Public Relations Campaign for Fort Worth Sister Cities
Prepared for Amiso M. George, Ph.D., APR Schieffer School of Journalism Texas Christian University TCU Box 298060 Fort Worth, TX 76129 Prepared by Allison Bailiff Taylor Chatfield Courtney Diershaw Haley Gendron Tiffany Rogers Lauren Secchio Kara Webster April 23, 2009
Public Relations Campaign for Fort Worth Sister Cities Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Research…………………………………………………………………………………...2 Planning…………………………………………………………………………………...4 Execution…………………………………………………………………………….……6 Evaluation………………………………………………………………………...……….8 Appendices…………………………………………………………………..……….…..10 Appendix A: Fort Worth Sister Cities Contributors Brochure Appendix B: Fort Worth Sister Cities Economic Impact Study Appendix C: Fort Worth Sister Cities International Annual Report Appendix D: Focus Group Questionnaire Appendix E: Fort Worth Sister Cities International Intern Manual Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….…….11
Executive Summary The Sister City movement started in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated the People to People program at the White House. Fort Worth joined Sister Cities International in 1981, and chartered Fort Worth Sister Cities International in 1985 with the mission “to advance peace through lasting relationships and international understanding” (www.fwsistercities.org). Fort Worth Sister Cities International is currently seeking to increase awareness of its programs among the residents of the greater Fort Worth area. Increasing the number of middle school applicants and expanding publicity to the Fort Worth area will help accomplish this goal. By implementing these objectives, the program will be able to attract more potential student participants as well as financial donors to help balance the growing budget. It is proposed that Fort Worth Sister Cities increase awareness to area middle schools, explore new media outlets for publicity, create and implement promotional events in the Fort Worth area and plan a new annual fundraiser to increase financial donation. Specifically, Fort Worth Sister Cities will utilize interactive, informative presentations and invite former program participants to speak about their experiences with the Sister Cities program. Use of incentives will encourage a higher number of participants, as well as a cultural food tasting from each of the seven cities in the program. Furthermore, Fort Worth Sister Cities will create informational packets particularly for parents and cultural fair visuals for students. Increasing the use of media outlets will increase the knowledge and awareness of the Fort Worth Sister Cities programs and services among Fort Worth residents as well as residents from the surrounding area. It is recommended that the organization create press releases for magazines and local newspapers, as well as redesign the organization’s website, to better reach a broader base of potential donors and participants. Creation of a public service announcement to be played on local radio stations will increase the reach of Sister Cities’ publicity to new audiences and allow these audiences to gain a greater knowledge of the organization without excessive cost. Planning a new fundraising event to be held annually is recommended. Sister Cities Executives and former students will be invited to speak on behalf of the program to financial donors, while also displaying a slideshow of the seven sister cities. This event will be used to reinforce the importance of the organization, honor financial contributors, and demonstrate how donated funds are allocated among various programs. To measure success of the program, it is pertinent that Fort Worth Sister Cities develop surveys and databases. Surveying parents, students, and financial contributors will provide useful information that will allow the organization to evaluate the success of each program. Databases will ensure retention of this information for later reference. Increasing awareness of Fort Worth Sister Cities throughout the greater Fort Worth are will allow the organization to increase its base of financial contributors, supporters and participants so that it may effectively accomplish its mission of promoting international peace and understanding.
