9-29-08_Keynote_Presentation_-_Public_Engagement

							Using Born Learning Public
 Engagement Campaign to
 Build Support for Children


                New Hampshire
        Early Learning Coalition
             September 29, 2008
What’s
   happening
here?
The New Math of Early Childhood


public awareness

+ parent education

x community mobilization
____________________________________

lasting early childhood system change
    What Does That Look like? Born Learning Case Study

• In budget crisis mode, Florida Legislature was cutting to the bone

• United Way of Florida galvanized support for T.E.A.C.H
   – Led process to identify, educate, persuade & activate business

   – 30 prominent business leaders recruited to call key legislators

• T.E.A.C.H survived
   – Kept its $3 million when others did not
 Strategies Behind the FL Success
• Re-invigorated informal statewide coalition

• Business engagement a focus
   – Outreach to employers with parent material
   – Targeted, enlisted & enrolled business as champions
   – Connected business w/ hometown legislators

• Active use of Born Learning tools
   – PSAs as “visibility backdrop” & resource referral
   – Parent education materials via partnerships (pediatricians)
   – Communications tools to make the case to business

• United Ways took a leadership role
  Q. What Is Born Learning?


• Free community engagement tools for early learning coalitions

• Unique national visibility designed for local adaptation
   – $123 million worth of donated media, 700 local & state campaigns

• 500+ downloadable tools, tips & templates to boost public
  awareness, caregiver education & community action

• One strategy to reach family, friends & neighbor caregivers
   – 12 million parents reached in first 2 years with PSAs & materials

                                A. All of the above…
Born Learning Message Framework:
A Message of Reassurance & Prevention

• Telling stressed, overwhelmed parents, grandparents &
  caregivers that early learning isn’t hard or expensive…it’s
  nurturing relationships that matter

• Communicating that children are active participants in their
  own learning…literally born learning … and here’s how you
  can support learning

• Targeting adults impacting children in the early years

• Helping adults create environments to support a child’s
  social, emotional, cognitive development – at home, in child
  care & in the community
Launched in 2005 With Dual Approaches

• Designed to help parents, caregivers & communities create
  early learning opportunities for young children – in 2 ways
   1. National parent education effort with advertising & Web site
      (www.BornLearning.org) reaching mass audience of parents

   2. Local or state-organized efforts to build public support and
      political will for early childhood programs, funding, systems


• Campaign offers adaptable, research-based tools to support
  both approaches
       • create visibility for early childhood
       • add value to parent education & outreach
       • increase velocity to community mobilization efforts
Built on Partnership

•   United Way of America
•   Families and Work Institute
•   The Advertising Council
•   Local & state business, government & nonprofit partners
•   Strong national alliances
     – Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library & First Book
     – Association of Children’s Museums
     – Parents As Teachers
     – National League of Cities
     – Birth to Five Policy Alliance
 Born Learning Community Engagement Tools


1. Raise awareness
• Increase visibility about early learning with Ad Council PSAs,
   media relations tips & templates

2. Educate parents, grandparents & caregivers
• Educate parents on child development & make it fun with
   “learning on the go” ideas in material & on Web site

3. Mobilize communities to action
• Build public will to make policy, program or budget change, with
   community action tools & technical assistance
Any Community Can Use the Tools at Any Stage


• PSA placement
                          Awareness
• Public relations


• Localizing educational material
• Proactive material distribution               Education
• Working with partners to target parents

• Targeting opinion leaders and policy makers
• Engaging stakeholders & volunteers                    Action
• Using multiple tools to drive your overall strategy
Public
Awareness
  Born Learning Awareness Opportunities

• PSAs to boost issue visibility & connect caregivers with resources
   – Award-winning Ad Council ads to 24,000 media outlets
   – TV, radio, print, billboard, Web ads (localizable by United Ways)

• PSAs have reached some 6 million parents
     • 55% of those who recall ads are changing behaviors
     • Driving 200,000 visits to parent Web site each month

• PR tools, tips & templates to help you generate headlines

• Marketing products to create buzz
 Awareness Examples

• Detroit spent $2,000 to show print PSA at the movies
   – Reached 30,000 people a week (for 6 months) with local
     resource # and “quick tip” supporting early learning in
     everyday moments

• Indianapolis, IN used template releases, messaging, tips to
  generate media “blitz” around importance of early learning
   – Letters to the editor, positive articles and editorials, op-
     ed columns, monthly e-newsletter, TV and radio
     appearances, public affairs segments & shows
 Awareness, Parent Education & Partnerships Combined

• Seattle, WA
   – Focused on partners & parents
      • Material to 5,000 providers, libraries, doctors
      • Worked with libraries in high-profile way

   – Tapped into unusual allies with great visibility
      • Minor league hockey team played PSAs during games &
        offered parent material at intermission

   – Generated innovative media partnerships
      • Clear Channel affiliate created early learning talk show
Awareness Tools

• TV, radio, print, billboard Web PSAs (English & Spanish)
   – United Ways can localize radio, print & billboard
   – Tools to pitch PSAs to media, present to leaders & track

