2018 healthy kids day activation guide.… · to inspire all youth, parents, and caregivers ......

2018 Healthy Kids Day® Activation Guide

YMCA LOGO and HEALTHY KIDS DAY are registered trademarks of YMCA of the USA. These materials do not imply endorsement or recommendation of any particular product or service by the YMCA. All rights reserved.

2018 Healthy Kids Day Activation Guide PAGE 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Intro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2–3

Branding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5–7

Sponsorship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Planning Your Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Community Partners And Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Generating Buzz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11–13

Thank You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

IMAGINE WHAT KIDS CAN ACHIEVE THIS SUMMERAt the Y, we believe kids can do anything with the right support. That’s why we are committed to helping kids get on (and stay on!) a healthy youth development journey that includes physical, cognitive, and social-emotional growth. From achieving goals, to making friends, and developing strong character, the Y supports youth from cradle to career. We know that kids gain weight faster during the summer months and that youth from low income neighborhoods are disproportionately affected by summer learning loss due to limited or no access to reading materials outside of school.Healthy Kids Day is our annual, nationwide initiative designed to inspire all youth, parents, and caregivers – regardless of membership status – to get active and make healthy choices over the summer and beyond. Healthy Kids Day is our largest single-day event celebrating youth development across the United States.



HEALTHY KIDS DAY APRIL 21, 2018With more than 1,450 Ys registered, more than 1.3 million parents and kids are expected to participate in Healthy Kids Day in 2018. Because the Y engages millions of kids during summer through day camp, overnight camp, sports, and education programs, we have the unique opportunity to make a powerful and lasting impact on youth development journeys. Across 10,000 communities, Healthy Kids Day is an opportunity to promote the Y’s summer programs and welcome all families to learn what the Y has to offer. Y-USA is providing free promotional materials to help your Y get the word out!

Registered Ys will receive 1 free marketing kit containing:• 6 color posters• 1 color banner

If Spanish materials were requested, registered Ys will receive a 2nd kit containing:

• 6 color posters en español• 1 color banner en español

Access to free, customizable collateral on the Brand Resource Center (BRC):

• Color posters: English/Spanish• Color banners: English/Spanish• Color/BWflyers:English/Spanish

Plus:• Summer planning calendar: English only• Web banners and Facebook cover images: English only• Sample social media messages: English only

In February, marketing materials will be shipped and posted on the BRC for customization and download .

SO LET’S GET STARTED!Ofcourse,thefirststepistoattractfamiliesto your Y’s Healthy Kids Day events. This activation guide offers a step-by-step process for planning, promoting and executing your Healthy Kids Day event. Should you need further information on planning your Healthy Kids Day event, please e-mail [email protected] more resources and information, visit yexchange.org/healthykidsday.


BRANDINGEffectively presenting our Movement asaunifiedcausewithsharedvoiceand values is critical to the success of our brand. National initiatives like Healthy Kids Day give us a platform to promote our areas of focus and demonstrate the impact we make in communities. If your Y is creating materials in addition to the marketing materials provided by Y-USA, it is important to follow a few simple guidelines.

REFERENCING HEALTHY KIDS DAY IN COPYWhen writing copy for Healthy Kids Day, it is necessary to address the name appropriately by adding the registered trademark symbol, ®, in the initial reference. This is not only appropriate usebutalsoproperlynotifiesthepublicoftheY’sintellectualpropertyrights.The rules for using the ® in Healthy Kids Day materials is as follows:

• First reference and headlines: Healthy Kids Day®• Second reference in the same collateral piece: Healthy Kids Day

Because the term “Healthy Kids Day” is our registered trademark, it’s important to use it properly on marketing materials. Ownership of Healthy Kids Day should be clear to the public and always be included on materials with the Y logo when possible. In written materials where the Y logo is not present, and in press materials where media may not include the Y logo in resultingmediastories,itisrecommendedthatownershipisclarifiedasfollows:

• YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day®

HEALTHY KIDS DAY MATERIALSThis year’s Healthy Kids Day marketing collateral was inspired by the youth in our programs, and the Y’s desire to promote healthy development through education and collaborative support by encouraging youth to stay active and make healthy choices every day of the year.



POSTERSKit Poster: No customization requiredBRC Poster: Customizable to include YMCA name, address, website, date and local sponsors Posters will be provided pre-printed in the kit and also available as InDesign template on the Brand Resource Center.

