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Thrivent Builds Publicity Newsletter Archive
August 2006
- The Gulf Coast needs your help – recruit team leaders for Thrivent Builds Worldwide trips
- Nailing Down Those Elusive Housing Statistics
- Publicity pointers from the National Leadership Conference of Habitat for Humanity International
- What's new on thriventbuilds.com
- Media Watch
- Feedback
The Gulf Coast needs your help – recruit team leaders for Thrivent Builds Worldwide trips
One year after Hurricane Katrina, the situation along the Gulf Coast remains grave. Thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair. In a disaster like this, families who were hanging on by a thread before the hurricane will sadly suffer the most in its aftermath.
They have lost so much, but we can help them piece their lives back together through Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity.
We need your help recruiting team leaders who would like to participate in the Thrivent Builds Worldwide program to help rebuild the Gulf.
Here’s how you can help:
- Consider people in your region—Thrivent Financial representatives, Thrivent Financial members, Lutheran leaders, mission trip leaders—who may be interested in leading a Thrivent Builds Worldwide trip. Devise a plan to inform them of this unique opportunity.
- Share the Thrivent Builds Worldwide Gulf Coast Fact Sheet (Word, 31K) with those who may want to lead a trip to the Gulf Coast. The fact sheet should be printed on Thrivent Builds letterhead, double-sided. The information is also listed on the U.S. Gulf Coast page on thriventbuilds.com.
- Direct members and Lutherans to the Be a Leader page on thriventbuilds.com for more information on becoming a Thrivent Builds Worldwide trip leader. From there, they can also submit their interest through an online form.
- Use this Gulf Coast newsletter/Web text (Word, 27K) to put the word out in your newsletters and on your Web site. Also pass it along to the Lutheran churches in your area to use in their own newsletters.
- Already acquainted with someone who has led a Worldwide team to the Gulf Coast? Ask them for their assistance in recruiting others. They may be willing to speak at Thrivent Chapter meetings, Habitat Board meetings, during an adult education session at local churches, or at any number of other venues. Tools are available to help construct an interesting presentation.
A special training event is scheduled for approved team leaders planning to lead a Thrivent Builds Worldwide team to the gulf coast. Please note this training will not qualify participants to lead trips internationally; therefore, to lead an international trip prospective leaders will need to attend a regularly scheduled team leader training (Word, 47K). The training offers planning, recruiting, budgeting & managing team dynamics for your work teams. We employ a participatory roundtable forum to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information.
The Roundtable is scheduled for September 20, 2006 at Christ the King Lutheran in Kenner, LA. CTK is located at 1001 W Esplanade Ave, Kenner, LA 70065, (504) 469-4740. More information and directions can be found on their website at www.ctk-nola.org. Participants are responsible for getting to and from Christ the King.
Read the invitation letter (Word, 57K) and registration form (Word, 890K) for more details.
Nailing Down Those Elusive Housing Statistics
Wouldn’t it be great to have solid housing statistics for your part of the country at your fingertips? These statistics could provide the basis for your “call to action” to those considering volunteering with or donating to your affiliate and/or Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity project. Here are a few reputable sources:
- The National Low Income Housing Coalition may have just the information you are seeking at www.nlihc.org. By clicking on the Out of Reach link under Featured Publications on the left hand side of the NLIHC home page, you can follow the simple instructions to find housing costs and affordability information for your specific county.
- Another source for housing statistics is Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. There you can download The State of the Nation’s Housing (PDF, 5MB). This document was just recently released and contains some important and up-to-date information about housing in this country.
- Looking for a place to find statistics about a particular U.S. city? A very handy site to consult is www.city-data.com. Here you will not only find statistics on housing but also on population, income, crime, etc. You will even find photos for many cities.
- Another great source for housing data is your state’s housing finance agency. To find their Web site, visit www.ncsha.org and then click on member information. Simply scroll down until you find the link to your state’s organization. Once at the appropriate site, you’ll find a wealth of information pertinent to your area.
