22nd Annual Victims' Rights 5k Run/walk Campaign

George Mason University | April 12, 2018 | Hosted by SSAC

A group of students and I implemented this public relations plan to increase involvement in the 2018 event while increasing awareness of campus resources,

The Student Support and Advocacy Center (SSAC) is George Mason University’s source of on-campus support services that provides resources that allow students to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The organization works to create educational programming, consultations, and other resources for GMU students.

Each year, the organization helps put together the Annual Victims’ Rights Run/Walk that takes place on Mason’s campus. The event is held in honor of former student athlete Aimee Willard in to raise money for SSAC. The event plays a major role in the organization’s fundraising and occurs every year in the spring.

All of the funds donated to SSAC filters directly back to the students who are in need of the resources offered. The organization focuses on various aspects of student life to provide well-rounded support. The major matters that SSAC tackles are wellness, drug use, recovery, healthy body image, healthy relationships, and interpersonal violence. SSAC’s primary priority is to cultivate a safe Mason community through professionalism, inclusion, positive engagement, empowerment, and empathetic support.

Tactics proposed

1. Inform and educate

Plan and propose a $1000 budget for the event
Create an educational video series that will be presented on their social media sites
Design infographics that will be available for social media posts and flyers/posters to educate the Mason community about national statistics

2. Foster stronger connection to students through awareness and desire to Make a Difference:

Use the video series to appeal to emotion, encouraging students to make a stand
Design and order a banner that will hang in the Johnson Center 2 weeks prior to the event

3. Strengthen relationships with community members, campus organizations, and influential individuals

Develop a student organization contact list with names, emails/phone numbers
Create a relationship between SSAC and Student Media and connect them to student photographers for the event
Create a sample interest/invitation letter for SSAC to send to student organizations and businesses to build a relationship/sponsorship
List of tactics to use for future

4. Utilize social media

Play on social currency to push students to sign up for events because other Mason students are getting involved
Appeal to emotions and encourage change through participation in the Run/Walk
Create an effective hashtag that will serve as a trigger to effectively and consistently remind students of the run/walk’s prominence
Make the private thoughts of support for this cause into a public movement
Show the stories of people that have participated in the Run/Walk in the past and how they felt that they were able to make a difference
Emphasize the practical value that the money earned from the event will be filtered right back to the students who will be helped by this cause
Design a Snapchat filter for the event
Take live coverage of and hype up the Run/Walk on social media the day that it occurs in order to continue participation for the following year