CASE STUDY

Jersey Cares
Coat Drive 2000

Jersey Cares, one of the state's leading volunteer organizations, holds an annual drive to collect used winter coats for distribution to at-risk men, women, and children in seven northern New Jersey counties. Jersey Cares contacted Winning Strategies for help maximizing the impact of the program. The result was a public relations and community outreach program using Winning Strategies' established relationships with key media and regional sports teams.

Press releases and alerts were sent to weekly newspapers in each town where there was a collection site. Winning Strategies also set up media events providing local story and photo opportunities. Arrangements were made for media representatives to watch coats being received, and to talk to and photograph volunteers at work. Daily papers, such as The Star-Ledger, The Record, and the North Jersey Herald News, were also targeted.

Winning Strategies helped recruit the Star-Ledger, Jersey Journal, News 12 New Jersey and njo.com as the official Coat Drive media sponsors. The Star-Ledger published a photo featuring the newspaper's publisher with Jersey Cares' executive director donating coats on the first day of the drive. The newspaper also provided a banner ad on its web site, NJ.com.

Winning Strategies recruited Keith Van Horn of the New Jersey Nets to record a public service announcement for the coat drive. It aired on Cablevision's News 12 New Jersey channels and on radio stations throughout the state. During a media event featuring Van Horn donating a coat during a basketball game, the player encouraged fans to follow his lead. The event was covered by WABC-TV's "Eyewitness News."

More than 30 newspapers, including the Star-Ledger, the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, the Bergen Record, and the North Jersey Herald News covered the drive. Print and broadcast impressions totaled 7 million. More than 20,000 coats were donated, nearly doubling the number of coats donated the previous year.