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Grow, Eat, RepeatCampaign for Wasatch Community Gardens
1. Situation Analysis and Needs AssessmentClient’s PerceptionWasatch Community Gardens is aware that their organization lacks some essential communication skills and programming that would help solidify their brand identity. WCG’s lack of strategic communication has affected their ability to adequately disseminate messages to desired audiences. In a 2012 needs assessment, WCG’s number one goal was to increase visibility and visual recognition through rebranding and a marketing-PR plan.
WCG Staff believes that they are efficient at reaching their current donors, partners, volunteers and participants, but they would like to connect with audiences that are not now involved. According to the 2012 needs assessment, 88 percent of respondents were aware only of volunteer opportunities at the annual plant sale. To change this, WCG included a goal in their strategic plan to expand volunteer awareness and opportunities. Several obstacles they face in accomplishing this goal include language barriers, failed media outreach, and false perceptions about WCG.
WCG employees believe that their image is suffering due to a lack of cohesion among their various programs, and some misrepresentations about whom they serve (such as low-income audiences). Often, participants do not associate WCG with their youth programs and workshops because of the lack of communication and consistency between the two. By creating a firm brand identity, WCG will be consistently recognizable and all communication will reflect their internal vision and values.
Even with WCG’s inconsistent brand, they have cultivated a loyal public with whom ties are strong and values shared. With roughly 1,000 volunteers donating 7,000 hours of service in the last year, the organization’s operation has an ongoing symbiotic relationship with the community. WCG is open to strengthening ties with the larger community and acquiring new audiences in the Salt Lake area. It is their desire to “empower” people to make a positive, healthy change in their lives. WCG’s longevity is an undeniable asset.
The operation of WCG is multifaceted with workshops and events, youth activities and summer camps, and community gardens. They have potential
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to broaden audiences by word-of-mouth and family ties. Furthermore, WCG has a number of partnerships that anchor them in the community, including Edible Wasatch, Salt Lake County Open Space and Urban Farming, Salt Lake City Green, SLCRDA Rio Tinto, Zoo Arts & Parks Funding and Larry H. Miller.
What We KnowWasatch Community Gardens has a committed staff, passionate volunteers, strong relationships with donors, and a well-established credibility in the community for nearly 25 years. The youth program incorporates camps, after-school programs and field-trip opportunities with a primary appeal to school-aged audiences. WCG also maintains. While these programs are successful year after year, WCG has struggled in their attempts to involve entire families.
WCG’s annual Plant Sale, Tomato Sandwich Party and Tour de Coups are effective, established events. All three events are fairly well-known and well-attended by members of the community.
Another area where WCG excels is their workshops which are generally filled in advance and attract many regular attendees. One challenge WCG faces is lack of space and time. WCG has to borrow spaces to put on many of its workshops and a single staff member coordinates all workshops, making expansion difficult.
Perhaps the greatest challenge faced by WCG is solidifying one identity throughout the organization and communicating that consistently to the larger community. A lack of cohesion is difficult because there is not one person supervising all communication within the organization.
What We Don’t KnowThe newsletter FRESH is the most consistent source of communication between WCG and their audiences, so knowing who subscribes to it, who reads it and the degree of retention would be valuable to the organization.
With regards to volunteers, it would be useful to know what it is about WCG that compels thousands of individuals to commit their time and energy to the organization.
Another untapped audience is workshop attendees. We don’t have information about why they attend and how they learn about the classes offered.
It also would be helpful to get the perspectives of staff members and the communication responsibilities they employ.
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More information about WCG coalitions and advertising partnerships is needed, which will allow them to take advantage of preexisting channels and identify new outlets.
Organization Background and HistoryIn the mid-1980s, Crossroads Urban Center, a non-profit organization, created the Wasatch Fish and Gardens project. The project was generated to help low-income families (primarily Southeast Asian refugees) in Salt Lake City gain access to affordable food. Volunteers for the project would catch and sell carp from local waters, while also working in the garden to learn agriculture skills.
The project eventually outgrew the Crossroads Urban Center and become its own non-profit organization in 1987. Two years later, Wasatch Fish and Gardens was registered as an independent 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. As the community gardening program grew, the demand for fish declined. In 1993, the fish portion of the program was eliminated; the organization became Wasatch Community Gardens.
WCG then developed the youth garden program, City Roots, which aimed toward teen involvement in cultivating vegetables. Between 1995 and 1997, the program began partnerships with youth-focused agencies and served low-income children throughout Salt Lake Valley.
In 1995, WCG risked losing a quarter of the organization’s gardening space when the Grateful Tomato Garden, a privately owned garden on loan to WCG, was put up for sale. WCG struggled to raise the $65,000 asking price to buy the plot and save it from development. After months of fundraising and a huge community effort, WCG was able to purchase the garden in 1996.
Now nearly 25 years later, WCG serves over 1,600 children each year, enlists over 1,000 volunteers, and is involved with 25 community gardens, fully operating seven of those and providing maintenance for 11. The proof of their success is evident in the many awards they have received, ranging from success in educating youth to supporting their community and getting them involved, to outstanding visionary ideas. Most awards have been earned since 2004.
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Past and Current Communication EffortsWCG relies heavily on their website (wasatchgardens.org) and newsletter (FRESH) for general communication with the public. Apart from those direct efforts, WCG gains much of their publicity through word-of-mouth.
Specific WCG communication efforts are aimed at advertising their big annual events: the Plant Sale and the Tomato Sandwich Party. Flyers, event calendars, social networking, and newsletters are used to promote these occasions.
FRESH is a monthly newsletter that WCG sends via email to over 8,000 WCG supporters. A typical issue of FRESH includes a calendar of the month’s workshops and events and other articles that pertain to WCG’s work. Even though FRESH is sent to a large number of subscribers, the newsletter suffers from a very low open rate. Because of this, WCG is unsure how much information actually reaches the community.
