Each day, you work hard - trying to do so much for the kids you serve. You care so much. So, it's surprising when others don't get it!
Your neighbors don't understand why you work such long hours. Your friends think you shouldn't be so emotionally involved. Your family wishes you would stop talking so much about your job.
You try to explain it. You rattle off the latest statistics about children raised in poverty. You share the intricate details about your new program about suicide prevention. You try to tell them just how important your work is!
May I suggest another approach? Empower others to tell your story for you!
Ask parents, volunteers, kids, board members, civic leaders, and community members for positive remarks. Who else can better sing your praises?!?
Write down their quotes verbatim, so their personality shines through. Even consider getting quick video interviews.
Remember to get their permission to use their words in promotional materials. Make it easy by including a release in the in-take process for your clients and in the orientation for volunteers.
How else can you better tell your story, so that others are interested in kids' issues? Please leave a comment with your idea!
Read more from Guest Blogger Jessica Journey on her blog about nonprofits, fundraising, and marketing: www.jessicajourney.com
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
A Study in Public Awarness Campaigns
As MCCOY's Communications Director and also a student at IUPUI's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, I was thrilled when I was able to complete my graduate Capstone Project with MCCOY. Myself with a group of four other Masters' students were asked by MCCOY to research how to create and implement an effective Public Awareness Campaign. As a strategy of MCCOY's Early Intervention and Prevention Initiative, MCCOY plans to run a child abuse and neglect prevention campaign later this year into early next year. My group's Capstone Project is sure to be a huge stepping stone for MCCOY to venture into this big project, but also for other organizations that hope to run successful campaigns to motivate the community to action.
Below is a synopsis of our project and findings:
An effective campaign includes the following characteristics: grabs the attention of the target audience, communicates a clear and trustworthy message, delivers a message that changes the behavior, attitude, and knowledge of the audience, and brings about actions from audience toward desired outcomes (Weiss & Tschirhart, 1994). MCCOY has asked the Campaign Advisory Board (CAB), graduate students in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, to:
• Create a working definition of the term “at-risk”;
• Determine the location of the “at-risk” population within Marion County;
• Establish best practices needed to create the strategies and messaging for a campaign;
• Ascertain the most effective form of distributing the message; and
• Develop a tool to evaluate effectiveness after the completion of the campaign.
To perform these tasks, CAB conducted significant primary and secondary research. Once the term “at-risk” was defined and the population was located, the team conducted key informant interviews with marketing executives at non-profit organizations to confirm research findings regarding effective campaigns. Finally, CAB conducted surveys among at-risk clients utilizing services at EIP partnering organizations to determine which services and outreach methods are being used and the reasons for preferences.
CAB used the analysis to produce a list of steps necessary to create and implement an effective public awareness campaign, providing groundwork for MCCOY to determine the type of campaign, objectives, audience, messaging, strategies, tactics, budget, and evaluation. Finally, CAB developed a campaign plan for MCCOY and the following list of short-term, intermediate, and long-term recommendations for MCCOYwere to:
Campaign Objectives
• Increase awareness of prevention and intervention services and providers in Marion County.
• Motivate people to seek out these services and spread the word to others about these services.
Phase One Recommendations (Short-term)
• Utilize a campaign logic model similar to the one CAB provided.
• Develop Partnerships with other local organizations.
• Secure funding for campaign through corporate sponsorships, grant dollars, and fundraising.
• Determine whether a PR firm is monetarily feasible based upon funding.
Phase Two Recommendations (Intermediate)
• Build a consistent brand identity for the Early Intervention & Prevention Initiative as well as the organizations that provide these services.
• Create a sense of urgency in the community to seek intervention and prevention services through campaign messaging.
• Educate the community about the issues and consequences of child abuse and neglect.
• Define and describe intervention and prevention services.
• Utilize social media, radio, direct marketing, collateral material, and outdoor advertising as outreach outlets for the EIP campaign.
Phase Three Recommendations (Long-term)
• Utilize television as another outreach method.
• Apply the evaluation tool CAB has developed for evaluation purposes.
