COM 418 Portfolio
- Evan Atkins
- May 13, 2021
- 12 min read
CAMPAIGNS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING
THE BELLE CENTER
BY EVAN ATKINS,
MADELINE MCDANIEL,
HANNAH PARRINO,
AND PETER TIPTON.
Table of Contents:
Executive Summary 3
Oganizatrijal Background 5
S.W.O.T Analysis 6
Social Media Audit 8
Fundraising Event 11
Promotional Materials 17
Media Advisories 19
Social Media 21
Collaborations 28
Evaluation 31
Executive Summary
The Belle Center is a community organization that works to help children, families, and senior citizens have the resources they need to thrive in the West Side of Buffalo community. Their goal is to provide innovative, educational, social and community building services for children, youth, senior citizens and families living in Western New York.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, The Belle Center never stopped providing their services and relief to the West Side of Buffalo community, and actually experienced an increase in demand for their great services.
This great surge in demand revealed a great need for supply: the grants and donor funding that make their great work possible. It was during this time that The Belle Center began to bolster a donor-engagement and outreach program to help garner local support, increase overall funding for mission and impact, and reduce their dependence on highly competitive grants.
The donor engagement program, while already initialized, needed a marketing plan and strategy that was easily executed, scalable, and able to be implemented quickly.
This plan focuses specifically on methods of marketing through legacy and social media, methods of engaging and recruiting potential donors, methods of engaging and energizing current donors.
Our team has created social media templates, calendars, and guidelines for the general promotion of this program, strategy guides, and events and planning guides/templates for easy implementation of marketing directives, complete with supporting documents and step-by-step walkthroughs to make implementation and future scalability as easy as possible.
Organizational Background
The Belle Center was established, initially under the name “Father Vincent L. Belle Community Center Inc.” in 1976. Named after a Buffalo native and Catholic priest who was dedicated to serving God and his fellow man, specifically in the West Side of Buffalo community. His untimely death at the age of 37 inspired the naming and mission of the original Center, and continues to inspire the work of the organization, which has since been renamed “The Belle Center.” The Belle Center continues to provide innovative, educational, social and community building services for children, youth, senior citizens and families living in Western New York and is dedicated to helping the families and overarching community on the West Side of Buffalo attain self-sufficiency. The Belle Center is located at 104 Maryland St, Buffalo, NY 14201, and their website is thebellecenter.org.
S.W.O.T Analysis
Strengths:
Community based organization
Provides support for people of all ages, backgrounds, and needs.
Has financial support from many businesses, corporations, and grants that has allowed it to continue to operate over the years without relying on donors.
Have a highly successful community outreach plan, and has experienced significant growth in demand for its services in the past two years.
Weaknesses:
Relies substantially on highly competitive grants to fund its outreach and operational costs.
Lacks dynamic outreach online, both on its website and on social media.
Lacks community funding from local donors, and the great community engagement that results from that.
Opportunities:
Create an online and social media presence to promote the impact of their services and strengthen image integrity, to support community engagement, trust in its services and programs, and encourage potential donors to support its mission as a result of visual proof of the impact of funding.
Hosting a number of strategic events to promote community engagement, donor engagement, and donor enrollment.
Collaborate with other great organizations in Buffalo to cross-promote branding and awareness of The Belle Center and its mission at a low cost with great impact.
Engage with Buffalo-based sororities and fraternities in a mutually beneficial way that provides awareness and fundraising support for The Belle Center and its mission, and community service projects for the clubs.
Threats:
The main threat to The Belle Center is losing competitive grants and corporate funding, and not having grass-roots, community based funding to allow it to continue to provide provide important services and programs to the West Side of Buffalo community.