• PR tools
   – Key messages
   – Sample press release
   – Editorial & parent columns
   – Media coverage & event tips

• Targeted messages for opinion leaders
   – Facts sheets on research & economic development case
   – Making the Business Case communications tools
Print PSAs
Billboard PSA in Spanish

Look, look I spy something green!
 Awareness Tools for Marketing & Promotion

• Localizable promotional & marketing products
      • Bookmarks, magnets
      • “Buzz” marketing support – flyers, house ads, street
        banners, signage
      • T-shirts, balloons, stickers, pens, rubber bracelets
        etc. from www.UnitedWayStore.com
      • Folders, report covers, PowerPoint template, street
        invitations, name tags
Parent &
caregiver
 education
Parent Tips at www.BornLearning.org
 Parent/Caregiver Education Opportunities
• 35 research-based educational products
   – Downloadable & localizable to promote your organization,
      partners & sponsors

• Helps you maximize with strategic distribution tips & tools
   – Ideas & strategies, especially for vulnerable populations

• Mostly written for 3rd-grade reading level

• Virtually all in Spanish (along with Spanish PSAs & Web
  site)


                              Your only cost is printing
 Parent Education Examples

• Reaching out to the faith community -- Atlanta reaches
  parents through pastors & pulpits
   – Parent material included in church bulletins
   – Churches host parent education seminars
   – Pastors trained as parent educators
   – Faith leaders speak from the pulpit about topic

• Helping employers help employees
   – Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, OH provides Born
     Learning new parent info to all pregnant employees
   Parent Education Examples

• Engaging and enhancing government in new ways
   – Even in budget crisis, every TN state agency reaching at-risk
     families & young children agreed to print & distribute Born
     Learning material

• Partnering with the health community
   – Carlisle, PA birthing hospitals create Born Learning baby bags
   – Highland City, FL, pediatricians post Born Learning posters in
     waiting and exam rooms with tear-off info sheets
   – Salem County, NJ hosts luncheons for health care professions
     to show how to use Born Learning materials in their offices
 Parent Education Examples
 Connecting the dots with service providers
    -- Born Learning educational material included in
    packets from Greenville, SC’s child care R&R agencies,
    faith-based & GED parenting classes, Parents As
    Teachers & home visitor programs

 Meeting parents where they are
    – Hawaii early learning coalitions fold Born Learning
    into neighborhood-based play groups targeting informal
    caregivers & prison-based groups for dads
Education Materials
Fridge Tip Pad


Grocery store tip pad

15 parent tips for use
in grocery store

Magnetic pad

English & Spanish

Promote partners, sponsors
Recipes for Learning


60 different language &
literacy activity cards

Bound as booklet

Organized into activities for
infants, toddlers and
preschoolers

English and Spanish
Localizable
Playbook Brochure



5-panel brochure helps make the most of a child’s playtime




Also available in Spanish and downloadable PDF format
Kid Basics Card Ring

9 topical cards providing quick facts and recommended action steps

   Topics: well visits,
   connecting with kids,
   child care, sleep, play,
   dads, discipline, feeding,
   literacy




Also available in Spanish & in
downloadable PDF format
    Your Child @ series

10 covering ages & stages
(English & Spanish)
    Birth
    2 months
    4-6 months
    6-12 months
    12-18 months
    18-24 months
    24-36 months
    3 years
    4 years
    5 years

Seal from American Academy of Pediatrics

Low-literacy version available

Localizable cover for series
Parent Tools



12 guides for parents:
checklists, logs and ideas/activities

Topics include child care, feeding,
sleep, fathering, activities with
grandparents, making reading fun &
understanding your child’s feelings


Also in Spanish

Localizable cover for series
    5 Key Ideas Poster


11 x 17” poster highlighting
key messages about creating
a nurturing environment
for a young child

     Also available in:
•    3rd-grade reading level
•    15 x 25 “supersized”
•    Spanish




Can be used together with 5 Key Ideas stickers & “Begin with Love” video
Talaris Interstitials


:30 and :60 videos that model parent
behavior & provide action steps

Topics: storytelling, reading, print awareness

3 English / 1 Spanish

Co-produced by Civitas &
Talaris Research Institute

Ideal for doctor’s offices, parent resource centers etc
(cannot be used on broadcast TV)

Packaging can be localized
 Parenting & Grandparenting Videos

Begin with Love & Grand parenting DVD

Two 30-minute videos aimed at new
parents (narrated by Oprah)
& grandparents (narrated by Maya
Angelou)


• Offers tips for connecting with young children
• Focused on responsive care giving &
language & literacy outcomes
• Packaging can be localized
• Spanish version (different narrators)

Begin With Love endorsed by American Academy of Pediatrics
Community
 Action Tools
 Seven Rules of Public Engagement


 1. Stages -- awareness, behavior change,
    engagement
 2. Check out perceptions on the front end
 3. Have a clear call to action
 4. Messages matter – a lot
 5. Target decision-makers & their influencers
 6. Unusual bedfellows = great allies
 7. Be opportunistic