View our Sample Campaign Plan and Evaluation Tool.
Have you found this project helpful and want additional information? Contact me at stephanie.freeman@mccoyouth.org or 317-921-1226.
Below is a synopsis of our project and findings:
An effective campaign includes the following characteristics: grabs the attention of the target audience, communicates a clear and trustworthy message, delivers a message that changes the behavior, attitude, and knowledge of the audience, and brings about actions from audience toward desired outcomes (Weiss & Tschirhart, 1994). MCCOY has asked the Campaign Advisory Board (CAB), graduate students in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, to:
• Create a working definition of the term “at-risk”;
• Determine the location of the “at-risk” population within Marion County;
• Establish best practices needed to create the strategies and messaging for a campaign;
• Ascertain the most effective form of distributing the message; and
• Develop a tool to evaluate effectiveness after the completion of the campaign.
To perform these tasks, CAB conducted significant primary and secondary research. Once the term “at-risk” was defined and the population was located, the team conducted key informant interviews with marketing executives at non-profit organizations to confirm research findings regarding effective campaigns. Finally, CAB conducted surveys among at-risk clients utilizing services at EIP partnering organizations to determine which services and outreach methods are being used and the reasons for preferences.
CAB used the analysis to produce a list of steps necessary to create and implement an effective public awareness campaign, providing groundwork for MCCOY to determine the type of campaign, objectives, audience, messaging, strategies, tactics, budget, and evaluation. Finally, CAB developed a campaign plan for MCCOY and the following list of short-term, intermediate, and long-term recommendations for MCCOYwere to:
Campaign Objectives
• Increase awareness of prevention and intervention services and providers in Marion County.
• Motivate people to seek out these services and spread the word to others about these services.
Phase One Recommendations (Short-term)
• Utilize a campaign logic model similar to the one CAB provided.
• Develop Partnerships with other local organizations.
• Secure funding for campaign through corporate sponsorships, grant dollars, and fundraising.
• Determine whether a PR firm is monetarily feasible based upon funding.
Phase Two Recommendations (Intermediate)
• Build a consistent brand identity for the Early Intervention & Prevention Initiative as well as the organizations that provide these services.
• Create a sense of urgency in the community to seek intervention and prevention services through campaign messaging.
• Educate the community about the issues and consequences of child abuse and neglect.
• Define and describe intervention and prevention services.
• Utilize social media, radio, direct marketing, collateral material, and outdoor advertising as outreach outlets for the EIP campaign.
Phase Three Recommendations (Long-term)
• Utilize television as another outreach method.
• Apply the evaluation tool CAB has developed for evaluation purposes.
View our Sample Campaign Plan and Evaluation Tool.
Have you found this project helpful and want additional information? Contact me at stephanie.freeman@mccoyouth.org or 317-921-1226.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Have you heard the buzz about our new database project?
The Early Intervention and Prevention (EIP) Initiative at MCCOY is working on an exciting new integrated database project. Essentially, we want to link together several social services databases, so that users can access all of this information through one online portal. It's going to be like Expedia or Travelocity, but for nonprofit programs and services!Check out our fancy new Prezi here: http://prezi.com/15afyy633ogi/mccoys-database-project/
It's well worth a 60 second peek. We promise!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Real Talk from Real Students
As my time here with MCCOY dwindles, I find myself thinking about the things that we have done in my Americorps VISTA service year with this amazing organization. We have successfully motivated a group of professional volunteers, held some events, and devised a public awareness campaign around the importance of raising high school graduation rates. BUT, more often than those things, I think about the ways in which this work can continue after my experience with MCCOY has come to an end. Nothing and no one can keep this effort going strong like the very people we strive to impact, the students in Marion County.
