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The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy Presents:
Not Your Mama’s
Garden Tour
2
The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy Presents:
Not Your Mama’s
Garden Tour
Public Relations Campaigns
MSCM 4448
Spring 2012
Michelle Burke, Tayler Bridger, Marcie Hunter and Christine Podwoski
3
Table of Contents
Research___________________________________________________________________4-8
Goals, Objectives & Outcomes_________________________________________________9-15
Timeline of Events_________________________________________________________16-17
Preliminary SWOT Analysis_________________________________________________18-19
Post Event SWOT Analysis__________________________________________________20-22
Recommendations____________________________________________________________23
Appendices A-O___________________________________________________________24-44
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Research
What is the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy?
The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy is a non-profit organization that works to build personal
relationships with people in Baldwin County whose lives have been diminished due to prejudices
toward disabilities.
See Appendix A: Information Sheets
History
The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy originally began as Baldwin County Citizen Advocacy in
Milledgeville, Ga. in 1983 as a result of local citizens who wished to bring the needs and
interests of people with disabilities to the forefront of the community’s agenda. The purpose of
the organization is to provide mentors to members of the community in need of support due to a
disability. This mentorship usually leads to long personal relationships. In 2008 the Baldwin
County Citizen Advocacy became the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy. The name change did not
change the organization’s overall goal of advocating for citizens in the community.
Programs
The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy prides itself on providing several different opportunities and
areas of involvement as listed below:
Spokesperson: A spokesperson vigorously represents a person’s best interest and to help
them acquire necessary services and supports.
Friend: To begin an ongoing, hopefully lifelong relationship that may develop into a true
friendship over time.
Ally: An ally stands with a person during good times and bad times.
Mentor: A mentor offers guidance, affirmation and direction through their presence,
personal examples and advice.
Opportunity Maker: The opportunity maker arranges for a person to take advantage of
new or better opportunities in the community in work, education, civic involvement,
neighborhood involvement, or leisure.
Red Tape Cutter: This person helps cut through policies and procedures that can
sometimes overwhelm.
Representative Payee: A representative payee assumes the responsibility of a person’s
finances, helps them with planning a monthly budget and saving for the future.
Adoptive Parent: Provides a family forever.
Legal Guardian: A legal guardian assumes court-sanctioned responsibility for a person’s
major personal or financial decisions.
Crisis Advocate: An advocate who responds and is present to a protégé on a short term
basis until a long term advocate can be recruited, oriented and matched.
Advocate Associate: Offers their skills, talents, expertise, and influence to a citizen
advocate who is advocating for his or her protégé. Advocate associates are needed in the
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areas of networking, political savvy, law, journalism, financial planning, housing,
employment, medical and education.
Spring 2012 Fundraising Event
The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy will be hosting a garden tour entitled Not Your Mama’s
Garden Tour as their spring fundraising event. The tour will consist of six local gardens and the
Georgia College greenhouse. It will begin at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church at 10 a.m. on
Saturday, April 21, 2012. Guests will be given a brochure with driving directions and
explanations for each stop along the tour. All attendees will be responsible for their own
transportation and will be free to start in any order. Advance tickets and gift certificates will be
available for sale. The tour will end at 4 p.m. after a raffle for garden ornaments. Raffle tickets
will cost $5 for one ticket and $20 for five tickets. The event will take place rain or shine.
Budget
The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy has allocated a budget of $1,000 for the garden tour. The
budget will be used for promotional materials, refreshments, printing services and items to be
sold in the raffle.
After the tour the OACA had $655 left in the budget they had established. For a nonprofit
organization, this is a great accomplishment. In the future if the OACA wishes to keep the same
budget, they could use the additional money to take out advertisements in media outlets.
See Appendix B: Budget
Staffing
Garden Tour Headquarters:
Master Gardeners, board members, and GC students stationed at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal
Church.
Garden Tour Sites:
The Wells’ Garden: Margaret Chambliss and Family
Allied Arts: Jeanette
Murali’s Garden: Kitty Gamble and David Barnes
The Millers’ Garden: Joyce and Brenda
Georgia College students relieve board members during lunch
The Hodges’ Garden:
10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Joe Windish
1-4 p.m.: Bevan
The Wade’s Garden: Rae and Arnold Wade
Georgia College Greenhouse: Marina Barkovskii
Lecture at Garden Tour Headquarters:
Rae and Arnold Wade, board members, and GC students stationed at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal
Church.
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Food and Beverages
Coffee, donuts and cookies were available for tour attendees at the tour headquarters at Saint
Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Listed below are the food and beverage donations:
Food Donations:
Piggly Wiggly:
90 cookies from the bakery
Ryals Bakery:
48 freshly baked donuts
Beverage:
Blackbird Coffee:
Coffee
Cups
Sugar
Cream
Stir sticks
Carafe
Restaurant Discounts
The promotional team was able to receive the following discounts for tour attendees to
restaurants in downtown Milledgeville:
Barberitos: One free drink with purchase of entre
Amici: Ten percent off meal
Georgia Bob’s:
25 percent off a meal
Buy one get one 50 percent off sandwich
Metropolis: Ten percent off meal
Asian Bistro: Ten percent off meal
See Appendix C: Restaurant Discounts
See Appendix D: Donation Letter to Restaurants
Target Audience
The primary audience as expressed by the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy is primarily females
over the age of 40 in Baldwin, Jones, Putnam, Laurens, Clarke, Richmond and Wilkinson
counties. This primary audience also includes women in counties listed who are members of
various garden clubs and associations. The secondary audience will consist of females over the
age of 40 from Atlanta and South Georgia. The tertiary audience for the garden tour will be
made up of women under the age of 40, men of all ages, children and GC students.
