All Children Thrive

Special Project: Child Abuse Prevention Campaign

All Children Thrive is a collaborative that hired me as a facilitator a few years ago. There was a special need that arose and I had the skills and the time to fulfill this public relations lead for them.

It is not uncommon that my clients are faced with making big impacts with small budgets. What do we do? We use the resources we have available. I wanted to share a project we completed this year that leveraged available resources while increasing awareness about an important issue: child abuse prevention. 

I’m all for really polished video production. If you have the budget for it, let’s do it! For many, the video production budget is much closer to their nonexistent ad budget. Lucky for local communities, nonprofits tend to spend most of their money on programming and less on slick campaigns. There is a time and reason for both ends of the spectrum.

This particular campaign is for a collaborative called All Children Thrive. The City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services is the backbone agency of this collective impact initiative funded by grants. 

Collective Impact 

In the vein of “It takes a village,” we want people to know this simple truth: if you suspect child abuse or neglect, you need to report it. It’s extremely important! The child abuse hotline will alert authorities to investigate. There is no reason to be fearful of this step. You might be wrong and the authorities will determine if that is the case. 

Establish a Simple Call To Action

First things first, we needed to establish a destination for people to go for more information. The call to action on all the materials is to access resources to help at www.LBUnplug.org.  

Long before the pandemic, this site was originally created through a First5 Best Start grant for a collaborative known as the Long Beach Child Abuse and Neglect Network (LBCANN). We established LB Unplug as a resource for parents to 1) find things to do with their children that were no- or low-cost, and 2) provide resources for parents before they harmed their children. 

Promotion Began

We issued a press release and a reporter from the Grunion Gazette interviewed one of the committee members, Tricia Costales, executive Director of The Guidance Center. You can read the article here.

Long Beach Transit gave the message some wheels with placards in buses listing the website as a family resource 

… and we created a low-budget and high-impact video series you see here. 

Child Abuse is Never Acceptable (1 min)

Just Call (30 Secs)

Child Abuse is Never Acceptable – Spanish (1 min)

Several agencies are sharing the videos for a greater impact. Please help the initiative by sharing to your social media. The videos are on www.LBUnplug.org, plus a whole host of great resources. Share it! 

Special thanks to these agencies who made this possible: The Guidance Center, For The Child, ChildNet, Jewish Family and Children Services (JFCS), Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), City of Long Beach Health & Human Serices, and Long Beach Forward – Best Start Long Beach (First 5).

Please comment below with a dollar figure that you think this whole campaign cost. I will happily let you know next week. I might even send a gift card to the person who comes closest!

Leslie A.M. Smith founded McCormick L.A. in 1994 offering public relations and marketing consulting to nonprofits and small businesses. She recently published Laws of Promotion. The 50-page promotional guide for small businesses and local nonprofits is available now on Amazon. Call her for help with your promotion. If you found this post helpful, please leave a note here.