With this in mind, we have been in talks in the past couple of months about creating a Youth Advocacy Council to help direct the organization's efforts in the future and advocate for youth by youth. Then, as though timing could not be more perfect, our Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Mindi, stumbled upon the fact that President Obama's Youth Team has asked that 100 Youth Roundtables be held in communities around the nation. What an amazing opportunity! We can host a Presidential roundtable, give our city's youth a voice in Washington, and identify potential candidates for our own Youth Advocacy Council all with the same event. Talk about 2 birds, 1 stone. To read more about the president's plan, please visit www.whitehouse.gov/youngamericans
So, with generous donations and support from The Lumina Foundation for Education and Chipotle Mexican Grill, we are planning on conducting our first youth roundtable, REAL TALK: A Roundtable Discussion with Young Adults in Indianapolis on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at the United Way Building, RCI Room from 11am-1pm. The cost for youth to attend is FREE and they will also recieve FREE LUNCH from Chipotle and the chance to win raffle prizes! Not to mention the empowering experience of voicing their opinion on youth issues, helping to build solutions, and having a group of dedicated professionals listen and take notes!
I am so excited for this event. I am a true believer in youth voice and the potential that this event and the formation of the YAC has within MCCOY. We all want the best for our city's youth, we all want to be involved in positive change in education and other youth issues, and involving young people in these solutions is VITAL to that success. I'm honored to be a part of an organization like MCCOY that realizes that these young people must have a say in how we do our work. Besides, who knows what works for young people better than young people!!
If you are or know of any young adults in Marion County who would like to participate in this roundtable event, PLEASE CONTACT ME at 317-921-1230 or visit http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?473135 to register. Please note, all participants under the age of 18 will need to print off the permission slip, have their parent/guardian sign it, and bring it with them the day of the event.
With this in mind, we have been in talks in the past couple of months about creating a Youth Advocacy Council to help direct the organization's efforts in the future and advocate for youth by youth. Then, as though timing could not be more perfect, our Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Mindi, stumbled upon the fact that President Obama's Youth Team has asked that 100 Youth Roundtables be held in communities around the nation. What an amazing opportunity! We can host a Presidential roundtable, give our city's youth a voice in Washington, and identify potential candidates for our own Youth Advocacy Council all with the same event. Talk about 2 birds, 1 stone. To read more about the president's plan, please visit www.whitehouse.gov/youngamericans
So, with generous donations and support from The Lumina Foundation for Education and Chipotle Mexican Grill, we are planning on conducting our first youth roundtable, REAL TALK: A Roundtable Discussion with Young Adults in Indianapolis on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at the United Way Building, RCI Room from 11am-1pm. The cost for youth to attend is FREE and they will also recieve FREE LUNCH from Chipotle and the chance to win raffle prizes! Not to mention the empowering experience of voicing their opinion on youth issues, helping to build solutions, and having a group of dedicated professionals listen and take notes!
I am so excited for this event. I am a true believer in youth voice and the potential that this event and the formation of the YAC has within MCCOY. We all want the best for our city's youth, we all want to be involved in positive change in education and other youth issues, and involving young people in these solutions is VITAL to that success. I'm honored to be a part of an organization like MCCOY that realizes that these young people must have a say in how we do our work. Besides, who knows what works for young people better than young people!!
If you are or know of any young adults in Marion County who would like to participate in this roundtable event, PLEASE CONTACT ME at 317-921-1230 or visit http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?473135 to register. Please note, all participants under the age of 18 will need to print off the permission slip, have their parent/guardian sign it, and bring it with them the day of the event.
a different way to look at it
Was anybody else as amazed as I was at the story in the Indy Star earlier this week about the number of Americans who don't pay any taxes? According to the story, "there are so many tax breaks that 45% of U. S. households will pay no federal income tax for 2010 according to an estimate by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington, D.C. think tank"
I recognize that there are many folks of limited income who don't, and from my perspective, shouldn't pay a lot of taxes--they need every cent they have to live. But I have a hard time believing that those folks make up 45% of U.S. households.
