Inspiring

Connections
Outdoors

Public Relations Campaign for the Sierra Clubs ICO program

Proposed by Enviro PR: Haley Carter, Sarah Dent, Alexa Hackfort, Janie
Ragsdale, Sam Stolte, Sydney Wilcox
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for PURE 4997 (Fall 2014)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 3: Meet The Team

Our Mission
Page 4: Executive Summary
Pages 5-9: Situation Analysis
Page 10: Media Scan
Pages 11-20: Research
Page 21: Audience
Page 22: SWOT Analysis
Pages 23-25: Objectives
Pages 25-43: Content
Page 44: Timeline & Budget
Pages 45: Evaluation
Page 46: Conclusion
Pages 47- 61: Appendix: Social Media Guide
(47-60) and References (61)

MEET
THE TEAM
Haley Carter

Sarah Dent

Janie Ragsdale

Sam Stotle

Alexa Hackfort

Sydney Wilcox

OUR MISSION

Looking to create a novel public relations campaign? Look no further than Enviro.
A team of budding public relations professionals specializing in media scanning,
social media and design make Enviro the ideal agency for all your campaign needs.
Innovation and cost-cutting are our normal business practices, so no need to
request them. At Enviro, extraordinary is our norm and results are our promise.
We work tirelessly for you, our client, because we know you work tirelessly too.
Because we share your organizational goals, our success and yours are interdependent. Satisfaction is not our guarantee. If you are merely satisfied with our work
and results, we have failed. We work until we surpass your expectations, and then
we keep working. Excellence is our pledge.

EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
The aim of this public relations campaign is to increase awareness of the
Sierra Clubs ICO (Inspiring Connections Outdoors) program and drive
donations and volunteers to this worthy cause. ICO is an established segment of the Sierra Club organization, an American staple to nature preservation; however, ICO is in need of funding and volunteers due to the
constraints that non-profit organizations face. The Sierra Club and ICO
are American symbols of the wonder of nature and our duty to preserve
and share it, but the general public is largely unaware of what ICO is and
the important role it plays in the lives of urban, rural and suburban children throughout the country.
This PR plan meets ICOs most pressing needs in a financially practical
manner. Raising awareness through financially savvy means addresses the
organizational needs while respecting the minimal budget that such a giving institution can allot for communications endeavors. Thus, the outlet
focuses of this campaign are free or cheaply promoted social media posts,
traditional earned media and a cost-minimal smart phone application
(app). It is futile to spend large sums in an attempt to gain donations, so
we focus on spending the least amount possible to receive the most possible.
The messaging strategy this campaign employs is nostalgia for the our target-audiences childhood days of nature exploration. Our young adult and
adult audiences are more likely to have spent their childhoods outdoors
in the pre-smart phone and iPad era. We will change audience behaviors
through gaining emotional investment in the ICO cause. All
tactics reflect the social media habits of our target demographic.

SITUATION ANALYSIS
Largest Environmental Organizations
CATEGORY

NAME

Environmental Education

National Geographic
Society

$448,981,998

Zoos and Aquariums

Wildlife Conservation
Society

$231,252,372

Zoos and Aquariums

Zoological Society of
San Diego

$212,300,997

Wildlife Preservation
and Protection

World Wildlife Fund Inc.

$203,731,525

Animal Protection &

Welfare

American Society for the

Prevention of Cruelty To
Animals

$168,616,519

Energy Resources Conservation and Development

Energy Trust of Oregon

Inc.

Water Resources, Wetlands

Conservation & Management

Ducks Unlimited Inc.

$147,375,977

Natural Resources Conservation & Protection

Conservation International Foundation

$142,009,769

Land Resources Conservation

The Conservation Fund A

Nonprofit Corporation

$137,594,148

Animal Protection &

Welfare

Humane Society of the

United States (M.D.)

$120,316,900

Wildlife Preservation
and Protection

World Wildlife Fund Inc.

$203,731,525

EXPENSES

$154,610,352

In 2010, non profits accounted for 9.2% of all wages and salaries
paid in the U.S.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

There are 1,429,801 tax-exempt organizations including:

966,599 public charities

96,584 private foundations
366,618 other types of nonprofit organizations

Charitable giving in 2012 and 2013

In 2013, public charities and nonprofits reported over $1.65 trillion in
total revenues and $1.57 trillion in total expenses.
Contributions by individuals, foundations and corporations reached
$316.23 billion in 2012.
Individuals contributed $228.93 billion in 2012 and foundations contributed
$50.9 billion.
About 25.4% of Americans over the age of 16 volunteered for an organization
between September 2009 and September 2013.