Introduction Sister Cities is a 501c3 non-profit organization partnered with cities around the world in an effort to promote peace and cultural understanding through various exchanges for youth and adults. The Sister City movement began in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated the People to People program at the White House. Sister Cities International is the premier organization for citizen diplomacy in the United States. Sister Cities International represents the sister cities program of 1,283 US cities and their 2,930 partners in 137 countries worldwide. Fort Worth joined Sister Cities International in 1981. In 1985, Fort Worth Sister Cities International (FWSCI) was formed and chartered. FWSCI has a contract with the City of Fort Worth government to manage Fort Worth’s Sister Cities program. Fort Worth signed its first Sister City agreement with Reggio Emilia, Italy in 1985. Since then, the following cities have been signed: Trier, Germany (1987); Nagaoka, Japan (1987); Bandung, Indonesia (1990); Budapest, Hungary (1990); Toluca, Mexico (1998); and Mbabane, Swaziland (2004). Exchanges with each of the Sister Cities are organized primarily but not limited to the following categories: youth, education, arts and culture, government, medical and healthcare, professional development and economic development. These activities are supported by membership dues, private donations, program fees, grants and fundraising events. FWSCI also receives funding from the City of Fort Worth’s hotel occupancy tax revenues to assist with overhead costs. Past ambassador middle schools include the following Fort Worth area schools: Morningside, Wedgewood, McLean, Daggett, Monnig, Daggett Montessori, and William James Middle School. Fort Worth Sister Cities International has been part of the community since 1981 during which time they have brought together thousands of residents from Fort Worth and their seven sister cities in an effort to build international friendships and create understanding among people from different parts of the world. The majority of programming is geared towards youth and has won the Best Overall Program in the Nation four times. Fostering international awareness and leadership among Fort Worth youth through a fun, non-competitive atmosphere, is a focal point of activity for FWSCI. Sister Cities works in partnership with Fort Worth area school and neighborhood youth groups to organize the program.
Research Situation Analysis Sister Cities current promotional activities focus on the metropolitan area of Fort Worth and therefore, to increase members, donors and participants, needs to focus its promotional efforts on expanding further into the suburbs of the greater Fort Worth area. An interview with the executive of Sister Cities revealed a need to strengthen the awareness and participation of middle school students due to their low representation in current Sister Cities programs. Fort Worth Sister Cities, along with all other nonprofit organizations, are constantly competing for crucial resources such as volunteers, employees, financial contributors and proper recognition. Sister Cities must also compete with local travel agencies, schools and religious groups that send adults and students on trips abroad. Target Audience Interviews with Sister Cities executives revealed that the proposed target audience for Fort Worth Sister Cities is all residents of the greater Fort Worth area. The organization wishes to inform all residents of the program, its goals and services because of the growing need for global knowledge and education to promote peace and diplomacy. After assessing the list of previous participating groups, potential target audiences were determined. Fort Worth Sister Cities targets community groups, church groups, school districts, students, Boys’ and Girls’ Club, etc. in order to disseminate program information to middle and high school students. Attitudes of Audiences Toward Organization Discussion with Sister Cities executives and review of the Fort Worth Sister Cities website show that audience attitudes about the program are positive. However, many people, especially students the program is geared toward, are unaware of the program and the services it offers. Consequently, there is no way to know the opinion of the target audience concerning the organization. Therefore, Sister Cities executives wish to focus on creating awareness by developing a positive image through presentations and community events. Competition Fort Worth Sister Cities International competes with two main groups. First, all non-profit organizations locally and nationally offer competition with Sister Cities for donors, members and program participants as well as crucial resources such as volunteers, employees, and proper recognition. The second major competition
that Fort Worth Sister Cities faces is organized travel programs and school trips. Many travel organizations set up trips abroad for both students and adults at a group rate. These trips can be very alluring because they are going to major destinations of the world and offer an array of activities and sight seeing. Additionally, many schools, primarily high schools, organize their own trips abroad. The students can go with their friends and it usually fits in with their schedule well. However, Sister Cities executives feel they offer something different. Their trip is not only a cultural and educational experience but it builds personal relationships as well. Rather than just doing a whirlwind tour, the students get to spend up to two weeks living with a host family with children close to their age. They get to actually form relationships and have contacts abroad while gaining a more realistic sense of how the particular foreign culture really operates. Relevant Information Fort Worth Sister Cities has many opportunities to grow and expand within the Fort Worth community. Based on our research and knowledge of the organization, we believe that promoting Fort Worth Sister Cities is the key to expanding the outreach of the organization. Being able to expand and implement new media outlets will result in an increase of knowledge and participation in Fort Worth Sister Cities.
