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Thrivent Builds Publicity Newsletter Archive
September 2007
- Help celebrate 500 families in homes
- Small changes = Big success with media!
- Tips for taking compelling photograhs
- August Media Watch
- What's new on www.thriventbuilds.com: New Ski & Build opportunity in Colorado and Worldwide Journals
- Feedback
- Newsletter Archive
Help celebrate 500 families in homes
The time has come to prepare your local news release for distributionThis week we sent out the 500th Thrivent Builds Home Celebration template news release to all Lutheran Community Services Specialists-Thrivent Builds, all Habitat for Humanity Organizational Development Consultants and all 2007 Thrivent Builds Publicity Coordinators. We need your help in spreading the word about this milestone Thrivent Builds home by distributing this release in your local area during the month of October.
Please use this milestone as a chance to share with your area media stories and photos of your local Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity families and volunteers and some facts about your build(s). If you need an updated media list, please contact cheryl.winget@thrivent.com or kelsey.peterson@thrivent.com and we can quickly produce a comprehensive email list for you.
The 500th Thrivent Builds Home will be celebrated in Pontiac, Michigan, on Saturday, October 13, 2007, led by Oakland County Habitat for Humanity and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ Eastern Great Lakes region. It has taken all of our efforts across the country to get to this milestone, though, so we hope you will celebrate this success with us in your own local area, too!
Reminder: Successful media attention could earn Thrivent Builds merchandise!
The RFO that receives the most television, radio and newspaper stories as a result of this announcement in October (excluding the Eastern Great Lakes RF0) will receive a $500 gift certificate for Thrivent Builds merchandise.
Small changes = Big success with media!
Improve your media results with these tipsAs summer reached its peak on the 4th of July, we finalized media plans for the big red truck’s visits to the Wisconsin and Minnesota State Fairs. The Thrivent Builds Mobile spent 23 days at fairs in August and Sept. Both fairs offered prime locations and it was the perfect opportunity to try some new techniques that had the potential for reaping more media coverage.
New media techniques can work for you
In addition to the normal media advisories, news releases and phone calls, we tried a few new techniques this year. Many of these can be replicated—perhaps on a smaller scale—in your own outreach efforts.
- Sent public service announcements to radio stations across Minnesota and Wisconsin on a weekly basis beginning several weeks prior to the start of the fairs.
- Contacted hundreds of daily and weekly newspaper community calendars, asking them to promote this event. This was done more than once in the weeks prior to the fairs and each time it was requested that the periodical include the item every week until the end of the fair.
- Hand-delivered Thrivent Builds Mobile b-roll and media kits to all metro TV stations. Note: B-roll is always available on the truck or from your media specialist.
- Posted the news release on BusinessWire, an internet news distribution service.
- Sent the Thrivent Builds Mobile Op Ed article (template available online in Thrivent Builds Resources), signed by the Twin Cities Habitat executive director, to all community newspapers in the metro area. It was printed by ten area newspapers!
- During each fair, took digital photos of volunteers and visitors and sent them with a standard caption and/or news release to the visitor’s/volunteer’s local paper. This post-event outreach technique is still bringing in results! See the article on compelling photographs for tips on how to do this.
- Sent the news release to the State Fair communications supervisor who then distributed it to all media outlets at the fair.
In addition to media stories, Thrivent members, Habitat volunteers and government officials heard about the State Fair visits in a few other ways. For example:
- Thrivent Financial Government Relations invited congressmen and senators on state and federal levels to tour the Mobile
- Regional Financial Offices in each state were asked to publicize the visits on their Web sites, in newsletters and with flyers.
- Habitat affiliates in each state were asked to publicize the visits on their Web sites, in newsletters and with flyers.
Tips for taking compelling photographs
Please take a look at this example of an article (PDF, 1.3MB) printed in a Milwaukee newspaper about Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity.
Notice that it includes two photographs printed as part of a lengthy article. These photos were taken at a Thrivent Builds Homes blitz build by a Thrivent Builds ASO staff member (NOT a professional photographer).
So what makes these photos compelling?
- Action vs. people simple standing in front of a site
- Thrivent Builds apparel or signage
- People’s faces and expressions
- Providing a nice caption to the newspaper to help ensure placement
- At the event, took quality digital photos and wrote down information about where the volunteers were from and personal quotes about their experience. Often times newspapers do not have staff with time to attend each event in their community.
- When back in the office, we e-mailed the photo and a release to the community newspaper after the event.
- We provided caption information.
August Media Watch
What a big media month August proved to be—and with good reason! The Thrivent Builds Mobile generated much media coverage for its visits to the Wisconsin and Minnesota State Fairs (see "Small Changes = Big Success!"). That effort coupled with the great outreach effort by affiliates and RFOs made for an outstanding month. Here are some examples:
Thrivent Builds Mobile Coverage:
- Aug. 23, Journal Times, Racine, WI, "These Nails Take A Pounding" (Photo and caption sent after end of WI State Fair), 34,996 circ.
- Aug. 27, KSTP TV 5 (ABC), St. Paul, MN, Eyewitness News at 10 pm, "A lesson in Charity at the fair," 144,098 est. audience
- Aug. 27, www.onenationnews.com, Minneapolis, MN, Incomes above 'poverty line' are no guarantee to decent housing, Op Ed template in Resources used to write this piece.
- Aug. 15, The Flint Journal, Flint, MI, "Houses for Needy to be Dedicated," 83,553 circ.
- Aug. 16, Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, "Habitat to dedicate Thrivent house," 215,379 circ.
- Aug. 19, Quincy Herald-Whig, Quincy, IL, "Habitat partnership makes dream come true for family in Mendon," 24,461
- Aug. 1, VALPO, Valparaiso, IN, "Alumni join Thrivent Habitat Alliance," 50,000 circ.
- Aug. 30, Chaska Herald, Chaska, MN, "Community News: Janna Larson helps in rebuilding effort," 4,600 circ.
Be sure to check out the full August Media Report and send a note to cheryl.winget@thrivent.com if your media hits were not included.
What's new on thriventbuilds.com: New Ski & Build opportunity in Colorado and Worldwide Journals
Thrivent Builds Worldwide Ski & Build in Colorado
Combine the joy of working alongside partner families to build simple, decent affordable homes with the fun of a ski vacation. The new Thrivent Builds Worldwide Ski & Build in Denver, Colorado will be held this November-December. Be sure to sign up for - or lead - a week of fun and heart-filled volunteering.
Gliwice, Poland Trip - Terri's Journal
Read about Terri's second trip to Poland to build houses in a former communist nation.
Guatemala Trip - Michelle’s Journal
Read about Michelle's experience in Guatemala building with a whole team of Thrivent Financial representatives.
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.
Newsletter Archive
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