Business Situation
The San Antonio Nonprofit Council and San Antonio Area Foundation planned to host San Antonio’s first Big Give S.A. event on May 6, 2014. Based on a national day of giving called Give Local America, The Big Give S.A. is a 24-hour day of giving for any Bexar County nonprofits interested in participating. Although Austin had held a successful Big Give in 2013, this was the first time most of the local community had heard of it. The group had a goal of raising $1 million for hundreds of local nonprofits. To accomplish this goal, The Big Give S.A. needed an integrated solution to introduce it to the city and encourage as many organizations and individual to participate as possible to ensure it would become an annual occurrence.
Solution
Using the marketing toolkit provided by the national organization as a starting point, esd immediately launched a comprehensive public relations campaign, which included writing and distributing press releases, coordinating two press conferences before The Big Give S.A. meeting with local media outlets to schedule interviews, and attending multiple radio and TV appearances. Mayor Julián Castro and the City Council participated in the press conferences and provided comments and quotes for the media. In addition to PR, esd handled social media outreach on various social platforms to increase awareness and build engagement leading up to May 6. To complement these PR and social media efforts, esd also developed digital billboards for additional outdoor coverage to reach audiences who may not be online or spend more time commuting. As a final reminder for The Big Give S.A., esd created an eblast for the San Antonio Nonprofit Council to invite nonprofits, businesses and individuals to their “Homestretch Party,” a countdown toward meeting and surpassing the fundraising goal. The Big Give S.A. raised nearly $2.1 million, doubling the original goal. To celebrate this success, esd created an infographic featuring key statistics from The Big Give S.A., such as: total gifts online, total unique donors, average gift amount, publicity value, and top nonprofits by amount raised and category. This one-sheet provided a unique summary of The Big Give S.A., showing the local community and beyond the impact that uniting for a cause can have.
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