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Demographics
The following information was obtained from the 2010 United States Census and reflects the
primary target audience:
Baldwin County
Population 45,720
Persons ages 65 and over 12.0%
Female persons, percent 50.4%
Median household income $37,237
Jones County
Population 28,669
Persons ages 65 and over, percent 12.5%
Female persons, percent 51.6%
Median Household income $50,717
Putnam County
Population 21,218
Persons ages 65 and over, percent 18.1%
Female persons, percent 51.3%
Median Household income $41,529
Laurens
Population 48,434
Persons ages 65 and over, percent 14.2%
Female persons, percent 52.4%
Median Household income $38,280
Clarke
Population 116,714
Persons ages 65 and over, percent 8.5%
Female persons, percent 52.5%
Median Household income $34,253
Richmond
Population 195,844
Persons ages 65 and over, percent 11.3%
Female persons, percent 51.6%
Median Household income $37,609
Wilkinson
Population 9,563
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Persons ages 65 and over, percent 15.7%
Female persons, percent 52.1%
Median Household income $37,902
Utilizing the above demographics will help the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy reach their
primary target audience. After assessing the number of people within the target audience, the
OACA should be able to easily reach their attendance goal for the garden tour.
Competition
The largest competition for the garden tour will come from Lockerly Arboretum. Lockerly will
be hosting their annual plant sale the same day as the garden tour. The primary audience for the
plant sale will overlap with the primary audience for the garden tour. Large, established garden
tours in South Georgia and Atlanta will compete with the garden tour for its secondary audience.
While not the most significant competition, Georgia College Earth Fest may become competition
for the tertiary audience.
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Goals, Objectives & Outcomes
The following main goals, objectives, strategies and tactics will guide the Oconee Area Citizen
Advocacy’s Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour:
Goal:
Implement a successful fundraiser to raise money and awareness for Oconee Area Citizen
Advocacy.
Objective 1: Develop a successful campaign for Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour so that it
may become an annual event.
Strategy 1: Develop a recognizable brand that will be carried throughout all published
materials.
RATIONALE: In order for an annual event to succeed, community members must have
a relationship with the brand in order for recognition to continue into following years’
events.
Tactic 1: Utilize fonts and graphics in accordance with the personality of the garden tour.
Tactic 2: Use same fonts, colors and parody picture in all published materials for the
garden tour.
Implementation: The original parody picture was altered in Adobe Photoshop and was
utilized on the poster and brochure, sent to media outlets and added to community
calendars. The fonts Apple Garamond was used for all body text and Brannboll was used
for titles on all promotional materials. The purple color was pulled from the flowers in
the parody picture and was used on all promotional materials.
Evaluation: The parody picture was used on all promotional materials. The couple
featured in the picture is well known in the Milledgeville community and aided in gaining
attention for the tour. The purple color used for the color palette was eye catching and
stood out among other posters. While the fonts were used on the materials the team
designed, they were not utilized on the OACA website. The utilization of the fonts, colors
and picture were effective in gaining attention for the tour.
See Appendix E: Before and After Picture
See Appendix F: Poster Design
See Appendix G: Brochure
Strategy 2: Develop lasting connections between the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy and
community members.
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RATIONALE: Members of local garden associations and OACA can develop
relationships with community members.
Tactic 1: Members can help spread the word about the event, helping raise attendance
numbers.
Implementation: In order to develop lasting connections with community members the
team utilized a variety of methods. First, all 10 board members of OACA were required
to sell five tickets a piece. Second, the team reached out to local businesses to display
posters in store windows as well as seek out downtown restaurants willing to offer a
discount to tour-goers on the day of Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour. Finally, lasting
connections were made with community members who purchased tickets and attended
the Garden Tour.
Evaluation: Each of the methods utilized by the team were successful in creating lasting
connections. Having the OACA board members sell tickets allowed for a wider variety of
audiences to attend the Garden Tour. The discounts provided by Amici Italian Café,
Metropolis Café, Georgia Bob’s BBQ, Asian Bistro, and Barberito’s were not only
helpful in providing tour-goers with a convenient and affordable dining experience but
helped us develop a lasting relationship with each establishment. By reaching out to local
businesses in the implementation of the first year of the garden tour, the team members
were able to establish a name for the garden tour that will be remembered by businesses
and the team can potentially utilize those connections in future years for the Garden Tour.
See Appendix C: Restaurant Discounts
Objective 2: Raise a minimum of $3,200 by April 21, 2012.
Strategy 1: Sell at least 210 tickets to Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour.
RATIONALE: Two hundred ten tickets need to be sold because it is expected that
majority of the income ($3,150) will come from the sale of tickets.
Tactic 1: Board members will sell pre-sale tickets at the Milledgeville Garden Club’s
joint council meeting at the First Methodist Church on March 20. There will be over 200
women in attendance at this meeting.
Tactic 2: Promote Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour through promotional posters
throughout the Milledgeville, Macon and Gray, Ga. Posters will direct viewers to the
OACA website and/or phone number for more information.
Tactic 3: Develop a promotional letter to give to GC sorority organizations
inviting members and relatives to the garden tour.
Tactic 4: Develop a promotional letter to invite GC faculty members to the garden tour.
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Implementation: Presale tickets were available for purchase in the months leading up to
the tour. The ticket brochure was available for purchase at the Milledgeville Garden
Club’s joint council meeting. The sale of tickets was promoted on the poster, in a letter
sent to the five sororities at GC and in an email sent to all GC faculty members.
