In a world of so many diverse individuals – from different backgrounds and with widely opposing viewpoints – there are not many things that can unquestionably and universally connect us all. In fact, there is just one thing. We are all here on this earth because of a mother – because a woman took the responsibility to bring us into this world, to give us life. The miracle of life is one that has been largely entrusted to womankind, but it is the responsibility of all mankind to care for the women that make this miracle possible. Unfortunately, 283,000 times every year, we fail to do just that. Ninety-eight percent of all deaths due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth could be prevented if we ensured that all mothers received the essential health care they need and deserve. This is not just a third-world problem. Many women in the U.S. and other developed nations face barriers to necessary prenatal care. Yet awareness about this issue among Every Mother Counts’ target audiences remains low. In fact, the most recent research indicates that nearly half (46 percent) of U.S. adults do not know that maternal mortality impacts women here in the U.S. This could be due in large part to the fact that only 11 percent of U.S. adults read, saw or heard anything about the issue in the 12 months prior to being surveyed. There is clearly a gap to fill. Every Mother Counts is ready to change that – to not only increase awareness, but to inspire action and create a groundswell for the cause. By tapping into the sisterhood of motherhood, Every Mother Counts can empower women around the world to support one another in a way that transcends borders, race, political opinions, religious beliefs and socioeconomic backgrounds, leading the way to bring the number of preventable maternal deaths closer and closer to zero.
The Power of Motherhood Mothers connect us all, but motherhood is a more exclusive club. The feeling of being responsible for another human life, one that you have fostered and protected, is one that only mothers can truly experience and empathize. It’s a powerful bond that should be tapped.
While Every Mother Counts has identified several different target audiences that may engage in its mission and message, our campaign is focused on the audience that we believe has the greatest potential to move the needle – mothers with children under the age of 12. Because the majority of these young mothers have the recent experience of pregnancy (and all have the experience of raising children), they have a very personal and real connection to maternal health. They are most likely to identify with Every Mother Counts’ message and to take action that creates real change. With so many organizations and causes vying for young mothers’ attention and support, how can Every Mother Counts break through the clutter and move this target audience to take action? Every Mother Counts must demonstrate that it understands mothers — their motivations, their everyday challenges and their concerns — and then focus the power of motherhood toward a cause that brings mothers together.
A Mother’s Dedication Mothers are unabashedly dedicated to caring for their families. Between providing for their family at work, keeping the house in order at home, managing everyone’s schedules, driving to practices and everything in between, their days are spent putting their family, and especially their children, first. For example, according to a survey from research agency TNS Global, moms are more likely than dads to take off from work to care for a sick child (62 percent versus 47 percent). Also, more moms than dads believe their families would find it
difficult to manage everyday activities if they became sick (84 percent vs. 63 percent). Because who else can do it all better than mom? This mentality doesn’t leave much of an opportunity for mothers to take care of their own needs.
In fact, women think being a good mother means always putting their children before themselves.
If they don’t, they are left with “mommy guilt” – a feeling that by pampering themselves, they are neglecting another chore or activity that needs to be done. So mom’s needs are put last. Mothers make selfless decisions every day to put their children first, even if it means continually neglecting their own needs. Many wear this as a badge of honor – evidence of their commitment, proof that they are a good mom. But how can women most effectively care for others when they are neglecting to care for themselves?
Our Approach Every Mother Counts believes that every mother should be a priority – which includes many mothers making themselves one.
Imagine if by inspiring mothers to make themselves more of a priority, they are inspired to also help other mothers who need additional support. By connecting mothers around the idea that they are better mothers when they tend to their own needs, we can create a sisterhood of motherhood – where women can support each other and themselves to tackle an issue that they all can personally relate to in a way that no one else can. Every mother does count. And when each mother personally feels that they do, they will fight to ensure other mothers do, too.
Every Mother’s Monday We know that mother’s continuously put their needs aside to focus on the needs of their loved ones.
Mother’s Day is one of the few days of the year where mothers around the world are celebrated – and one of the few days humble, selfless mothers allow themselves to be put first. We do not want to take away from that. We want to celebrate that. Every Mother Counts should not focus on detracting from Mother’s Day, as has been done in previous campaigns such as “No Mothers Day.” Rather, Every Mother Counts should expand upon that day, tapping into that sense of appreciation and fulfillment and providing an outlet for the positive energy that is created. Following the Sunday of Mother’s Day – a day in which mothers across the world receive the much-needed love and attention they deserve – Every Mother Counts will celebrate “Every Mother’s Monday.” This day will call upon the mothers of the world to unite and share those feelings of love and appreciation, giving support to other moms and moms-to-be who need it. This support is not in the form of flowers or handmade cards, but in the form of awareness efforts and fundraising campaigns for improved maternal care. The Sunday of Mother’s Day is an already crowded holiday in which marketers are competing for attention. By sidestepping this cluttered dialogue and emerging on the Monday immediately following the holiday, Every Mother Counts better positions its message to be heard by its target audience and media.