Issues Facing Non-Profits Organizations

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there
are many pressing issues that non-profits are facing. Addressing
these obstacles to organizational success will result in healthier
organizations. According to our research, these are the most exigent issues that ICO faces.

Competitors
ICO has several competitors that connect children with nature and promote
the health benefits of experiencing nature.

National Wildlife Federation

Through 75 years of building awareness and understanding of the natural world, the National
Wildlife Federation pushed a campaign entitled Be Out There that addresses the well-being of
children.

Strengths:

Provides statistics and information about the importance of children going outside and subgroups with high brand awareness.

Programs:

Earth Tomorrow: Organizing You Around Service Learning Projects

Objective: Give multicultural youth environmental education and a program that gives them
opportunities to develop environmental literacy and life skills.
Nature Play Spaces: Creating Playgrounds Out of Nature
Objective: Work with children to create and develop playgrounds
Schoolyard Habitats: Outdoor Teaching With Wildlife Gardens
Objective to garden and foster future connections with nature.

Children and Nature Network

Together we can create a world where every child can play, learn and grow in nature.
Strengths:

Provides research and statistical information regarding the importance of children being outdoors. A news center provides third-party credibility by sharing its representation in publications
and news outlets.

Global ReLeaf

Takes youth out in the environment to plant trees and explore the
outdoors. Partners with local individuals, organizations, agencies and
corporations to fund and make possible children planting and experiencing wildlife.

Kids4Trees

Focuses on connecting children with nature and the wild outdoors. Provides free environmental education, tree-planting programs and materials for schools. Partners of the USDA Forest
Service.

Project Learning Tree

A 35-year-old program that focuses on taking children outside to learn.

The objective of the program is to provide individuals with the tools, training and resources
they need to teach core subjects through nature experiences.

ORGANIZATION HISTORY
John Muir was the first president of the Sierra Club, a mountaineering club founded in California in 1892. In 1901, the idea of an outing program was formed to awaken the proper kind of
interest in the forests and other natural features of our mountains. For 35 years, a single annual
mountain outing in San Francisco was the Sierra Clubs sole outing offering.
In 1904, local all-day outings or walks were formed. The first Sierra Club chapter, located in Los
Angeles, was formed in 1911. This chapter marked Sierra Clubs first expansion. Non-California
chapters followed.
There are currently 66 chapters and 430 groups. Each state plus Washington D.C. and Puerto
Rico has a chapter. California has 13 chapters. The estimated involvement of Sierra Club outings
are 20,000 outings by 5,000 leaders with 200,000 participants.
The specific segment of ICO (Inner City Outings) was formed in 1976 out of San Francisco. Sierra Club volunteers took neighborhood children on day hikes in the Bay Area.
ICO is a community outreach program that offers youth and adults the opportunity to explore
nature. This program strives to promote appreciation for nature preservation and opportunities
for self-discovery. There are more than 51 ICO groups in the country and one in Toronto. In
2000, there were nearly 1,000 outings with over 10,000 participants.
In 2014, the meaning behind the acronym changed from Inner City Outings
to Inspiring Connections Outdoors. This meaning change demonstrates Sierra
Clubs dedication to inclusivity and is a more accurate representation of the populations it serves.

MEDIA SCAN
Public Policy
Environmental organizations are putting pressure on the government to push for policies that benefit their organizations. Organizations want outdoor and environmental
education to be a part of pre-kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum. Children
should have high quality and easily accessible means to outdoor learning environments.
All children, regardless of socio-economic identity, should have equal opportunities to
engage in outdoor education through community education providers during school and
after-school hours. The legislative initiatives that environmental organizations lobby for
include:
Support of the No Child Left Inside Act: Promotes incentives to implement environmental literacy plans for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Gives schools the opportunity to partner with environmental organizations.
Develop environmental literacy plans that are approved by the Secretary of Education
and provide schools with environmental education standards and training.
Award Environmental Education Professional Development Grant: Award competitive matching grants to programs that partner schools with community organizations to
improve and support environmental education.
Support Healthy Kids Outdoors, which improves childrens health and helps them
connect with nature.
Provide state-level incentives to develop five-year strategies that connect children with
nature.
Require that state strategies include partnership with non-governmental organizations
that serve children and families.
Fund research documenting the health benefits of active time spent outdoors.
Develop federal-level strategies to bring federal agencies and national partners to
create action plans.