One successful effort is the gardening curriculum created by Laura Judd and Mary Jo Neal Tedesco. The program comes in two parts, giving teachers two years of gardening curriculum to work with. Approved by the Salt Lake City School District Curriculum Standards to fulfill the nutrition requirement, the curriculum aims to educate children on how plants grow and where food comes from.
While community gardening has grown into a vibrant trend in Salt Lake, there are still large segments of the population that don’t know about WCG.
The biggest issue related to communication that WCG faces is the lack of a specific staff member with a sole focus on communication, such as a public relations director. This makes communication collaboration difficult, causing the organization to send inconsistent verbal and visual messages to the community.
Media CoverageIn the last five years, WCG has been featured in over 150 news items in the greater Salt Lake area. The most frequent news topics were events and community involvement, specifically youth and refugee participation and the health and environmental aspects of gardening. By far the greatest news coverage consists of short calendar announcements that represent roughly three-fourths of the total.
We can conclude that WCG does a thorough job of getting media announcements of their events and workshops, however, to optimize awareness, they need to work to expand news coverage about their
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organization and the services they offer. They can do this by writing more news releases and sending out pitches to newspaper and television outlets.
News Coverage of WCG in the Past 5 Years (in order of highest frequency):1. Print and online newspapers (Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News)2. Television (KSL 5 and, ABC4)3. Magazines (Salt Lake Magazine, Slug Magazine, City Weekly)4. Radio (X96, KUER)
Subjects Covered by the Media (in order of highest frequency)1. Events and workshops2. Community gardening and involvement3. Youth programs 4. Gardening tips
AudiencesAs a non-profit organization, WCG seems to be targeting anyone who can benefit from their gardens and programs. They are working to grow the entire organization and pull in new participants. Because WCG offers a variety of opportunities to get involved, there is a large pool of potential participants coming from many different backgrounds.
We see the current primary audiences as gardeners (community and independent), volunteers, donors, supporters (attendees at workshops, events), youth, WCG staff, and teachers. Two potential new primary audiences are families and college students.
WCG’s donor pool is comprised largely of middle-income people who participate regularly in gardens, workshops, or volunteer opportunities. Last year, through their Annual Appeal campaign, WCG achieved their goal of raising $15,000 by Dec. 31, 2012. As a result, they received $16,000 in matching gifts, for a total of $36,000. In 2011, WCG distributed $14,000 in mini-grants to nine of their 11 community gardens.
Secondary audiences are opinion leaders, WCG board members, and the newsmedia. These audiences help create awareness in the community.
An important intervening audience is parents or guardians of youth who participate in WCG summer programs.
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2. Primary Research: FRESH, Volunteers, Staff SurveysFRESH Readership Survey
We designed a short survey to measure the success of WCG’s FRESH newsletter consisting of seven closed-ended and three open-ended questions. An email was sent by WCG director Ashley Patterson to 8,481 FRESH readers asking them to participate in the survey. The email included incentives (if they completed the survey): 4 lbs of organic tomato and vegetable fertilizer, and being entered into a drawing for a $25 plant sale gift certificate. A reminder email was sent several days before the survey closed. A total of 420 readers participated for a response rate of 5 percent. (The survey questions, email invitations, and complete survey responses are included in the Appendix.)
Three-fourths of survey respondents said they signed up to receive FRESH at a WCG workshop or event. Smaller numbers said they got the newsletter because of their involvement in a community garden (17 percent), their work as volunteers (15 percent), or their child’s participation (3 percent). Six percent weren’t sure why they received the newsletter.
Just over 70 percent of respondents said they read the FRESH newsletter “often” or “always.” About 26 percent read FRESH occasionally or rarely. The percentage of respondents who never read FRESH is just under 3 percent.
Respondents were asked which device they typically use to read FRESH because different devices can affect the open rate. The vast majority of FRESH readers used computers (84 percent). Fewer individuals used a smart phone (8 percent) or a tablet (7 percent).
About two-thirds of respondents said they scan the headlines and click the links when they receive the emailed FRESH newsletter. Others reported reading every article or just scanning the headlines (31 percent). Only a few individuals never open and read FRESH (3 percent).
Almost everyone (96 percent) said they found the articles “very” or “somewhat interesting.” Less than 4 percent said the articles were “somewhat” or “very uninteresting.”
To test what information from FRESH that readers remembered and retained, one question asked what article in the most recent FRESH they found most interesting. The most common responses were workshops, gardening tips
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and recipes, and upcoming events. Several survey participants hadn’t read the newsletter or couldn’t recall what articles were featured.
When asked how FRESH portrays WCG, over 80 percent said WCG was viewed as an organization that seeks to benefit the community, or as a community organization. Some respondents (16 percent) thought WCG was portrayed as an activity and event-based organization. A small number of readers (2.5 percent) said FRESH portrays WCG as a youth outreach organization.
Through Internet informatics, WCG knows that many people do not open the FRESH newsletter. Participants were asked if this was true for them, please explain why they didn’t open it. The most common responses among participants were similar to these statements:
“Too many emails, so little time.”“I don't like following the links to get information about articles. I would
rather have the information right there in the newsletter.”“I don't receive the newsletter in my inbox regularly. Sometimes it
goes to my spam folder.”“I always open it but don't always read every article because it is
usually too long.”
When the participants were asked if they would like to continue receiving FRESH monthly, 93 percent answered yes.
The survey concluded with an open-ended question, asking participants if they had other suggestions for FRESH. Here are a few representative responses:
“I think "Fresh" is too long… A suggestion would be to have a blog for stories and Q & A on the website. The events could possibly be displayed in a condensed calendar.”
“Some hints as to what I might find in a particular issue might inspire me to open it right away.”
“It'd be great to have access to a website that lists experts to contact with questions. For instance, I intend to plant an orchard this year, and am having trouble finding experts that can provide good advice.”