BANNERS Kit Banner: No customization required BRC Banner: Customizable to include YMCA name, address, website, date and local sponsors Banners will be provided pre-printed in the kit and also available as InDesign template on the Brand Resource Center.

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Kick Off Summer With

Healthy Kids Day®!

Saturday April 21

EVENT IS FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

National

Sponsor

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Kick Off Summer With Healthy Kids Day®! Are the kids in your life already dreaming of summer? When kids are inspired, they can do anything. Let’s awaken their imagination so they can explore new activities and healthy habits. Join us!

Saturday April 21EVENT IS FREE & OPEN TO THE

PUBLIC

National Sponsor

POSTER SIZE: 24” x 36”

BANNER SIZE: 7’ x 3’


FACEBOOK COVER IMAGEFacebookcoverimageisavailableasaJPGfileonthe Brand Resource Center.Kick Off Summer With Healthy Kids Day®!

EVENT IS FREE & OPEN TO THE

PUBLIC

WEB BANNERSAllwebbannersareavailableasaJPGfile on the Brand Resource Center.

FLYERSAllflyersareavailableasanAdobeInDesignorMicrosoftPublisher template on the Brand Resource Center. It will downloadasaZIPfile.Spanishversionsarealsoavailable.

Kick Off Summer With Healthy Kids Day®! Are the kids in your life already dreaming of summer? When kids are inspired, they can do anything. Let’s awaken their imagination so they can explore new activities and healthy habits. Join us![YMCA NAME] [ADDRESS] [123-456-7890 ext 000]

[website here]

Saturday April 21EVENT IS FREE

& OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

National Sponsor Local Sponsors

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1317

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Healthy Kids Day®!

Are the kids in your life already

dreaming of summer? When kids are

inspired, they can do anything. Let’s

awaken their imagination so they can

explore new activities and healthy

habits. Join us!

[YMCA NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[123-456-7890 ext 000]

[website here]

Saturday April 21

EVENT IS FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

National Sponsor Local Sponsors


SPONSORSHIP SECURING LOCAL SPONSORSWe recognize local Ys may engage local sponsors to help make their events possible. As in years past, Y-USA is creating extra tools to help local Ys recruit sponsors including:

• The Healthy Kids Day Highlights Reel: A downloadable video that offers sponsors a snapshot of what Healthy Kids Day is all about.

• Healthy Kids Day Sponsor Solicitation LetterA local sponsor’s investment in Healthy Kids Day is only as valuable as they make it. After securing local sponsors, be sure to conduct a follow-up conversation about how they can maximize their sponsorship for increased return on investment. Discuss assets such as advertising, sales or promotional materials, or internal communications that they can activate to help promote their investment in Healthy Kids Day.

SPONSOR RECOGNITIONTo help manage the coordination and recognition of local sponsors, the marketing materials provided on the BRC this year include a customization function, so local sponsors can appear on your materials. For a smaller donation, a sponsor may host a table with prominent signage at your event.

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Healthy Kids Day®!






habits. Join us!

[YMCA NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[123-456-7890 ext 000]

[website here] Saturday April 21


PUBLIC

National SponsorLocal Sponsors

1317

20 1

/30


Healthy Kids Day®!






habits. Join us!

[YMCA NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[123-456-7890 ext 000]

[website here] Saturday April 21


PUBLIC

National SponsorLocal Sponsors

PLANNING YOUR EVENTThe Y appreciates all the support Healthy Kids Day receives from local sponsors whenever it can be secured.Sowhatisthefirststeptoplanninga Healthy Kids Day event? Over the years, Y-USA has collected best practices, tips and resources from local Ys that have successfully executed Healthy Kids Day events. This feedback has been narrowed downtofivecriticalplanning steps including:

STEP 1: ENLIST A COMMITTEEChoose an event committee carefully. A Healthy Kids Day committee should consist of enthusiastic Y members, volunteers or community organizations with diverse expertise and meaningful relationships to the community. Particular needs may include event planning, community outreach, marketing and public relations, and fundraising and government relations. Consider including colleagues from different departments within your branch.

STEP 2: DEFINE YOUR HEALTHY KIDS DAY GOALIt’s important to develop a goal for Healthy Kids Day, one that your entire planning committee can embrace. Once a goal is established, it will be easy to identify the right activities, partners and participants for your event.