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RESEARCH
Scanning the landscape, it was found that children in the U.S. generally do not spend
sufficient time outdoors. This notion is widely accepted by researchers and has been
for quite some time. Generally, children not spending enough time outdoors is true of
both urban and rural environments. In an article in The Minnesota Post, The Alliance
for Childhood, a nonprofit advocacy group, noted, Compared to the 1970s, children
now spend 50 percent less time in unstructured outdoor activities. Children ages 10 to 16
now spend, on average, only 12.6 minutes per day in vigorous physical activity. Yet they
spend an average of 10.4 waking hours each day relatively motionless. This is article
is important because it provides facts and figures that solidify some of the underlying
problems that our campaign addresses. An interesting finding of the study was that
Asian mothers were 49% more likely than white mothers to take their children outside,
followed by 41% of African-American mothers and 20% of Hispanic mothers.
According to a new study by the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, parents
today are not taking their children outside as much as parents in previous generations
did. The study found that this true with both boys and girls, but is especially true in the
case of young girls. In the study, the researchers observed 8,950 children. The conductors of the survey asked the parents to monitor and report their childrens daily activities.
The study found that only 51%of children played or went outside just once a day with a
parent.
42% of children who did not have regular child care arrangements besides their parents did not play outside. Examples of regular child care arrangements are day cares or
someone who constantly watches over the child. The researchers looked into factors
such as marital status of parents, hours of television viewed, income of the household
and whether or not the parents thought their neighborhood was safe, but the results still
lead the researchers to believe that children are playing outside less than previously in
American history.

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After a scanning of secondary research and an accumulation of data that will be used to
further drive the tactics, primary research methods will be discussed. The first primary
research initiative was observing the guest speakers featured in class. Through Debra
Ashers Skype interview, we gathered details on the Sierra Clubs mission as a whole.
Asher expressed the core values and key points needed to be addressed
in the campaign. With a personal interview with Chris from Chicago
and a Skype interview with Eric from Madison, a local ICO point of view
was assessed. Both chapter leaders stressed the importance of recruiting,
fundraising and social media utilization. In essence, direct interviews
were conducted with individuals, and the data collected helped us form
our campaign goal.

Primary Research
In order to gain a complete understanding of the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats to ICO, our team distributed a survey to current ICO volunteers. Our hope was to gain perspective from them and
to evaluate what their wants and needs are. 33 volunteers responded.
Here is the data:

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We have a website. Is
that social media? Teachers often find us that way.
Some volunteers contact us
through the site. We have a
Facebook page, but it is not
used/visited much, even by
us.

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haveWeaareFacebook
just starting to! We now
and plan to get a
Meetup soon; perhaps even Twitter is on our horizons!

Meetup.com is primary for

volunteer recruitment as well as

event postings. We also have a

very active Facebook page, and a
growing Twitter and Instagram
presence.
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7 out of 31 surveyed
said they do not use
social media

2 out of 31 of surveyed
said they use Twitter

15 out of 31 surveyed said 10 out of 31 surveyed said

they use Facebook
they use Meetup

2 out of 31 of surveyed
said they use Instagram

77%
said yes
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2 out of 31 of surveyed
said they use Google+

AUDIENCE
Primary Audience
The primary audience for our campaign is men and women ages 22-35. They live and
work in the communities where ICO chapters are already present, and their children, or
someone they know, might have participated on an ICO trip. We will target this group to
bring general awareness of ICO, with the end goal of creating volunteers and group leaders. Opinion leaders would be higher ranked community members, like church leaders or
local government.
The target audience lives in the city, is middle class and works instead of staying home
with children. They have attended high school and may have some college. They value
children and enjoy seeing them have the opportunity to explore the outdoors with ICO.
They are looking for a way to get more involved in the community by volunteering for an
organization that closely aligns with their values.
They use social media to interact with friends and family, and they look online for news.
They do not subscribe to a newspaper and rarely watch the news on television. They prefer
to listen to iTunes or Spotify than radio stations.

