Case Study #3: Communications Consortium Media Center (CCMC)
CCMC is a public interest media center dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations use media and new technologies as tools for policy change.
Recently, Emily provided editorial comments and suggestions for the updated second edition of CCMC’s popular book, Strategic Communications for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide to Working with the Media (September 2008, Jossey-Bass). She recommends the book to all of her clients and to anyone seeking to understand today’s complex media environment.
Since 2007, CCMC has asked Emily to consult on a number of different projects for its clients, including:
Public Interest Projects/Fulfilling the Dream Fund. PIP’s Fulfilling the Dream Fund is a funders’ collaborative to support affirmative action and other efforts to promote full inclusion of people of color and women in our society. For this multi-year project, $6 million project, CCMC brought Emily together with leading social justice and civil rights advocates to:
- Lead and/or present sections of Webinars on affirmative action messaging
- Conduct PIP grantee workshops on using values to convey messages
- Interview PIP grantees on their communications needs
- Participate in meetings with PIP grantees in California and Colorado
SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids). SPARK is an early childhood education initiative of the Kellogg Foundation. For this project, Emily was part of a team that provided media training and support to SPARK grantees across the country. Emily conducted workshops on op-ed writing for SPARK grantees at meetings in Albuquerque and Atlanta, and assisted with the drafting and placement of six separate op-eds in local and national papers.
Center for American Women and Politics and Birth Control Watch. In the run-up to Election Day 2008, the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University had important polling information about women and the vote, while another group, Birth Control Watch was increasingly concerned about ballot initiatives to restrict access to contraceptives. CCMC set up audio news conferences for each group to get their message out and asked Emily to help get national and local reporters, editorial writers, bloggers and columnists to dial in.
This was no easy task during one of the most intense news periods in recent memory, when journalists’ time and attention was at a premium and new issues were grabbing headlines every day. By keeping her calls focused, succinct and persuasive, Emily managed to a drum up a strong turnout for the briefings, which resulted in stories in several important national outlets, including U.S. News and World Report.