Action Tips: Organize an Awareness Campaign about Music Education

Chances are there are tons of people out there who don’t know much about music education and its benefits. Make some catchy flyers so people can be in the know and learn how they can make a difference too.

Double Check

Are you allowed to post your signs around school or on telephone poles and community bulletin boards? If so, go for it! If not, see if you can pass out flyers at your town hall, public library, a local business or at school.

Do Some Research

Read up on music education. Gather some data for the signs and figure out how you want to present it.

Include Local Info

Find out about music education in your area. Are music programs offered in your school or community center? Is there a symphony or orchestra that offers classes to young people? Call and ask around. Include this local info on your posters.

Include Testimonials

See if you can get a quote from an expert. Call your local university and track down a professor. Speak to a musician who can attest to how music helped him or her in school. Include it in your campaign. Real stories are powerful!

Use Images

Pictures can add a personal connection between the viewer and the issue, so use them! Feature photos of students and local musicians or your musician role models.

Power in People

Now that you’ve got all this info, get some friends together to help you design and complete the posters or flyers. They can help you put them up when you’re done.

Variety is Key

Keep in mind, that in order to make this campaign effective, you have to vary your strategy. So think about making a few different kinds of signs:

• Small flyers to pass out to people
• Big, colorful posters to post on telephone polls: you want these to stand out because people will be driving and/or walking by them so you want to grab their attention.
• Informative flyers to post on cork boards or town message boards.

Timing

Find a time when people will be most open to hearing about music education. Consider the beginning of the school year, when everyone is deciding on what subjects they will take. And March is Music in our School Month! But if you’ve missed the best dates, don’t hesitant to get started right now.

Be Bold

Think of strange places you can put up posters and see if you can get permission to post them there. Marketers have put ads up in odd places because it’s an effective tactic. Like the doors in bathroom stalls of restaurants, cafes, and/or even in restrooms of your local bus or train station. Try it out!

Post and Repost

While going out one day and posting is great, keep in mind that weather may damage posters so you’ll want to go out periodically and repost your signs. You also won’t catch everyone in one day so schedule a few days to go out and distribute fliers.

The Extra Mile

You can also recruit speakers to come in and speak to students at your school, church, or community center about music education. Remember that musician you spoke to about how music changed their life? Invite them to speak and/or ask them to suggest someone.

And don't forget to let Do Something know the amazing things you've done!