Every Mother’s Monday will serve as a platform for Every Mother Counts to spread its mission through traditional and social media. Key messages for the campaign include: •
Every Mother Counts believes that mothers around the world should be celebrated every day of the year.
•
But this year, after many of us have been fortunate enough to feel celebrated on Mother’s Day by our wonderful children and families, we would like to take a day to celebrate other mothers who still need support.
• That’s why, for Every Mother’s Monday, mothers around the world are coming together to bring attention to the need for quality maternal care for every mother-to-be – because every mother counts. Every Mother’s Monday serves as a culmination of activities and programs established over the course of a nine-month campaign. In the following pages, we have outlined how those nine months will serve as the opportunity for Every Mother Counts to establish a strong community of mothers, activists and organizations that will form a sisterhood of motherhood that can create a groundswell of change in improving maternal health.
Thought Leadership To help establish credibility for our campaign, Every Mother Counts will conduct a survey of U.S. mothers – using a third-party research firm – and package the results as the “state of motherhood.” Topics covered will include personal needs and, most importantly, what forms of additional support moms would find most useful. This data may provide thoughtful insight into how employers could better support working moms or how healthcare providers can address the top concerns of mothers-to-be. We would then complement the results of this study with information on how mothers-to-be around the world need additional support in the form of maternal care. By sharing this “state of motherhood” data, we’re making moms realize that 1) they should not feel guilty for seeking out additional support or making their needs a priority, 2) they are not alone in feeling that they deserve more support, and 3) there are actionable things that women can do to come together to support each other, not just in the U.S., but around the world. For benchmarking purposes, the survey would also include questions that gauge familiarity among U.S. mothers of Every Mother Counts, as well as general awareness of global maternal health c hallenges. Survey findings will be released on Every Mother’s Monday, with data included in the event press release and distributed on national newswires. In addition to national distribution, direct pitching to top-tier media will include:
• Reporters that cover women’s issues at national publications such as Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, Washington Post or USA Today. • Reporters at parenting and women’s magazines such as Women’s Health, Working Mother, Redbook, Shape, Real Simple, Family Circle, Family Fun, Kiwi Magazine or Parents. • Producers at national broadcast outlets, including “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “Fox & Friends,” “The View,” “The Talk” or “The Meredith Vieira Show.” The study release would accompany a one-day media tour in New York City for Christy Turlington Burns to discuss Every Mother’s Monday. This eight-hour day would include in-person broadcast interviews and other one-on-one meetings with journalists at print publications, when appropriate. We would also enlist a family psychologist to act as an additional spokesperson for the campaign. The psychologist would provide more context to our survey results by discussing family dynamics and parenting advice. Having a third-party spokesperson would also lend credibly to the idea behind the Every Mother’s Monday campaign – that mothers are better positioned to help other moms when they feel supported.
Ambassador Program For Every Mother Counts’ mission to move to the forefront of mothers’ conversations and be part of mainstream dialogue, it has to be a movement – one that mothers across the country can rally behind and champion. To make this happen, we’ll tap influential moms and create an Every Mother Counts Ambassadors Program that leverages their existing networks to educate even more people about the issue at large. Every Mother Counts will identify 25 women in the top 50 U.S. DMAs to participate as Program Ambassadors. These women are relatable, ordinary moms doing extraordinary things. They cut across age groups, geographies, backgrounds and interests – yet they all share one thing in common: the bonds of motherhood and a passion for maternal health.
Ambassador Recruitment and Resources To select the Program Ambassadors, we’ll monitor online conversation in these markets to see who is already talking about maternal health issues or other topics related to our campaign. We’ll then reach out to those moms that we feel have the most substantial digital networks and the clearest connection to the cause. We’ll provide each Program Ambassador with a toolkit that includes key messages, social media posts and a variety of materials that guide them on how to host Every Mother Counts events. Through these events, Program Ambassadors will raise awareness and funds by inviting their friends and neighbors to activities that leverage Every Mother Counts’ existing programs and partnerships. For example, a Program Ambassador may host a No Woman, No Cry watch party or a Stella & Dot jewelry party promoting the Enlighten Bracelet. It could even mean organizing an Every Mother Counts team for an upcoming fundraising race.