STEP 3: IDENTIFY KEY COLLABORATORSCollaborations can be helpful for supplementing areas of expertise your Y may not have but are critical to achieving your Healthy Kids Day goal. With the Y’s expanded focus on health and education, you may want to consider additional partners such as colleges or universities, children’s book stores, tutoring centers or libraries that can offer resources and activities that promote summer enrichment.

STEP 4: CREATING THE RIGHT MIX OF ACTIVITIESYour event should be active, inclusive and engaging. Focus on selecting activities that truly help you achieve your Healthy Kids Day goal and promote the Y’s cause. For ideas, download our Healthy Kids Day Activity Sheet. If you are serving food at your Healthy Kids Day event, ensure that it meets Healthy Eating and Physical Activity standards (and consider serving a sampling of the snacks available in your early childhood and afterschool programs).

STEP 5: STAFFING YOUR EVENTIn order for your Healthy Kids Day event to be successful, the affair should not be a one-personshow.That’swhyit’simportanttoconsiderstaffing—inquantityandquality—inadvance.Fromwelcomingattendeestopost-eventcleanup,thereareseveralareastoconsiderwhencoordinatingstaffingforyourevent.UsetheHealthyKidsDayEventStaffingWorksheetavailableontheBRC.


Y-USA will send you a survey on April 23 to gather information about the success of your Healthy Kids Day . We’ll ask questions about attendance, staffing, and activities.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND ADVOCACYHealthy Kids Day should represent your Y’s community leadership, and involve partners that have a shared interest in youth affairs and/or healthy living. That’s why it’s important to engage othernonprofitorgovernmentalorganizationsinthe community that can help enhance your event and provide opportunities for additional promotion. With a call to action for kids to stay physically and intellectually active this summer, Ys can continue to broaden outreach and engage new partners for your Healthy Kids Day event. There are many youth serving organizations and entities that have an interestinbothchildren’shealthandeducation—localPTAs, schools, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, to name a few. Reach out to these organizations for promotional opportunities for your event and ask them to engage in your activities.Belowarelinkstoidentifyalocalaffiliateofsomeofthe Y’s national partners:

• American Cancer Society: Visit www.cancer.org tofindyourlocalaffiliatebyzipcode.

• American Diabetes Association: Visit www.diabetes.orgtofindyourlocalaffiliate by zip code.

• American Heart Association: Visit www.heart.orgtofindyourlocalaffiliatebyzipcode.

• American Psychological Association (APA): Contact your state’s psychological association to be connected with a psychologist in your area. Visit http://www.apa.org/practice/ refer.html.

ADVOCACYHealthyKidsDayprovidesanexcellentopportunitytojoinwithpublicofficialsand other community leaders and engage the community in our cause. Whether it’s offering a speaking role, co-promoting complementary initiatives led bypublicofficials,orobtainingaproclamation,demonstratingyourY’srelationshipswithpublicofficialscanhelpstrengthenyourpositionasatruecommunity leader in youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.Remember,publicofficialswanttoberesponsibletotheirconstituentsandtheir needs. With that being said, it’s important to follow a few, easy steps to ensure you’re reaching out in an appropriate and timely manner:

• Publicofficialsgetnumerousappearancerequests,soit’sbesttobeginreaching out to them approximately two months to six weeks before yourevent.Pleasenote,someofficialsmaynotbeabletoconfirmtheirattendance until two or three days beforehand.

• Besuretoasktheofficial’sschedulingstafftoinquireaboutavailability.Most likely you will be asked to submit a written request. You can use the Y’s sample invitation letter for this request.

• When writing your invitation, it’s important to emphasize the Y’s commitment to strengthening community, how long your Healthy Kids Day event has been going on, the type of audience you attract, and of course, the goal of Healthy Kids Day, which is to “inspire parents and kids to stay physically and intellectually active all summer long.”

• Ifyourpublicofficialagreestoattend,youwillwanttotalktotheirpressoffice/mediadepartmentandinquireifyoucanincludehis/herparticipation in pre-event media and promotions.

• Onthedayoftheevent,remainflexibleincaseyourofficialislate,decides to leave early or stays longer than planned.

• Ensurethatyouhaveacamerareadytocapturetheofficial’sparticipation in your event.

• Afterthevisit,followupwithathank-youlettertoyourofficial.Youalsomight want to include a list of the people who met with them, as well as, any photos.

