BELMONTCENSUS WEEK

Allison HurstBethany Nelson

Joseph NorrisSarah Norton

Jason Weidman

Susan Barnes, APR, Fellow PRSA

I t ’s I n Our Hands

Belmont University -Nashville Tennessee

Belmont Team 1

Executive Summary 1

Situation Analysis 1

Research 2

Key Messages 3

Planning 3

Actions & Implementations 3

Results and Evaluation 5

Conclusion 7

Budget 8

Appendix 9

Table of Contents

1.

Executive Summary Belmont: It’s In Your Hands is the work of Belmont University’s Bateman Team 1. We have created here a summary to lend a hand to those interested in our 2010 Census campaign. It details how we conducted research, keyed in on a handful of objectives and strategies, offered a helping hand to Belmont students seeking information about the 2010 Census through our implementation and received some high fives during our evaluation. Belmont’s home base is in Nashville, Tenn. The student population on Belmont’s campus is one rich with young activists and those seeking to go against the grain in counterculture movements. We are a private, mid-sized Christian university with 5,400 students that is located right in the heart of the city, just outside of downtown. Through our University Ministries and other non-profits close to campus, there are many opportunities for students to be involved in community outreach. Many of the outreach organizations are focused on the homeless population. There are approximately 80 homeless community encampments in the city, around 1,500 homeless children in our school systems and on any given night there are over 4,000 people making their beds on the streets. After researching the knowledge students have about the 2010 Census, we realized there is a great need for Belmont students to be educated in why they should take part. Because of the service-minded atmosphere on Belmont’s campus, connecting students with an opportunity to serve the homeless population in Nashville seemed to be an effective method of doing so, while engaging the homeless as well. We designed an initiative titled “Belmont Census Week” as our main platform for reaching the Belmont students. Throughout that week we had various speakers on campus share from different angles why the 2010 Census is important for college students and how it affects the surrounding communities. Our mission was to educate Belmont students about the 2010 Census and why it is important for them through empowering them to connect with and serve the Nashville homeless community. We hope you enjoy seeing how Belmont University’s Bateman Team 1 set out to educate students through motivating them to reach out a hand of service to those around them.

Situational Analysis Many college students need a hand in understanding what is up with the 2010 Census. It is the goal of the Census to have every household participate, whether they are families, single adults or students. The student population is considered one of the Census Bureau’s “hard to count” audiences. This population of Americans needs to be informed about the Census and motivated to impact their surrounding community. In order to do that, it is essential for students to be educated on why their participation in the 2010 Census is important and how it can directly affect their daily lives. On many college campuses, students are ready and willing to jump on board with projects that advocate for other communities. Belmont Bateman Team 1 saw advocacy as a strategy for attracting Belmont students to the Census campaign. Once our team chose to use advocacy to attract, inform and motivate Belmont students, we sought out a population in the Nashville area that we could serve. After research was conducted, the Nashville homeless population stood out as a community that needed to be part of our campaign. Our research showed the Nashville homeless community to be an active part of the city. Because there is so much going on around homelessness in Nashville, including an active network of churches providing meals, a community of shelters and regular events to raise awareness, our team felt we could

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connect with that population through engaging students to reach out a hand of service to that community. So the mission was to inform Belmont students about the 2010 Census through empowering them to take part in serving and educating the homeless community of Nashville. We decided to use a few different approaches to getting our message out. Our main platform was through a campaign we titled “Belmont Census Week.” We created a week of events all centered around sharing information about the Census and homelessness to our students. Beyond the Census Week, we tailored our communication to the technology-focused lives of Belmont students through the use of Facebook and the Belmont Intranet System. For those students not as attached to the Web, we posted flyers around campus promoting our Census Week events. During “Belmont Census Week,” we had speakers from various fields come to speak and share why the Census is important to the community they work with and why students need to be involved. A local minister taught about the biblical history of the Census along with his outreach to the homeless, a team from the Census Bureau spoke on the details of the Census and how to be involved, and the former vice-mayor of Nashville talked about his experiences with the homeless community and the importance for all of us to take part in the Census. Overall, our campaign was an adventure that was not without challenges, but our team was ready to meet them head on. We hope you enjoy this summary of the Belmont University Bateman Team 1’s journey through Belmont: It’s in Your Hands.

ResearchWe performed both primary and secondary research, utilizing 32 different sources including federal reports, blogs, newspaper articles and databases and conducted an interview with the former Vice Mayor and current CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber Public Benefit Foundation, Howard Gentry. Our research indicated:

Student Demographics: The common data set for 2009-2010 for Belmont University available through the institutional review board provides demographic info and stats regarding the current enrollment of the university as of October 15, 2009.Belmont’s undergraduate population is made up of 1,872 male students and 2,506 female students, totaling 4,378 students of which 60% live on-campus. As of fall of 2009 Belmont’s first-time freshman class consists of 991 students; 430 males and 561 females. Belmont University’s graduate program reached a total of 1,046 students; 348 males and 678 females. The average age of all students is 21.5 years old. In entirety, the Belmont University student body consists of 5,424 students.

