Marketing Inclusion in

National Service

Danielle DreilingerCommunications Specialist IIInstitute for Community Inclusion/UMass Bostonici@umb.eduwww.communityinclusion.org

Inclusion in national serviceTwo tactics

Materials that show that service is open to everyone--including people with disabilities

Materials that target people with disabilities

Pros? Cons?

A little basic psychology:Who is your audience?(Demystifying marketing)

Your audience(s)

Primary: Potential volunteers with/without disabilities

Secondary Teachers Parents Friends CNCS members

(to tell their contacts)

Talk to me

Know your audience Answer their questions

What ideas do they have about national/community service? “I’ll lose my SSI.” “You can’t do it if you didn’t graduate from high school.”

Have you marketed to them before? Speak to what they want

"What's in it for me?”

Make your message clear

Official marketing stuff: The 4 "P"s

Product: What will they get from becoming a service member?The opportunity to make a contribution? Build career skills? Pay

for school? Price: What roadblocks do you need to minimize?

“I’d make more money getting a job.” Place: Where and how you can reach your audience.

Teen magazines - special ed parents’ advisory council - One-Stop Career Centers…

Promotion: What will attract the most attention?Posters - brochures - PSAs - ad in a paper - news story in a

magazine…

Be creative!

Evaluate

Count calls, website visits, emails, etc. before and after you try a new recruitment method.

"Local communications ought to generate customers in the store, or make the phone ring, or

bring more folks to your website…." (Marketing for Dummies)

What message do these materials send? How do they get it across?

Ways to show that you welcome PWD

Make all your products accessibleLarge print, text version, TTY, website“Alternate formats available upon request”

Incorporate PWD throughout your outreach, public information, and marketing activitiesPhotos, volunteer profiles, PSAs, websites, testimonials…

Partner with community disability groupsInclude disability groups & PWD when developing materials

Include EEOC/diversity/ADA statement Train all staff to answer basic questions about disability,

accessibility, and accommodations

Key elements in marketing materials Be concise! One or two goals Clear and consistent message Speak to potential members' concerns Model empowerment philosophy

Use inclusive language

About your organization Contact info Something they can do

Join mailing list, come to an event

Tech specs: Photos

Depict diversity: age, gender, disability type, ethnicity Beyond wheelchairs

Counter disability stereotypesE.g., showing PWD in a separate group

Go out in the field and take pictures of your volunteers! (With subjects’ permission)

Single-focus action shots, high resolution (not off the Web)

Library

Marketing for Dummies (2004) Strategic Communications for Nonprofits (Jossey-Bass, 1999)

Media relations

agoodmanonline.comNonprofit communications: Workshops, free publications

ewriteonline.comWriting skills: Workshops, free pubs

Malcolm GladwellThe Tipping Point, etc.

Before and After (bamagazine.com)Designing promo materials (style and organization)