Planning Goal: Increase awareness of Fort Worth Sister Cities International to the Greater Fort Worth Area. Objective 1 Increase the number of middle school applicants by 20 percent within one year. Strategy : Increase publicity for Fort Worth Sister Cities to middle schools in the greater Fort Worth Area Tactic 1: Send press kits to the administration of each school district and private school Tactic 2: Advertise for Sister Cities informational event, which will be held at one middle school per district, but open to any secondary student. Sub-Tactic 1: Send visual material (posters, flyers, etc.) to school districts to hang throughout the middle schools. Sub Tactic 2: Send an informational press release to be placed in middle school Parent Teacher Association letters and/or emails. Tactic 3: Hold the informational event. Sub-Tactic 1: Set-up tables, which represent each of the 7 countries that Sister Cities shares a partnership with. Sub-Tactic 2: Hold a separate meeting for parents at the same time as the cultural fair for students, which details safety and monetary concerns. Sub-Tactic 3: Collect contact information from students and parents that attend the event. Sub-Tactic 4: Send an email survey with incentive to the attendees to evaluate the event. Sub-Tactic 5: Send periodic email updates and direct mail flyers to remind attendees of program deadlines. Objective 2 Increase publicity to the greater Fort Worth area. Strategy 1: Explore new media outlets to increase awareness of Fort Worth Sister Cities.
Tactic 1: Send press kits to local news stations. Tactic 2: Send press releases to local newspapers. Tactic 3: Create a public service announcement to be played on local radio stations. Tactic 4: Re-do the entire website. Sub-Tactic 1: Add outlines of Sister Cities available programs.
Sub-Tactic 2: Update website design and appeal to current standards. Sub-Tactic 3: Add a travel blog in which program participants can post photos and journal entries from Sister Cities trips. Sub-Tactic: Add a counter to keep track of the amount of visitors to the website Strategy 2: Create and implement new promotional events throughout the greater Fort Worth area. Tactic 1: Contact Central Market Co. and plan a 7-week cooking class series that focuses on a different Sister Cities partner country weekly. Sub-Tactic 1: Promote event in “Lifestyle” section of local papers and magazines through press releases. Sub-Tactic 2: Promote event through sending representatives to local women’s clubs meetings. Tactic 2: Implement a 6-week series of cultural movies to be shown on the TCU campus weekly in the BLUU auditorium. Sub-Tactic 1: Collect contact information from attendees and send them periodic email updates. Objective 3: Increase private financial contribution to Fort Worth Sister Cities by 20% within 24 months. Strategy: Create a new annual fundraising event for Fort Worth Sister Cities International Tactic 1: Plan a “Go Global Gala” to be held each fall, before most programs commence for the following year. Sub-Tactic 2: Invite former donors, government officials, local business owners and community ambassadors through direct mail. Sub-Tactic 3: Charge $500 per plate. Tactic 2: Create a presentation to be shown at the gala. Sub-Tactic 1: Create a slideshow of pictures from former trips to play upon entrance to the gala. Sub-Tactic 2: Invite an official Sister Cities ambassador from one of the 7 cities to be the keynote speaker. Sub-Tactic 3: Invite a youth speaker to speak about their experience with a Sister Cities program and the benefits of learning to be a global citizen. Sub-Tactic 4: Invite the Fort Worth Sister Cities CEO Mae Ferguson to speak about the distribution of finances within the program. Tactic 5: Create an optional survey to be placed at each place setting requesting feedback on the gala.
Execution Objective 1, Strategy 1: Increase publicity to middle schools in the greater Fort Worth area. Tactic 3: Hold the informational event. Focus: • Testimonials from past travelers to the seven Sister Cities locations, to entice students to apply for the Sister Cities programs. • An informational presentation including a PowerPoint and packets of information for parents concerning travel costs, safety, amenities, educational activities, requirements and program deadlines. Breakdown of Campaign: • Create a sign-in sheet where attendees will leave contact information including email addresses, phone numbers and physical addresses. These will be used to send email updates about various Sister Cities programs, application deadlines and a survey to provide feedback and review the success of the event. • Create an opening slideshow and have a Sister Cities executive introduce the Sister Cities programs available to middle school and high school students, as well as the seven Sister Cities locations. • Have Sister Cities volunteers, alumni and interns arrange seven tables within the space that each focus on one of the seven Sister Cities locations. Make brochures for students that include information about each location. Each table should be decorated to represent its corresponding country. Souvenirs to display, snacks from the corresponding country, photographs from past trips and a display board to present both cultural and geographic information will all be included. The ethnic snacks will be partially donated. • After the introductory presentation, parents will be guided through a separate informational session led by a Sister Cities executive. The presentation will detail safety precautions, educational activities and specific cost for each program. A PowerPoint will be created that corresponds with parent informational packets, providing a visual illustration of each Sister Cities location. • The program will conclude by bringing parents and students back together for a closing presentation given by a Sister Cities executive. At the end of the presentation applications will be available to students for the various upcoming Sister Cities programs and trips.