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Volunteer Survey
We designed a short survey consisting of six close-ended and four open-ended questions. An invitation email describing the survey, its purpose, and incentives (free fertilizer and chance to win a $25 gift certificate) was sent by WCG director Ashley Patterson to the roughly 1,000 volunteers. A couple days before the survey was closed, a reminder email was sent. In the end 75 people participated, making the response rate 7.5 percent. (The survey questions, email invitations, and survey responses are given in the Appendix.)
When asked how they learned about volunteering for WCG, roughly 30 percent reported learning from family members or friends, and another 20 percent learned through a WCG event. Other ways of learning about volunteering were the WCG website and “other” (such as through staff members, workshops, or farmers’ markets.)
The average number of years these respondents has volunteered for WCG was 3.8 years. Volunteers donated an average of 19 hours a month during the growing season, and 16 hours a month during the rest of the year.
Three-fourths of volunteers said that they most often volunteer by themselves. Only about 10 percent volunteer with their friends. Others volunteered with family members (9 percent) and other groups such as fellow volunteers (5 percent.)
The most valuable source for WCG volunteer information is the FRESH newsletter, named by about 60 percent of respondents. Others preferred the WCG website (40 percent), and staff members (30 percent.) Less than 12 percent of participants said they preferred WCG’s Facebook page, other volunteers, and print media.
Overall, WCG volunteers feel well recognized and appreciated; almost 96 percent strongly agreed or agreed that they are recognized and appreciated. There were no participants that disagreed with this question.
When asked what first motivated participants to volunteer, most respondents mentioned a love of gardening. Other responses were access to the plant sale and community involvement.
When asked to describe WCG’s reputation in the community to a newcomer in the area, the majority of responses were very positive, such as “great.” Very few said WCG was not very well known.
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When asked what improvements WCG could make for volunteers, the most common things mentioned more Facebook updates, personal outreach from the staff when volunteers are needed, introduce leaders to the volunteers, and create an online interactive discussion where volunteers can post questions and concerns.
When volunteers were asked for any other feedback or comments about their experiences, some individuals said they wanted the organization to be less committee oriented, and others wanted volunteer opportunities to rotate more equitably.
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WCG Staff Survey
We sent all staff members a short survey via email. We asked questions about their external and internal ways of communicating and how effective they believed they were. Most staff answered that the most common form of communicating was email and that their communication efforts needed more organization.
Formal Communication ActivitiesOf the spectrum of communication activities undertaken by WCG staff, the most common form is email, which is utilized multiple times during the day or week depending on an employee’s position. From all program managers, announcements for FRESH are created once a month and Facebook posting is utilized, without confining these duties to one individual. The Community Garden Coordinator and the Development Director frequently make phone calls, while event proposals and flyers are created only at select times during the year. The organization also utilizes interns to hand out flyers and conduct door-to-door recruitment a few times per year.
Lack of Time or Skills for CommunicationThe overwhelming majority of WCG staff find that they lack the time or skills (sometimes both) to work with the news media. They desire more information concerning PR tactics, knowing which messages to disseminate at particular times, and which media outlets to utilize.
Past Promotional MethodsOf the methods used in the past by WCG, the most touted for their respective successes were Facebook and word-of-mouth. Flyers, the FRESH newsletter, and news coverage in newspapers and on the radio followed, with their presence at the Farmers’ Market and tabling events cited last.
Process of Crafting and Disseminating a MessageAlmost all messages are designed and created separately by each program. The person in charge of the program is responsible for creating and sending out any promotional material. Once created, the message is critiqued by other staff members and either accepted or altered. The volunteer coordinator completes anything to do with volunteers. For the most part she uses messages that have been previously created, altering them to fit new events. Larger projects are created with the Development and Executive Directors. If large enough, a project that requires advanced graphic design is contracted to an outside source. The final project is run by both directors before being accepted.
How Staff Members Would Like the Campaign to Benefit Them
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Most staff members want to raise awareness about the program they offer (“Youth Programs” in particular). They also want to understand how and when to use PR tactics and related resources available to them. They also hope to make volunteers feel recognized and proud of the work they do. And lastly, they want the marketing of WCG to be more consistent, with a common appearance and voice in all their messages.
Donor information In 2012, 1,038 individuals made a donation. Average donation was
$88. Most individual donors do not specify a program for their donation. Some foundation supporters specified Youth Gardening Program,
Community Gardening Program or Community Education Program. There is often a mixture of one-time and long-term repeat donors. Most donors are female (77 percent, according to a 2012 survey)
Annual Household Income: › 11 – 15 0.2%
› $0 - $25,000 12%› $26,000 - $50,000 21%› $51,000 - $75,000 23%› $76,000 - $100,000 15%› $101,000 - $150,000 11%› $151,000 - $200,000 5%› $201,000 - greater 2%› Prefer not to answer 12%
Age Range:
› 16 – 20 0.2%› 21 – 30 20%› 31 – 40 31%› 41 – 50 31%› 61 – 70 13%› 71+ 2%› Prefer not to answer 3%
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3. Planning
Campaign GoalsSolidify WCG’s presence in the community and with existing audiences, and expand to new audiences.
Celebrate 25 years of Wasatch Community Gardens
Overarching Campaign Themes and SlogansGrow, Eat, Repeat
Growing food and growing communities for 25 years
Additional Strategic Concepts and FramesHealth, healthy living and eatingCommunityGrowing, getting your hands dirty, gardening as rewarding and invigorating.Gardening as “investment” with metaphors like capitalize on, return on investment
Client ReactionOn Feb. 19, 2013 we presented to Ashley Patterson and Brit Merrill the results of our primary research and our initial goals and campaign themes (listed above), and initial objectives and strategies. We proposed volunteers, staff, FRESH readers, and gardeners as audiences we’d like WCG to solidify. New audiences we suggested were families, faith communities, and college students. Overall, they thought many of the ideas presented were good, but they had suggestions for how to reduce the scope of some activities and to shift emphases among others.