Belmont University Convocations: In an effort to build well-rounded individuals and encourage life-long learning, all Belmont undergraduate students are required to finish a certain number of convocation credits depending on the number of transfer hours they had when they enrolled at Belmont. Convocation credits are divided into six categories; academic lecture, culture and arts, personal growth, faith development and community service. Belmont students are always looking for opportunities to fulfill their convocation hours in time for graduation. We decided the use of convocation hours would be an incentive for students to learn about the census and homelessness in Nashville.

Nashville Homeless Demographics: • According to The Key Alliance there are over 4,000 homeless individuals in Nashville. However, all counts of the homeless are estimated because the homeless are

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constantly moving locations. • There are currently an estimated 1,700 homeless children in Nashville. • Nashville spends on average $140 million a year to manage homelessness. • Over 50% of the Nashville homeless population is working and numerous more are seeking work. • More than 50 homeless adults died on the streets in Nashville in 2008.

Planning

Key MessagesTo Students: • The 2010 Census needs your help now to ensure an accurate count that represents ALL populations. • An accurate Census count matters to your community and the people it serves. • Mail back your 2010 Census questionnaire. It’s easy. It’s important. It’s safe. • You can help empower other communities to be involved in the 2010 Census. To the Homeless: • The 2010 Census needs your help now to ensure an accurate count that represents ALL populations. • An accurate Census count matters to your community. • Participate when the Census is conducted in the homeless community. Key AudiencesPrimary: Belmont students and the Nashville homeless population, particularly the residents of Tent City, the largest of the 80 homeless encampments in Nashville. Secondary: Belmont’s campus community, University administration, Belmont student mediaObjectives, Strategies and TacticsObjective 1: Educate 10% of the Belmont University student population about the 2010 Census and how they need to be involved during the month of February 2010. Strategy 1: Encourage Belmont University students to participate in our campaign during the month of February through events, printed materials and other media outlets. Rationale: Many students on Belmont’s campus were confused about how the 2010 Census affects their daily lives. Questions about how students need to participate, what is the appropriate way to fill out the form and what exactly the Census does arose when we started our research. The national Census campaign did not directly communicate with college students in a way that held their attention. We knew that our team would need to have events on campus, partner with leaders in the community and actively communicate our message through multiple avenues to gain the interest of Belmont’s student body. Implementation of Objective 1:Tactic 1: Develop our theme. We decided to stick with the national theme of It’s in Our Hands and bank off of that with Belmont: It’s in Your Hands. This theme reflected our mission to show Belmont students why they need to be involved, how they can be an active participant and empower surrounding communities. We wanted to communicate to the students that the Census affected them as well as their parents and other people in the community. They have the power to play a crucial part in getting the Census message out and joining hands with other people in surrounding communities to empower the homeless population in Nashville as well. Tactic 2: Establish a platform for our campaign. Once our theme was selected we needed to create a focal point for our campaign to build around. “Belmont Census Week” was to be our main stage for communicating our message. During Census Week

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there would be a variety of opportunities for us to communicate with the student body. Tactic 3: Reach out to student media outlets. One of the most effective ways to reach Belmont students is through student media. In order to bring attention to our events, we pitched our campaign to the Belmont Vision, the school paper, as well as the weekly web show, The Week at Belmont. Measurable Objective for Tactic 3: • To engage university student media about Belmont Census Week leading up to our events and activities through 3 media placements. Tactic 4: Prepare for “Belmont Census Week.” At the start of February we made the timeline for the month and began to prepare for epicenter of our campaign “Belmont Census Week.” We designed a logo for our team that helped unify every event with our Bateman team. This logo was placed on all printed and Web materials. We designed creative flyers that promoted Census Week and posted them across campus. Then, that information was also spread through our “Belmont Census Week” Facebook page and the university calendar on the Belmont Intranet System.Measurable Objectives for Tactic 4: • To establish a “Belmont Census Week” Facebook fan page that reaches at least 150 students. • To create and post 20 posters across campus to increase visibility of our campaign. • To gain approval for our events to be posted to the University calendar and student intranet system. Strategy 2: Educate Belmont students about the 2010 Census through three events during “Belmont Census Week.” Rationale: As a Christian-focused university, Belmont has a convocation program that every student is required to take part in during their career at the university. The program is designed to enrich the student experience through a variety of different events across campus departments. Events must meet specific criteria to meet convocation standards and each must fit into either the category of Christian Faith Development, Culture and the Arts, Personal and Professional Growth, or Academic Lecture. Every student must have credit for attending 60 convocations before graduation. In light of this program, our team decided to partner with Belmont to create events for our Census Week that would also be convocation events to spark the interest of the student body more readily. But we understood that each event needed to be distinct from the others to keep the involvement of students consistent throughout the week. Tactic 1: Invite a local outreach minister to speak during the first event. Our team asked Doug Sanders, an outreach minister at Otter Creek Church in Nashville, to speak on Monday of our Census Week. He shared with students the biblical history of the Census and then shared his experiences in outreach to the homeless community. Tactic 2: Show benefits of filling out the Census through having a respected leader speak. We wanted to drive home the point of how participating in the 2010 Census is mutually beneficial for our national Census Bureau and to American citizens. Former Vice-Mayor and current CEO to the Chamber of Commerce Public Benefit Foundation, Howard Gentry, joined our team for our second event on Wednesday. He shared with the students about his involvement with the Nashville homeless community and the importance of everyone’s participation in the Census. Tactic 3: Inform the students about their role in the 2010 Census process. To alleviate confusion about the details of the Census process, representatives from the Davidson County office of the Census Bureau came to campus. They were able to answer all the questions thrown at them by the students.

