blind children's learning center
DESCRIPTION
Public Relations Campaign for BCLCTRANSCRIPT
AMANDA VO, WHITNEY FINN, MI MAI,
& KRISTIN SOO HOO | MAY 3, 2011
• The Blind Children’s Learning Center strives to provide
early intervention, education and services to both visually
impaired and seeing children in order to create a healthy,
independent lifestyle
• October 2012 = BCLC’s 50th Anniversary
• How are we going to promote and celebrate this
anniversary?
• History of the Blind Children’s Learning
Center
• Visual Impairment
• Other nonprofits similar to BCLC
• What are some avenues/partnerships BCLC
could consider?
• Field trips to the center
• Focus groups with Kathy, Kim & Heather
• Survey distributed to staff, alumni & parents
Through our survey results, we decided on the theme of 50 Years of Helping Hands
• Goal: To begin building awareness of the Blind Children’s
Learning Center and the services it provides by May 19,
2011, as well as prepare the center for future promotional
activities
• Audiences
– Individuals serving a similar cause in Orange County
– Donors (time and money)
Objective 1: To engage 400 of potential supporters through communication efforts by May 19, 2011
• Create a social media campaign – Tactics
• Create a Twitter account for the center to reach out to multiple audiences
• Educate and advise the center’s staff about proper Facebook usage
• Set up a Blogger account to expand the center’s social media influence and allow outside contributions
• Maintain a consistent voice on social media
• Rebrand collateral to maintain consistency – Tactics
• Use research to identify various messages in collateral to create one cohesive umbrella concept
• Create uniform templates for all BCLC collateral, including fliers, newsletters, brochures & letterheads
• Distribute aforementioned materials to our target audience via social media, email and print
Objective 2: Announce and brand the Blind Children’s Learning Center’s 50th anniversary by May 19, 2011 and help maintain buzz
• Reveal the 50th anniversary at BCLC’s donor-targeted events – Tactics
• Distribute 50th anniversary fliers at the May 5K walk
• Have a formal announcement from Kim Neuhauser during events
• Write one press release to be distributed prior to the May 5K walk
• Focus promotional efforts toward raising awareness about the 50th anniversary – Tactics
• Create a brand/logo specific to the 50th anniversary to be used solely over the course of the 18-month rollout period
• Employ social media usage to increase and sustain interest about the 50th anniversary
• Write three press releases to be used at future BCLC events throughout the 18-month rollout for the 50th anniversary celebration
• Press Releases
– Annual 5K Walk (Kristin)
– 50th Anniversary (Allegra)
• Media List
– Sent 5K Walk press releases to:
• OC Register
• OC Business Journal
• Orange City News (OC Register)
• Tustin News (OC Register)
• Reuse Annual Golf Tournament sponsorship form
• Suggestions for Anniversary Sponsorship Package: – Create a special cover letter to key organizations,
specific to each organization
– Mention key points of what the organization and BCLC have in common (a mission statement)
– Explanations of exactly how an organization's sponsorship could help BCLC
– Should be more personalized, especially if we want to partner with Disney again
• Even if an organization doesn’t want to sponsor, we want them participate in the anniversary in some way – Creating a team for the walk
– Helping with on-site events
– Attending the anniversary celebration
BlindChildrensLearningCenter.blogspot.com Launched April 10
• @BlindChildrenLC
– Launched April 7
• Facebook: Blind Children’s Learning Center
– Took over and linked to Twitter April 28
Before After
• Objective 1: To engage 400 of potential supporters through
communication efforts by May 19, 2011
• Following 200, Followers 65
• Mentions 15, Retweets 20, BCLC Tweets Retweeted 12
• Gavin’s Groupies posted videos and blogged about BCLC
• Average of 400 “impressions” per Facebook status
– We estimate that we engaged approximately 400 potential
supporters through social media
• Objective 2: Announce and brand the Blind
Children’s Learning Center’s 50th
anniversary by May 19, 2011 and help
maintain buzz
– Distributed one press release regarding the 5K
walk to five media contacts
– Wrote one press release in advance for the 50th
anniversary
– Designed four logos for potential future use
• Continue use of social media (Facebook,
Twitter, blog)
• Integrate new 50th anniversary logo into all
collateral
• Consistent email blasts to contacts regarding
upcoming events & 50th anniversary