Secondary Audience
The secondary audience is men and women ages 36-50. Similarly to the primary audience,
this group lives and works in the community where children experience ICO outings. This
group be targeted to bring general awareness of ICO along with donations and volunteers. They differ from the primary target audience by accessing the news differently. They
are more likely to catch the evening news or read a daily newspaper. They are part of the
working middle class. Like the primary audience, they are looking for an avenue to get
involved in the community and enjoy the outdoors.

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SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths

Part of the larger Sierra Club organization.

ICO provides young people with the
chance to experience nature, learn
about the environment, gain outdoor
skills and learn about themselves and
others in the process.
Offers a wide range of activities: short
day trips, longer overnight trips and
service trips.
ICO groups have formed partnerships
with local organizations and have a
solid base of participants.

Opportunities

Increase the use of earned media, social

media, advertising, etc. to promote national awareness and name recognition
during this re-branding period.
College students in local communities
are a strong resource for increasing the
ICO volunteer base.
Increase communication between national and local ICO groups to help the
re-branding process.
Reach out to professionals who have
experiences and skills that can be
shared with local ICO groups.

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Weaknesses

ICO groups have difficulty with

volunteer recruitment and retention
overall and particularly struggle with
finding volunteers for administrative
and leadership positions.
Local ICO groups lack funding to
cover the costs associated with trips
(transportation, equipment, food,
etc.) and have difficulty fundraising.
Lack of consistency in overall national branding and communication
between national and local groups.
Lack of national awareness and name
recognition.

Threats

Negative media coverage of the Sierra

Club.
Similar organizations within local
communities that provide children
with outdoor activities and experiences.
People are less likely to donate to
nonprofit organizations due to economic difficulties.

OBJECTIVE 1
To increase awareness of ICO among our target audience of
25-35-year-olds living in the communities ICO serves over the
course of 6 months.

Strategy
Inform our target audience of ICOs existence, mission and purpose through social media and earned media.

Tactics
Create a social media guide to be implemented by local ICO
group leaders.
Create digital advertisements to be used on social media platforms which can be boosted (paid promotion) to increase reach
to our target audience.
Design a mobile app specifically for ICO.

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OBJECTIVE 2
To increase the number of ICO volunteers with an average of
five new volunteers per group over the course of six months.

Strategy
Appeal to our target audience by evoking feelings of nostalgia
linked with childhood and the outdoors.

Tactics
Create digital advertisements with a call to action to be used on
social media platforms which can be boosted to increase reach
to our target audience.
Social media posts that feature a call to action to volunteer.

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OBJECTIVE 3
To increase donations to ICO by 20% over the course of six
months.

Strategy
Convince target audience that ICO is a worthwhile cause by
highlighting the value of outdoor experiences for children.

Tactics
Create digital advertisements with a call to action to be used on
social media platforms which can be boosted to increase reach
to our target audience
Create an email template which asks for donations to ICO.
Social media posts that feature a call to action to donate.
Encourage volunteers to reach out for donations after three
months of active volunteering.

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CONTENT

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

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SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

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SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

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ADVERTISEMENTS

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32

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Earned Media Examples

Dec. 14, 2015

Inspiring Connections Outdoors Fundraiser

MEDIA ADVISORY
Friday, December 17 Media Opportunity
Get coverage of the annual ICO giftwrapping fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT

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TO:

Los Angeles; Print and Television Media

WHEN:

Friday, December 17th, 2014- 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. This marks
the local ICOs annual giftwrapping fundraising event.

WHERE:

The event will take place at 1234 Community Street on the campus
of West Central High School.

WHAT:

The media are invited to attend the Los Angeles chapter of the
Sierra Clubs Inspiring Connections Outdoors initiatives annual
giftwrapping event. Members of the media will have access to the
chapter leader as well as select volunteers. Come join the Los
Angles ICO group as they host the local community in an attempt
to raise much needed funds.

CONTACT:

Sam Stolte- associate director of public relations at Enviro Public

Relations. Email: [email protected]
###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For additional information, contact:

Sam Stolte
414-738-3939
[email protected]

Inspiring Connections Outdoors to Host Giftwrapping Event

Fundraiser will run from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
LOS ANGELES. Dec. 14, 2015 The Sierra Clubs Inspiring Connections Outdoors group of Los
Angeles, California is set to host its annual fundraising event Friday, Dec. 17, on the campus of West
Central High School.

