The Lawrence Ragan 2015 Nonprofit PR Awards recipients were just announced! Nominations for the most successful work done to make the world a better place were submitted for consideration, then narrowed down based on effectiveness of their mission and public relations campaign. Lawrence Ragan Communications is a leading publisher of corporate communications, public relations, and leadership development newsletters. And the winners are…
Foundation Partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs aims to reduce teen driving fatalities
Comprehensive campaign results in tens of millions of impressions, heightened awareness
By PR Daily | 6/25/2015
Best Community-Nonprofit Partnership Winner
One out of every three teen deaths is attributable to a traffic accident—the top cause of teen deaths. Working with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), the UPS Foundation aimed to make a dent in that statistic. They succeeded, and their efforts also won first place in the in the Best Community-Nonprofit Partnership category of PR Daily’s 2015 Nonprofit PR Awards. Through a blend of local and national media relations efforts and social media outreach, the Foundation sought to raise awareness of the UPS Road Code, a safe driving program offered in conjunction with BGCA. Activating the campaign during National Teen Driver Safety Week—when media and public attention would already be focused on the issue—served to intensify the attention the campaign would get. With a foundation of solid research, the Foundation earned nearly 1 billion impressions (at a cost of less than one-tenth of a cent per impression). Among the efforts that earned these impressions were the “UPS Road Code Report Card Quiz,” which inspired people to share the link via their social networks; an interactive station featuring a quiz and games that mirror typical morning routines for teenagers (offered at Road Code Challenge events); and an online petition where teens could pledge to be a safe driver. For bringing a variety of well-planned and effective channels to bear in support of an important cause, and for its partnership with BGCA to make it a reality, we are honoring the UPS Foundation with our award for best Community-Nonprofit Partnership. Our congratulations go out to Emily Towey, Maureen Brennan and Shannon Ross.
Nonprofit Partnership with Corporations: A Winning Combination
The UPS Foundation and Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA) teamed up to educate teen drivers and their parents about safe driving practices and dangers of driving while distracted. Their’s is a great example of the benefits of a nonprofit partnership with corporations. The partnership is equal parts targeted public relations and well-planned use of technology to create awareness, educate and engage. The program kicked off during National Teen Driver Safety Week to take advantage of greater focus on the issue and media/public attention. Computer driving simulators are used by the teens and 150 UPS drivers that are specifically trained as volunteer instructors.
Driving Even More Awareness with Mobile
An effective way that the BGCA & UPS could get more mileage from their highly successful partnership program would be to use mobile-friendly petitions and surveys which can be promoted on their websites, at events and on social media. For example, encouraging teens to sign the petition where they pledge to be a safe driver, who then text the link to their friends or post to their social media. By segmenting the lists of participants who fill out the custom forms, both organizations can better target their audiences with focused mobile communications. They can use text messages, which are opened 99% of the time, to effectively update parents and teens about the newest driving laws, safety news and seasonal tips. Form customization allows non-payment options that convert your traditional donation page into a fully-functioning, mobile responsive survey or petition.
