Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Involve + Engage = Sustain: Partnering with Media


Involve + Engage = Sustain is a column dedicated to providing you with specific tools on community and parent engagement written by Becky Wilson, our Community Engagement Specialist.

In our new Community Engagement Toolkit, GEAR UP Coordinators are encouraged to ask partners to help “spread the word” about GEAR UP, and the importance of going to college.  In doing so, many potential partners have access to local media (newspaper, radio and TV) and regularly use these media to promote their business or group.  Asking them to share a portion of their regular advertising to support GEAR UP can be an effective way to put your message in front of a large audience.  In return, whatever portion of space/time is donated to support of GEAR UP is tax deductible. 

For example:  if your local hardware store has a weekly ad in the paper, perhaps they can insert a small (2” x 2”) GEAR UP logo & tagline.  If they advertise on radio, perhaps they could add a supportive GEAR UP spot to rotate in with their regular radio ads.  Here is a sample of what a generic ad might sound like!

The partner could certainly ad a tag line: “brought to you by Reedsport Ace Hardware”.  I used to work in mass media advertising, so I can help you with specifics if you would like.  Media can be easier than you think! 

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