How do we get national level exposure for our NeighborWorks Week Events?
This upcoming year, fundraising is going to be very much about 'friendraising', exposing our mission to as many people as possible in ways that they can feel.
When I try to describe NeighborWorks and/or community development to people outside the community development circle, I usually get that aha look of recognition when my audience says, "Oh, you are like Habitat for Humanity!" While that is OK, wouldn't it be fun to achieve that level of instant recognition for our work as NWO's.
First we need a SMART goal. I have chosen as a goal - a story about NWO's in a nationally syndicated magazine that appears in the Sunday edition of the newspaper, let's say Parade or USA Today by the end of 2011. To reach that goal we need one unifying activity that is done preferably in the same time period- NW Week - that captures the imagination of the general public and demonstrates our vast impact.
Here in Baltimore, we are playing with the idea of "Building Community:BYOB - Bring Your Own Box" to encourage groups of people - corporations, banks, neighborhood associations, etc. to build our neighborhoods on a parking lot scale out of cardboard boxes. It would be a one day event patterned on a city fair model. Noel Halvorsen of Green Bay vetted this idea at an NTI in Atlanta a few years ago. It has resonated with me ever since. Another fun idea was the float entered by an NWO in the community parade in upstate NY last year during NW Week.
What other imaginative options could we consider?
Remember the goal is national recognition, so having fun needs to be a part of it. Because I have what I refer to as a bumper sticker mentality, I am calling it the "Say My Name Campaign."
When I try to describe NeighborWorks and/or community development to people outside the community development circle, I usually get that aha look of recognition when my audience says, "Oh, you are like Habitat for Humanity!" While that is OK, wouldn't it be fun to achieve that level of instant recognition for our work as NWO's.
First we need a SMART goal. I have chosen as a goal - a story about NWO's in a nationally syndicated magazine that appears in the Sunday edition of the newspaper, let's say Parade or USA Today by the end of 2011. To reach that goal we need one unifying activity that is done preferably in the same time period- NW Week - that captures the imagination of the general public and demonstrates our vast impact.
Here in Baltimore, we are playing with the idea of "Building Community:BYOB - Bring Your Own Box" to encourage groups of people - corporations, banks, neighborhood associations, etc. to build our neighborhoods on a parking lot scale out of cardboard boxes. It would be a one day event patterned on a city fair model. Noel Halvorsen of Green Bay vetted this idea at an NTI in Atlanta a few years ago. It has resonated with me ever since. Another fun idea was the float entered by an NWO in the community parade in upstate NY last year during NW Week.
What other imaginative options could we consider?
Remember the goal is national recognition, so having fun needs to be a part of it. Because I have what I refer to as a bumper sticker mentality, I am calling it the "Say My Name Campaign."
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jason Zavala on -
Karen, I think milk came out of my nose on the "Say My Name Campaign." Shame it can't be just that.
After 10+ years of following NWO organizations around the country, I have collected a satchel of "poor" and "housing" like terms from colleagues in describing mission or what they "DO". I think so long as it includes like terms you cannot escape the H4H almost moniker. So what about (as a bumper sticker), "We mortgage residents" - maybe even in the same scary "We buy Homes" font, color, etc.? Something similarly obtuse like this has got to get us out of the dry 1985 series of social service sector work... I know you wanted more, but it's late.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Zavala on
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i think i meant "we unmortgage residents".
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Permalink Reply by Karen Griffin on -
Thanks for your input.
I know there is no magic wand, this will take time and a commitment to the same theme consistently to capture the public imagination. With 240 NWO's, we have significant impact. We do not take advantage of that.
At the beginning of the foreclosure crisis, St. Ambrose used the "We Don't Buy House but We will Help You Keep Yours" as a bus ad campaign. It was incredibly successful. It was also used for a mailing campaign and other housing groups have used it as well.
The hard part of all of this is NeighborWorks needs to be the brand for NeighborWorks to get the recognition. That is why we have agreed locally to make sure our June 2010 NWWeek is "NeighborWorks Presents." - Attachments:
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St Ambrose Bus Int 7-06.JPG, 284 KB
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Permalink Reply by Alma Muriel Vasquez on -
Something like:
"We don't just create a home, we build and strengthen communities"
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