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

– Twitter

• Following 200, Followers 65

• Mentions 15, Retweets 20, BCLC Tweets Retweeted 12

• Gavin’s Groupies posted videos and blogged about BCLC

– Facebook

• 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