WorkshopsOne staff member coordinates all WCG workshops, which includes 5-6 each month or about 60 this year. Therefore, they requested fewer new workshops in the campaign, particularly the hands-on workshops for 15-20 participants. Also, WCG doesn’t want new workshops to compete with workshops given by their existing partners such as Red Butte Gardens.
Faith audience
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The client was hesitant about using faith communities as a significant new audience. They said that a lot of churches already have gardens. For this reason they are not sure if Wasatch Community Gardens would be a good resource for faith groups. If we do use faith communities as an audience, we should consider a somewhat different approach.
College audienceThe client liked this new audience best. They suggested that we utilize pre-existing relationships with the University gardens and expand their University network. Two colleges not now a part of WCG’s network are Salt Lake Community College and Westminster College. They liked the idea of having a communication student as an intern.
WCG already offers college student scholarships to participate in WCG activities. To raise awareness about volunteer opportunities for students, we can make University volunteer centers aware of WCG’s needs and suggest they reach out to service learning classes.
Families audienceThey responded well to ideas for “A Night In the Garden” and utilizing family magazines for news and feature articles. They would like help writing feature articles and finding suitable outlets for them.
The client said that it’s not possible to contact the parents of some youth program participants because these kids come through agencies. However, they are open to other ways to communicate with parents beyond sending home smoothie recipes with children. One idea they liked was reaching parents of children through “Growing Greens” field trips and summer camps.
Because teachers have a lot on their plate, the client was unsure about trying to persuade teachers to further incorporate WCG curriculum into their schedules. One possible solution was to find ways to teach the lessons at school (rather than through field trips to a community garden).
Campaign direction The new WCG logo is completed but they are struggling to incorporate the logo across all mediums. They agreed that this is an issue they would like the campaign to address.
The client loves the “Grow, Eat, Repeat” slogan and want us to feature it in the campaign. Even if it doesn’t fully explain who they are, it is “sticky” enough to draw people in.
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They would like us to incorporate and plan for WCG’s 25th anniversary in our campaign. Otherwise, they fear they won’t do anything significant to celebrate it.
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Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics
a. Rebranding WCG
Goal:Increase visibility and visual recognition of WCG through consistent branding and marketing of all communication material.
Objective:To have all WCG staff members fully implement the new brand in a cohesive and unified way (according to the Style Guide in Appendix) in all communication by June 2013.
To have all graphics and messages consistent and identifiable with the new WCG logo by June 2013.
Strategy: Create a strong, modern, and professional image and graphic identity for Wasatch Community Gardens that is immediately recognizable to all audiences. Display that strong brand identity through a wide variety of messages.
Tactics: Make sure that all staff are thoroughly familiar with the style guide
and follow it when creating communication materials and messages. Edit all existing communication materials to adhere to the new brand
(as detailed in the Style Guide). Review all future communication materials before publication or
distribution to make sure they adhere to the new brand (as detailed in the style guidelines).
Use the News Media Guide when creating news releases (see Appendix).
Utilize the new brochure (see Appendix) Distribute (and/or sell) soft goods (bandanas and aprons), posters,
and bookmarks with WCG’s logo to be worn and used by a wide audience.
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b. Audience: Volunteers
Objective:Continue to recognize Wasatch Community Gardens’ volunteers, and improve channels of communication with those volunteers by December 2013.
Strategy:Position WCG as a fun, rewarding organization that provides a rich variety of volunteer experiences.
Tactics:
Update Facebook announcements and volunteer news weekly, decreasing the use of mass emails and possible confusion with the email contact list.
Launch a Volunteer Discussion page on Facebook. This dedicated page will allow staff to communicate with volunteers, as well as volunteer-to-volunteer communication. Here, volunteers can discuss and assign certain gardening tasks and so on.
Expand volunteer recognition by implementing a volunteer highlight section in the FRESH newsletter (because results from the survey showed that most volunteers receive information from the newsletter). This feature would highlight a volunteer by getting to know her/him, as well as her/his motivation to volunteer.
Additional ways to recognize volunteers: A volunteer of the month section under the “Volunteer” tab on the WCG website, and a volunteer appreciation page on the main WCG Facebook page, where volunteers are showcased, either in stories, photos, or videos.
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c. FRESH Newsletter
Objectives: Increase the open rate of FRESH to 85 percent.
Strategies: Position FRESH as new and improved in order to generate more interest from current subscribers.
Make FRESH more tailor-made for the people who read it
Tactics: Send emails to all current subscribers, asking them to reply to the
email if they would like to continue receiving the newsletter. Those who do not respond will be removed from the email list.
Add “teasers” to the subject line of the email about the content of the newsletter, so as to let people know what they would be missing. Could also use headlines or bullet points at the top of the newsletter.
Distribute paper copies of the newsletter at events and add a sign-up link on WCG’s website. People who read the paper copies and want more of that kind of information can sign up online and know what they would be getting.
If possible, list numbers of open plots at the community gardens. Many people who responded to the FRESH survey said they want to know when they might be able to join a community garden.
Put newsletter in PDF format to decrease loading time and increase compatibility.
Spotlight WCG volunteers or staff members who have made a difference.
Incorporate more graphics and images while cutting down on the text that can slow down readers looking for their desired topic.
As opposed to listing upcoming events, use a calendar to illustrate them. This will make it more visually appealing and save space for other content.
Archive FRESH on the website so that anyone can access it any time.
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d. Audience: Families Objective: Increase awareness of Wasatch Community Gardens among families through specific targeted publicity by December 2013.
Strategy:Position Wasatch Community Gardens as a fun, family-oriented non-profit organization for Salt Lake City families. Tactics:
Send a feature article to Utah Family Magazine about Wasatch Community Gardens and the good they’ve done for families in the community by May 1 (included in Appendix).
Send five news pitches to local community-based news publications (such as Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News) about upcoming family events to maintain presence in the media and increase awareness about the occasions (included in Appendix).
Topics might include:a. Night in the Garden b. Family cooking sessions
Establish relationships with Parent Teacher Associations at 10 or more local elementary schools. WCG could make short presentations to PTA groups or disseminate information about WCG to get families and youth involved.