At a time when it seems like every program that provides supports for the most vulnerable U.S. citizens is being threatened by, if not already sliced by the budget cutting knives, we need to take a good hard look at this tax issue. I am no economist but I think it is a question of all doing their fair share to support the benefits that each one of us receives. My taxes support the brave men and women who support my freedoms; it pays for the interstates I drive on; the police and fire departments that keep me and my family safe; the folks who pick up my trash and recyclables; the schools that educate our children; and lots of other things that there's not enough space to list. Those benefits serve all of us, not just those who pay for them. So shouldn't all of us contribute toward them? If I am paying my taxes--and I did--then it would be nice to know that all my fellow citizens were doing the same. Note: I am not saying I want to pay more taxes; I am saying I want the playing field to be leveled.
We all tend to value more those things that we pay for--so would we value all the benefits we each receive if we all had some skin in the game? Maybe if everybody really were paying their fair share, we wouldn't be facing the deficits we are confronting. If everybody were contributing, at least those deficits wouldn't be so large. We have a lot of great minds in this country; it's time we put some of them to work coming up with solutions instead of just bemoaning the problem. I am all for cutting waste and efficiency; I am also all for fairness.
Who knows? We might find some money to pay for home healthcare, good schools, better roads, out of school time programs, and all the other things we are being told "We can't afford that!"
I recognize that there are many folks of limited income who don't, and from my perspective, shouldn't pay a lot of taxes--they need every cent they have to live. But I have a hard time believing that those folks make up 45% of U.S. households.
At a time when it seems like every program that provides supports for the most vulnerable U.S. citizens is being threatened by, if not already sliced by the budget cutting knives, we need to take a good hard look at this tax issue. I am no economist but I think it is a question of all doing their fair share to support the benefits that each one of us receives. My taxes support the brave men and women who support my freedoms; it pays for the interstates I drive on; the police and fire departments that keep me and my family safe; the folks who pick up my trash and recyclables; the schools that educate our children; and lots of other things that there's not enough space to list. Those benefits serve all of us, not just those who pay for them. So shouldn't all of us contribute toward them? If I am paying my taxes--and I did--then it would be nice to know that all my fellow citizens were doing the same. Note: I am not saying I want to pay more taxes; I am saying I want the playing field to be leveled.
We all tend to value more those things that we pay for--so would we value all the benefits we each receive if we all had some skin in the game? Maybe if everybody really were paying their fair share, we wouldn't be facing the deficits we are confronting. If everybody were contributing, at least those deficits wouldn't be so large. We have a lot of great minds in this country; it's time we put some of them to work coming up with solutions instead of just bemoaning the problem. I am all for cutting waste and efficiency; I am also all for fairness.
Who knows? We might find some money to pay for home healthcare, good schools, better roads, out of school time programs, and all the other things we are being told "We can't afford that!"
Friday, April 15, 2011
Legislative Update 4/15/11
Happy tax day! The pace has been fast and furious in the Statehouse. A major victory so far has been the amendment and passage of SB4 Suicide Prevention Training for School Personnel. The House Family, Child and Human Affairs Committee unanimously adopted the amended bill, which reinserted language regarding use of evidence-based programs and a requirement for all teachers who are pursuing their license to be trained. The House then passed it this week and the bill has gone back to the Senate.
Here is a list of bills that MCCOY has been watching and the actions that have happened recently. Bills coded with green text are bills that MCCOY supports; bills coded in red text are bills that have been defeated this session.
SB4 Suicide prevention training for school personnel - 4/12 passed House: yeas 88, nays 4 4/12 returned to Senate with amendments
SB85 Study of schools with low graduation rates - 4/14 passed House committee
SB93 Concussions and head injuries in student athletes - 4/12 passed House: yeas 78, nays 14 4/12 returned to Senate with amendments
SB101 Driver education issues - 4/12 defeated in House: yeas 26, nays 64
SB245 Prenatal substance abuse commission - no action
SB497 Higher education scholarship - 4/13 passed House: yeas 57, nays 38, returned to Senate with amendments
HB1002 Charter schools - 4/12 passed Senate: yeas 29, nays 20, returned to House with amendments
HB1003 School scholarships - 4/14 passed committee
HB1019 Training for child suicide prevention - no action
HB1042 Dissemination of sexual material - no action
HB1083 Child solicitation and child trafficking - 4/12 placed back on second reading
HB1107 Preventative programs for at-risk children 4/7 passed Senate: yeas 49, nays 0, returned to House with amendments
HB1566 School absenteeism and dropouts - committee report not adopted
Here is a list of bills that MCCOY has been watching and the actions that have happened recently. Bills coded with green text are bills that MCCOY supports; bills coded in red text are bills that have been defeated this session.