• Pleasesendphotosofpublicofficialsatyoureventto [email protected]



GENERATING BUZZHere are some critical promotional steps to consider when promoting Healthy Kids Day. To generate buzz about your Healthy Kids Day, it’s essential to plan ahead and have a strategy in place to guide your activities and be a roadmap. National media outreach for 2017 Healthy Kids Day alone generated a total of over 371+ million impressions with 1,600+ placements.

BEGIN WITH A PROMOTIONAL PLANDevelop a promotional plan at least three to four months ahead of Healthy Kids Day. The plan should outline objectives/goals, strategy, tactics, roles and responsibilities, as well as the budget, which should cover all elements of your event.

IDENTIFY A SPOKESPERSONAs you’re planning, identify and select a spokesperson for media interviews before, and during, your Healthy Kids Day event. Ideally, the spokesperson would be your Y’s CEO or executive director, but alternatively can be a communications director, staff member, volunteer leader, youth program leader or third-party partner who is well-versed in our cause and the specifichealth,well-beingandfitnessprogrammingatyour Y.

CREATE AND PLACE YOUR MARKETING MATERIALSAfter local sponsors are secured, customize your Healthy Kids Day marketing materials on the BRC and place them in the community for event promotion. Also, identify opportunities outside your Y to market your event. Local sponsors, partners, volunteers, board members and Y members can all be advocates for your Healthy Kids Day event and help post promotional materials.

TARGET MEDIA OUTREACHIt’s important to identify the appropriate reporters and news outlets to secure the right media coverage. Develop a media list that includes reporters who’ve previously covered Healthy Kids Day or topics associated with health, well-being, children and families. Your list should consist of various localoutlets—newspapers,parenting/family magazines, blogs, online, radio and television. For more on how to build a media list and research your targets, see “Understanding Types of Media Outlets and Media Targets” at Yexchange.org/PublicRelations.

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CUSTOMIZE AND DISTRIBUTE MEDIA TOOLSUse some traditional media tools such as press releases and calendar announcements to create visibility and drive awareness. Also, if your Y is active on social media, be sure to promote your event and activities on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Media templates will be available on Yexchange.org/PublicRelations to help your Y conduct outreach through traditional and social media channels.

BE PROACTIVE AND PITCHAsHealthyKidsDayapproaches,andafteryou’vefinalizedyour press release and other media materials, begin sharing the press release and pitch note with reporters on your media list. Follow up one or two days after your initial outreach by phone ore-mailtoconfirmreceiptandinterest.Keepinmindthatreporters receive hundreds of pitch e-mails, letters and phone calls a day, and while they might be interested, they may not have the time to respond. So, it’s important to be persistent until you get an answer. Use your best judgment, but also remember one call is not always enough.Tips For Pitching Reporters:

• Be direct in your e-mail and make sure the subject line is compelling.

• Keep the body of your e-mail short (three paragraphs or less)andremember—noattachments.

• Use bold key words or headlines for main points or names of newsmakers, such as celebrities or government officials.

• Send e-mails to media outlets one at a time and personalize it for the reporter (don’t cc: or bcc: several reporters or editors).

HUMANIZE YOUR STORYReporters love human interest stories, so put a “face” to your Healthy Kids Day story. Identify a short list of past participants who can offer a testimonial about their experience. Is there a child or parent whose life was impacted by attending Healthy Kids Day last year? Is there a family whoisbenefittingfromtheeducational experiences offered at Healthy Kids Day? Tell these stories in your communications. (Be sure to secure permission to share such stories in advance.)

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WHEN’S THE DEADLINE?Deadlines vary from news outlet to news outlet, so be sure to contactstationsand/orpublicationsforspecificleadtimes. Here is a general guide:Daily newspapers:

• At least two to three weeks in advance for feature stories; one to two days in advance for news depending on the story.

Weekly newspapers:• Three to four weeks ahead for features; one to two weeks for

news items; the week after for follow-up photos (with captions) of your event.

Monthly magazines:• Three to four months before publication date for feature pitches;

one month before cover date for calendar listings.• Radio/television talk shows and morning/noon news programs: Atleastamonthbeforeyourevent.Doyourhomework—findout the lead time for booking guests, which will vary from show to show.

Radio/television news broadcasts:• Approximately seven to 10 days before you want the story to air—andbesuretofollowup.


THANK YOUWe couldn’t do this without you . Collectively, our commitment to Healthy Kids Day is helping strengthen communities across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. If you have immediate questions, please email [email protected]

2018 healthy kids day activation guide.… · to inspire all youth, parents, and caregivers ......

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