(Adapted from Families & Work Institute)
 Community Engagement Opportunities

• Integrate the visibility and parent education components to create
  a visible, robust platform for policy advocacy

• Consider a single day in the life of the legislator
       • With coffee, reads an article, letter or column about local need
       • Driving to work, hears radio PSA, sees billboard PSA & street
         banners
       • At dry cleaner’s, sees parent material kiosk
       • At the office, meets with business leaders advocating for kids
       • At the Rotary Club lunch, hears a speech from business leader on
         problem
       • In the afternoon, hears from local pediatricians about early learning
       • On Saturday, sees a PSA at the football game & parent material at
         the library
       • On Sunday, may see parent info in the church bulletin
Business Leaders = Unusual Allies AND Influencers


• Business leaders – CEOs, retired CEOs, Chamber of
  Commerce leaders, small business owners, major
  employers – have strong community standing

   –   Serve on influential boards & commissions
   –   Social relationships with decision makers
   –   Campaign contributors
   –   Known for conservative fiscal approach
   –   Star power in media activities

• They bring increased credibility & bigger megaphone
What Can Business Do?

• Business leaders can do more than give money:

   – Provide in-kind support
   – Raise visibility of issue
   – Generate opinion leader interest through Speaker’s
     Bureaus
   – Recruit other business leaders
   – Stand up for community change

• They can change the conversation

• Once they connect the dots … they’re passionate
 They Are Effective Messengers & Recruiters

• Other business leaders

• Media leaders

• Education leaders

• Faith leaders


The more unusual allies supporting early childhood, the better
Business Engagement Case Study: North Carolina

• Business support made the difference in persuading NC
  Legislature to create nation’s first government-driven early
  childhood education program

• CEOs from Bank of America, IBM, Glaxo, Wachovia
   –   Testified in committees
   –   Signed editorial columns
   –   Participated in press conferences
   –   Contributed money

• Their focus on Return on Investment changed opinions …
                                    – and outcomes
 Community Action Examples

• Born Learning Trail – New Haven partnership (university, K-
  12, child care providers, school readiness councils,
  Comcast) engaging volunteers to build interactive early
  learning trails at schools & child care centers

• Reaching out to business leaders – Small KS communities
  use template brochure & customized ppt to present to
  community groups on the issue

• Viral marketing – Communities of all sizes using flash video
  as e-communications for under-40 business leaders
Community Action Tools

Community engagement guide & tools
   – Communications tools to make the case to business
   – Proven business engagement strategies
   – Born Learning Trail: a visible value-add to the community
   – Online engagement tips from Families & Work Institute
   – Outline of research basis & strategy behind Born Learning
     (could be adapted to any public engagement effort)
   – Fact sheets with graphs & research that make the case
Make The Case to Business
Communications Toolkit

  Designed for & tested with
  business leaders

  •   “Why Early Learning Matters”
       – Adaptable ppt & brochure
  •   Champion Action Tips
  •   User Guide with proven strategies
  •   Flash video
Why Early Learning Matters brochure
      online, adaptable & free (you print)
Making The Business Case Flash Video



“A Tale of Two Children” flash video
http://studio.unitedway.org/timeline/

       • Early learning drama

       • Can be used as ice-breaker, meeting starter

       • Creating “buzz” e-communication business outreach

       • Localizable
Born Learning Trail
Interactive, playful, visible & permanent
Using Born Learning to Drive Community Action

• Using these tools for speaking opportunities & opinion
  leader outreach can reach business leaders and the people
  with authority to change systems and policies

• Creating a “new icon” for early learning activity – like a
  Born Learning Trail – can attract new volunteers, attention
  and community visibility for the issue


• The awareness, education and action tools can be part of a
  community change strategy to create public demand and
  build political will for progressive early childhood policy
Tapping
   Into
Born Learning
Build-A-Campaign:
You Decide How It’s Going To Look


• Start with the end in mind

• Which awareness, education & mobilization tools could add
  velocity or save resources?

• Are there incentives for new partners, sponsors, activities?

• How will this support system change in short and long
  term?
Accessing Born Learning Tools
It’s all online, free to any registered Born Learning campaign
(register at www.BornLearning.org’s Campaign Central)
Born Learning Evaluation

• Ad Council awareness tracking measures:
   – perceived awareness and importance of the issue
   – changes in attitudes and beliefs
   – key changes in behavior that promote early learning

• Outcome & output activity tracking tools, templates
   – activity tracking tools, evaluation models,
     measurements & more (on www.BornLearning.org)

• It’s changing parent & caregiver behavior
    – 55% who saw ads are using everyday moments more to
       support learning for their children
For more on Born Learning

 For list of Born Learning tools & products, or help accessing any
 Born Learning tool, contact:


  Mariana Florit
  Communications Manager
  United Way Success By 6
  Mariana.Florit@uwa.unitedway.org
  (800) 892-2757, x279
Questions and Answers
Thank
   You