Evaluation: Approximately the same number of tickets were sold before and during the
garden tour. The money collected for the tickets was not kept separate from the money
collected for the raffle items; therefore, the team was not able to evaluate the exact
number of tickets sold. In total the tour raised approximately $2,500. This was lower than
the projected goal, however, the members of OACA were extremely happy with the total
raised. OACA also stated they set their goal higher than they anticipated to raise,
especially for a first time event.
See Appendix G: Brochure
Strategy 2: Sell at least 50 raffle tickets for items at Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour.
RATIONALE: We want to sell at least 50 raffle tickets to make up the remainder of the
fundraising goal.
Tactic 1: All raffle items will be promoted on the OACA website to draw attention to
attendees.
Tactic 2: Raffle items will be listed on the brochure that each attendee will receive. The
brochure will give specific raffle information.
Tactic 3: Raffle items will be available for sale at a “Buy it Now” rate.
Implementation: Raffle items were made available for direct purchase before the tour
and the first hour of the tour. Any items not directly purchased during this time were then
made available for direct purchase. The items and descriptions were explained on the
garden tour website as well as featured in the brochure.
Evaluation: The money collected for the raffle items was not kept separate from the
money collected for the tickets; therefore, the team was not able to evaluate the exact
number of raffle tickets sold. Before the event, one item was purchased for direct
purchase at $75 and another for $65. These two sales accounted for a total of $140 in
presale tickets. With the sale of the raffle tickets, we were able to exceed this goal
monetarily.
See Appendix H: Raffle Item Pictures
Strategy 3: Donations to OACA will be accepted.
RATIONALE: OACA is not relying upon donations to reach their fundraising goal,
however, any donations will be graciously accepted.
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Tactic 1: Having the verbiage “donations accepted” on future promotional materials.
Tactic 2: Make sure to include that donations will be accepted in letters to sororities and
Georgia College faculty even if these people cannot attend.
Implementation: Donations were solicited to the sororities at Georgia College. A letter
was sent to each chapter president to be presented to their individual chapters. An email
was also sent out on the ListServe at Georgia College to invite professors to attend and or
donate money to the OACA. Donations were also accepted on the day of the tour at the
tour headquarters and at each garden location.
Evaluation: Alpha Delta Pi sorority gave the OACA a donation of $50 and a garden tour
attendee gave a $100 donation on the day of the tour. Because the OACA, was not
dependent upon donations to raise money for the tour, any donation was seen as a success
and was graciously appreciated.
See Appendix I: Sorority Letter
Objective 3: Gain broad media coverage for Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour.
Strategy 1: Develop a poster to be hung up in communities within the above listed
demographics.
RATIONALE: Having a poster will create brand awareness and will help people in our
target audiences know about the event.
Tactic 1: Have poster completed and printed six weeks prior to event.
Tactic 2: Utilize the established fonts, color palette and parody picture on poster.
Tactic 3: Distribute poster to surrounding communities.
Tactic 4: Upload a .jpg version of the poster to local community calendars.
Implementation: The campaigns team met and began working on the poster Feb. 6-12.
Consistent fonts, color palettes and the parody picture were used on the poster. The final
version of the poster was completed Feb. 17. The posters were picked up from the printer
March 1 and were immediately distributed to local businesses, restaurants and churches.
The posters were also displayed in Gray and Dublin, Ga. On April 2, the team met and
uploaded a .jpg version of the poster on several surrounding online community calendars.
Evaluation: The team completed the final version of the poster ten weeks prior to the
garden tour event, almost doubling the amount of time initially allotted. The
conceptualization, design and elements of the poster were consistent with the brochure
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the team also created. When traveling around to local establishments and surrounding
communities to distribute the posters, business owners were accommodating in fulfilling
the request to display the posters. An electronic copy of the poster was uploaded to six
community calendars in neighboring towns and counties. Each community calendar
featured the garden tour poster.
See Appendix F: Poster Design
Strategy 2: Develop a brochure to be distributed to all attendees for ticket purposes and as
a tour guide.
RATIONALE: The brochure will aid attendees in their tours throughout the gardens. It
will also highlight garden features, raffle items and information about OACA.
Tactic 1: Interview all gardeners for biographies and garden expectations.
Tactic 2: The brochure will be available as a pre-sale ticket.
Tactic 3: Maintain consistency with other promotional materials.
Tactic 4: Highlight the work of the OACA.
Implementation: The campaign team interviewed each gardener throughout February
and March prior to creating the brochure. Once interviews were completed the team
began creating the brochure using Adobe InDesign. All fonts, colors and design remained
consistent to other elements of the campaign, such as the poster. The heading font is
Brannboll and is a shade of purple. The font Apple Garamond is shown in black for the
body text. The front of the brochure includes the Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour title, the
parody picture, the date, and a list of each garden to be checked off as people toured the
gardens. The remaining elements of the brochure include raffle information, a schedule of
events, gardener information, and information about OACA. The brochure was
completed and approved by Margaret Chambliss on March 19. Attendees were given the
brochure upon payment, and it represented their ticket.
Evaluation: The brochure proved to be successful within this campaign. The colors,
fonts, and design were eye catching and matched the rest of the promotional items. The
brochure allowed attendees to get quick facts and information about the garden tour and
what it offered. Many attendees purchased the ticket prior to the day of the event, so it
allowed members working the garden to easily see it as their ticket. The list of garden’s
on the front of the brochure allowed board members to quickly check off the attendee’s
current garden location; this also helped attendees view which gardens they had and
hadn’t visited.