All ambassadors will be asked to host three events throughout the year and post about it to their social networks using the #EveryMotherCounts hashtag. The Every Mother Counts website will then aggregate the digital content into one stream. As a thank you for their participation and advocacy, Program Ambassadors will receive a swag bag, filled with free Every Mother Counts merchandise, including items or discounts from Every Mother Counts’ partners.
Ambassador Program Expansion The Ambassador Program is not exclusive. Anyone with a passion for maternal health may choose to join. That’s why, after initial ambassadors in target markets are identified, anyone may visit EveryMotherCounts.org to sign-up to become a Program Ambassador. Once they have enrolled, they will receive a copy of the ambassador toolkit and will join in on the growing effort to create a community of impassioned individuals promoting maternal health. Additionally, ambassadors will be encouraged to recruit fellow ambassadors. Those that build the largest networks will be invited to attend Every Mother Counts’ national events, such as a meet-and-greet with Christy Turlington Burns and more.
Celebrity Ambassadors The Ambassador Program will also need some star power to help extend the reach of our message. We’ll seek out three influential moms that could be advocates of the organization. Our
three Celebrity Ambassadors will come from the following areas of influence: • Media Personality: New mom Savannah Guthrie from “The Today Show” or Kelly Ripa from “Live! With Kelly and Michael” could provide opportunities to elevate Every Mother Counts’ message to their television audiences. • Actress or Recording Artist: Celebrities like Jennifer Garner, Kristen Bell and Hilary Duff – women who are seen in the spotlight actively juggling motherhood and their careers – could be relatable discussing Every Mother Counts’ issues with audiences.
• Mommy Blogger: Influential mommy bloggers such as Taza or Cool Mom Picks have upwards of a quarter of a million followers on either Twitter or Instagram—huge digital networks that we could leverage. High-profile moms like these are asked to promote a lot of difference products and organizations. To encourage them to engage with Every Mother Counts, we need to make them feel a deep connection to maternal health by involving them personally. To do that, we’ll invite our three Celebrity Ambassadors to join founder Christy Turlington Burns on a mission trip to one of the Every Mother Counts’ grantees in a country such as Uganda or Haiti so that they may experience the challenges other mothers face firsthand. Every Mother Counts will cover the cost of the trip, asking only that the Celebrity Ambassadors come with an open mind and heart to the experience.
Partnerships Every Mother Counts has established a robust network of partner organizations that help to fund grantees and organizational efforts. To best position the organization for success in the future, Every Mother Counts must unify partner efforts in a cohesive way, maximizing their impact while looking forward to expanding its network of partners under the umbrella of Every Mother Counts’ partners. Partner Unification Many of Every Mother Counts’ current partners are intangibly unified in that they all provide products or services that benefit women and mothers. From helping mothers treat themselves with a yoga class or a new piece of jewelry to helping mothers care for their kids with an assortment of baby products, nearly any women would be able to find an Every Mother Counts partner that fits their style. But while these partners have many similarities and shared audiences, it is important to connect them in more tangible ways to Every Mother Counts. This can be done through branding, communications and more, such as: • Partner Logo. To help increase the reach of Every Mother Counts’ branding, as well as add credibility to purchases, an “Every Mother Counts Preferred Partner” logo will be developed and shared with all partners. Customers will develop a stronger recognition of the Every Mother Counts image, as well as trust that their purchase is directly benefitting the organization. Creative development would be extremely minimal, as the existing core logo would remain unaltered. Brand guidelines for using the logo would be provided to organizations so that they may see how they
can successfully incorporate their preferred partner seal with their own logo or into relevant product/ service details. • Partner Toolkit. Partners will have varying levels of commitment and resources available to help promote Every Mother Counts and their various initiatives to support the organization. However, for those that do have higher levels of investment, it is important to provide them with information and opportunities on how they could further their impact on maternal health.
All partner organizations would receive a complete toolkit of materials that includes: draft social media content to promote Every Mother Counts’ initiatives, event recommendations to host their own internal activities among employees and/or customers, and key messages to be used by sales associates and other consumerfacing staff so that they can actively promote Every Mother Counts’ products/services. • Partner Newsletter. While the toolkit will serve as a road map for how partner organizations can support evergreen Every Mother Counts’ activities, ongoing communications are required to keep partners up-to-speed on new initiatives and events. While
some updates may not even include a specific call-to-action for partners, the newsletter is a critical opportunity to keep partners informed and engaged with Every Mother Counts.
