This past summer, a philanthropic movement took the world by storm when anonymous donors started leaving cash for others to find. I wondered what motivated these anonymous people to change strangers’ lives with these random acts of kindness.
An idea then occurred to me. Why can’t a community college do the same thing? We could partner with the community college foundation and hide scholarship vouchers in random locations throughout the college’s 10-county service area and change lives in ways we could never imagine. I called a member of the college’s integrated marketing communications team, and we set our plan in motion.
The initiative – called a Treasure Hunt for Tuition Giveaways – took the community by storm. The timing was excellent, because the college is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Our goals were to:
- Award 10 $1,000 scholarships in 10 days to individuals living in the college’s 10-county service region
- Increase awareness of the college
- Drive individuals to enroll at the college
- Increase number of followers on the college’s Twitter account
- Increase number of “likes” on the college’s Facebook account
- Increase media coverage of the college
Our primary target audiences were (1) prospective students ready to start classes at the college between Aug. 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 who were at least 18 years old and who lived in the college’s 10-county service region, (2) parents of prospective students, (3) current students and (4) local, regional and national media. We used a variety of communications tactics to spread the word, including our website, social media sites, news release and College newsletters.
Each week day for two weeks, we placed the scholarship vouchers (along with a prospect card, fact sheet, viewbook and the treasure hunt rules) at a secret location by 6:30 a.m. We announced a clue around 8 a.m. each day on the Facebook page and Twitter account only and via video or text. We announced additional clues if no one found the scholarship voucher after the first clue. We announced the winner each day on the Facebook page and Twitter account only.
The Treasure Hunt for Tuition Giveaways was wildly successful:
- We awarded 10 $1,000 scholarships in 10 days to individuals living in the college’s 10-county service region.
- We increased awareness of the college and inspired individuals to enroll at the college. Before this initiative, our enrollment decline was double digits. A month later, it was only three percent.
- We increased the number of followers on the college’s Twitter account and increased the number of “likes” on the college’s Facebook account. Specifically, over a 19-day period, we increased the number of Facebook likes by 776 and increased the number of Twitter followers by 212.
- We increased media coverage of the college. In only a few weeks, we received coverage in 12 newspapers, on four TV stations, on two media outlets’ websites and on two media outlets’ social media sites.
What types of short-term initiatives have you done that resulted in PR, marketing and/or enrollment success for your college?
Linnie S. Carter, Ph.D., APR, is the president and CEO of Linnie Carter & Associates LLC and a community college vice president.
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