See Appendix G: Brochure
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Strategy 3: Develop a strategic press release to be sent out to local media outlets.
RATIONALE: Inform target audience about the garden tour and give them reasons to
attend and support OACA.
Tactic 1: Research information for press release and structure it in an inverted pyramid
style.
Tactic 2: Gather quotes from OACA board members, gardeners and mentees of OACA.
Tactic 3: Research and contact media outlets in target areas.
Implementation: The press release was structured in an inverted pyramid style so that
the most important information was at the beginning and the contact information was at
the end. Quotes were used from OACA Coordination Margaret Chambliss and garden
owner Betti Hodges. Once the press release was developed it was approved by garden
tour co-chairs Margaret Chambliss and Rae Wade. After the press release was approved,
the team developed a strategic media list containing newspapers within the target area.
Evaluation: The press release was well received by a wide range of newspapers. Many
newspapers featured the entire article. The Union Recorder used the press release to
develop a full article which was run on the front page on April 10. The team and
members of OACA both had strong connections with reporters which was helpful in
gaining placements. The development of a strategic press release and media list aided in
the success of multiple placements.
See Appendix J: Media List
See Appendix K: Press Release
See Appendix L-N: Placements
Strategy 4: Develop a PSA to be distributed to local radio stations.
RATIONALE: Inform target audience about the garden tour and give them reasons to
attend and support OACA.
Tactic 1: Gain live air time on local radio segments.
Tactic 2: Have a pair of tickets to be given away on Z97 “Winning Wednesday.”
Tactic 3: Provide listeners information about citizen advocacy and give adequate
information about the garden tour.
Tactic 4: Develop strategic timing for the airing of PSA.
Implementation: In order to gain awareness for Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour, the
team developed a 30 second PSA to be distributed to Z97 and Country 102 in
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Milledgeville. In addition to having the PSA aired, Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour
featured on Z97’s Winning Wednesday slot where two tickets were given away for those
who called in. Board member Brittany Curry spoke about OACA and Not Your Mama’s
Garden Tour in order to spread the word about the fundraiser as well as the organization
it benefitted.
Evaluation: The radio coverage was very successful in helping spread the word about
the Garden Tour as well as about OACA. Both Z97 and Country 102 aired the team’s
PSA three times a day prior to as well as several times on the day of the event. In addition
to the traditional airing of the PSAs, Z97’s Winning Wednesday’s was helpful in catching
listener’s attention about Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour.
See Appendix O: PSA
Objective 4: Raise awareness for Citizen Advocacy.
Strategy 1: Highlight the work of the OACA within the promotional materials
RATIONALE: This will enable attendees to be informed of their primary and secondary
benefits through their involvement with the OACA.
Tactic 1: Have a section in the brochure dedicated to explaining citizen advocacy.
Tactic 2: Discuss citizen advocacy in press release through organization’s history and
quotes.
Tactic 3: Through radio coverage, highlight the work of the OACA.
Implementation: Because the goal of the tour was to raise money for the OACA, it was
important to the organization to highlight their work on the promotional materials. A
section of the brochure was dedicated to explaining citizen advocacy to garden tour
attendees. Citizen advocacy was also explained in the press release. Brittany Curry
discussed citizen advocacy during Winning Wednesday on Z97. Radio listeners were able
to learn about the organization while listening for the ticket giveaway. Brochures on
citizen advocacy were present on the day of the tour at the check-in table.
Evaluation: Because of the highlighted work on the promotional materials, the OACA
was able to meet people who were potential advocacy matches. Many people took the
brochures about citizen advocacy. It was the goal of the organization that more people
would learn about their work, and through all of the promotional materials, attendees
were given the opportunity to learn about the organization.
See Appendix G: Brochure
See Appendix J: Press Release
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Timeline of Events
Jan. 13, 2012
Group selection for “Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour”
Jan. 20, 2012
1:30 p.m. Meet with Margaret Chambliss, Brittany Curry, Brenda Gruwell and Rae Wade
to begin work on garden tour.
Jan. 31, 2012
3:30 p.m. Meet with Margaret Chambliss to discuss Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy’s
wants and needs for garden tour.
Feb. 6-12, 2012
Meet with group to work on garden tour poster.
Feb. 15, 2012
7 p.m. Meet at OACA to approve poster design.
Feb. 17, 2012
Send poster revisions to garden tour co-chairs.
Feb. 20, 2012
10 a.m. Research component of campaign due to Dr. Miller.
Feb. 23, 2012
3:30 p.m. Meet with Arnold and Rae Wade to conduct interview for garden tour
brochure.
March 1, 2012
Pick up posters to distribute in surrounding communities.
March 5, 2012
12 p.m. Interview Marina Barkovskii at Georgia College greenhouse for garden tour
brochure.
March 8, 2012
12:30 p.m. Interview Betti Hodges for garden tour brochure.
March 15, 2012
7:30 a.m. Meet with Charles and Irene Miller to conduct interview for garden tour
brochure.
March 19, 2012
Send completed brochure to garden tour co-chairs.
March 21, 2012
10 a.m. Strategies and tactics section due to Dr. Miller and Margaret Chambliss.
April 2, 2012
Meet with group to develop press release and PSA’s.
April 4, 2012
1 p.m. Meeting at OACA to review promotional materials.
April 9, 2012
10 a.m. Group meeting to distribute promotional materials to the media.
April 11, 2012
12 p.m. Ticket give-away on Z97’s “Winning Wednesday.”
April 16, 2012
12 p.m. Meeting at OACA to review final details for garden tour.
17
April 17, 2012
Ask for discounts for garden tour attendees at downtown restaurants for day of the tour.