Partner Expansion Once current partners are unified, it will become even easier to bring new partners into this powerful collective of organizations for the cause. All new partners will receive the partner toolkit materials, along with a template joint news release to announce their new partnership with Every Mother Counts, and will be added to the partner newsletter.
As Every Mother Counts looks toward its first annual Every Mother’s Monday, many existing partners fall into the campaign’s mantra of encouraging mothers to treat themselves as well as helping other mothers. However, there are other potential areas that fall into this mantra that represent opportunities for new partnerships: • Massage chain. Suggested donation integration – For every mother who redeems a massage gifted to them on Mother’s Day, they can elect to have an incremental amount added to their tip that will be donated directly to Every Mother Counts. A small informational insert about this donation opportunity will be included in all gift certificates upon issuance.
• Flower delivery vendor. Suggested donation integration – Included on the reverse side of every Mother’s Day flower card insert in which senders include their message will be a call to action for the recipient to visit the flower vendor website on Every Mother’s Monday to help other mothers around the world by donating to Every Mothers Counts. • Cosmetics company. Suggested donation integration – The selected cosmetics brand will release a special edition product, such as a nail polish color or lipstick, on Mother’s Day. A portion of the proceeds from each product sale will be donated to Every
Mother Counts, and the product itself would include a special tag that explains the impact of their purchase on maternal health. For Every Mother’s Monday, moms could be sporting the newest shade of “Every Mother’s Magenta” on their nails or “Every Mother’s Mauve” on their lips. For both new and current partners, Every Mother’s Monday will serve as a rallying point for their year-round efforts. To encourage Every Mother Counts’ target audiences to support these partners, as well as to help drive donations as part of this “holiday,” partners will be asked to increase their typical contribution amounts or add
incentives to Every Mother Counts purchases. For example, for every purchase of the Stella & Dot Enlighten Bracelet on Every Mother’s Monday, Stella & Dot will give customers a $10 credit for additional jewelry; or for each Every Mother Counts box purchased from The Baby Box Co. on Every Mother’s Monday, 30 percent of the sale price (rather than 15 percent) will be donated. Every Mother Counts’ partners are an integral part of its network. It is when they are fully informed and engaged that we can activate their collective reach to further the mission of Every Mother Counts.
Social Media To bring Every Mother’s Monday to life online, we will extend the effort to social media. A Twitter chat moderated by the influential mommy blogger from our Celebrity Ambassador Program will leverage their existing community of followers. We’ll focus the online discussion on the barriers to maternal health, not just in third-world countries, but also here in the U.S., and make participants aware of what they can do to help. A successful Twitter chat will be guided by pre-set questions that touch on topics of interest to participants. We’ll use the hashtag #EveryMothersChat to aggregate the conversation and promote the event through blogger outreach, partner communications, our Program Ambassadors, as well as paid ads on Facebook and/or Twitter.
To extend the life of Every Mother’s Monday beyond those who participate in the Twitter chat, we’ll create a social media campaign that engages our target audience with a specific call to action. Using the hashtag, #EveryMothersMonday, moms across the U.S. will share inspirational messages or photos about why they count and how they’re doing something positive for another mother to show them that they count, too. Whether it’s their neighbor down the street or a mom halfway across the world, we want to spread acts of kindness to show every mother that
they matter. The call to action includes donating directly to Every Mother Counts, spreading awareness about the organization and being advocates for the cause. Every Mother Counts will promote paid posts from its Facebook and Twitter accounts, targeted at moms with young children. We’ll also provide a social sharing kit to our Program Ambassadors and partners so that these influential moms and organizations can spread the word about Every Mother’s Monday through their social networks.
Measurement To measure the success of our campaign, we will use metrics that directly tie to Every Mother Counts’ key organizational objectives to achieve the following by 2020:
Our campaign is primarily focused on the reach and engagement objectives. Because our Program Ambassadors are on-the-ground, they will play a critical role in reporting results back to the Every Mother Counts team. We’ll develop an ambassador engagement scorecard where they can record the number of individuals that have joined them in the cause, as
1. Reach — Build a community of 2 million committed individuals who have elected to be a part of fulfilling the
well as the number of actions that have been taken as a result of their outreach.
Every Mother Counts mission by raising awareness and taking actions on behalf of our organization.
