Awareness month campaigns

Most causes have no fixed moment when the public thinks about them. This sector has an annual, nationally recognised one with media attention already committed — an asset most causes never have.

The catch is that every domestic violence organization in the country is fundraising in the same weeks, into a public with finite attention and a press corps that will run two or three stories, not thirty.

Position inside the month

• Early — before the field is crowded and while the press is still looking for stories. Usually the strongest position for a local organization
• Late — a closing event in the final week, catching the tail of attention with less competition than the middle
• The middle — the most crowded stretch and the hardest to be heard in. Avoid unless you have a genuinely distinctive hook

Whichever you pick, decide it a year ahead and keep it. A local organization occupying the same slot annually becomes the one the press calls.

Be local, because that is your advantage

National organizations own the national conversation during awareness month. A local shelter cannot compete there and does not need to — it has the thing the national campaign does not, which is this county's numbers, this town's employers, and a service people can actually reach.

Lead with local: what the hotline handled here last year, how many people this organization housed, what it costs in this town to change the locks. The national campaign supplies the attention and you supply the specificity.

Use the month for the ask, not just the awareness

The recurring failure is an organization that runs a beautiful awareness campaign and forgets to ask for anything until the month is over.

• Open bidding at the start of the month, not at the end
• Put the auction link in every awareness post, not a separate campaign
• Give the press a number to print alongside the story
• Close with an event in the final week, so there is a deadline inside the window

Partner rather than compete

Other organizations in the sector are running campaigns in the same weeks, and in most regions they are not competing for the same donors as directly as it feels. Two things worth doing:

• Coordinate dates with neighbouring organizations so closing events do not collide
• Consider a joint item or a shared awareness element, which gives the press the regional story they would rather run anyway

Employers are the month's best audience

Awareness month gives a company a reason to engage that it does not have in March. Offer the workplace training item, a lunch-and-learn, or a matched employee campaign — and ask in September, because a company's awareness month plans are made before the month starts.

Plan for the eleven other months

An organization that only appears in one month is invisible for the rest of the year, and the supporters gained during it are the ones to keep. Use the month to collect the list, and use the list in February, in June and in September.

What to auction: item ideas that actually sell. What can be published: privacy and safety in marketing.