Case Studies
Explore Adoption
As part of his focus on children, former Governor Crist directed his Office of Adoption and Child Protection to implement a public information campaign encouraging Floridians to adopt children in foster care. The campaign’s primary focus was to promote adoption of children who wait the longest for a “forever home” – older children and teens, sibling groups and children with medical needs.
In 2008, CoreMessage and Ron Sachs Communications created and executed the “Explore Adoption” campaign, which included brand development, production of web-based and printed marketing tools, paid advertising, a television special, earned media and outreach to potential partners who would extend the campaign message’s reach to key audiences.
CoreMessage and Ron Sachs Communications developed a target list of associations and organizations with a vested interest in moving children from the foster system into the homes of adoptive families. The team conducted extensive outreach to these groups and leveraged existing relationships to secure partners for the “Explore Adoption” campaign. Partners promoted the campaign, the Florida Adoption Information Center toll-free number and “Explore Adoption” website through their own home pages, publications, newsletters and conferences.
The organizations agreed to placed campaign banners their websites, sent electronic messages to members, used adoption-related articles our team drafted in their newsletters and magazines, provided free space for campaign ads in their magazines, as well as publications and encouraged members to subscribe to the “Explore Adoption” e-newsletter. A marketing kit with promotional tools and resources helped partners share campaign information with their members.
As a result of the campaign, calls to the state’s Adoption Information Center increased and the number of unique monthly visitors to the “Explore Adoption” website surpassed initial goals. In November 2008, former Governor Crist announced a record number of adoptions in Florida – 3,674 finalized adoptions, up from 3,079 in 2007.