April 18, 2012
7 p.m. Garden Tour reception.
April 19, 2012
12:15 p.m. Meet in group to put together driving directions, discount sheets and garden
tour survey.
April 20, 2012
5 p.m. Pick up cookie donations from Piggly Wiggly.
5:30 p.m. Blow up balloons for garden tour at GC Student Activities Center.
6 p.m. Meet at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church to set up garden tour headquarters.
April 21, 2012
8:15 a.m. Pick up donut donations from Ryals Bakery
8:30 a.m. Arrive at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church.
8:30 – 9 a.m. Last minute décor details
9 a.m. Garden tour headquarters open
9 – 10 a.m. Garden ornaments available for direct sale.
10 a.m. Gardens open; raffle tickets available for purchase.
3:30 p.m. Rae Wade gives lecture on garden ornaments.
4 p.m. Gardens on tour close.
4:30 p.m. Raffle drawings
5 p.m. Event ends; begin take down of event
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Preliminary SWOT Analysis
The GC Public Relations Campaigns team conducted a preliminary SWOT analysis to assess the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the garden tour.
Strengths
There are many strengths within the Oconee Citizen Advocacy that will aid in the ultimate
success of the garden tour. First, the organization is established within the Milledgeville
community and has strong ties with a large number of citizens. Next, the OACA has allotted a
$1,000 budget which will aid in the promotion of the event. The budget will enable the OACA to
have advertising placements in various news outlets to compliment other promotional materials.
The board of the OACA has a clear vision of the work they would like to see put into the garden
tour. They have also outlined a clear timeline leading up to the event explaining when all
promotion will take place. The OACA board has been working to plan this event for several
months and they have conducted a large amount of research from other garden tours on how to
run the event. Lastly, the OACA has a clear vision for the event and goals for the end result.
These goals help drive all members to meet and exceed expectations.
Weaknesses
With the strengths within the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy’s planning of Not Your Mama’s
Garden Tour, there are also some weaknesses. Because of the strict timeline and vision, not all
members of the team are open to suggestions. There are also some inconsistencies in the
cohesiveness of some of the materials for the event. The gift certificate was designed early
before any other promotional materials and is not a cohesive fit with the rest of the materials.
There were also advertisements taken out early that do not look like the final promotional
materials and one of the advertisements had the wrong date for the event. Group think is also
causing one person’s ideas to overshadow the rest of the group and has made it difficult for any
opposing views to be heard. There is one team member in particular that has very strong
opinions on how every aspect of the event should work making this person hard to work with.
This is the first time the OACA has put on this event, thus the members do not have the
knowledge of what has and has not worked in the past. Another weakness may come in that this
is only a one day event. Many other garden tours take place over an entire weekend which helps
draw in a large number of attendants. Also, many other garden tours provide transportation to
each garden, while for this event, attendees must drive themselves. Directions to many of the
locations may be confusing to people who are not from the Milledgeville area. Lastly, the raffle
is taking place at the end of the day and the OACA is hoping to make a large amount of money
off the items in the raffle. Many out of town guests may not stay in town for the raffle if they
finish the tour earlier in the afternoon. This can take away a large source of revenue which will
hopefully be compensated for in ticket sales.
Opportunities
If opportunities are taken advantage of, the garden tour has the potential to generate a large
revenue for the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy. The Milledgeville community is one of the
greatest opportunities. The support from the community for the garden tour can be huge and can
make the event extremely successful. Other organizations in Milledgeville also do not currently
19
host garden tours, and the OACA capitalizing on this is extremely fitting given the demographics
of the community. There is also the opportunity for support from similar communities in
surrounding areas. The primary and secondary audiences are both extremely specific and
majority of advertising and publicity will be aimed toward these individuals. However, there are
a great amount of people outside of these audiences that if some attention is put in to reaching
these people, the garden tour can grow even larger. The date for the event is also the last day of
gardening week in the state of Georgia. Utilizing this information in promotional materials may
draw more attendants to the event.
Threats
With the great amount of opportunities also come many threats to the garden tour. One of the
largest and most apparent threats to a garden tour is the weather. While presale tickets are
available, the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy anticipates most ticket sales will come on the day
of the event. In the case of inclement weather the event will still take place, however many
people will be less inclined to come. The OACA board has also decided that in the event of
severe inclement weather, there will be no rain date. If there is poor weather on the day of the
event it is going to be nearly impossible for the OACA to reach their $3,500 fundraising goal.
Preliminary promotional materials indicated the sale of gift certificates. This can however be
confusing for some people because the OACA is calling all presale tickets “gift certificates.”
This choice in wording may deter some people from purchasing a presale ticket because people
do not typically buy a gift certificate for themselves. Events hosted by other garden associations
on the same weekend or surrounding weekends may make people less inclined to attend the
OACA’s garden tour. While the primary audience for Georgia College Earth Fest and the
primary audience for the OACA’s garden tour do not overlap, there may still be some
competition for attendants at these events. The Lockerly Arboretum plant sale is also taking
place the same day as the garden tour. Lockerly’s plant sale is an annual event and many people
may not want to miss it to attend a new event. The primary audiences for these events also
overlap. Being aware of the threats from the beginning of the event will hopefully help the
OACA minimize any of their effects.
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Post Event SWOT Analysis
Strengths
There were many strengths within the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy’s inaugural Not Your
Mama’s Garden Tour which will aid in the success of future garden tours. There was a high
amount of media coverage within Milledgeville and surrounding communities. This led to the
ultimate success of the event and brought awareness to the target audiences. The flyer and
brochure became a recognizable brand to both citizens and the media. Members of the OACA
were always accommodating and welcoming to new ideas presented by the promotional team.