Social Media Audit
As of May 2, 2021
Media Type: New Media (Social Media)
Website
Pages
About
Contact
Our Partners
Job Openings
History and Mission
Programs
Early Childhood
Universal Pre-K Program
Advantage After School Program
Family & Senior Citizens Services
Genius Room
Widgets
Language selector
Events calendar
Google Map of the exact location
Media Type: New Media (Social Media)
Facebook
Analytics
1,514 likes
1,678 follows
1,313 check-ins
Website
Contact Information
Phone number
Facebook messenger
Email
Opening and Closing Hours
Organization Type
Nonprofit Organization
Instagram
@bellebuffalo (INACTIVE)
Media Type: New Media (Social Media)
Twitter
Analytics
801 following
1,140 followers
Joined September 2009
3,565 Tweets
Last tweeted: June 11, 2018
Media Type: New Media (Social Media)
Linkedin
Overview
Website
Phone
Industry
Company Size
Headquarters
Type
Founded
Specialties
Locations (1)
0 Posts
0 Job Offerings
26 Employees
Media Type: New Media (Social Media)
Instagram
Analytics
291 posts
397 followers
89 following
Bio
Website
Goals
Highlighting stories of children, families, and senior citizens who spend their time at The Belle Center
Appealing to potential donors on instagram by running an image based social media profile
Transitioning the personal Instagram account from personal to Business, allowing more fundraising opportunities
Showing appreciation for donor efforts on The Belle Center’s Instagram page
Building relationships with local fraternities and sororities in the area to gain more volunteers, programming, and donations
Addition of a donate button on the Instagram page
Fundraising Events
Annual Community Summer Event:
Event Features:
Catered Food from local Business, 716 Fresh
Owner: Corey Pepero
Contact Information
Email: 716fresh@gmail.com
Phone: (716) 662-7255
Ticket Raffle with varying prices
Live DJ Music
Donor Sign Up Table
LaSalle Park Picnic Shelter
Description:
The awareness of The Belle Center in the community is an important factor that contributes to the growth of the organization. It is our hope that an annual summer event will give the organization an opportunity to provide the community with entertainment, food, and a lasting memory of the impact The Belle Center has on the City of Buffalo.
Details:
Entry ticket (for food) we recommend charging $15, and then $1 per raffle ticket for the silent auction.
The main goal of this event is community engagement, but an important secondary goal is sign-ups for the donor program. Donor-program sign-up cards should be present on registration website, registration cards, at buffet lines, and on a separate table at the event. The gross revenue listed below does not include projected sign-ups for the donor program, so return on investment could easily be much higher than we can possibly anticipate.
Food Items and prices:
716 Fresh Catering
Full Trays, Salads, Cookie/Brownie, Beverage, Salads
Salad $3.50 per person
Fuji Apple Salad,
Chicken Caesar Salad,
Buffalo Chicken Salad,
Chicken Greek Salad,
Marinated Steak Salad,
House Salad,
Potato Salad,
Quinoa & Vegetable Salad,
Farmers Market Salad
Pastas & Entrees (Full Tray)
Beef & Cheese Lasagna $75,
Vegetable Lasagna $75,
Manicotti $75 (60),
Chicken Parmesan $75 (30),
Breaded Beef or Chicken Cutlets $75 (30)
Macaroni & Cheese $75
Venue
LasSalle Park Picnic Shelters/Pavilion at LaSalle Park
Special Events Permit required
All applications must be completed at least 30 days prior
Apply for Temporary Food Stand Permit from Erie County Department of Health
Ticket Raffle:
Five Small prize baskets (i.e. candy, snacks, etc. $15)
Two medium prizes: (i.e. Airpods $159 each )
One Large Prize: (i.e. Vizio 50” 4K UHD $298)
Target date/time for event: Last Saturday of June (6/26/2021 this year) 4:00pm - 8:00pm
Reasoning for date/time: This date was chosen because it is far enough into June when most students will be done with school and home from colleges. It is the weekend before the 4th of July, which should be far enough removed that people won't be expecting a fireworks show. It will also take place over a month before the annual donor event, giving the organization some time between events.
Budget/Details/ROI
Official Budget for 500 Attendees
Music/DJ: Starting at $350
Pop/Beverages: $50
Food Trays: $1,350
Salad: $1,400
Cookies/Brownies: $400
$1,000,000 liability insurance: $150
Park Permit: $35 per shelter
8,000 raffle tickets: $30
Lare Prize: Vizio 50” 4K UHD: $298
medium prizes: i.e. Airpods $159
Five Small prize baskets (i.e. candy, snacks, etc. $75)
Total budget (500 guests): $4,672
Projected gross revenue from event (500 guests): $10,828.
The Belle Center: Annual Donor Dinner Event
Event features:
Dinner at Salvatore’s Italian Gardens;
Relaxing music (DJ’d event);
Annual exposé of organizational impact statistics
Description:
Annual fundraiser event for donors and the families of donors to increase engagement with donors, show reciprocity, energize passive donors into active ambassadors for The Belle Center, and raise money in Q3 for greater mission impact going into the fall/leading into the winter.
Details:
Venue: Salvatore’s Italian Garden
Target number of attendees for first iteration of event: 450
3 course dinner with soup/salad, choice of starch and vegetable, choice of second course (see below), and choice of desert. Served with coffee and tea (See menu, page 7).
