DIMES TO MAKE A DOLLAR

DEDICATED TO IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF BABIES

PUBLIC RELATIONS PLANAPRIL 19, 2010

U N I V E R I S T Y O F H O U S T O N

dimes to make a dollar DEDICATED TO IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF BABIES

INTRODUCTION

As the Public Relations sector of the March of Dimes Foundation,

we are planning an event to expand the prosperity and awareness of

the March of Dimes Foundation.

Knowing many of the factors that play into publicity and

promotion, we would like to exercise as many as of the best of them, in

regards to our planned engagement, as possible in efforts to draw in as

much awareness as possible. In efforts to do so for the March of Dimes

Foundation as well as for needing families, we feel that a silent auction

would utilize many essential determinants in creating a successful PR

event. The theme for the event will be “Dimes To Make A Dollar”, in

efforts to emphasize the ease and maximize the potential to the

utmost degree of growth for the foundation and all that are affected.

The objective of the March of Dimes Foundation is to improve the

health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and

infant mortality. The March of Dimes Foundation will accomplish this

objective through research, community services, education and

advocacy to save babies' lives. This silent auction will be a formal

event consisting of primary as well as secondary research that overall

will bring in more attention and knowledge toward the organization as

well as bring about positive (behavioral and knowledgeable) changes

from third parties (We will pay close attention to the foundation’s

institutional memory and we will apply it towards the prosperity

exertion).

There will a budget established for the event and regardless of if

a profit is made, all proceeds made and/or donated through the silent

auction will go towards 1, access to healthcare for women of

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childbearing age, infants and children, 2, research to prevent

prematurity, birth defects, and infant mortality, and 3, prevention and

treatment programs to improve maternal, infant, and child health; 3 of

the 4 top public affairs issues that the foundation has for 2010, as seen

fit.

RESEARCH

A. Primary Formal Research: March for Dimes will need to know

how many people plan on coming to the silent auction and the

dinner so event planners can make the proper accommodations

for them. The amount of people planned to show for the events

will determine where the venue will take place and how large the

venue needs to be. We will need to provide the number to the

venue of choice will need to know how many people plan on

coming due to fire marshal regulations. In order to gather such

information, we will conduct surveys and polls of the local

neighborhoods of target audiences.

1. Primary formal research is necessary because a numerical

value must be obtained in order to find a venue able to accommodate

our guest. That value will determine the price of the venue itself, plus

it will determine how many chairs, tables and plates of food will need

to be considered. All these factors will affect the budget planned for

the event.

2. The research is considered primary because it addresses the

specific concern of how many people are planning to be in attendance

for this event. The research is also considered formal because the data

is reliant on projected numbers.

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B. Secondary Formal Research: March of Dimes will examine the

records and results of past silent auctions, particularly at the

venue we decide to hold our events. We will need to know the

time of the year and the season of each event. The types of

items being auctioned and how much the winning bid for each

item will allow us to predetermine which items will be most

successful out our event. Who was invited, what demographic

they belonged to, and how many of the invited showed up will all

be useful to determine the how successful that event was and to

forecast how successful our event can be.

1. Secondary informal research is necessary because it is

important to know the chance of success for our event. It will help

carve out a budget and project profits.

2. The research is considered secondary because it’s evaluating

past events to help project the success of future events and it helps

serve as a guide. Number or percentages are not used and also

consider the research informal because it deals with data that is not

represented by them.

PLANNING

Objectives: Specific objectives for this PR plan fall into three

categories: behavioral, attitudinal, and informational based.

a. Maintain donation revenue for the organization

b. Increase traffic to March of Dimes website

c. Inform donors of how donations are being used and

what has been achieved with them

d. Increase the amount of donors/ donation amounts

that are being received. The amount will be

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increased from $241.8 million to $5000 million for

the 2010.

e. Thank the donors for making contributions to the

organization

f. Increase the amount of new donors for the

organization

Program Management Documents:

a. Work Breakdown Structure: To achieve the

specific objectives by the PR department of the

March of Dimes, it will execute and see thru the

following tasks:

1. Secure a venue for the gala/ silent auction,

and other arrangements such as food,

entertainment, etc

2. Send out formal invitations to donors and

sponsors

3. Select a family to be featured during the

dinner as a success story for the

organization

4. Send a press release with details about the

event thru the organizations website

5. Acquire and secure donors for the silent

auction:

a. Bank of America Corporation

b. Citigroup

c. American Express

d. GNC (General Nutrition

Corporation)

e. Coach, Inc

f. The Houston Opera

g. Houston Mercedes Dealership

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h. Bloomingdales, Inc.

i. Louis Vutton, Inc.

j. Neiman Marcus, Inc.

k. Gucci, Inc.

6. Acquire and secure sponsors for the gala:

a. The Kroger Co.

b. Kmart Corporation

c. Houston Verizon Theater

d. The PepsiCo Foundation, Inc

e. Sallie Mae

f. Toys R Us/ Baby’s R Us

g. Readers Digest Foundation

h. ExxonMobil Foundation

i. Microsoft Corporation

j. GEICO Direct

k. MasterCard

l. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

m. Dave & Buster’s, Inc.

n. Wal-Mart, Inc.

Budget: Our budget will include the following expenses:

Print Advertisements:

Production Costs: $2,000

Direct Mail Solicitation of Sponsorship:

Personalized Invitation to sponsors: $12,000

Postage: $500

Online Advertising/Website Modifications: $1,000

Personnel: $15,000

Miscellaneous Costs: $2,500

Total Cost of PR Plan: $ 33,000

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TAKING ACTION

Message Points: Message points will be both informative and

persuasive. Informative message points will educate those who are not

already aware of March of Dimes and its mission while further

educating those who do. Persuasive message points will persuade

guests and donors to donate funds and time to March of Dimes. The

overall message will address the current health issues of children and

babies and how March of Dimes is committed to finding cures and

preventive medicine as well as request for donations in order for March

of Dimes to continue doing so. Persona will be employed in order to

present the organization in a mutually beneficial and convincing light

so that donors will want to continue to donate time and/or money as

well as obtain new sponsors and donors.

A. Informative Message Points:

1. Mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health

of babies by preventing birth defects, premature

birth, and infant mortality through research,

community services, education and advocacy to

save babies' lives. March of Dimes researchers,

volunteers, educators, outreach workers and

advocates work together to give all babies a

fighting chance against the threats to their health

such as prematurity, birth defects and low birth

weight.

2. March of Dimes is committed to enhancing

education and research worldwide to improve

education of healthcare providers in prenatal

health.

3. March of Dimes encourages expanding the

capacity for community action by developing

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parent and community support of babies and

children with birth defects.

4. March of Dimes increases and expands awareness

of human and economic costs of birth defects by

providing policymakers, donor organizations and

the media with data they can use to develop cost-

effective solutions.

B. Persuasive Message Points:

5. To purchase dinner tickets and participate in

silent auction in order to help March of Dimes to

continue to issue research grants and carry out its

mission to improve the health of babies and keep

the community informed about the on-going

crisis.

6. To not only donate monetarily, but also time in

other fundraisers coordinated by the March of

Dimes, particularly the March for Babies.

7. Reach out emotionally to prospective sponsors

and donors by having selected three nominated

families with children and/or babies with health

issues that exemplifies the March of Dimes

mission to speak about the hardship of being a

parent of these children and how important it is to

donate in order to increase preventative

measures during and before pregnancy.

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