The Los Angeles ICO group and all of its members will help spread the Christmas cheer by assisting
the local community in the wrapping of gifts in an effort raise funds for the ICO events.

Admission to the event is $10 for unlimited gift wrapping. The ICO group will wrap the presents and
provide all the necessary materials to ensure a Merry Christmas for those in attendance. For those unable to attend, feel free to visit the official website at www.LosAngelesICO.com for ways to give back.

For more information about the event please visit www.LosAngelesICO.com or for information regarding the Sierra Club or general inquiries about ICO, please visit www.SierraClub.org.

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Mobile App

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TIMELINE & BUDGET

Gantt Chart

*DQWW&KDUW

Budget
Budget: $2,000
Adobe InDesign (Six Month Subscription)
$179.94
Adobe PhotoShop (Six Month Subscription)
$179.94
Facebook Advertisement Placements
$320
Mobile App Development
$360
TOTAL SPENT
$1,039.88
*Monthly rate for Adobes InDesign and PhotoShop is $29.99
Exported on November 18, 2014 10:39:31 PM CST

Highlighting changes made in the last Hour

Currently under budget by: $960.12

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Page 1 of 2

EVALUATION
In order to fully evaluate the success of our campaign, we plan on executing a series of
methods to prove that ICOs communication investment is worthwhile.
To best evaluate our first objective of increasing awareness of ICO, specifically awareness of its need for volunteers and donations through a series of web advertisements,
we will begin by measuring the total amount of views of these outputs. A simple number is not enough though. Through textual analysis, we will mine through the data
and find out exactly what our publics are saying about the advertisements. Along with
conducting sediment analysis, we will also use the data in a way that will help discover
whether awareness from the advertisements spurred larger volunteer numbers and
donations.
For our second objective of increasing action taken by members of our key audiences
who view the advertisements to reach out to their local ICO chapter to volunteer, we
will measure the success of Hootsuite (Twitter data) and the ICO mobile app. In the
evaluation of Hootsuite, we will reference the previously gathered data before Hootsuite was implemented and then compare to the data formulated after the installation.
We will look for correlations in the data. For the app, we will learn what people are by
conducting textual analysis and looking for trends in whether the app was useful or
not.
For the third and final objective of gaining donations, we will compare the financial
intake prior to the campaign to after the campaign. We will compare the amount
of donations both to Sierra Club as a national organization and to individual ICO
groups.
Generally, the success of campaigns oriented to increase awareness and change volunteer and charitable giving behaviors hinge upon the frequency of tactics. The frequency of paid advertisements and earned media placement is a sizable component in our
overall success. Along with a bottom line number of views, we will evaluate the combination of frequency and reach to show the number of times that the average person
in our segment is likely to have come across the campaign.

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CONCLUSION
In summary, this campaign is appropriate for our client because it meets its
needs in a timely and cost-effective manner. Enviro took a realistic and practical approach to addressing ICOs need for awareness, volunteers and donations.
While there are other opportunities for ICO to enhance itself, we focused on
three interconnected needs and honed our efforts. Because the needs we address
are related, our tactics will have ripple benefits of addressing all three of our
target opportunities.
It was an honor serving a nationally recognized organization that serves so
many communities. Enviro looks forward to monitor Sierra Clubs and ICOs
efforts as it continues to strengthen its national brand.

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APPENDIX

Social Media Guide

Why use Facebook?

Hesitant about starting a Facebook page? Here are a few thoughts

that may sway you:
According to Pew, 67% of online adults (81% of U.S. adults are
online) use Facebook, making it the dominant social networking
site in the U.S.
In 2012, Americans spent 6.75 hours on Facebook per month.
You can engage directly with your supporters in real time.
Facebook pages allow you to nurture the relationship between
ICO and supporters by sharing stories.
Facebook is the top social media referral source, so your supporters will be driven to your website.
People are more likely to volunteer or donate to a charity if
friends post about it, and Facebook allows supporters to share stories and photos from the ICO page.

How do I create a Facebook page?

1. Go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/create
2. Select Cause or Community.

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3. Enter in the name of your page. Ex: ICO Chicago

or Madison Inspiring Connections Outdoors.
4. Hit Get Started.
5. Fill out the About section. For example, from the
national ICO website: Providing safe and fun wilderness trips for people with limited access to the outdoors. Volunteer leaders collaborate with community
partners to get outdoors with people especially youth
who may not have access on their own to safely discover the wonders of the natural world.

