time again

We will do this by:
⇨ Delivering excellent advice & support services (e.g. HelpLINK, Live Help), which users value.
⇨ Developing and expanding site services/features in our community, strengthening successful areas (e.g. Forums, Chat) while adding new features too.
⇨ Keeping our users and their experience central to everything we do.
⇨ Boosting user involvement and gaining more feedback.
⇨ Expanding the range of activities and projects on the site.
⇨ Providing opportunities for users to socialise and have fun!

We will know we are successful when:
✓ TeenHelp is rated positively by all of our users – 80% satisfaction rate.
✓ Users are retained for longer and more users return to the site – 30 day recurrence.
✓ Volunteers work in focused ways towards the objectives of the site.

2) TeenHelp will amplify the voices of young people and keep them at the heart of all services and decisions

We will do this by:
⇨ Designing services with and alongside young people.
⇨ Actively promoting opportunities to young people and make it easy for them to get involved.
⇨ Seeking the views of young people and ensure these are considered at every stage.
⇨ Working with partner organisations to engage young people.
⇨ Sharing the stories of young people to engage and influence others.

We will know we are successful when:
✓ TeenHelp services are seen as relevant and useful by young people – based on feedback received.
✓ We will make full use of technology including social media to provide support to young people.
✓ Young people are included in key areas throughout the site.
✓ Young people get actively involved in the site through volunteering and other engagement.
✓ Users are retained for longer and more users return to the site.

3) TeenHelp’s content and communications is relevant and meaningful for young people

We will do this by:
⇨ Keep publishing our excellent, regular content (e.g. Articles, Newsletter, Resources, Social Media).
⇨ Developing new resources tailored to our community.
⇨ Building more engaging and interactive content.
⇨ Expanding our social media and outreach communications.

We will know we are successful when:
✓ Users recognise the value of content on the site.
✓ Content is used successfully to engage new and current members of the community – seen by social media, outreach and similar activity.
✓ Users participate in the content on the site – measured by viewers.

4) Our volunteers have a great experience with us

We will do this by:
⇨ Developing comprehensive volunteer training for all roles.
⇨ Developing clearer Staff procedures including how we recruit.
⇨ Improving support and recognition for Staff members.
⇨ Identifying new opportunities for involvement.
⇨ Ensuring young people remain at the heart of Staff.
⇨ Promoting and celebrating volunteers and volunteering properly.

We will know we are successful when:
✓ Staff report feeling confident in doing their jobs – 80% satisfaction rate.
✓ 50% of Staff members are under 24 and 25% of Staff are under 18.

5) TeenHelp is effectively promoted to young people

We will do this by:
⇨ Improving reach/engagement on social media.
⇨ Reaching new audiences via different channels.
⇨ Delivering our Marketing Plan.

We will know we are successful when:
✓ Increase in site visitors – 5% each year.
✓ Increase in registrations – 5% each year.
✓ Increase in number of links to site.
✓ Increase in social media coverage.
✓ Increase in young people volunteering.

6) All TeenHelp users will find the support, services and content they need

We will do this by:
⇨ Developing Young At Heart for older and returning users.
⇨ Continuing our existing advice services and develop/create new ones.
⇨ Ensuring services are inclusive and participatory, so that everyone can be fully involved in what TeenHelp has to offer – taking into account location, age and other demographics.
⇨ Remaining responsive and evolve services and the site around our community and its needs.

We will know we are successful when:
✓ Users rate the site positively as meeting their needs – 80% satisfaction rate.
✓ Users feel valued and included in the site and like their opinion matters.
✓ TeenHelp is discussing the issues which are relevant to the people accessing our services.

7) Develop TeenHelp’s site and features to be ready for the modern age

We will do this by:
⇨ Updating the software on the site and adding additional tools which meet our community’s needs.
⇨ Focusing on features which are used by young people today.
⇨ Creating dynamic and interactive resources suited to people at different stages.

We will know we are successful when:
✓ Users rate our site positively – 80% satisfaction rate.
✓ The site is free from errors and technical issues.

http://www.teenhelp.org/mission/

[Rika]

I had an idea of maybe seeing TeenHelp included when shows/programs promote the hotlines? Since anon posting is on, perhaps teenagers and perhaps young adults would come here to post seeking help/advice. What I think TH wants to see are teenagers of today using the forum to discuss things and signing up, but anon posting would be fine IMO. Not every person is comfortable signing up.

I know the first part is likely gonna be hard to do, but I think it'd be neat to see TH included as a discussion and support website when they show those.

Obviously need to do the "we're not medical professionals, etc" bit too.

[Dawn.]

This sounds great Rob!

[Starseeker]

I agree with Dawn - the plan sounds great

This looks great, Rob! I see a few changes have already been made and hopefully this will help with site functionality and user retention.