This led to the elimination of many potential threats as well as the development of the campaign.
The promotional team worked extremely well together and did not have confrontation to take
away focus. All members took initiative in completing work in a timely manner, and all
deadlines were met. All team members were present and played integral roles in setting up the
night before the event, during the event and after the event. Setting up the tour headquarters at
Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church allowed the morning of the tour to run smoothly and stress
free. OACA board members were also pivotal in the success of the event. They aided in selling
tickets and staffing the event. Businesses in the Milledgeville area were also helpful in various
ways. All of the businesses that were approached allowed the team to hang posters in their stores.
Local restaurants were also willing to give discounts to tour attendees. Georgia Bob’s had the
best day of sales on the day of the tour and hopes to continue working with the OACA on future
events. Having books and magazines for sale at the tour headquarters brought in additional
revenue for the tour. Lastly, the driving directions to the garden sites allowed attendees to easily
navigate their way to each location. Half of the attendees were given driving directions from the
north and the other half was given directions from the south. This aided in splitting up the
crowds at garden locations. The press release that was sent to the media contained hyperlinks to
the OACA website and the direct page for the garden tour. This made finding further information
about the tour and organization easily accessible to the media.
Weaknesses
A large weakness that the promotional team encountered was the headquarter location the day of
the event. Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church is located next to another church and was confusing
for attendees to distinguish which church housed the garden tour. Additionally, directing
attendees to the correct entrance was difficult. The promotional team could have provided extra
signage around the church’s campus to ensure the attendees were directed to the correct area.
Because of Saint Stephen’s location, and the fact that Fall Line Farmers’ Market was set up
during the beginning of the tour, parking was an issue as well.
Another significant weakness was the schedule of events for the tour. A special presentation by
Master Gardener Rae Wade was scheduled for 4 p.m. as the garden tour was winding down.
Because this was held later in the day, fewer than ten people attended the presentation. The
promotional team believed this would have been better attended if the presentation was held
directly after lunchtime, ensuring a higher attendance since the majority of the attendees would
head back towards the downtown area for lunch.
The promotional team worked diligently to ensure that each design item featured consistent
fonts, color pallets and graphics. However, when the information and design elements were sent
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to the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy website designer, a majority of the cohesiveness was
changed. The website did not feature the same color pallet or fonts of the already-designed
posters and brochures. Additionally, the website designer added elementary clip art that did not
match the theme of the posters and brochures. The website was mentioned on all promotional
materials distributed to Milledgeville and the surrounding communities, thus skewing the
previously achieved design consistency.
Several additional smaller weaknesses were encountered the day of the event. There was slight
confusion regarding where the donated food would be offered and kept throughout the day.
Because of miscommunication, all of the donated cookies were taken to one of the houses on the
tour. When attendees began purchasing their tickets, the promotional team realized they were
unequipped with sufficient monetary change to give back. Two team members had to leave the
tour headquarters to get change from a local restaurant. Additionally, there were not enough
posters printed for display at each of the tour locations.
Other weaknesses include not playing music in the tour headquarters while attendees bought
tickets, browsed raffle items and gift baskets, and spoke with Master Gardeners. The promotional
team created surveys to be distributed to the garden tour attendees in order to gain valuable
feedback. The surveys were forgotten about and therefore were not distributed, leaving the
promotional team as well as OACA staff without essential insight. The mission and work of
OACA should have been communicated more during the day of the event to inform attendees
and possibly receive additional donations. Several garden tour attendees asked for a map in
addition to the directions given to them. The map originally designed by the promotional team
was too vast to include on the brochure/tickets. Larger copies of the map should have still been
distributed and available on the day of the event.
See Appendix P: Driving Directions
See Appendix Q: Survey
Opportunities
Due to the fact that this was a debut event, there were a vast amount of opportunities that
accompanied the event. One of main opportunities that was helpful on the day of the event was
having Master gardeners available for questions on the day of Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour.
Having this opportunity helped reinforce the “Not Your Mama’s” portion of the garden tour
because it was a unique aspect of the event. One opportunity that could be a helpful in the future
would be to partner with Lockerly Arboretum in order to reach out to potential audiences
interested in gardening. Several other opportunities that could be utilized in the future include
reaching out to the student body more actively, utilizing on-campus student media to promote the
garden tour, and pitching the event to local organizations, such as the Milledgeville Country
Club. Utilizing the student body and the on-campus media is an opportunity because it would
allow future campaigns teams to reach a larger audience, although not necessarily our target
audience. As for presenting to local organizations, this opportunity would help further reinforce
the brand name and awareness of the Garden Tour in a more direct manner. Another opportunity
of Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour was the unique raffle. Attendees were attracted to purchase
raffle tickets because of the one-of-a-kind and eye-catching raffle prizes being offered. An
additional opportunity that presented itself the morning of the tour was an announcement that
22
was aired on 13WMAZ in Macon. This announcement helped draw a crowd that had not already
purchased tickets and assisted in gaining sales.
Threats
Because this was the OACA’s first garden tour many threats were presented that may or may not
have been predicted. One of the threats that affected the team and the event during the majority
of the campaign was a member of the planning committee. Although this member brought
experience and knowledge in gardening, they were sometimes difficult to work with and express
new ideas to. Another threat that the team faced was potential bad weather. The days leading up
to the event showed a high chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. Thankfully the weather
was nice on the day of the event, but it caused the team to plan alternative ways to conduct the
event. A threat the team was not aware of prior to the event was the Fall Line Farmers Market.