Approach Whole Foods about including Wasatch Community Garden content in their newsletter. Items might include: o Highlighted workshops that might appeal to parents, featuring a
particular workshop being held. o Gardening tips pertaining to families and how kids can be
involved. o Recipes from your garden, and how parents and kids can cook to
keep families healthy. o Community events hosted by WCG that are pertinent to families.
Place print copies of FRESH at Whole Foods locations (Trolley and Sugarhouse) by May 2013.
Offer first-time discounts for parent attendees at workshops if their child has attended a WCG program or camp to encourage a tradition of family-wide participation.
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Send home with children from Growing Greens field trips and City Sprouts summer camps packages of seeds (children’s artwork on one side, invitation to participate and information about WCG on the other) to encourage parents to get involved in WCG and gardening.
Send home brief versions of FRESH newsletter with children from WCG programs and camps in order to give parents more information about WCG activities.
Family Activities: Night in the Garden & Family Cooking Sessions
Objective: Get families (up to 50 people total) to attend Night in the Garden by Saturday, August 30, 2013.
Tactics: Send out announcements, PSAs, and news pitches about
event to be held on an evening in August 2013 (included in Appendix).
Offer one family-oriented Night in the Garden event with a scavenger hunt, storytelling and seed planting (see details in Appendix).
Objective: Offer a new Family Cooking class or workshop by the end of October 2013.
Tactics: Unlike other kids-only or adults-only cooking classes, this one would
emphasize cooking together as a family and with an emphasis on using garden produce in the meals.
Venue: possibly Harmon’s at City Creek (given past relationship with WCG) or possibly Campus facilities, as this would tie into establishing WCG’s presence on campus.
Student volunteers could be recruited from Nutrition field (and may already have Food Handlers Permits and Background Checks).
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Objectives:Contact local church organizations by December 2013 and communicate WCG as a way to bond families together.
Contact 10 church youth leaders by December of 2013 and communicate the opportunities WCG provides for youth.
Strategy:Position WCG as a uniting source for families of faith through activities and gardening.
Position WCG as a fun organization for church youth groups that provides a learning experience and promotes lifelong health and living well.
Tactics: Contact local churches (whose activities include youth groups or
family programs) with information about WCG. Churches can then choose to make this information available to their congregations.
Send out a quarterly flier to various churches in the valley announcing youth classes and WCG activities.
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e. Audience: College Students
Objective:Get 50 students total from Salt Lake Community College, University of Utah, and Westminster to sign up for a WCG workshop each semester.
Strategy:Position WCG and gardening as sexy and hip to college students.
Tactics: Offer college-aimed workshops at a discounted price. Promote WCG's
Container Gardening Workshop at the beginning of April during spring semester.
Advertise workshops by placing flyers on readership boards, email information to university environmental groups, Environmental Studies majors, and Environmental Studies email list, and table with WCG literature.
Compile a list of professors who teach classes on health, nutrition, and the environment, and see if they'll announce workshops or even offer extra credit for attending workshops.o For example:
Rachel Jones: [email protected] Teaches Nutrition 1020, 3620 University of Utah Rachel Jones is open to having WCG give a short
presentation on the workshops and community gardens, and offer extra credit to students who attend workshops.
Objective:Build awareness for WCG by tabling at least once a semester at each college (UU, SLCC, Westminster).
Tactics:Draw in students by including food samples at tabling sessions. For example, during spring semester, offer "kale smoothie shots," and during fall semester, offer tomatoes or tomato sandwiches.
Create and include social media shout-out cards and bookmarks on tables that will direct students to WCG's website, Facebook page, and Twitter page. These social media cards can be used at all future events as well. (See Appendix).
While tabling at the universities, inform students about scholarship and internship opportunities.
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Offer an internship specifically to a communication student. Internship opportunity can be advertised on bulletin boards around OSH and LNCO, and can include tear-away tabs with contact information concerning the internship.
Objective:Create involvement opportunities by offering 30 hours of volunteer time to the UU Greek system each semester.
Strategy:Frame WCG as an organization that promotes creating healthy habits and stretches a student’s budget.
Tactics: Contact: Arlen Bradshaw, Greek Rows' communication expert. Phone
(385)-468-7454 Hold an interactive exchange for a sorority and fraternity to become
familiar with WCG, and learn about volunteer opportunities. An exchange is when a sorority house and fraternity house gets together, and engage in an activity or listen to a speaker give a presentation.
Objective:Recruit 50 couples in married housing to attend a presentation or workshop on gardening in small spaces every year.
Tactics: Advertise workshops with door hangers and flyers at designated
university married housing residences. Hold a workshop specifically for married couples.
o E.g. Gardening in Small Spaces, Quick and Healthy Date Night Ideas, etc.
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f. Audience: Faith Communities
Objective: Contact the faith group leaders of the University of Utah, Westminster College, and SLCC College by the end 2013. Inform leaders of service and activity opportunities for students.
Strategy:Position WCG as service-oriented organization that provides opportunities for students in a campus faith group to get involved.
Tactic:Email flyers for volunteer opportunities at WCG.
University of UtahNewman Center – Jon Dalton - [email protected] - Nate Tunnell – [email protected] Christians On Campus – Contact – [email protected] – Contact – [email protected]
LDS Institute – Contact – [email protected]
Westminster CollegeSpiritual Life Director – Jan Saeed – [email protected] Life Coordinator-Karla Mendez- [email protected] (Jewish)-Coordinator: Dana Tumpowsky-801 832 2757LDSSA- Brother Keaton – 801 468 5827Pierced (Christian)-Tricia Shepherd-
SLCCLDSSA – contact- [email protected]
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g. Social Media
WCG currently has a relatively limited presence in the social media world. They have a Facebook page, a Twitter page and a LinkedIn profile. It doesn’t appear that they have an Instagram or any other social media site.