Ticket price:
$100 Sponsorship (Menu item: Bourbon chicken)
$125 Sponsorship (Menu item: 10 oz Grilled Berkshire Pork Chop),
$150 Sponsorship (Menu Item: New York Strip Steak)
Accounting for 10% negative response rate (adjust as needed): number of formal invites to be printed & mailed to targeted donors/potential donors/alumni: 495 (max attendees + 10%)
Target date/time for event: First Friday of August (8/6/2021 this year), 7-10 PM.
Reasoning: This date is chosen and targeted because of the approach of back-to-school, and the resulting mindset. The target audience is far enough removed from major holidays and the resulting stress to be more considerate of generosity and their community. In addition, back-to-school is just a few weeks away, which allows for a powerful, targeted messaging in the invite/advertising campaign, something following the theme of, “As children begin to go back to school, they need the support of organizations like The Belle Center more than ever. Your generosity will have a great impact on a student in the Buffalo Community.
The long time for dinner allows the large number of attendees to arrive at varying times, while keeping the venue from becoming too noisy with conversation.
When to Schedule: There is no stated timeline given by Salvatore’s Italian Gardens, but a target date of February 1st should be generally adhered to.
Exposé of impact statistics: this is a very social element of the event, it is expected purpose is to give donors assurance and a sense of their impact, provide them with touching stories from members of the community who have been affected by The Belle Center’s mission, and encourage donors to give more to have a greater impact, and become active ambassadors for The Belle Center, recruiting other potential donors by word of mouth in the hopes of raising the impact numbers for the next year.
Budget/Details/ROI:
Generally Stated Budget Parameters (adjust as necessary): $20,000
Official Budget for 450 attendees:
food/venue: $18,500
Music/DJ: $350
$1,000,000 liability insurance: $150
Advertising/invites: $1000
Total: ≈ $20,000
Estimated expenditure/attendee: $44.44
Minimum gross revenue (with 450 attendees): $45,000
Maximum gross revenue: $67,500
Projected gross revenue: $49,500
Promotional Materials
(fliers and social media posts relating to events)
Summer Event:
Community event
Donor Event:
Flyer Templates
Media Advisories
The Belle Center – 104 Maryland St, Buffalo, NY 14201 – https://thebellecenter.org – 716-845-0485
Contact: Name
Professional Title
Cell-phone Number
Personal E-mail Address
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Headline that mentions The Belle Center
and how the event benefits the community.
BUFFALO, NY – The Belle Center hosts _name of event_, a fundraiser to benefit _name specific cause_. All _name the audience (donors, members of community, etc…)_ are welcome to attend. There will be _list event features, speakers, anything of intrigue_, followed by _list times of key points of the event, such as times of speeches or awards, so that media doesn’t feel obligated to show up for entire event_. (Fill in the bold and italicized sections with information relevant to the event)
When: Date
Where: Location
Time: Start and End
Who: Who is it for/who of interest is going
to be attending (speakers, guests, etc…)
About The Belle Center
The Belle Center has been providing programs and services to the community for the past two decades. Services include early childhood and universal pre-K education, after school program and activities, and family and senior citizen services. More information at https://thebellecenter.org.
###
Notes:
No longer than one (1) typed page!
