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 ways1. 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

• Public relations

• Localizing educational material

• Proactive material distribution

• Working with partners to target parents

• Targeting opinion leaders and policy makers

• Engaging stakeholders & volunteers • Using multiple tools to drive your overall strategy

Awareness

Education

Action

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 usein 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 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

Community Action Tools

Make The Case to BusinessCommunications 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 brochureonline, 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 FloritCommunications Manager United Way Success By 6 Mariana.Florit@uwa.unitedway.org(800) 892-2757, x279

Questions and Answers

&AQ

Thank You