These social media sites can be utilized for just about anything. All of these sites can be used to share photos and posts about events or recognize volunteers. Most importantly, all of these sites can be used to make connections with other nonprofits and charities that might ultimately help WCG reach current audiences and expand to new ones, such as families and college students.
Objective:Increase WCG social media followers by 20% by the Dec. 2012.
Currently, WCG has 2,961 followers between Facebook and Twitter. A 20 percent increase would add 593 more followers, most of whom would come from creating an Instagram account. The simple act of posting more frequently will add followers to the existing social media accounts.
Strategy:Position WCG’s social media presence as beneficial to their followers.
Many posts recently have been asking for donations, which can be good, but that can’t be the primary content. The followers need to be able to glean something from the interaction, such as gardening tips, information about upcoming events, or pictures.
Tactics: Create an Instagram presence to facilitate photo sharing.
o Photos can be anything – gardens, people, crops, etc. o Use hashtags like #WasatchCommunityGardens, #WCG or
#UrbanGardening. Connect with charities and other Non-Profit Organizations through
LinkedIn. Hold Q+A sessions on Twitter.
o Advertise for weeks in advance that you will have a guest, such as a gardening expert, taking over the Twitter account for a specific time to answer questions. Tell people to respond with a hashtag (e.g. #gardentips) and their question.
Use hashtags to mark all Instagram posts and tweets so they can be found more easily (see hashtags above).
Invite responses to posts on all social media forums.
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o Most of WCG’s followers have many followers of their own, and when people respond to or re-post WCG’s updates it will help spread the word to a greater and more diverse audience.
Hold photo contests and spotlight the winner (for use on all social media forums). Again, tell followers to use a specific hashtag to mark their entry.
Post more gardening tips or links to gardening websites or blogs on all social media forums.
o These websites and blogs don’t necessarily need to be WCG-related. Anything that has useful information will be appreciated by the followers.
Spotlight staff and volunteers on a monthly basis on all social media sites.
o It will give people a reason to share. The volunteer or staff member will likely re-post to their friends, and others who find the post interesting will share with theirs.
Share content across social media platforms.o Almost anything posted can be fit for Facebook, Twitter or any
other social media site. There is no need to be exclusive with posts; the more people who can see it, the better.
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h. 25-Year Anniversary Our vision for the 25 years celebration for WCG is an activity-based and informational exposition of what the organization offers to the community in all its forms. Drawing from the style of arts festivals and local farmers markets, we envision a casual yet fun event that is universally appealing to a wide range of both untapped and already familiar audiences.
Booths or stations would be based on informational and activity “teasers” of some of WCG’s workshops or primary areas of involvement. The goal is to provide an overall snapshot of everything the organization offers, and to clarify their mission and presence in the community. The underlying purpose of such a public exposition of WCG’s operations is as much to celebrate what they stand for and what they do as it is to open the doors to new audiences.
Such booths might feature the following, either in an activity-based or informational form:Competitions and Games
Egg race with a spoon Burlap race Wheelbarrow race
Information about Activities Workshops such as composting with worms, seasonal cooking, etc. Chicken: opportunities to feed or pet the chickens Youth Programs (panel for each program and photos) Volunteering with WCG (staff with volunteers, have photos) Community Gardening (show map of all gardens, have photos)
Entertainment Music Silent and/or Live Auction (donated art plus other items if desired) Food
A final component of the event will be the recognition of valuable members of the WCG community. These awards will recognize significant contributions or years of service to the organization and may appear in the form of gift certificates or award certificates. This will encourage the attendance and support of those already familiar with some of WCG’s activities, as well as provide those unfamiliar with the organization with a look at the important relationship between WCG and its volunteers, donors, plant sale and workshop attendees.
25th Event – Saturday, 11– 3 or 3-7 p.m.
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(February or early March, 2014)
Objectives: Get 75 people unfamiliar with WCG to participate in the 25-year
celebration event. Raise awareness of the event and the organization among families
through a convergence of monthly columns, social media, PSAs and family-based media outlets by the end of 2013.
Strategy:Frame the 25 Years Event as a casual, all-inclusive celebration with a drop-in style to encourage those unfamiliar with the organization to attend and participate.
Tactics: Acquire a venue for 25 Year Event that is indoors and can
accommodate up to 250 people. Provide one booth or exhibit about the history of Wasatch Community
Gardens, charting the organization’s growth over 25 years. Provide fun activity stations for visitors of all ages:
o Chicken Enclosureo Competitions or Games
Egg on a spoon race Burlap sack race Wheelbarrow race Prizes awarded immediately after races conclude
o Art station to draw and color favorite plant, design and color seed packets
o Musico Food (ideally garden-based)
Provide information stations to inform participants about:o WCG youth programso Community education programso The volunteer programo Favorite workshop topics
Distribute WCG brochures and garden stake-style bookmarks signifying the 25th Anniversary.
Hang 25th Anniversary banner. Recognition of volunteers, board members, other supporters.
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Plant Sale Gift Certificate drawing for all who put their name in a box upon entry.
“Grow, Eat, Repeat” aprons for sale. “Grow, Eat, Repeat” bandanas for sale. Silent Auction and/or live auction (including “garden art” pieces)
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25 Years of WCG represented through Art
Objectives: Solicit donations of 10 pieces of art representing gardening, plants, or
WCG by December 1, 2013. Artists could be local or regional artists, and also University art students.
Enlist support by December 1, 2013 from partnering restaurants (such as those that participate in Tomato Days) to display a few pieces of donated art before the anniversary event.
Strategy:Position art and artists as important partners in the Grow, Eat, Repeat and organic movement of WCG.