Objective 2, Strategy 1: Create and implement new events throughout the greater Fort Worth area. Tactic 1: Contact Central Market Co. and plan a 7-week cooking class series that focuses on a different Sister Cities partner country each week. Focus: • To reach a larger audience throughout the greater Fort Worth area by utilizing each possible Central Market location. Because Central Market typically caters to high-income families, programs at these locations will allow Sister Cities to target possible donors. Breakdown of Campaign: • Sister Cities will contact Central Market locations to propose a seven-week long cooking class series focusing on one of the seven, partnered countries each week. Ten percent of the proceeds from the classes will be donated toward future Sister Cities programs. • Create a press release to send to local newspapers and magazines for their lifestyle sections detailing the series and the monetary benefits that Sister Cities will receive from each registration. Contact local radio stations to buy early morning and late afternoon advertising space. • Create flyers and posters to provide for Central Market to help publicize the series. • Contact local women’s groups and send Sister Cities representatives to promote and explain programs and the cooking series. • The cooking series will cost $50 per week and guests are not required to attend each week. However, if guests wish to preregister for the series, they will receive a discounted rate. • Provide promotional and donor information each week that is accessible to all participants. • Offer all participants the opportunity to attend Sister Cities annual “Go Global Gala.”
Evaluation Objective 1 Increase number of middle school applicants by 20% within one year. • Keep an accurate database which details the number of total applicants per year split by age, grade, school district and gender. Compare previous applicant data with data collected at the end of the year. Use this information to curtail future programs and easily find underrepresented audiences. • Create an incentive-based optional survey and email it to all attendees of the middle school informational event. In the survey ask if the attendees plan to apply for a Sister Cities program in the future, found the event entertaining as well as informational and if they would like more information. Record and evaluate feedback to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the program. Objective 2 Increase publicity to the greater Fort Worth area. • Create a media list of which newspapers, radio stations, magazines and other media outlets ran stories referring to or specifically focusing on Sister Cities. Include information detailing specific locations of media and publicity reach to compare to previous locations of contact. • Create and maintain a contact list of local organizations that showed interest in Sister Cities or invited a Sister Cities representative to speak at a meeting or gathering. This contact list will be used as a reference to send Sister Cities updates and event announcements. • Include a counter to keep track of the amount of visits to the updated website in order to provide quantitative data to show an increased interest and heightened awareness of Fort Worth Sister Cities. • Keep track of attendees and details concerning continued attendance in a database. Also track participants who chose to pre-register for the series and their attendance each week. These records can be used to target people who are aware and interested in Sister Cities. • Track people who attended the cooking series and also attended the gala to target possible future donors. Also track people who attended the cooking series and subsequently donated to Sister Cities, to evaluate the effectiveness of the cooking series at attracting potential donors.
Objective 3 Increase private financial contribution to Fort Worth Sister Cities by 20% within 24 months. • Maintain current budget so that future donations can be compared to previous donations. • Create a contact list of all current and previous donors including the amount they donated (optional) so that they may be honored in company newsletters, reports and events. Building relationships with these donors will hopefully entice continued monetary support. The donors contact information can also be used as a list of interested parties, to send informational packets and annual reports. Collect, evaluate and record feedback from the optional surveys provided at the “Go Global Gala,” so that the event can be improved in the future.
Appendices Appendix A: Fort Worth Sister Cities Contributors Brochure Appendix B: Fort Worth Sister Cities Economic Impact Study Appendix C: Fort Worth Sister Cities International Annual Report Appendix D: Focus Group Questionnaire Appendix E: Fort Worth Sister Cities International Intern Manual
Bibliography Fort Worth Sister Cities. Jan. 2009. Fort Worth Sister Cities. 27 Mar. 2008. <http://www.fwsistercities.org/>