SB4 Suicide prevention training for school personnel - 4/12 passed House: yeas 88, nays 4 4/12 returned to Senate with amendments
SB85 Study of schools with low graduation rates - 4/14 passed House committee
SB93 Concussions and head injuries in student athletes - 4/12 passed House: yeas 78, nays 14 4/12 returned to Senate with amendments
SB101 Driver education issues - 4/12 defeated in House: yeas 26, nays 64
SB245 Prenatal substance abuse commission - no action
SB497 Higher education scholarship - 4/13 passed House: yeas 57, nays 38, returned to Senate with amendments
HB1002 Charter schools - 4/12 passed Senate: yeas 29, nays 20, returned to House with amendments
HB1003 School scholarships - 4/14 passed committee
HB1019 Training for child suicide prevention - no action
HB1042 Dissemination of sexual material - no action
HB1083 Child solicitation and child trafficking - 4/12 placed back on second reading
HB1107 Preventative programs for at-risk children 4/7 passed Senate: yeas 49, nays 0, returned to House with amendments
HB1566 School absenteeism and dropouts - committee report not adopted
Monday, April 11, 2011
Parental Involvement with Schools: What They Need
Parental involvement has been shown to positively affect student achievement, reduce delinquent behavior, and create a positive sense of self (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandier, 1995; Van Voorhis, 2003). Since we know that student achievement and positive school adjustment, comes from the support of parents, we wanted to hear directly from the parents of Marion County their thoughts and feelings on engaging with their childrens’ schools.
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| Two lucky attendees won laptops donated by IU Health. |
Transportation- Parents do not always have access to affordable transportation, thus keeping them from attending school functions. Schools can overcome this obstacle by offering transportation or conducting home visits.
Work Hours - Working parents are often unable to attend school functions and conferences during school hours. Schools can help by offering conference times outside the traditional work day, such as evenings, weekends or scheduling a home visit when the parent can be present.
Parent Attitudes- Often parents have poor attitudes about school or their own abilities to contribute to their child's education. Parents may not know what is expected of them. Schools can overcome this by letting parents know what is expected them.
Teacher/Principals Attitudes- Teachers and principals do not always encourage or have the time to engage with parents. Teachers need to be more available to parents. Schools can overcome this by having mandatory teacher parent conferences. Also, principals need to be a visible leader in the school. This can be done by principals attending all school events and being available to meet with parents.
Climate-The school can be an unwelcoming place for some parents. Schools must work to maintain professionalism while projecting a warm, inviting school climate. Schools can do this by having an open door policy and hosting fun family events.
Language and Culture-The 2009 census showed that the Hispanic population in Indiana has more than doubled. The population increased from 33,000 to more than 84,000 people. 10% of the Hispanic population resides in Marion County. Since the majority of school personnel do not speak a foreign language, Hispanic parents who do not speak English may feel uncomfortable engaging in school. Language barriers can be overcome with schools providing translators and ESL trainings. Cultural barriers can be overcome by schools educating school personnel on culture, race, and socioeconomic status of the parents they serve.
Community organizations- Parents feel schools do not utilize community organizations as a way to communicate and provide resources. Schools can overcome this by utilizing all resources and organizations the community has to offer.
Communication- Most schools communicate information via the internet. However, not all parents have access to the internet. Schools need to find creative ways to get information to parents. One way of doing this is by bringing the information to the parents: such as community centers, holding parent lead meetings, and open forums for parents. Parents want regular communication from the school on attendance and homework. Lastly, parents want to be informed from the beginning of the year what the requirements are for their children to attend college, and what the post secondary options are.
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