Client: Michigan Women’s Foundation (Detroit, Michigan)
Agencies: Brogan & Partners (Birmingham, Michigan) and PublicCity PR (Southfield, Michigan)
Campaign: Enough Said
Duration: October 2014-ongoing
Budget: About $64,000 for one year (includes $21,000 pro bono work)
In 2009, representatives from the Wayne County prosecutor’s office and the Michigan State Police found more than 11,000 unopened, untested rape kits in a Detroit Police Department storage unit.
Federal grants allowed testing of 2,000 kits between 2010 and 2014. Results showed links to crimes in 26 states and the District of Columbia. The Wayne County prosecutor’s office identified 188 serial rapists and convicted 15.
The nonprofit Michigan Women’s Foundation, in partnership with the Wayne County prosecutor’s office and the nonprofit Detroit Crime Commission, launched Enough Said on January 6 this year to drive awareness of the issue and help raise money to test the remaining kits, investigate cases, and prosecute rapists.
Brogan & Partners and PublicCity PR were brought in on a paid and pro bono basis to help with the campaign.
Strategy
Both agencies and the nonprofit devised messaging, which focused on educating audiences and driving donations on a Crowdrise site and on the association’s website.
"We needed an emotional brand identity to compel people to donate and fundraise and give them an easy way to do it," explains Ellyn Davidson, managing partner at Brogan & Partners. "Detroit Crime Commission negotiated the per kit testing rate down from $1,500 to $490, so we focused on driving people to raise that amount."
PublicCity PR handled media relations.
"The campaign was positioned as a solution-oriented, public/private partnership," says the firm’s principal Hope Brown. "Backlogged rape kits are a nationwide problem, and Detroit was leading the way in addressing the issue."
Tactics
Brogan & Partners developed the microsite, a print brochure, and a business card-sized piece that points to the website. A press conference was held in Detroit on January 6 for top-tier local print and broadcast news outlets and national reporters. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, nonprofit members, and other key stakeholders spoke at the event.
The microsite provides educational information, fundraising ideas, and directs visitors to donate on the Crowdrise site or on the foundation’s website. Messages were posted to the group’s Twitter and Facebook pages. Campaign-specific Twitter and Facebook pages launched on April 1.
An advisory committee of young professionals, who had been independently raising money and awareness for the cause since 2009, helped promote the campaign.
Results
Michigan Women’s Foundation chief community engagement officer Peg Tallet says the campaign had raised $207,955 as of late March.
"Private foundations and corporations have also come forward to help, and we have proposals in for an additional $150,000 in support," she adds.
About 50 stories had run as of late March in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, AP, and CNN. Tallet says media coverage prompted a $25,000 donation from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and her husband Dave Goldberg, who is CEO of SurveyMonkey, as well as pro bono support from state and federal lobbyists. As of late March, the microsite had drawn 3,030 visitors, and campaign-related posts had reached 3,556 on Facebook and 1,899 on Twitter.
Future
The campaign is expected to run through 2019. Tallet says kit testing will likely be complete within a year, but investigations and prosecutions will take five to seven years.
Efforts will focus on promoting fundraising, kit testing, investigation, and prosecution milestones through traditional and social media outreach.
PRWeek’s View
There are many stakeholders involved in addressing this issue, and it was wise to centralize efforts around the Enough Said campaign. The nonprofit and its agencies are working well with stakeholders and across multiple channels. The campaign’s owned assets and messages are strong, and the team is successfully driving broad awareness and donations. Highlighting key milestones should continue to drive engagement.
