THE CHALLENGE
In 1998, South Florida philanthropist Lois Pope founded a not-for-profit organization to raise the necessary funds to design, build and maintain The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, the country’s only national monument honoring disabled veterans, both living and deceased. While donations have trickled in over the years, the Foundation that oversees the effort wanted to accelerate the pace and begin construction. The Murry Agency was retained as public relations agency of record to increase awareness and impact fundraising nationally through traditional and emerging public relations and marketing initiatives.
PUBLIC RELATIONS and MARKETING STRATEGIES & TACTICS
In addition to traditional media outreach initiatives, TMA utilized social media to reach people all over the country and position Memorial fundraising as a grassroots and heartfelt effort. TMA created a Facebook profile and Twitter page on behalf of the Memorial, updating them daily with news items and articles of interest. In one instance, TMA posted a Facebook request asking disabled veterans to tell their stories. Within a few hours, the Agency received numerous replies from disabled veterans willing to tell their stories as well as family members of disabled veterans who also wanted to share their experiences. This collection, entitled “Stories of Honor,” was included on the Memorial’s website. The TMA posts on Facebook and Twitter instantly receive feedback from friends and followers, who then repost them to their Facebook friends and Twitter followers, thus creating a viral marketing effect.
THE RESULTS
By using Facebook and Twitter to engage in personal one-on-one communication with individuals, the Agency was able to build relationships for the client. As of July, 2011 the Facebook page had reached capacity of 5,000 friends and TMA has launched a complementary “fan” page to continue the momentum. The Twitter page had more than 600 followers and is also growing every day. As a result of this social media outreach, as well as TMA’s other traditional public relations techniques and the efforts of the Foundation team, the fundraising goal to build the Memorial has nearly been met.