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6. Add a Profile Picture. For example, a group of children

on an excursion.
7. The Add to Favorites tab will automatically add your
ICO page to your personal Facebook so you can easily find
it on the left side of your home page.
8. The Reach More People tab is just one way to start advertising on Facebook. For more information on Facebook
ads, see How do I buy an ad on Facebook?

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How do I interact with users on Facebook?

Facebook is all about interacting with your supporters. A few best
practices when managing your ICO page:
If someone posts on your Facebook page, respond to him or her
as soon as possible, especially if its something positive.
If there are any negative comments, still respond publicly, saying
something like, Were sorry you feel this way about _______. Wed
love to further discuss this issue, and well private message you. Be
sure to follow through.
Your supporters will love photos of trips (if possible). Facebook
is a great way to share photos.
Give shout outs to volunteers whove helped you recently. Your
shout out will show up on the volunteers friends Facebook homepages, spreading the ICO name.
Involve supporters by asking questions, like what are your
outdoor plans this weekend? or wheres your favorite trail to explore?
Take a cool photo on a trip? Post the photo and ask supports to
come up with a caption.
Share recent ICO news or post articles on related subjects, like
why going outside is great for children.
Remind supporters that ICO cant happen without them, and
link to the ICO donation page.

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How do I buy an ad on Facebook?

1. Go to https://www.facebook.com/advertising/
2. Select Create an Ad.

3. Select which objective you want for your ICO page.

The following objectives would be appropriate for your ICO page:
Boost your posts promote your page posts so they appear on
the target audiences Facebook home page
Promote your page your ICO page will be promoted on the target audiences Facebook home page
Send people to your website your ICO website will pop up onto
the target audiences home page
Raise attendance at your event your ICO event will appear on
the target audiences home page
4. After you select your objective, youll need to enter in your credit card information, your target audience, the amount you want to
spend on the ads and the design of your ads.

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 Narrow your target audience by selecting your city and the age
group youd like to reach. You can also narrow the target audience
by interests, behaviors, categories and connections to ICO.
Facebook ads are very reasonable. You can reach a large amount
of people with a minimal amount of money. You can also choose
how long youd like each ad to run.
If youre promoting your post, youll choose which recent post
youd like to promote before selecting your target audience.
If youre promoting your website, just enter in the URL and select
what youd like the ad to say about the site.
If youre promoting an upcoming event, you must have already
created the event through your ICO page. Youll then select the target audience and what youd like the ad to say.
If youre creating an ad for your ICO page, select a photo youd
like to use and the text youd like. An example ad is below:

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Why use Twitter?

Twitter is a great way to connect with supporters by sharing news,
articles and links to your ICO pages. The key to Twitter is keeping
your message short and sweet youre only allowed 140 characters.

How do I create a Twitter page?

1. Go to https://twitter.com/.
2. Enter your name, email address and password.
3. Choose your username. For example, Chicago ICO or ICO
Madison.
4. Youll then select people and organizations to follow based on
your interests as a member of ICO.
5. You can follow however many groups you want to and move on
to the next step you dont need to follow 40 right away.
6. Feel free to skip importing any contacts from an email address by
selecting Skip this step in the lower right corner.
7. Upload a profile photo, like a picture from a recent excursion.

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How do I tweet?
1. To tweet, just click into the Whats Happening? box, or select
the blue quill symbol in the upper right corner.
2. Because you only have 140, any links you have will take up a lot
of space. You can shorten your links by using a site like https://
bitly.com/. Just enter in your long link, and Bitly will give you a
much shorter link to include in your tweet.
3. To retweet something another group or organization posted
to show that you like the post or agree with it, just click the two
arrows under the post. Similarly, you can show appreciation for a
post by favoriting it, meaning you click the star. The difference
is that a retweet will show up on your followers home pages with

55username attached. To reply to the tweet, click the first arrow.

How do I interact with people on Twitter?

Follow relevant groups, like other nonprofits in your area, organizations you partner with, your volunteers, important local leaders and local news media. Follow back people who follow you.
Add Twitter to your ICO website.
Use relevant #hashtags with your messages, like #ICO, #volunteer or #sierraclub. The hashtags are searchable and can draw in a
new audience.
Give updates about what your ICO chapter is up to.
Extend thanks to volunteers or organizations you work with.
Tweet pictures from a recent excursion.
Tweet at local media about an upcoming event. To tweet at
someone, just start typing @(their twitter name). Your tweet will
be directed at the person or organization.