The farmers market was held throughout the morning in the same parking lot as the garden tour
headquarters, causing minimal parking and a distraction from the OACA event. More threats
include the Earth Fest event happening simultaneously at Georgia College and the Lockerly
Arboretum plant sale. Both of these events created distractions from the garden tour and took
away some of the target audience. The location of some of the gardens also presented a threat to
the campaign; the distance from some of the gardens to the next took too much time and caused
attendees to skip gardens. Additionally, some of the garden locations were difficult to find
because of lack of street signs and confusing roads. An unpredictable threat was an attendee
experiencing an allergic reaction, causing the EMS to respond in front of one garden. This
created a distraction and worry to other attendees visiting the garden. Prices of gift baskets sold
caused a threat because they were too high for the items presented; this resulted in no baskets
being purchased and a monetary loss for the OACA. To make up for this loss the OACA plans to
sell the baskets for a cheaper price at the Milledgeville Garden Association.
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Recommendations
The promotional team developed the following recommendations for the Oconee Area Citizen
Advocacy to use for future garden tours:
Utilize a location that is more accessible and visible to attendees with adequate parking.
Consider changing the town in which the garden tour is featured to broaden the target
audience as well as offer new garden locations.
Have news coverage present during the event.
Invite local restaurants to set up booths to sell food at garden headquarters. This will
bring more people back to the headquarters and will also be convenient for attendees who
are not familiar with the town.
Include a phone number on the brochure for attendees in case of emergency or if
someone gets lost.
Display the organization’s mission more thoroughly throughout the day of the tour by
inviting mentors and mentees to be present.
Ensure that all promotional materials utilized reflect the established brand.
Give surveys to attendees at the beginning of the tour and collect them at the last garden
location.
Make sure all members of the committee keep in mind the mission of the organization.
Keep money from donations, raffle tickets and brochure tickets separate. This will aid in
knowing the exact number of tickets sold, as well as knowing which areas raised the most
amount of money.
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Appendix A: Information Sheets
The following pages are informational sheets developed by the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy
to educate people on citizen advocacy.
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Appendix B: Budget
Item Cost Quantity Total
Posters $1.00 each 100 $100.00
Brochures $0.00 each 300 $0.00
Gift Baskets (large) $42.50 3 $127.50
Gift Baskets (small) $32.50 3 $97.50
Raffle Items Miscellaneous items - $25.00
Table Cloths $1.00 each 20 $20.00
Cookies Donation 10 dozen $0.00
Donuts Donation 4 dozen $0.00
Coffee Donation - $0.00
Total $345.00
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Appendix C: Restaurant Discounts
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Appendix D: Donation Letter to Restaurants
The following page is an example of the letter given to restaurants requesting donations for the
garden tour.
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Appendix E: Before and After Picture
Before Editing:
After Editing:
29
Appendix F: Poster Design
*Actual Poster Size was 11 x 17 inches*
30
Appendix G: Brochure
The following page displays the brochure used for Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour.
31
Appendix H: Raffle Item Pictures
Items included in the raffle:
32
Gift baskets available for direct purchase. Prices ranged from $65-$85.
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Appendix I: Sorority Letter
Dear Sorority name,
On behalf of the Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy, we would like to invite you and each
member of your organization to our inaugural “Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour” on Saturday
April 21, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This very unique garden tour offers six of Milledgeville’s
most beautiful gardens as well as the Georgia College Greenhouse. “Not Your Mama’s Garden
Tour” is the perfect way to acquaint your sisters, moms, grandparents, friends, and other family
members with some of the most beautiful sights in the Milledgeville community.
The tour costs $15 per person and all proceeds benefit the Oconee Area Citizen
Advocacy, a local organization that recruits well-connected community members to become
advocates for people living with a label of disability, and speak for them in various ways. As
sorority members, it is one of our mains goals to participate in philanthropic work and by
partaking in the opportunity to attend this fundraiser, you will have the opportunity to impact our
community directly as well as gain service hours for your sorority. We extend this offer to you in
hopes that your organization is willing to either sponsor members or encourage members to
attend our fundraiser. If you are interested in participating or wish to find out further
information, please contact Michelle Burke at 770-845-5102 or [email protected].
Thank you so much for taking the time to consider being a part of this debut fundraiser, we truly
appreciate your support.
Sincerely,
Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy Public Relations Team
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Appendix J: Media List
Athens Banner Herald
Andrea Griffith
706-208-2211
Baldwin Bulletin
Pam Beer
[email protected] 478-272-5522
Country 102
Megan
Attn: Megan [email protected]
478-452-0586
The Courier-Herald
478-272-5522
Eatonton Messenger
Ron Bridgeman
706-485-3501
Jones County News
Debbie Lurie-Smith
478-986-3929
Lake Oconee Breeze
Natalie Davis
478-453-1462
The Macon Telegraph
Stephanie Hartley
478-744-5482
Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce
April Bragg
478-453-9311
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Milledgeville Visitors Bureau
478-452-4687
Twiggs Times
Karen Young
478-945-6037
WMAZ
478-752-1429
WMGT
478-745-7641
Union Recorder
Vaishali Patel
478-453-1458
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Appendix K: Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Margaret Chambliss
Phone: 478-452-6968,
Email: [email protected]
OACA April Garden Tour
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga.- The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy presents its inaugural “Not Your
Mama’s Garden Tour” Saturday, April 21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Starting at Saint Stephens Episcopal Church in downtown Milledgeville, the tour highlights six
gardens in the picturesque small town. This unique tour is friendly for citizens of all ages.