Two weeks after Every Mother’s Monday, we’ll conduct a followup survey of U.S. mothers that includes the same questions
2. Engagement — Inspire 2 million actions per year that
from our original “state of motherhood” survey, gauging how
directly advance the Every Mother Counts mission by
much awareness mothers have of Every Mother Counts and
raising awareness and resources to support maternal
of maternal health issues. Results from this survey would
health.
determine how much our campaign was able to move the needle in terms of entering the organization and its mission into
3. Impact — Impact 2 million lives by 2020 through a portfolio of grants in six to eight countries that address two to three of the barriers to maternal health in each location.
the national spotlight and the minds of our target audience. In addition to our ambassador engagement scorecards and survey, we will analyze media coverage and social media conversation for reach, tone and message pull-through. Every Mother Counts will also monitor increases in website traffic and donations. All data from each of these monitoring activities would then be compiled into an overall campaign activity report.
Program-At-A-Glance
EVERY MOTHER COUNTS
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
AMBASSADOR
PROGRAM
PARTNERSHIPS
SOCIAL MEDIA
EVERY MOTHER’S MONDAY ONGOING MEASUREMENT & REPORTING
Timeline Thought Leadership
Ambassador Program
Partnerships
Social Media
Measurement
Sept. Ambassador Research Material Developed
Partner Toolkit Developed
Ongoing Monitoring & Ambassador Engagement
Monthly Media & Engagement Reports
Oct.
Nov. Research Methodology Developed
Ambassador Recruitment
Partner Unification Coordination
Dec. 2016 Nationwide Survey Conducted
Baseline Awareness Data Ambassador Program Launch
Jan.
Partner Expansion
Feb. Data Compiled & Analyzed
Mar.
State of Motherhood & Embargoed Pitching
Celebrity Ambassador Mission Trip
Coordinate Every Mother’s Monday Partner Materials
April May 9 Every Mother’s Monday
Release Study & Media Tour
Every Mother’s Monday Events & Promotions
Every Mother’s Monday Promotions
Every Mother’s Monday Twitter Chat & Social Activation
Post Campaign Survey
May
Budget Every Mother Counts Every Mother’s Monday Program Project Item
Estimated Fee
Estimated Expenses
Every Mother’s Monday
$80,000
$8,000
• Create master message documents
(wire distribution,
• Draft national press release; distribute over newswire
travel expenses
• Schedule and staff one-day New York City media tour
for two staff,
• Pitch national top-tier media for in-person interviews
expenses for Every
• Pitch other media targets for awareness day and Every Mother Counts mentions.
Mother Counts
• Develop and share Every Mother’s Monday materials to share with partners and ambassadors
spokesperson)
Ambassador Program
$200,000
• Identify ambassador program candidates
$30,000 (mission trip
• Recruit 25 program ambassadors
travel expenses,
• Develop ambassador toolkit
ambassador
• Manage ambassador communications
materials and
• Identify 12 celebrity ambassador candidates
incentives)
• Coordinate outreach to celebrity ambassador candidate representatives to select three (3) based on interest and availability • Plan celebrity ambassador mission trip with Christy Turlington Burns • Plan program ambassador recognition opportunities • Establish ambassador reporting and check-in system • Create online Ambassador subpage for EveryMotherCounts.org Partnerships
$52,000
• Develop partner toolkit materials including: • Partner logo lockup and guidelines • Social media content • Event recommendations and materials • Employee key messages • Create partner newsletter template • Draft content for three (3) partner newsletters • Identify six (6) additional partner candidates for program expansion Thought Leadership
$30,000
$40,000
• Identify third-party survey vendor
(survey costs
• Develop “State of Motherhood” survey
and third-party
• Review results and compile “State of Motherhood” report
spokesperson fee)
• Create accompanying infographics of data • Identify third-party spokesperson; coordinate participation • Pitch survey results to top-tier relevant media Social Media
$10,000
• Develop graphics for three (3) promotional posts for Facebook and Twitter
$5,000 (promotional costs
• Work with Facebook and Twitter representatives to target posts to new moms
for Facebook and
• Activate promotional posts the week leading up to Every Mother’s Monday and the week following
Twitter ads)
Measurement
$30,000
• Compile ambassador engagement reports
$15,000 (survey costs)
• Draft campaign follow-up survey to determine awareness change • Traditional media tracking and monitoring • Social media tracking and monitoring • Draft and submit campaign activity report Campaign Totals
$402,000
$98,000