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Measurable Objective for Tactics 1-3: • To reach an attendance of 50 people for each convocation event, with a total of at least 150 students over the three events. Objective 2: Empower 10% of the Belmont student body to reach out to the surrounding homeless community about the 2010 Census. Strategy: Engage with the students in a way that will motivate them to serve the homeless population of Nashville during our “Belmont Census Week” events. Rationale: Our research showed that college students are more likely to be involved with an event when it empowers them to serve other populations. Because we held events in hopes of informing the students about the 2010 Census, we decided that during those events we would provide opportunities for students to learn and be involved with service to the homeless community of Nashville, which is also among the “hard to count” populations for the Census Bureau. Tactic 1: Encourage each guest speaker to discuss opportunities within the city to serve the homeless population. Each speaker that was involved with our Census Week approached the Census from a different angle. The students were informed about the connections between the homeless community and the Census through community outreach, financial benefits, and national survey benefits. Not only did they hear about these connections, but each speaker gave contact information to the students who wanted to get involved. Tactic 2: Inform students on how the 2010 Census will benefit the homeless population. Many students were uninformed about how all the survey data from the Census is used. Without this knowledge it was impossible for them to understand the benefits gained through their participation. Our speakers were able to give the essential information to the students about how the Census could affect the lives of the homeless in Nashville. Tactic 3: Collect gloves to deliver to the largest homeless encampment in the city. Throughout “Belmont Census Week,” our team provided students with the opportunity to donate gloves. In keeping with the overall Census theme of “It’s in Your Hands,” distributing gloves along with information about the Census allowed for outreach to the homeless. We partnered with local Wal-Mart stores around Nashville to gather additional gloves as well. After all the gloves were collected, our team delivered them to Tent City, a semi-permanent encampment of homeless people in Nashville. The gloves were taken to the encampment late one evening knowing that was the best opportunity to come in contact with the most members of that population. Measurable Objectives for Tactic 3: • To collect 100 pairs of gloves from donors and the Belmont campus community for distribution to the homeless with materials about the Census. • To enable 5 Belmont students to distribute the gloves to some of the homeless encampments in Nashville.

Results and Evaluation • Goal: To engage university student media about Belmont Census Week leading up to our events and activities through 3 media placements.

• Result: Our media pitches resulted in one article posted by a Belmont Vision student writer on www.BelmontVision.com as well as a featured mention during the newspaper’s weekly web show, The Week at Belmont. During the month of February, the episode of the Week at Belmont about Belmont Census Week was viewed 200 times. (To read the article or access the weekly web show, please see the appendix.)

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• Goal: To establish a Belmont Census Week Facebook fan page that reaches at least 150 students.

• Result: Our Facebook fan page had 112 fans by the end of February and was used to advertise our convocation events, share links about the Census and provide a communication channel for students to ask about the Census. This is 75% of our intended goal, but the fan page still provided a consistent communication channel for Belmont students interested in the Census. (For a breakdown of the demographics of the Belmont Census Week fans, see the Facebook Insights in the appendix.)

• Goal: To create and post 20 posters across campus to increase visibility of our campaign.

• Result: The team was able to create and post the maximum number of posters allowed by the university (20) during the first week of the campaign’s execution to increase visibility of the upcoming events. (For an image of the poster used, see the appendix.)

• Goal: To receive approval for our events to be posted to the University calendar and student intranet system.

• Result: Our three events were posted to the university calendar and student intranet system, which can be accessed by every student, faculty and staff member. There were several other popular convocation events that were scheduled at the same time as ours, but that is a challenge every convocation host faces. (For the calendar postings, see the appendix.)

• Goal: To reach an attendance of 50 people for each convocation event, with a total of at least 150 students over the three events.

