LT Public Relations

LT Public Relations 2010 - 2011 Nonprofit Challenge Recipient Financial Beginnings Case Study

Challenge:

The state of the economy has proven that there is a tremendous need for personal finance education in our schools. However, due to curriculum changes, budget cuts, and a general lack of comfort among educators, personal finance education is seldom taught in a comprehensive manner. Financial Beginnings, a Portland-based nonprofit that provides finance education, at no cost, to children and young adults throughout the Pacific Northwest, was named the recipient of the 2010 LT Public Relations Nonprofit Challenge. The nonprofit educates more than 10,000 students each year and incorporates all aspects of personal finance to give students the foundation they need to make informed financial decisions.

With only one full-time staff member and one half-time development manager, the organization found itself challenged in raising awareness of its programs and successes among the local media, businesses and the community.

Public Relations Strategy:

The LT Public Relations team partnered with Financial Beginnings’ Executive Director, Melody Thompson, to create a public relations plan that included achievable strategies and tactics that would help raise awareness and support the nonprofit’s goals of becoming recognized as the leader in financial education in the Pacific Northwest—along with solidifying their alliances with local businesses and growing their funding sources.

Tactics for Financial Beginnings included:

• Establishing consistent key messages for Financial Beginnings’ interactions with external audiences
• News release distribution two-three times per quarter to local and national business, finance, education and philanthropy media
• Positioning Financial Beginnings as the financial education leader in the Pacific Northwest through connections with business media and social media
• Working with the nonprofit’s volunteer Social Media Coordinator to attract more followers and fans to their blog, Twitter and Facebook pages
• Promoting new partnerships that showcased the organization’s growth and additional education opportunities

Results

• Since the Nonprofit Challenge partnership with LT Public Relations, Financial Beginnings secured several local and national media and social media placements, including high-impact print and online coverage in The Oregonian, Portland Business Journal, Smart Money, Statesman Journal and Metro Parent
• Coordinated in-person meetings for Melody Thompson with key members of Portland’s business media
• Increased overall awareness of the organization with consistent outreach to target media
• Drove traffic to Financial Beginnings main website, as well as social media pages
• Established Melody Thompson as the local expert and key spokesperson for financial literacy and Financial Beginnings as a go-to source for accurate and current information on financial education for reporters