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Thrivent Builds Publicity Newsletter Archive
April 2006
- Thrivent Builds News Recap - from LCS Team News and Habitat U.S. Office
- Feature Article - Homes are Happening!
- Best Practices - Public Service Announcements
- Upcoming Important Dates and Milestones
- New Thrivent Builds Volunteer Resources
- Media Watch
Thrivent Builds News Recap - from LCS Team News and Habitat U.S. Office
LCS Team News
- Field members join corporate employees on Thrivent Builds Worldwide trips (04/13/06)
- New options available for ordering Thrivent Builds Homes Outdoor Sign (04/07/06)
- MLCSs and LCSS-TBs: Mark your calendars for May 16. (04/07/06)
- Signature card for Thrivent Builds checking accounts now available. (04/04/06)
- Remind chapters and Thrivent Builds volunteer leaders of Thrivent Builds reporting guidelines (03/28/06)
- Thrivent Builds tabletop display order number is 22587. (3/22/06)
- Track donations received as part of Thrivent Builds fund-raising activities. (3/22/06)
- 2007 Thrivent Builds Homes program kick off meeting (Refer to Weekly Message to U.S. Office Staff, Focus on Thrivent - April 7, 2006. Can be accessed through the message archive on WorkZone.)
- Thrivent Builds PartnerNet page - New Source for Affiliate Information (Refer to Weekly Message to U.S. Office Staff, Focus on Thrivent - April 7, 2006. Can be accessed through the message archive on WorkZone.)
- New options available for ordering Thrivent Builds Homes outdoor sign (Refer to Weekly Message to U.S. Office Staff, Focus on Thrivent - April 7, 2006. Can be accessed through the message archive on WorkZone.)
2006 is off to a nail-pounding, saw-buzzing, drill-whirring start. Homes are definitely happening!
Reports are coming in from all across the nation that ground has been broken and volunteers are ready to go. Scores of builds are already underway. In fact, Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity reported the dedication of its Thrivent Builds Homes project on Sunday, March 26—the first in the nation! The La Crosse Area Habitat for Humanity is not far behind, according Dean Tosseth, Lutheran community services specialist-Thrivent Builds (LCSS-TB). The dedication of the Thrivent Builds Homes project in Bangor, Wis., is being planned for sometime in April.
Hopefully, everyone is finding that the systems and tools that have been created to make your job easier are actually doing just that. The Alliance Strategy Office has had several good reports from the field. Bill Petri, LCSS-TB for the Southwest Wisconsin Region, noted that he found the Project Status Report (PSR) to be a much better management tool than he had anticipated.
“I can scan the report and very quickly identify areas that may be a problem by noting the percentages for each of the builds for things like volunteer-mobilization and fundraising,” he said. “It’s a very nice tool, and given the fact that it was created before we had much of an idea how any of this would flow, I think the design is fantastic.”
Believe it or not, 2007 is just around the corner.
Even though we are all frantically busy as we launch into the heaviest part of the 2006 building season, it is important to set aside some time to begin thinking about and planning for 2007. Vicki Mai and Jen Parks, Thrivent Builds Homes (TBH) coordinators, ask everyone to take note of the following important dates in preparation for the 2007 grant applications:
- May 16: Kick-off teleconference training for 2007 TBH program—topics will include regional strategy, 2007 timeline and more! Book your calendars for 2-3:30pm EST on this date.
- Aug. 14: Regional strategy setting completed by Thrivent deployed fraternal staff and Habitat field staff
Use what you learn in 2006 to enhance your experience in Thrivent Builds Homes 2007
Kim Crane, LCSS-TB for the Michigan Region, reports that her LCS team is developing a method to work with chapters who have struggled to recruit volunteers in 2006. We plan to “strengthen them to effectively support a build in 2007,” she noted.
Kim also shared some of the lessons that she and her team have already experienced this year. “I’ve learned a lot from the [Habitat] affiliates. Each one does this a bit differently and no one is right or wrong. It’s been really neat to see how each community has just a subtle twist on different things.”
Always positive, Kim adds, “The successes are far outshining the challenges. The support of the communities has been amazing so far.”