Tactics: Get in contact with the University of Utah art department to get
students to submit artwork. Have WCG Board members (such as Patrick DeFreitas) contact local or
regional artists about donating a piece of art to WCG. Collect art pieces by December 1, 2013. Hang several pieces of art in partnering restaurants for 1-2 months
(between Dec 2013 and the Feb-March anniversary event). Advertise WCG and its upcoming 25th anniversary event, where the
artwork will be auctioned. o Displaying the artwork in local restaurants will allow the pieces to
be displayed for a longer period of time and get more local businesses and patrons aware of WCG and the anniversary event.
o Having the art at multiple locations will advertise to a larger audience.
Auction the artwork at WCG’s 25th anniversary event in February 2014.
Local Partnering Restaurants:Café Niche Sage’s CaféMeditrinaTin Angel CaféLes Madelines CaféCuchinaPago
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Year of the 25th – 2014
Objectives: Emphasize the theme of “25 Years” with 12 monthly segments in
FRESH, on the website and Facebook page featuring various “25 Ways to Grow, Eat, Repeat” (see attached).
Solidify presence in the community by participating in two local parades (St. Patrick’s Day, Gay Pride Parade) by Spring 2014 (see attached).
Strategy:Position WCG as an organization deeply rooted in the community for 25 years, and one that supports local gardeners and community members.
Tactics: Have restaurants with which WCG has partnered in the past have
available at their establishments the WCG brochure. Use 25 Years Anniversary banner promoting the year at various
events including parades, the annual plant sale, Tomato Sandwich Party, and others.
25 Years Anniversary aprons and/or bandanas for sale at the plant sale and other events.
News Coverage for 25th Year Event, Night in the Garden, art auction, and parade involvement:o PSAs released 1 month before event o News Releases 1-2 weeks before event
Social media posts (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram) about “25 Ways to Grow, Eat, Repeat” and more regular coverage of what activities are going on within the organization, such as special youth program topics or workshop overviews.
Feature Stories (in Salt Lake Magazine, Utah Family Magazine and Catalyst) that will spread awareness of the organization to be released (dependent upon subject) from 6 months – 1 month before January 2014.
Write a monthly 25th anniversary column that includes the theme “25 Ways to Grow, Eat, Repeat” (see attached). Publish this the first Monday of each month on the WCG website, in FRESH newsletter, and link it to the WCG Facebook account.
WCG Participation in 2014 Parades
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Objectives:Increase public awareness of Wasatch Community Gardens and 25th anniversary by participating in St. Patrick’s Day on March 15th and Gay Pride parade in June 2014.
Strategies: Solidify and attract new audiences by having parade entry that shows
WCG staff, volunteers and gardeners as fun, active, and involved in the community.
Tactics: By February 1, 2014, complete Hibernian Society of Utah parade
entry application and pay $25 parade entry fee and submit to: John Welsh, 3195 Yosemite Dr., SLC UT 84109/ [email protected]/ (fax) 801-467-0786 (*call before faxing). *Checks should be made payable to the "Hibernian Society of Utah.”
By April 1, 2014, fill out Utah Pride Festival’s parade application online and pay $100 non-profit organization fee for Early Bird registration and confirm application by contacting [email protected].
Order WCG aprons and bandanas and have participants wear them in the parades.
Have youth (from youth camps and youth gardens) dressed as fruits, vegetables, or garden insects. WCG staff, volunteers, and adults participating will wear various gardening attire (e.g. dirt-stained overalls, sun hats, gloves, dirtied boots) and carry gardening tools, wheelbarrows, shovels, hoes, etc.
Carry WCG banner “Celebrating 25 Years of Grow, Eat, Repeat.” Have a WCG information stand at post-parade sites where public can
query about the organization and receive additional materials such as brochures, bookmarks, FRESH, and a WCG calendar. Offer food or drink items made from WCG gardens.
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“25 Ways to Grow, Eat, Repeat” Monthly Column
Objective: To celebrate Wasatch Community Gardens 25th anniversary by highlighting a different, fun list of “25” each month of 2014.
Strategy:Build anticipation and reinforce interest in celebrating the 25 Years of Wasatch Community Gardens.
Tactics: Write a monthly 25th anniversary column that features different
gardening-related list of 25 items such as “25 Signs of Spring.”
Publish the 25th anniversary column the first Monday of each month on the WCG website, FRESH newsletter, and link it to the WCG Facebook account and Twitter and publish through a status update. (See attached ideas)
Ideas for the 25th anniversary monthly column include: JANUARY 25 New Year’s resolutions to prep your gardenFEBRUARY 25 greatest things about Wasatch Community Gardens MARCH 25 Gardening Tips Every Gardener Should Know APRIL 25 best fruits and veggies to grow in Utah MAY 25 ways to make gardening fun for you and your kidsJUNE 25 of Wasatch Community Garden’s favorite garden meals JULY 25 garden pests and problems and how to spot them AUGUST 25 different recipes for zucchini SEPTEMBER 25 tasty garden cocktailsOCTOBER 25 gardening tips for a tough economy NOVEMBER 25 reasons to grow organic DECEMBER 25 essential garden tools to ask for Christmas
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Sample for the 25th anniversary monthly Column
25 YEARS OF WASATCH COMMUNITY GARDENS
THE 25 SIGNS OF SPRING 1. You wake up in the morning to birds singing and chirping outside the window. 2. The sun shines longer, which means longer days to get outside and garden. 3. Warmer weather4. Tulips are beginning to bloom. 5. The snow has begun to melt away. 6. The dewy scent after a long rain and the puddles your kids can’t help but splash in. 7. The stack of seed catalogues is growing on your table 8. Allergies, allergies, and more allergies accompanied by lots of sneezing. 9. Your whole yard is muddy. 10. The first shoots of veggies are sprouting! 11. Baby animals. 12. The local stores begin to sell beautiful potted plants and flowers. 13. Earth worms make an appearance in your garden after a heavy rain. 14. Anticipating summer has become unbearable. 15. It is 75 degrees and sunny one day and 20 degrees cold and snowy the next. 16. You see ads everywhere advertising gardening tools, seeds, and tips. 17. Wasatch Community Gardens Plant Sale! 18. Wasatch Community Garden workshops on how to get your garden started. 19. You begin to plan out your garden and decide what plants to plant.20. You pray each night that your baby garden doesn’t freeze. 21. You anxiously wait for your seeds to bloom! 22. You find yourself dreaming about your garden. 23. Know Your Soil Workshop is coming up, teaching you how to get to the heart of your soil.24. Pulling out all your garden tools from the back of the closet. 25. Leaving the house without a jacket
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4. Evaluation
Goal #1: Solidify WCG’s presence in the community with existing audiences and expand to new audiences
Familieso Objectives:o Increase awareness of Wasatch Community Gardens among
families through specific targeted publicity by December 2013.o Reach maximum capacity (20 children total) for the two sessions
offered of the Family cooking classes by the end of October 2013.