Why use Meetup?

Meetup is a place for people to find groups in their
area based on a certain interest. For example, there are
book club, social groups and groups looking to explore
the city. It also has several volunteer groups, and its a
great place to promote your ICO organization to recruit volunteers.

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How do I create a Meetup group?

1. Go to http://www.meetup.com/.
2. Select Start a Meetup Group.

3. Enter your zip code.

4. In the Its a Meetup for people interest in space, put volunteering.
5. You can select topics that fit your ICO group to help people find your
organization. For example, nonprofit and outdoor volunteer opportunities.
6. Name your Meetup group. Heres a great place to use the full name
plus your city, like Milwaukee Inspiring Connections Outdoors.
7. Input a description for your group. Include how the volunteering
would be working with children on outdoor excursions and how often
the excursions would be.
8. Name your members. Its fine to use volunteers.
9. Create your own account so you can manage your ICO Meetup group.
10. To learn how to create your own announcement or event, visit the
Meetup Help page, which is a great resource if youve never managed a

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How can I promote my Meetup group?

A great resource for how to promote your Meetup group, is this
article on the Meetup help page, complete with screenshots and
details about how best to promote your group.

Why use VolunteerMatch

VolunteerMatch.org is a great place to target potential volunteers in
your community. VolunteerMatch has close to 100,000 participating organizations, have matched more than 8,000,000 volunteers
and currently has more than 90,000 volunteer opportunities. Heres
how it works, from VolunteerMatch.org:

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How can I use VolunteerMatch for ICO?

1. Go to https://www.volunteermatch.org/.
2. Under Nonprofits, hit Get Started.

3. Hit Join Now.

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4. Enter your email address and other information to make

your administrators account.
5. Verify your account by accessing the confirmation email sent
by VolunteerMatch.
6. Enter your ICO name, your zip code and your organization
type.
7. Youll then add your organization listing and what you want
your volunteer listing to be. Your organization listing can be
Providing safe and fun wilderness trips for people with limited access to the outdoors. Volunteer leaders collaborate with
community partners to get outdoors with people especially
youth who may not have access on their own to safely discover the wonders of the natural world.
8. List that you want Excursion Volunteers and the general
description of what your volunteers do, like We seek folks who
love the outdoors and working with children. Our volunteers
accompany the children on outdoor adventures, playing games
with them and helping to prepare lunch. Opportunities are
twice monthly.
9. Volunteers will contact you through VolunteerMatch.

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REFERENCES

Castillo, M. (2012, April 2). Researchers warn kids dont get enough outdoor playtime. InCBS
NEWS. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/researchers-warn-kids-dontget-enough-outdoor-playtime/
Bames, C. (2014, May 5). Eight Ways Non-Profit Organizations Can Maximize Their Facebook
Page. InHuffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-barnes/
eight-ways-non-profit-org_b_5290906.html
Harris, M. (2013, August 9). Kids stay indoors: What happened to, Go outside and play?.
In MINNPost. Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2013/08/kids-stay-indoors-what-happened-go-outside-and-play
Muoz, D. A. (2010, January 1). Children in the Outdoors . In Education Scotland. Retrieved
November 24, 2014, from http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/images/Children%20
in%20the%20outdoors%20literature%20review_tcm4-597028.pdf
Quick Facts About Nonprofits. (2014, January 1). InNational Center for Charitable Statistics.
Retrieved from National Center for Charitable Statistics .
Social Networking Fact Sheet. (2013, January 1). InPew Research Institute. Retrieved from Pew
Research Institute.
Tandon PS, Zhou C, Christakis DA. Frequency of Parent-Supervised Outdoor Play of US Preschool-Aged Children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012;166(8):707-712. doi:10.1001/
archpediatrics.2011.1835.
Waters, J. (2012, June 12). Still Not Using Twitter? A Guide to Why and How You Should for
Hashtag Laggards. InNonprofit Quarter. Retrieved from https://nonprofitquarterly.
org/policysocial-context/20490-still-not-using-twitter-a-guide-to-why-and-how-youshould-for-hashtag-laggards.html

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