Diane Simon, ASO implementation team co-lead, is also upbeat in her assessment of the progress so far. “It has been fun to watch the program unfold from a design/pilot mode to full scale implementation,” she said. “Of course, we have encountered some bumps along the way, and one would expect some bumps in a year-one program. Going from 19 homes in 2005 to 312 homes in 2006 is a BIG jump and I’m proud to say that the design model is holding up well. I attribute the success we have achieved to date to the talent we have in our host organizations and in our partners in the field—the MLCSs, LCSS-TBs, support specialists, ODCs, the [Habitat] affiliates and the Thrivent chapters. I am so proud of all they have accomplished.”
Thank you, everyone for the good work you have done so far, and the great work you are yet to do.
Public Service Announcements
Looking for a way to get free publicity for Thrivent Builds? Here’s a great idea you should share with the marketing specialist in your RFO or the publicity coordinators at your Habitat affiliates participating in Thrivent Builds Homes. The Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity team has created field ads, including a radio ad script (Word, 21K) that Thrivent Financial representatives and others can use as a public service announcement (PSA) to promote the Thrivent Builds programs.
So what exactly is a PSA? In simple terms, PSAs are announcements about important social and community issues produced for the public benefit primarily on behalf of non-profit organizations. Both national and local radio outlets often use PSAs, even though they are no longer obligated to do so. And the best part is—they’re free of charge!
Keep in mind that there is tremendous competition for PSA airtime. It is not unusual for local radio stations to air several hundred PSAs in a given month; many more never get on the air. But it is still worth the effort to request that yours be aired.
The decision-making process for running PSAs differs by radio station. Generally, the person to contact to place PSAs is the director of community affairs, public affairs or public service, or at some smaller radio stations, the program director, news director or perhaps even general manager. Be sure to find out in what format the radio station wishes to receive the PSA—by e-mail, fax or regular mail. Once you have sent your PSA, give your contact a call. In that call you should:
- Be personable - State why you believe the Thrivent Builds PSA is important, making clear that you care as much for the community as the station does.
- Be compelling - Facts alone can be impersonal. Compelling stories about how Thrivent Builds affects people in the local community can be powerful and can demonstrate local relevance.
- Be brief - Remember that your contact has received requests from many organizations. Be professional and thorough in your approach and respect the media representative's time.
- Be grateful - If the station uses the PSA, follow up with a letter of appreciation.
- Don't call the message an "advertisement" (always refer to it as a public service announcement).
- Don't ask when your PSA will play on the air (since PSAs are placed on a "time available" basis, guarantees are impossible).
- Don't force a personal meeting (station staff are busy people so contact them via their preferred method and place a follow-up phone call).
Upcoming Important Dates and Milestones
- 2006 program - One month prior to volunteers on the build site – Documentation complete for Milestone 2 (50% volunteer slots committed, 50% of Thrivent funds pledged and 50% Habitat affiliate funds pledged)
- May 16, 2-3:30 p.m. EST (1-2:30 p.m. CST) – Kick-off teleconference training for 2007 TBH program
New Thrivent Builds Volunteer Resources
Check out the new Thrivent Builds Mobile Online Journal on www.thriventbuilds.com. Mike, a member of the truck crew, will be adding journal entries from various tour stops each month as the Thrivent Builds Mobile makes its way around the country educating people about the issue of poverty housing. Is one of the tour stops you hosted this year featured in the journal? Add a link to the journal to your affiliate, chapter or RFO Web site so people can read about it.
Media Watch
March was a great month for media, thanks to the hard work of everyone in the field. We closed out the month with 57 print items, five radio hits and five television hits and then topped it all off with 55 Web site hits. One Web site that recently posted an article about Thrivent Financial for Lutherans with reference to Thrivent Builds was Yahoo! Finance. This site gets 10,577,031 visitors per month! Click on this link to read the article. Want to view all of the media hits for March? Click on March Media to access the report. Don't see your media hit(s) on the list? Send them to Cheryl Winget to make sure they are included in the final count.
Don't forget the power of the World Wide Web when creating your own media plans! An easy way to use the Web is to create links to www.thriventbuilds.com from Habitat affiliate Web sites, church Web sites, and RFO Web sites. Need help to create those links? Contact Nicole Doebert, Web and Marketing Specialist for the ASO.