Evaluation: Based on these objectives, the objective has been met if two sessions of the family cooking classes are full by the end of October. Reaching that goal will be an indication of increased awareness of WCG among families.
Night in the Gardeno Objective:o Get families (maximum 50 people) involved in the Night in the
Garden by Saturday, August 30, 2013.
Evaluation: The objective will be achieved if Night in the Garden attracts a significant number of families.
Faith Communitieso Objective:o Contact the faith group leaders of the University of Utah,
Westminster College, and SLCC College by the end 2013. Inform leaders of service and activity opportunities for students.
Evaluation: It will be easy to achieve the goal of contacting faith group leaders at each university. The objective will be met if one of the faith groups contacted were to get involved with WCG, enabling access to a new audience.
College Studentso Objectives:o Get 50 students from Salt Lake Community College, University of
Utah, and Westminster to sign up for a workshop each semester.o Build awareness for WCG by tabling at least two times a
semester at each college.
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o Create involvement opportunities by offering 30 hours of volunteer time to the Greek system each semester.
o Recruit 50 couples in married housing to attend a presentation or workshop on gardening in small spaces every year.
Evaluation: The objective has been met once 50 college students sign up for a workshop over the course of one semester.
FRESH newslettero Objective:o Increase the open rate of FRESH to 85 percent.
Evaluation: Success has been attained if the open rate of FRESH has reached 85 percent.
Volunteerso Objective:o Continue to recognize Wasatch Community Gardens’ volunteers,
and improve channels of communication with those volunteers by December 2013.
Evaluation: For this to be successful there needs to be a volunteer discussion page launched. It could be on Facebook or through Google Docs. Also, recognize volunteers in the FRESH newsletter as well as on the website and at the 25th anniversary event.
Social Mediao Objective:o Increase WCG social media followers by 20 percent by the end of
Dec. 2013.Evaluation: In addition to a 20 percent increase in social media following, success would include an Instagram account that has been created and utilized. Also, LinkedIn can be used to reach out to other non-profit organizations and charities to increase WCG’s network.
Goal #2: Celebrate 25 years of Wasatch Community Gardens Rebranding WCG
o Objective: o To have all WCG staff members fully implement the new brand in
a cohesive and unified way (according to the style guide) in all communication by June 2013.
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Evaluation: Success here has been reached once all of WCG’s communications bear the new logo and adhere to the style guide in terms of fonts and colors. This will give the communication efforts a more cohesive feel and a stronger brand identity for WCG.
25 th Anniversary: Objectives:
Get 75 people unfamiliar with WCG to participate in the 25-year celebration event.
Solicit donations of 10 pieces of art representing gardening, plants, or WCG by December 1, 2013.
Raise awareness of the event and the organization among families through a convergence of monthly columns, social media, PSAs and family-based media outlets by the end of 2013.
Emphasize the theme of “25 Years” with 12 monthly segments in FRESH, on the website and Facebook page featuring various “25 Ways to Grow, Eat, Repeat.”
Solidify presence in the community by participating in two local parades (St. Patrick’s Day, Gay Pride Parade) by Spring 2014
Evaluation: Measured through attendance at event and in parades and through count in media of all news coverage, PSAs run, advertisements, mention by other organizations and newsletters, and social media traffic.
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Timeline of Events
2013
May Place print copies of FRESH in Whole Foods (Trolley Square and
Sugarhouse locations.) Begin weekly regiment of updating Facebook announcements and
volunteer news. Submit Growing Greens Field trip Feature story. Begin implementation of social media objectives, strategies, and
tactics.
June Implement style guide 100 percent. Approach Whole Foods about including Wasatch Community Gardens
in their newsletter.
July Submit PSAs and news release about the Night in the Garden.
August Hold the Night in the Garden event.
September Table at college campuses offering volunteer hours to students and
Greek system. Hold an interactive exchange with a sorority and fraternity.
October Increase specific targeted publicity towards family. Contact the listed local church organizations . Print items (aprons, bandanas, etc.).
November Solicit donations of the 10 pieces of art representing gardening. Inform leaders of college faith groups about service and activity
opportunities. Email flyers for volunteer opportunities to college faith leaders. Launch the volunteer discussion page. Implement a volunteer highlight section in FRESH newsletter.
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December Acquire a venue and caterer for the 25-year celebration event and
choose a Saturday in February or early March for the event Solicit volunteers, board members to choose booths and get them
ready
2014
January Display artwork up to 25-Year Event in partnering restaurants Pass signup sheet around college campuses for workshops Begin 25th anniversary monthly column the 1st Monday of every month
in FRESH and website
February Parade entry application February 1for St. Patrick’s Day Parade ($20
entry fee) News release and PSA publicizing the 25 year event (10-14 days
before the event) 25-Year Anniversary Event late February early March
March Participate in St. Patrick’s Parade on March 15, 2014 Table at college campuses
April Apply for Utah Pride parade by April 1, 2014 Promote container workshop to college students Begin recruiting couples in married student housing to attend
workshops Place door hangers and flyers at married housing residence Hold workshop specifically for married couples
May Participate in Utah Pride Parade beginning on May 31, 2014 Sell branding material at May Plant Sale (aprons, bandanas, etc.)
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