“There has not been a garden tour in Milledgeville in several years, and as a gardener myself, I
thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness and money for Citizen
Advocacy,” Margaret Chambliss OACA Coordinator said. “The tour, however, would never
have happened without the willingness of the gardeners, the Georgia College public relations
team, the OACA board of directors and Master Gardener Rae Wade and her husband Arnold
Wade.”
The gardens featured on the tour range in size from a small, cottage style garden to a 10-acre
traditional antebellum setting. An additional stop for house-plant lovers includes the Georgia
College Greenhouse, home to many exotic cacti and succulents, open daily to the public.
In addition to the tour, several items will be available to for direct purchase and raffle at Saint.
Stephen’s the day of the event. Items for sale/raffle include gift baskets and garden ornaments.
Raffle tickets will be available for sale at one for $5 and five for $20. Raffle winners will be
drawn at Saint Stephen’s at 4:30 p.m. directly after a special presentation on garden ornaments.
The gardens that were selected for the tour all reflect their owners’ love of horticulture. Tour
gardener Betti Hodges sums up that love in this way: “Gardening enriches my soul; I feel
peaceful whenever I walk out there.”
All proceeds from Garden Tour will support the work of Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy, a
nonprofit organization established in 1983, whose sole purpose is to provide protection and
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advocacy for people with developmental disabilities through personal relationships. There are
currently 60 people involved in these relationships which enrich the lives of the people involved.
Tickets can be purchased for $15 prior to the event by contacting OACA’s coordinators Margaret
Chambliss or Brittany Curry at 478-452-6968 or the day of the tour at Saint Stephen’s. For more
information visit OconeeAreaCitizenAdvocacy.org.
The purpose of Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy is to provide protection and advocacy to people
who have developmental disability labels by initiating and supporting one-to-one voluntary
Citizen Advocacy relationships.
###
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Appendix L: Placement on WMAZ Website
39
40
Appendix M: Placement on front page of Union Recorder
The following page is a copy of the placement on the front page of the Union Recorder.
41
Appendix N: Placement in Courier Herald
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Appendix O: Radio PSA
Radio PSA
TRT: 30 seconds
ANNCR: The Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy presents its inaugural garden tour “Not Your
Mama’s Garden Tour” Saturday, April 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Starting at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in downtown Milledgeville, the tour highlights six
gardens in the picturesque small town. This unique tour is friendly for citizens of all ages.
Tickets can be purchased for $15 prior to the event at 478-452-6968 or the day of the tour at St.
Stephen’s. For more information visit oconeeareacitizenadvocacy.org.
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Appendix P: Driving Direction
Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour Driving Directions From Saint Stephens 220 S. Wayne Street To Murali Thirumal 342 Rock Hill Rd. 1. Head south on S. Wayne Street 0.7 mi 2.Turn left on State Hwy 112/Vinson Hwy 1.5 mi 3. Turn left on Rock Hill Rd- destination on left Next Destination the Wells 1725 Irwinton Road 1. Head west on Rock Hill Rd. 2. Turn right on Vinson Hwy 1.5 mi 3. Turn left on S. Wayne St 0.2 mi 4. Slight right on Irwinton Rd- destination on right Next Destination Allied Arts 201 N. Wayne Street 1. Head north on Irwinton Rd. 2. Continue onto S. Wayne St. 1.3 mi 3. Destination on right Next Destination the Wades 3628 Sussex Drive 1. Head north on N. Wayne St. 1.2 mi 2. Turn left on N. Jefferson St. 2.4 mi 3. Turn right on Sinclain Dam Rd. 0.4 mi 4. Take 1
st right on Old Club Rd. 492 ft
5. Turn left Sussex Dr.- destination in left Next Destination the Millers 214 O’Connor Drive 1. Head NW on Sussex Dr. 0.3 mi 2. Right on Old Club Rd. 492 ft 3. Left on Sinclair Dam Rd. 0.4 mi 4. Continue onto Log Cabin Rd. 3 mi 5. Turn left on N. Columbia St. US-441 0.2 mi 6. 1
st right on O’Connor Dr- destination on right
Next Destination the Hodges 187 Lakecrest Drive 1. Head NE on O’Connor Dr. 1.2 mi 2. Turn left on N. Columbia St. US-441 1.4 mi 3. Turn right on Corral Rd 1.4 mi 4. Turn right on Lakecrest Dr.-destination on left Georgia College Green House (optional) Located on W Montgomery St toward N Wayne St., attached to Georgia College’s Hertey Hall
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Appendix Q: Survey
1. What was your overall opinion of the Not Your Mama's Garden Tour?
2. What were some aspects of the tour that you thought were particularly good?
3. What are some things we could improve on in the future?
4. How likely are you to attend this garden tour again in the future?
5. Why did you decide to attend the Not Your Mama’s Garden Tour? Circle all that apply.
a. Interested in gardens
b. Enjoy garden tours
c. In support of Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy
d. Came with a friend/spouse
e. Other (please specify):
6. How did you hear about this garden tour? Circle all that apply.
a. Read about it in a newspaper/publication (please specify which one):
b. Word of mouth
c. Saw posters around town
d. Heard about it on Z97.7
e. Other (please specify):
7. Have you heard of Oconee Area Citizen Advocacy prior to today?
8. Are you interested in continuing to support or volunteer with OACA in the future? If yes,
please write your name, email and mailing addresses below.
9. Gender:
a. Male
b. Female
10. Age:
a. 20-29
b. 30-39
c. 40-49
d. 50-59
e. 60+
11. Hometown/Where you traveled from:
