Icount the University of Georgia Bateman Team Presents

Home , University of Georgia

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... 1-10

Introduction………………………………………………………………..……………………………1 Situation Analysis…………………………………………………………….…………..……………1-2 Campaign Summary…………………………………………………………………………...………2-3 Research…………………………………………………………………...…………………………. 3-5 Goals and Objectives……………………………………………………………………….…………6-7 Results……………………………………………………………………...……………….…………7-9 Conclusion…….….……………………………………………………....…………………………….10

II. APPENDIX………….….……………...... ………………….……………………………………… A1-A84

Research…………………………………………………………...……………………….……A1- A26 Planning……………….……………………………...……………………………….……...…A27- A34 Implementation.….……………….....………………………………………………….…....….A35- A47 Evaluation……………………...….……………………….…………………………...... …...…A48-A84

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We posed a simple question to the residents of Athens, Ga.,: is your silence worth $1,697.00? Focusing on the figure of the amount lost for each person who does not participate in the U.S. Census in Georgia, our campaign provided a very real and local value to his or her participation.

To most, Athens, Ga., is a quaint college town full of history and football, but not many individuals know that it is also one of the most impoverished cities in the country. Though Athens, Ga., is ranked third in the nation for poverty, it is often overlooked because of the affluent college community surrounding the city. However, with the upcoming 2010 U.S. Census, Athens, Ga., has a great opportunity to improve the quality of life for students and residents.

The stakes for this campaign were of the highest degree—not only does the Census impact our government services but also it dictates the level of that support for an entire decade.

Capitalizing on the $133 million national advertising and media campaign provided by the client, the iCount mobilization team worked to localize the national message by partnering with key community leaders within Athens, Ga., and focusing on an extensive, bilingual, word-of-mouth grassroots campaign.

II. Situational Analysis The information collected by the Census helps to determine how more than $400 billion of federal funding is spent annually on infrastructure and services like hospitals, job training centers, schools, bridges, emergency services and other public works projects. Representation in Congress is also determined by Census results.

The state of Georgia, like many southern states, was undercounted in the previous Census. In 2000, Georgia was the third highest undercounted state and researchers estimated that the rate of people undercounted was 122,980. The economic impact was devastating for Georgia. By 2012, Georgia will have been shorted more than $250 million in federal funding.

In Athens, Ga., each person who does not fill out the Census represents a loss to the local government of $1,697.00 . The population of Athens is roughly 116,000 and nearly 34,000 of these individuals are part of the transient University of Georgia student population. If every Athens, Ga., resident were to fill out his Census form, it would total nearly $196 million for the community. According to information from the 2000 U.S. Census, 32 percent of the Athens community went uncounted during the 2000 Census. That adds up to nearly $55 million of government money that Athens, Ga., could have received.

Athens, Ga. is a distinctive community that presented its own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the iCount campaign. The fact that the 2010 Census involves only 10 questions and takes less than 10 minutes gave Athens residents an easy way to change their community, which, in the past, had its share of economic hardship. Athens residents, through the 2010 Census, had an opportunity to claim lost federal aid from low participation in the past Census. They had the real ability to make Athens a better community through federal dollars. Despite the huge incentives related to the 2010 Census, Athens, Ga., also had threats standing in the way of creating a successful campaign. The primary threat was the University of Georgia students who mistakenly believed they should be counted with their parents. Another potential threat to the campaign was the large number of immigrants in Athens who were hesitant to complete their Census forms for confidentiality reasons.

1 PriceWaterhouseCoopers: Effect of Census 2000 Undercount on Federal Funding to States and Selected Counts, 2002-2012. Published Aug. 7,2001

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III. Campaign Summary Every 10 years, Athens, Ga., residents have the opportunity to affect their community by filling out a single document – the Census. However, due to lack of information, many residents remain uncounted. The mission of the 2010 UGA Bateman Team’s iCount mobilization effort is to bring both local and national information and resources to students and non-student residents of Athens, Ga. To achieve this goal, the team created a word-of-mouth (WOM) specific movement based on the Two-Step Flow model of communication.

To familiarize ourselves with many of the general issues associated with the U.S. Census locally, we employed a variety of in- depth primary research methods.

After research, the team determined it was necessary to reach out to both the UGA student population and the towns- people of Athens, Ga. This meant developing and executing a dual-approach, bilingual campaign that centered on building knowledge, increasing awareness and educating residents about the new short form. While most people in the community are aware of what the Census is, many do not know specifics such as how to complete the Census form, whether the form is confidential and how our community can directly benefit from Census data.

To impact the behavior of the residents of Athens, Ga., the team had to address a critical issue—the unique demographic makeup of Athens-Clarke County, the third poorest county in the nation. As our formative research revealed, many Athe- nians do not have access to traditional or online forms of media and thus, they rely highly on opinion leaders. Therefore, we connected with key influentials in the African American and Latino community in Athens, Ga., to allow for word-of-mouth dissemination of messages. The student population was similar in this regard, but found opinion leaders as peers to whom they communicated with online through social media.

The Two-Step Flow model of communication guided the campaign from start to finish. The Two-Step Flow model puts a great emphasis on the role of opinion leaders and their power to inform then mobilize the general public. While the theory has been criticized in favor of a more limited effects model, the resurgence of word-of-mouth coupled with generational and cultural reliance on opinion leaders’ input among our target publics were significant indicators that the Two-Step Flow would provide the appropriate framework to guide this campaign.

The iCount team identified opinion leaders for each target public. Key influentials for the transient student population -oc curred peer-to-peer through social media conversation and university leaders. Opinion leaders for the Athens, Ga., towns- people included members of the Athens Complete Count Committee, including key Latino leaders in the hard-to-count Latino community. The UGA Bateman team trained opinion leaders of each target public, emphasizing key messages and pertinent Census information.

Based on extensive research, the team created the iCount initiative, which highlighted the local loss of $1,697.00 per Census form NOT filled out in Athens, Ga. By providing residents with a tangible dollar amount, the team was able to create interest in the Census and allow individuals to determine if their silence is worth $1,697.00 to the community.

The team held four major iCount events: one at the popular Tate Student Center, one at Snelling Dining Commons, one at the Athens-Clarke County Public Library and one at the predominantly-Latino Pinewoods mobile-home library. At these four mobilization events, the team rallied the support of the community by distributing brochures, mugs, canvas bags and children’s toys. Each event attendee was encouraged to complete an “iCount” note card, detailing the change(s) he or she would personally like to see in the Athens, Ga., community. After filling out the cards, participants were encouraged to adhere them to a banner that hung above, signifying both their financial and intellectual contribution to Athens. At these events, more than 3,500 Athe- nians and students pledged to complete their Census forms this March. Pledge participants received a sticker stating “I’m worth $1,697.00!” and received the “iCount discount” at six local businesses during iCount week (Feb. 15-19).

The banner created during the iCount events was later draped outside the Athens Banner-Herald office, a traffic-heavy loca- tion of downtown Athens. The colored index cards spelled out “iCount” and the banner had a potential reach of nearly 60,000 Athenians.

The iCount movement engaged the community by a variety of additional methods. First, the team held a banner copetition among the 17 sororities on campus to engage the Greek Life population and donated $50.00 to the winning chapter’s philanthropy. Secondly, we created an iCount video competition to engage students and create videos for our YouTube chan- nel, in which 10 teams participated. We also gained support from local fraternities, sporting teams, Latino businesses, English as a second language classes and extracurricular clubs by visiting their meetings to address concerns and educate members on the general importance of the Census.

The overall campaign reached nearly 700,000 individuals, and exceeded goals of increasing behavioral intention and attitude toward the Census.

The Sigma Kappa iCount Banner Competition IV. Research The iCount team conducted extensive primary research using triangulation and scientific method with high validity and reliability.

Online and Oral Survey Knowing that the concepts of knowledge, attitude, support and behavior are more complex than simple nominal classifications of data, the team used existing and rigorously tested scales to measure knowledge, perception of benefit, likelihood to participate and short form education .

These scales measured each of the concepts using multiple indicators therefore providing a stronger, more reliable and valid assessment of each concept than a simple “yes or no” phrased question would. The use of these previously tested measures allowed the team to accurately assess these concepts with scientific rigor.

A pre- and post-campaign bilingual survey was deployed using probability-stratified sampling, with the population parameters of Athens, Ga., citizen or UGA student, which served as the strata. The Athens citizen sample was collected using the “mall intercept” systematic sampling method, recruiting potential participants from outside key retail and community meeting areas in Athens, Ga.

840509490563095850595795243547475059509055677509505435215906904096049604690496406 69609404 $1697 68406840860486406849950604060686807858585838291003054959506-499 534959909432195978885959595960609395837214253647090904654848586958596059686586963 546 4 Can Athens Count on You? The team visited local areas that were specifically not popular among UGA students, to ensure that Athens, Ga., natives and long-time residents were properly represented. During the formative research stage, we administered 113 oral surveys using the mall-intercept method. The UGA student sample was recruited using a random sampling technique, pulling prospective participants from a master list of all UGA students and inviting them to participate in an online survey. Nearly 2,500 students received surveys with more than 300 returned.

Having both an oral and online survey was extremely beneficial to the team, for it allowed us to uncover the true opinions of the segmented populations in Athens. The data provided an overview of the perceptions of the U.S. Census and gave the team a measurable statistic to compare against at the end of the campaign.

While the random sampling techniques were time-consuming and involved a great deal of labor during the formative and sum- mative research stages, the team determined this was the best way to obtain truly general data within the community. Going forward, the team used its thorough research to guide the direction of the campaign.

Opinion Leader Interviews Focusing on the local community began with getting to know opinion leaders in Athens, Ga. The team defined opinion leaders are those who have an important influence within the local community, and we recognized that opinion leader engagement would be the key mobilizer in achieving the Two-Step Flow model of communication.

We began by reaching out to the Athens Complete Count Committee (ACCC), an organization established by Athens Mayor Heidi Davison. The committee plays a vital role in assuring a successful Census count in Athens, Ga. The ACCC consisted of members from the Clarke County School Board, the Athens Council on Aging, the Department of Family and Children Ser- vices, a local religious organization, the Latino community and Athens-Clarke County Unified Government.

Committee leaders played a vital part in serving as the Athenian face of our campaign. By attending ACCC meetings, the team had the opportunity to share research findings with the committee, and each opinion leader provided his or her suggestions on how to effectively reach specific subsets of the population. Additionally, we arranged and hosted a media training session with 14 members of the committee to prepare them for media appearances we later coordinated. We presented them with our key campaign messages and armed them with tools necessary to communicate effectively and succinctly to our key publics, journalists and news outlets.

After conducting one-on-one interviews with committee members, we knew it was essential to capture the image of the influentials for campaign purposes. We took photographs to use on our Facebook fan page and campaign Web site. Also, committee members participated in our community iCount events, which resonated with our segmented audiences. Because we executed a bilingual campaign it was effective to have Latino opinion leaders participate and connect with the Latino population. We found great success in engaging with the opinion leaders. The contacts and resources we gained from the ACCC were invaluable in putting our data and research findings into perspective.

Focus Groups The team also conducted messaging research by testing slogans, theme ideas and printed materials in three focus groups—one with members of the Greek Life community on campus, one with students who live off-campus and one at a predominantly Spanish-speaking restaurant.

The focus group phase of research also helped solidify the team’s decision to implement the Two-Step Flow model of communication. Due to the reach of influentials within respective communities, the iCount campaign placed emphasis on the importance of key opinion leaders disseminating positive messages to the general public, using word-of-mouth and social media tactics.

Content Analysis A large portion of research in the iCount mobilization effort consisted of analyzing media content. We examined 17 news stories, articles and editorials over a 10-year period to determine the past messages in the media surrounding the topic of the U.S. Census. The content analysis helped determine the general public opinion of the Census, set the overall tone for our campaign and helped to form the outline of our key messages and goals.

Target Audiences Motivation to fill out the Census is different within various communities, therefore the iCount movement created a hyper- local campaign that segmented the ACC community into multiple audiences. The team recognized the necessity to reach not only the university population but also the historically undercouted population of Athens.

Primary Audiences

University of Georgia students:

During the 2000 Census, most of UGA’s current 33,000 in-residence students were around 11 years old. While they know what the Census is and many understand its importance, their personal involvement is low. The team aimed to reiterate that students should fill out their Census form where they live the majority of the year. Since most UGA students attend school for eight months each year and use the resources in Athens, Ga., it is vital that each student is counted as a resident of this town. University students are typically considered an undercounted population because they do not know that each person loses $1,697.00 when they are not counted. The team emphasized to UGA students the significance of their Census responses to the betterment of the Athens, Ga., community.

Athens’ Latino Population:

The Latino population is growing not only in the state of Georgia, but also especially in the Athens, Ga., area. According to the 2007 Georgia County Guide , the Latino population has increased by 2.9 percent since 2006. Because the Latino population is continuously growing in Athens, it was necessary to provide materials in both Spanish and English, making sure our campaign was completely bilingual. Through a key opinion leader in the Latino community, we gained the support of more than 14 local Latino businesses and nearly 10 additional key Latino influentials. This support was key from the two-step flow perspective because these successful community leaders assist in setting the agenda and informing others in the Latino community.

Secondary Audiences

According to Julie Morgan, head of the Athens Complete Count Committee and one of the opinion leaders, the African- American population in Athens is known for completing and returning Census information in the timely manner. Through our research we discovered that African Americans, as well as non-Hispanic whites, are not a difficult population to reach; therefore we chose to focus our efforts on other populations, which were historically less likely to participate.

Our research also revealed that the Asian population in Athens is hard to count; however, this demographic comprises such a small percentage of overall residents that we chose to classify it as a secondary audience.

Conclusion The four research methods employed here provided the iCount team with a clear picture of how to proceed into planning and implementation. The primary data from focus groups, interviews, content analysis and the two pre-campaign surveys.

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informed the team on how to best expend their efforts in regards to media placement, messaging, and best reaching target audiences from the research specific tactics and messages were developed.

Overall, the campaign sought to increase knowledge of the Census, educate publics about the short form, and communicate the benefits associated with completion and increase likelihood to participate.

V. Goals and Objectives

Goal #1: To increase knowledge of the U.S. Census to Athens-Clarke County Latino, college student and general populations.

Objective #1: To increase knowledge of the U.S. Census by 10 percent by Feb. 28, 2010 among target audiences. Tactics •Create iCount Web site localizing information about the 2010 U.S. Census, the benefits of completing the Census and the new short form. •Hold iCount events at high-traffic areas such as the UGA dining hall, UGA student center, Athens-Clarke County Library and the Pinewoods library (predominantly Latino library). •Pitch local radio stations about importance of the U.S. Census to Athens-Clarke County, and how easy it is to fill out.

Objective #2: To increase knowledge of short form by 10 percent by Feb. 28, 2010 among target audiences. Tactics •Hold iCount events with sample Census forms at high-traffic areas such as the UGA dining hall, the UGA student center, Athens-Clarke County Library and the Pinewoods library. •Pitch local media about the new short form and the brief amount of time required to fill out the form.

Goal #2: Increase support of the U.S. Census in Athens-Clarke County.

Objective #1: To educate at least 10,000 Athens Residents about the importance of the U.S. Census by Feb. 28, 2010. Tactics •Send e-mail targeting various listservs about ways to learn about 2010 Census and the importance of completing the Census. •Create online community presence in Facebook to encourage target publics to participate in 2010 Census. •Create an online pledge form to embed on the iCount Web site, which will allow individuals to promise to complete their Census form. •Create a paper pledge form for individuals to sign at iCount events. •Host video competition within university to engage undercounted student population. •Host sorority banner competition to encourage campus leaders to inspire undercounted student population to fill out 2010 Census. •Send a campus-wide email to the entire UGA student body of more than 30,000 students via the university listserv. •Visit various meetings to speak about the U.S. Census and to hand out the pledge form, which gives individuals the opportunity to promise to complete their Census form.

Objective #2: To educate at least 10 influentials within the Athens-Clarke County Latino, college student and general populations about the Census to share with their communities by Feb. 28, 2010. Tactics •Attend local Complete Count Committee meetings to meet key influentials in Athens-Clarke County and to educate them about ways to communicate campaign messages to their respective communities. •Speak to student organizations and student leaders about importance of the U.S. Census. •Media train influentials on campaign messages and set up interviews for them.

Goal #3: Increase intent to participate in the U.S. Census among the Athens-Clarke County Latino, college student and general populations.

Objective #1: To increase likelihood to participate by 5 percent by Feb. 28, 2010. Tactics •Hold iCount events with sample Census forms at high-traffic areas throughout the community and ask individuals pledge participation. •Speak to student organizations and student leaders about the importance of the U.S. Census and have students sign pledge form, keeping with the Two-Step theory. •Send pledge form over various e-mail listservs.

Goal #4: Streamline local and national resources to make relevant information available to the Athens Community. Objective #1: To localize the efforts of the U.S. Census by driving 1,500 visits to the iCount Web site by Feb. 28, 2010. Tactics •Create a Web site that includes information about the U.S. Census particular to Athens-Clarke County including links to outside Web sites. •Create social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to disseminate localized Census information Objective #2: To collaborate with existing local resources and organizations in Athens throughout February 2010. Tactics •Attend local Complete Count Committee meetings to learn about local community efforts to inform Athens- Clarke County residents about U.S. Census. •Attend Complete Count events and request that Complete Count Committee members attend and support iCount events.

VI. Results Goal #1 Outcome: Exceeded As a result of the opinion leader, media and iCount team efforts, awareness of the U.S. Census within the Athens-Clarke County population rose 12 percent during February. There was also an increase in knowledge of the short form by 5 percent. The results also show major increases in knowledge for the Latino and Asian communities, which showcase the success of the segmented messaging strategy within different groups.

Objective #1: To increase knowledge of the U.S. Census by 10 percent by Feb. 28, 2010 among target audiences. Outcome: Increase of 12 percent in knowledge of U.S. Census.

Objective #2: Increase knowledge of short form by 5 percent by Feb. 28, 2010 among target audiences. Outcome: Increase of 5 percent in knowledge of short form.

*The chart showcases the increase in four areas: knowledge of the benefits of completing the Census, knowledge of the Census itself, knowledge of the new short form and the likelihood of completing the Census. Results obtained through paired sample t tests, comparing pre- and post-campaign survey data collected by UGA Bateman.

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Objective #1: To educate at least 10,000 Athens Residents about the importance of the U.S. Census Outcome: With the entire iCount campaign, the team reached more than 700,000 individuals through media placements and more than 167,400 individuals were reached through events and speaking engagements.

Goal #2 Outcome: Exceeded

During the implementation stage, the Bateman team collected more than 3,500 signatures from students and residents pledging to complete their Census form. The team reached more than 30 influentials within the student population and the ACC community. This supports the Two-Step Flow model of communication, allowing for the dissemination of key messages from opinion leader to general public.

Objective #1: To educate at least 10,000 Athens Residents about the importance of the U.S. Census Outcome: The team reached more than 700,000 individuals through media placements, and more than 167,400 individuals were reached through events and speaking engagements. Objective #2: To educate at least 10 influentials within the Athens-Clarke County Latino, college student and general populations about the Census to share with their communities by Feb. 28, 2010. Outcome: The team educated 17 student leaders and 13 community leaders about the U.S. Census and the impact they have in the Athens community.

Goal #3 Outcome: Exceeded

The goal to increase intent to participate in the U.S. Census to the Athens-Clarke County population was surpassed. The intent to participate increased 8 percent.

Objective #1: To increase likelihood to participate by 5 percent by Feb. 28, 2010. Outcome: Likelihood to participate increased by 8 percent.

Goal #4 Outcome: Success

We distributed more than 2,000 English and 1,000 Spanish handbills that included important information about the U.S. Cen- sus. The Bateman team also handed out more than 2,000 stickers about the U.S. Census, which directed ACC residents and students to the local iCount Web site. The iCount Web site included localized information about the Census.

Objective 1: To localize the efforts of the U.S. Census Web site by driving 1,500 hits to the iCount Web site by Feb. 28, 2010. Outcome: In the month of February, the iCount Web site had more than 2,000 visits from Athens, Ga., residents.

Highest Web Site Traffic During iCount Week.

Graphic 1.1: Google Analytics graph of average visits from Feb. 1- Feb. 29, 2010

Objective 2: To collaborate with existing local resources and organizations in Athens throughout February 2010. Outcome: The iCount mobilization team attended more than 25 community events to educate Athens, Ga., about the U.S. Census. Examples include the Latino Health Fair, “Dawgs after Dark,” community group meetings, two church services, UGA class sessions, UGA gymnastics meets, UGA basketball games, sorority and fraternity chapter meetings and public elementary school events.

VII. Event Summary

Throughout the month of February, the team personally educated nearly 80,000 individuals about the importance of the Census, the necessity of a complete count and the changes in the Census. Through media placements, public service announcements and word-of-mouth techniques, the campaign reached more than 700,000 people in Athens, Ga., By holding three iCount events targeted toward specific subsets of the hard-to-count Athens, Ga., population, the team not only raised awareness but also increased likelihood to participate by 8 percent and received commitment from nearly 3,500 individuals. This data shows a massive change in opinion and intent among the population, which speaks to the overall success of the campaign. From hosting a video competition to informational meetings to media training sessions for key influencers, the iCount team approached this mobilization effort from every possible angle and hit the key marks that we planned. We were able to conduct a successful word-of-mouth, hyper-local campaign driven by Two-Step flow theory.

Media Overall, media impressions garnered were 700,000. During the course of the campaign, the team drafted and issued several news releases to local media outlets to highlight events, messages and promotions within the iCount mobilization effort. A sampling of media coverage includes:

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• A television news story featured on 11Alive evening newscast. 11Alive holds the market share for most local TV news viewers in the Atlanta metropolitan area. • Coverage in Red & Black featuring iCount media-trained opinion leader. • Event listings on community calendars for Athens-Banner Herald and the University of Georgia Web site. • A 5:37 minute radio interview on WGAU talk radio. • A Facebook link to iCount Web site posted on the official UGA Facebook page, which has more than17, 500 fans. • Two videos on WNEG about 2010 U.S. Census featuring iCount team members.

Events Promotions More than 2,000 Spanish and English handbills were placed in popular leisure locations such as restaurants, hair salons, grocery stores, pharma- cies, campus buildings, athletic venues, community centers, local chapters of civic clubs and off-campus organizations. Locations were selected as a result of the focus groups. The handbills invited viewers to the Web site, the iCount events and the social media pages of the iCount movement, furthering both the reach of the campaign and the community’s knowledge that the U.S. Census forms would arrive in the coming weeks.

The Web site was vital in promoting the iCount events by providing current information on event times, locations and details. The Google Analytics Web site report showed the effectiveness of the site because of the increased traffic on event days.

VII. Conclusion Prior to the iCount initiative, many Athens, Ga., residents were unaware of the importance of completing the U.S. Census and how much being counted means to the Athens-Clarke County community. We focused our campaign on the amount of federal funding lost for each person who does not participate in the U.S. Census – $1,697.00 – and asked Athens residents, “Is your silence worth $1,697.00?”

Guided by intensive primary research methods and rigorous message testing, our campaign personally educated nearly 80,000 individuals in Athens, Ga. More than 700,000 media impressions were garnered via local television networks and radio station placements. The iCount campaign’s grassroots word-of-mouth efforts within the community included holding iCount events, taking advantage of audience-specific listservs, partnering with key influentials and capitalizing on the Two-Step Flow model to engage in social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Our initiative made a lasting impression on the Athens, Ga., community, allowing each resident to become aware of his impact in completing the U.S. Census. We worked to convey the message that each person is worth $1,697.00 to this community, and each person does count to Athens, Ga. The real success, however, will be measured after the Census is tallied and we discover whether our community was properly counted.