How To: Start an Awareness Campaign About Your Cause At Your School or in Your Neighborhood

Chances are there are tons of people out there who don’t know much about your cause or how many people it affects. Make some catchy flyers so they can be in the know and learn how they can make a difference too.

Double Check

First, make sure you are allowed to post your signs around school or on telephone poles and community bulletin boards. If your town won’t allow you to post around town, see if you can pass out flyers at your town hall, public library, a local business or at school.

Do Some Research

Gather some data for the signs and figure out how you want to present it. Do Something has some great info on tons of causes including facts, effects and dangers.

Investigate

Find out about some cause-relevant stuff in your area. Like if your cause is alcohol abuse, call your local Alcoholics Anonymous and ask about the details of alcoholism in your area. Don’t be afraid to include this info on your posters.

Details

See if you can get a quote from an expert. Call your local university and track down a professor. If your cause is drug addiction, talk to a recovering addict (Narcotics Anonymous may be able to help you here). Include it in your campaign. Real stories are powerful!

Images

Sometimes pictures make stronger statements than words and are as much a part of the message as the chosen words, so don’t be afraid to use them. If that recovering addict is willing to show his or her face, let them!

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 also 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

Timing is everything so find a time that is cause appropriate. Like if your cause is climate change, aim to have a campaign around Earth Day. If it’s alcoholism, April is Alcohol Awareness Month! But if you’ve missed the date, don’t be hesitant to start a campaign regardless.

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 up ads 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 your cause. If your cause is discrimination, visit your local synagogue to see if someone can come in and speak about anti-Semitism. You can even go to your local police station and ask for resources. They’re usually more than willing to help support a positive cause.

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