- Of course the granddaddy of all housing sites is the Web site for the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While it contains a plethora of information, it can be tedious to wade through all of the different pages and reports. It is definitely worth a visit, however, and can prove to be very valuable in crafting your housing message. Visit www.hud.gov.
Publicity pointers from the National Leadership Conference of Habitat for Humanity International
Editor’s Note: I recently had the pleasure of attending Habitat for Humanity’s National Leadership Conference Aug. 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C. I’d like to share some valuable information courtesy of Jessica Boatright, marketing director, HFHI. —Tara Perre
Building Brand
Brand is definitely something more and more organizations are paying attention to, including Habitat for Humanity and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. It’s the reason why standardized logos, signage, fonts, you name it, are part of life when it comes to communications and marketing materials, whether in church bulletins or at build sites.
Brand is powerful. McDonalds. Starbucks. The IRS. All invoke a certain gut feeling based on your personal experience. That’s the power of brand. Thrivent Financial and Habitat for Humanity definitely thought about brand when building the Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity programs. But what is brand and what can you do to help build brand?
First, brand is NOT:
- just a tagline,
- set of graphic standards or
- a logo.
Brand IS:
- the accumulation of people’s gut feelings about a product, service or organization; and
- a relationship born out of experience, based on trust and built on consistency.
To make the most of Habitat’s and Thrivent Finacial’s brands and continue to build and protect both, be sure to:
- use the correct logos and follow logo style guides for Thrivent Builds, Habitat for Humanity, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
- leverage special events by seeking media coverage for them and using those opportunities to tell your story,
- use the available tools from Thrivent Builds, Habitat and Thrivent Financial, and
- give your supporters a voice by helping them tell your story with clear, consistent messaging that you have composed.
Tools
You are not alone. The marketing and communications team for Thrivent Builds has created many templated communications that are available in the Thrivent Builds Resources site. In addition, the Thrivent Builds Identity Handbook (PDF, 1MB), provides valuable information when creating Thrivent Builds communication pieces. So whether you are writing a news release or preparing a presentation, use the available tools and consider how you are helping Habitat’s brand become even more powerful.
Can't find the answer to your question about brand or logo usage? Contact Tara Perre, Cheryl Winget, or Nicole Doebert.
What's new on thriventbuilds.com
Thrivent Builds Mobile Journal
Read the latest adventures of the Thrivent Builds Mobile crew from June and July - including their visit to the ELCA National Youth Gathering. Is one of the recent entries about a stop in your area? Please link to the journal from your own Web site. This will drive more visitor to both websites. Need some assistance in setting up your link? Contact Nicole Doebert.
Thrivent Builds Worldwide Trip Leader Requirements/Interest Form
Interested in leading a Thrivent Builds Worldwide trip? Get more details on the requirements of being a trip leader. Now you can also submit your interest form online.
Thrivent Builds Worldwide Experience Video
See what it's like to be part of a Thrivent Builds Worldwide trip. Includes vivid video footage of different host coutnries, as well as personal interviews with Thrivent Builds Worldwide trip participants and leaders.
July Media Watch
July was another busy month for Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity publicity. More than 130 media stories to date have helped promote all the good work occurring across the country to eliminate substandard housing. This month included 58 newspaper stories, three radio news reports and 19 television new stories. Some highlights included coverage of home dedications in Tampa Bay, Florida, and Kaukauna, Wisconsin, as well as several groundbreakings and wall raisings in Springfield, Missouri; Fargo, North Dakota; and Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, Iowa, all of which had T.V., print and online coverage. The Thrivent Builds Mobile also continued to raise awareness about substandard housing and was featured on Fox 29 News at Nine KAAB- TV Ch. 29 in San Antonio, Texas, during its visit to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s National Youth Gathering where 4,412 people from all over the country toured the exhibit.
Read the entire report for more details. If you have stories that aren’t included, please e-mail details to Tara Perre.
If you need advice or media lists for planning Thrivent Builds with Habitat media relations, contact Cheryl Winget or Tara Perre.
Feedback
Is this newsletter helpful to you? Do you have additional ideas for articles you'd find helpful? Please send your feedback to Nicole Doebert.