News contacts:
WIVB (Channel 4 news) Newsroom:
Phone: 716-876-7333
Fax: 716-874-8173
E-mail: newsroom@wivb.com
WKBW (Channel 7 news) Newsroom:
Phone: 716-840-7777
E-mail: wkbwnews@scripps.com
Contact: Rob Heverling
WGRZ (Channel 2 news) Newsroom:
Phone: 716-849-2200
WBFO (NPR) Newsroom:
Phone: 716-845-7040
Fax: 716-845-7043
E-mail: news@wbfo.org
Buffalo News:
E-mail: editor@buffnews.com (Mike Connelly)
E-mail: citydesk@buffnews.com
Phone: 716-849-4505) Bruce Andriatch (Assistant Managing Editor)
Social Media
Content Pillars + Example Week by week social media calendar
Pillars
Children
Family & Senior Citizens
Donors
Promotions/Collabs
Pillar 1: Children
Early childhood
Products provided to children
Early learning (children playing with educational toys)
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack (show what’s on the menu for the week)
Universal Pre-K Program
Requirements for enrollment
Curriculum (post children work)
After School Program
Comprehensive services (focus on one per week)
Info on the program
Pillar 2: Family & Senior Citizens
Food pantry (shows donor what products are available to residents and what products are needed)
Senior wellness program (focus on one service you provide per week)
Water aerobics (after covid)
Pillar 3: Donors
Tell a story about a specific child, senior, or family
Thank you posts thanking donors for their support and contributions to The Belle Center
Donor of the week (spotlight on a donor for the week with an appreciation post)
Pillar 4: Promotions/Collabs
Product Drives
Collaborations with other organizations
Events for donors and the community
EXAMPLE POSTING SCHEDULE
Post about 3-4x a week
Monday
Pillar 1: Children
Children doing work in the center, lunch for the day, children interacting with each other
Tuesday
Pillar 4: Promotions/Collabs
Promote annual summer community event happening in Delaware Park
Post flier, encourage donations and volunteers
Wednesday
Pillar 1: Children
After school program
Focus on a comprehensive service (STEAM)
Show the children’s work and interacting with staff
Thursday
Pillar 3: Family & Senior Citizens
Senior wellness program
Pictures of bingo night
Friday
Pillar 2: Donors
Donor of the week
Picture and a statement on why they choose to donate to The Belle Center
Colab Event:
Social Media Posts
Post template for any event
Post template #2 for any event
Post template #3 for any event
Future Media Goals
Website Reconstruction
Online Pledges
Greek-Letter Organization Event
Triathlon between Greek-Letter organizations and The Belle Center’s youth raising money for school supplies and electronics
Email Marketing
Newsletter
Church Bulletin
Establishing Notion for Teams
Powerful organization system
How To
How to use Canva to design fantastic posts for social media and promotional materials for events:
Using Canva:
Open www.canva.com in your browser.
For New Designs:
In the search box, specify the type of content/post you would like to design (e.g. Facebook post, Instagram post, 8.5X11 flier, postcard, etc…) and select the desired entry (pictured below).
To use one of the provided templates, select one from the “Your designs” slider at the bottom, or from the “All your designs” tab in the menu on the left-hand side.
Editing:
Once you are taken to the design screen (see picture below), select the tabs on the side to make changes/adjustments to the design.
To change the background image, search keywords in the search box under the “Photos” tab. Most photos are free to use, although some are not. If you cannot find a free photo under one search term, try another and you might get a similar image for free.
From the search results, drag the desired photograph over the design and drop it into the frame. Reposition by clicking and dragging it around the screen. To resize, select the corners of the image and drag inward or outward. To zoom in on a part of the image, double click on the image, and then drag the sides of the image inward or outward.
Change the text by double clicking over any existing type in the design, highlighting it, and replacing it with new/desired text.
Alternately, select the “Text” tab on the right-hand side, and select a font-style to drag and drop into the design.
To change fonts/font sizes, select the text in the design, and then locate the drop-down menu in the top right hand corner of the design interface (see picture below). Font suggestions are then shown to you, and you can select one that you like or search for fonts in the search bar.
When the design is crafted to your satisfaction, select the download icon from the top menu-bar in Canva (see picture below), select file-type (PNG suggested for quality purposes), and click download.
You’re all set! Simply locate the downloaded file in your downloads folder, and share the file, print it, or upload it to the desired social media platform!
Design Inspiration:
For special events, style changes, or to simply take creative license and change or test new social media posting designs, here are a number of similar accounts that we have identified as particularly effective on social media. For future reference, it may prove worthwhile to analyze their posting habits and designs.
Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America: https://www.facebook.com/BigBrothersBigSisters; https://www.instagram.com/bbbsamerica/; https://twitter.com/BBBSA
United States Department of Education: https://www.instagram.com/usedgov/; https://twitter.com/usedgov
Feeding America: https://www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica; https://www.instagram.com/feedingamerica/; https://twitter.com/FeedingAmerica
Collaborations
The Belle Center is a community organization with a rich history and track-record of success and impact in Buffalo. Student organizations and Greek-letter societies are constantly on the look-out for organizations, much like The Belle Center, to help out with community service projects and fundraising campaigns. What we have compiled here is a list of contacts for Greek-letter societies in the greater Buffalo area, with a draft e-mail and/or instagram message to use when contacting them. Such collaborations and partnerships will bring about an incredible grass-roots support system for The Belle Center which, combined with the events and increased presence online, will help support the great mission of the organization for many years to come.