• Result: Our first convocation event, featuring Doug Sanders, a local outreach minister, who discussed the biblical history of the Census and the potential for impact it has on the homeless and Nashville communities, was successful, with 23 students in attendance. The low attendance number for this event was likely because of the snow that fell that day; many Belmont students do not drive to campus if the weather is bad in Nashville.

• Result: Our second convocation event, featuring Howard Gentry, who discussed the importance of the Census for students and Nashville, was successful with 50 students in attendance. Despite several other popular convocation events being scheduled at the same time, we reached our attendance goal for this event.

• Result: The final convocation event of the week, featuring speakers from the Davidson County office of the Census Bureau answered students’ lingering questions effectively, with 41 people in attendance. By the end of week, many students were aware of our ongoing activities and came to our final event to learn from the Census Bureau employees.

• Result: Our total event attendance was 114, 76% of our planned goal.

• Goal: To collect 100 pairs of gloves from donors and the Belmont campus community for distribution to the homeless with materials about the Census. • Result: Through in-kind donations from a local Wal-Mart, the Bateman team was able to collect 66 pairs of gloves to pair with materials about the Census for distribution.

• Goal: To enable 5 Belmont students to distribute the gloves to some of the

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homeless encampments in Nashville.

• Result: Three Belmont students participated in the distribution of the 66 pairs of gloves to one of the 80 homeless encampments in the downtown area of Nashville.

• Overall Goal: To educate 10% of the Belmont University student population about the 2010 Census and how they need to be involved during the month of February 2010.

• Result: Our measurable efforts reached 429 students, or 8%, of the student population of 5,400 students. However, with the inclusion of posters hanging around campus and the number of views of the Belmont Vision article, neither of which could be measured by our team, we were successful in reaching at least 10% of the student population.

Overall, all of our tactics were executed well. Our Bateman Team was able to complete every tactic that we planned and reach a majority of our measurable objectives. We were able to positively impact the Belmont student population and educate its members about the benefits and importance of the 2010 Census. We hope our efforts will result in more Belmont students filling out and returning their Census form this spring.

Conclusion

More than Just a Handshake Throughout the month of February the Belmont University Bateman Team 1 embarked on a journey that would not only educate the student body but also empower them to reach out a hand of service to the surrounding homeless population under the umbrella of the 2010 Census. Faced with the challenge to show students why the Census is important to them personally, our team had to think creatively. By partnering with Belmont to offer convocation credits for “Belmont Census Week” events, we were able to provide students incentive to attend. Each event needed to stand out from the other, so we sought out different facets of the Census during the week. Not only was each speaker a leader in the Nashville community, but each event gave students the opportunity to collect a convocation credit for a different convocation category. Because of this distinction, students could potentially gain three credits during the week. College students are ready and willing to be involved in serving other communities. Our team built on that passion to accomplish our objectives by providing opportunities for students to reach out to the homeless community. By approaching our campaign in this way, our team was able to educate and empower both the student and homeless populations of Nashville. More than 500 people heard the Census message by the end of the month. Though Belmont: It’s in Your Hands was centered on Belmont’s campus and the surrounding homeless communities, the information provided during the “Belmont Census Week” and the other components of our campaign will not stop there. By doing our part to educate and empower our community, the ripple effect that will arise from our campaign will, we hope, spread across the whole city and enhance the results of the 2010 Census Bureau.

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BudgetExpenses Total: $43.08 + Fedex costs • Poster Printing: $41.08 • Tax paid for glove donation: $2.00 • Entry Printing and Binding: $60 • Package Shipping: $60

In-Kind Donation Total: $50.00 • Glove Donation: $50.00

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Appendix

Belmont Vision

Facebook

MyBelmont

BELMONT CENSUS WEEK

PRSSA

10Monday February 15th Wednesday February 17th Friday February 19th

10:00 AM

Massey 100

Population

Faith DevelopmentCommunity ServicePersonal Growth

IT’S IN OUR HANDS

What: A count of everyone in the United States.Who: Everyone in the United States must be counted – both citizens and noncitizens.When: 2010 Census forms will be mailed or delivered in March 2010 to students living off campus and April – May 2010 to students living in on-campus housing.

Why: The U.S. Constitution requires a national census every10 years to count the population and determine the number of seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives.How: College and university students should complete and return their census form upon receipt.

Easy Important Confidential

Join us on Facebook @ Belmont Census Week

Belmont Approval

Please feel free to donate unused gloves during any of our convo events.

thousand students at Belmont University are learning about the census and helping the homeless.thousand students at Belmont University are learning about the census and helping the homeless.

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Public relations

Posted on campus 3/17 thru 3/19

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Belmont UniversityBateman Team 1

Population Public Relations1900 Belmont Blvd

Nashvi l le, TN 37212