COMMUNITY EVENTS & CAUSE MARKETING

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1 COMMUNITY EVENTS & CAUSE MARKETING Thank you for your interest in partnering with the Central Texas Food Bank for your event or cause marketing campaign. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals while helping Central Texans facing hunger. GETTING STARTED With any event or campaign, a good plan will give you the best results. Whether you re trying to drive attendance at your event, promote sales of a new product or just raise awareness, our tips can really boost your success. 1. Define your goals. What do you want to get out of this? How do you hope to benefit the Food Bank? How do you hope partnering with the Food Bank will help you achieve your goals? 2. Identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach? What are you proposing to offer them? Why are they interested your organization and the event or special offer you re promoting? 3. Develop key messages. What action(s) do you want your audience to take to help you achieve your goals? What messages will be most persuasive to your specific target audience? If someone asked you what s in it for me? do you have a good answer? 4. Choose your media channels. Are you targeting college students who spend every waking moment on social media or older adults who take the daily paper with their morning coffee? Use what you know about the people you want to reach to determine whether TV, radio, fliers, mentions on social media or a combination of media channels are best to promote your event. 5. Determine metrics for success. How many tickets do you want to sell? What percentage growth would you like to see from last year? If you re collecting donations for the Food Bank, how much money or how many pounds do you hope to raise? Remember, every $1 donated = 4 meals for the Food Bank, and every 1.2 pounds of food donated = 1 meal.

2 REGISTERING ONLINE Now you re ready to register your event or campaign. Use our online form, found at centraltexasfoodbank.org/get-involved/raise-food-and-funds, to register your event as early as possible. The earlier you register and the more details you provide, the better able we will be to support your efforts and track your contributions. We welcome businesses, government agencies, faith-based groups, media outlets, service organizations and schools to partner with the Food Bank for their events and cause marketing campaigns. Other types of organizations will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All events and cause marketing campaigns must be non-political in nature. EXECUTING YOUR STRATEGY Press Relations If your event is newsworthy (it is of particular interest to a large segment of the public) you may consider sending a press release or media alert to local newspapers, TV news stations and other media outlets. Use the sample press release below as a guide for formatting your own. Remember to use your own media contact s information. Our marketing and communications director won t be able to respond to media inquiries on your behalf. TIP: The first 10 words of your press release are the most important, so make them count. When sending a press release by , copy and paste the release into the body of the . Do not send as a file attachment. Contact us at fooddrive@centraltexasfoodbank.org, and we ll send you a standard paragraph-long message about the Central Texas Food Bank to include in your release.

3 NEWS RELEASE CONTACT: Paul Gaither, Marketing & Communications Director Phone: Cell: Austin Bacon and Beer Festival to Benefit Central Texas Food Bank Festival is Sunday, June 12th from 2:30 to 5:00pm at Circuit of the Americas Tickets are still available Festival has raised more than 62,833 meals in its first two years Austin, TX, May 23, 2016 The Austin Bacon and Beer Festival returns on Sunday, June 12th, for its 3rd year of showcasing bacon-centric food prepared by bacon-loving chefs from Austin and Central Texas paired with craft brews. The event, produced by Edible Austin and Eat Boston, and presented by Circuit of the Americas, benefits the Central Texas Food Bank. This year, the festival moves to the Circuit of the Americas (9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd., Austin, TX 78617) and will run from 2:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. The move to a larger venue means that tickets are still available for this event that sold out in its first two years. A portion of the proceeds from the festival go to the Food Bank, allowing them to provide meals to thousands of Central Texans facing hunger and helping to close a hunger gap that leaves nearly 30 percent of our neighbors who are at risk of hunger without food assistance in their time of need. Food Bank staff will also be on hand to collect donations of canned goods and cash. In its first two years alone, the Bacon and Beer Festival raised nearly 63,000 meals for Central Texas families facing hunger. Can you think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than the Bacon and Beer Festival? asked Mark Jackson, Chief Development Officer of the Central Texas Food Bank. You can enjoy great bacon-themed food and craft beers while benefiting the Food Bank helping us refill our warehouse just prior to the summer season when so many children, seniors and families struggle with hunger. One in 6 Central Texans faces hunger on a regular basis; for children, the number is 1 in every 4. And despite the Food Bank s best efforts more than 28 million meals provided last year more people are turning for help to the Central Texas Food Bank and its Partner Agencies every day. Tickets for the Bacon and Beer Festival can still be purchased at tickets#vzibdoqrjpi. General Admission is $46.50 (+$4.84 service fee) and VIP Admission is $85.00 (+$7.15 service fee). General Admission allows attendees to sample bacon and beer while VIP Admission includes expedited entry, bacon and beer samples, a tote bag, shirt, limited addition leather coaster, and access to a VIP lounge. ABOUT THE CENTRAL TEXAS FOOD BANK The mission of Central Texas Food Bank is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in ending hunger. Founded in 1981, the Food Bank provides food and grocery products through a network of nearly 250 Partner Agencies and nutrition programs, serving nearly 46,000 people every week. Headquartered in Austin, the Food Bank serves 21 counties in Central Texas, an area about twice the size of Massachusetts. For more information on the Food Bank and its programs, visit # # #

4 Social Media If you have considerable followers and an active presence on social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) you should include event messages in your social media content calendar planning. Use the sample social media calendar below as a guide for formatting your own calendar. Blog Post Facebook Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday BizCorp food drive -Current job openings BizCorp blog post -FEATURE: Grandma & summer food site coordinator - Grandma -Thank-you video from kids food drive -Washington Post food stamps story -FEATURE: Client becomes chef of cuisine de food pantry -Client chef -Promote raffle photo photo Twitter BizCorp blog post -Grandma -Thank-you video from kids food drive -Washington Post food stamps story -Client chef -Promote raffle -Live tweet from Summer Fest -Live tweet from Summer Fest TIP: The content you share via social media should be of value to your audience. Ask them to do something specific (e.g. attend, volunteer, donate, tell a friend). Use images when possible.

5 Follow the Food Bank, share our news and events posts and tag us in your social media posts. News & Events centraltexasfoodbank.org Facebook facebook.com/centraltexasfoodbank twitter.com/ctxfoodbank Instagram.com/ctxfoodbank Promotional Materials You are welcome to use the Central Texas Food Bank logo on your website, event fliers, etc. We can provide horizontal and vertical versions of our logo in a variety of file types, along with a copy of our style guide. We can also provide an editable flier template with our logo. Just enter your event information in the blank fields and print. Contact us at fooddrive@centraltexasfoodbank.org to request any of these resources. All uses of our logo must be reviewed and approved by our communications department. all materials bearing our name and/or logo to fooddrive@centraltexasfoodbank.org. Please allow three business days for review. Endorsement Policy Due to IRS regulations, in general the Food Bank does not formally endorse products or companies. If you have questions about our endorsement policies please contact Felicia Peña at fpena@centraltexasfoodank. org.