SUNY University at Buffalo
General Greek Life Page: https://www.buffalo.edu/studentlife/life-on-campus/clubs-and-activities/search/fraternity-and-sorority-life.html
FraternitiesSororitiesLambda Chi Alpha
Instagram: @lambdachi_ubAlpha Gamma Delta
Instagram: @alphagammadeltaubLambda Phi Epsilon (Asian)
Email: lfenuwebmaster@gmail.comAlpha Kappa Alpha (Black)
Email: gammaiotaaka1908@gmail.com
Instagram: @gammaiota_akaLambda Theta Phi (Latino)
Email: Lambda75Buffalo@gmail.com
Instagram: @buffalo_lambdasAlpha Kappa Delta Phi (Asian)
Instagram: @buffalokdphiNu Alpha Phi (Asian)
Email: ethanzhu@buffalo.edu
Instagram: @buffalonaphiAlpha Sigma Tau
Contact: https://buffalo.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/alpha-sigma-tauOmega Psi Phi (Black)
Email: buffaloques@gmail.comDelta Phi Epsilon
Contact: https://dphieub.wixsite.com/dphieub/contactPhi Iota Alpha (Latino)
Email: lambda@phiota.orgDelta Sigma Theta (Black)
Email: gammakappadst@gmail.com
Instagram: @gammakappa_dstPi Delta Psi (Asian)
Contact: https://buffalo.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/pi-delta-psiMu Sigma Upsilon (Latina)
Email: dymondor@buffalo.eduSigma Beta Rho (Asian)
Email: tanhimkh@buffalo.edu
Instagram: @buffalo_sigrhoOmega Phi Beta (Latina)
Email: mu@omegaphibeta.orgSigma Chi Omega
Email: sigmachiomegadrive@gmail.comPhi Sigma Rho (STEM)
Email: psr.ub.president@gmail.com
Instagram: @phirhoub
Phi Sigma Sigma
Contact: https://buffalo.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/phi-sigma-sigma/contact
Sigma Delta Tau
Contact: https://buffalo.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/sigma-delta-tau/contact
Sigma Psi Zeta (Asian)
Email: buffalosigmas@gmail.com
Instagram: @buffalosigmas
SUNY Buffalo State College
General Greek Life Page: https://sle.buffalostate.edu/list-greek-organizations
FraternitiesSororitiesLambda Sigma Upsilon (Latino) Email: revolutionarykyodrowe@gmail.comAlpha Epsilon Phi Contact: https://bengalconnect.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/alphaepsilonphi/contactPhi Sigma Chi(Multicultural) Instagram: @buffalostate_phisDelta Delta Phi Zeta Email: deltaDeltaphizeta@gmail.com Instagram: @delta_delta_phi_zeta Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha (Latina) Email: buffalosia1990@gmail.com Instagram: @ruffbuffsia Mu Sigma Upsilon (Latina) Email: kyathiramsu@gmail.com Instagram: @kyathira_msu Omega Phi Beta (Latina) Instagram: @buffalo_betas Sigma Delta Tau Email: Buffstatesdt.president@gmail.com Instagram: @sdtbuffstate Zeta Chi Omega Email: zetachiomegabuffstate@gmail.com Instagram: @zetachiomega Zeta Phi Beta (Black) Email: zphibomu1983@gmail.com Instagram: @outstanding_omuzetas
Email & Instagram Collaboration Template
Dear (Organization, Incorporated),
Hello! We at The Belle Center, located in Buffalo, NY, are reaching out for a great opportunity to gather volunteers from your organization for (insert event). (Insert basic information and background on The Belle Center). We are hosting this event in order to (insert event goal) and would love if your organization came out to help, donate, or both. For more information, please respond at your earliest convenience at (insert email address and phone number). Thank you!
Best,
(Insert The Belle Center Contact)
Evaluation
The Belle Center is attempting to raise awareness of their programs and services while increasing their local, community funding and donor outreach and engagement efforts, in the hope of continuing operations and outreach for years to come.
The Belle Center asked us to come up with a marketing plan to increase awareness of and participation in their donor network/engagement program. They asked us to come up with simple ways to promote their brand on social media, and to develop a way for their target audiences to engage with them online.
Our plan and strategy came from a simple thought: that the best way to market The Belle Center to potential donors and at the same time promote their brand on social media is to make the great work that The Belle Center accomplishes every day as visible as possible to the most amount of potential donors online as possible.
Evaluation of our marketing plan can be done by tallying the number of attendees at the live events, the number of people who enroll in the donor network and commit to monthly pledges, and the number of page likes and follows, as well as engagements on social media. We hope to see large numbers of initial sign-ups in the donor program and a corresponding increase in page likes and engagements on social media within the first year.
The overall success of the campaign can be judged based on the total amount of donations and increased demand for services in the aftermath of its implementation.
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