This year, a food bank turned a free Google grant into 116,828 visits from Orange County residents looking for food. A foundation long mistaken for a county-run children’s home finally got to tell its own story on the cover of the Orange County Business Journal.
Both efforts were recognized at the OCPRSA PROTOS Awards this month. Below, we share how each came together, along with news from our clients and our team.
Second Harvest Food Bank: Helping More Neighbors Find Food and Ways to Give
Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County provides food to more than 442,000 people each month, and demand continues to grow. Through Google’s nonprofit program, the food bank receives $10,000 in donated search advertising each month. Idea Hall put that resource to work through targeted efforts designed for a select priority audience.
Over the past year, Idea Hall delivered outsized results for the program:
At the same time, the cost of generating each response fell by 25%, so the same grant went further.
The program earned a Public Relations Society of America PROTOS Award in Online Marketing Programs. Most importantly, more Orange County families found food, and more residents found ways to help.
Orangewood Foundation: From Mistaken Identity to the Front Page
Since 1981, Orangewood Foundation has helped Orange County young adults secure housing, complete their education and build careers. Many donors, however, still confused the foundation with the Orangewood Children’s Home, which has been a separate organization since the 1980s. Orangewood needed to clarify its mission, and reach business leaders and philanthropists who would be in a position to support its next phase of growth.
Idea Hall arranged for editors from the Orange County Business Journal to meet Orangewood’s leadership and tour its campus. This visit earned a full feature for the brand, which ran as the cover story of the OCBJ’s Giving Day issue. The article fulfilled our objectives:
The work earned a Public Relations Society of America Award of Excellence in Feature Placement. More importantly, Orange County’s business community now has a clear picture of who Orangewood serves and where it is headed.
Client Perspectives Making News This Month
This month, four client leaders shared their plans and perspectives with Orange County business audiences. Idea Hall’s public relations team secured each of these stories.
Golden State Foods: Showing Job Seekers What Food Manufacturing Can Offer.
Golden State Foods is one of the largest suppliers to the foodservice industry, yet much of its work happens behind the scenes. Idea Hall is partnering with GSF on a social media strategy that brings its people, its products and its career opportunities into view.
For National Manufacturing Day, our team created a retro video game animation that invites job seekers to “level up” their careers. Viewers advance through GSF’s sauce, protein and dairy levels, learning what the company makes for leading restaurant brands, and unlock the rewards of working there: meaningful work, strong benefits and a supportive team.
Team Good Stuff
Sara Sloan, Idea Hall COO – Women in Business nominee.
Sara was among this year’s nominees for the Orange County Business Journal’s Women in Business Awards, which recognize women shaping business across Orange County. Anyone who works with Sara understands why. As our COO, she keeps our team running, our clients well cared for and our work on track, and she does it with a steady hand and a great deal of heart.
Karena Bibbins-McKeever is selected for Leadership Tomorrow.
Idea Hall’s PR Director Karena Bibbins-McKeever was selected for Leadership Tomorrow OC’s Class of 2027. As one of 25 leaders chosen for the nine-month program, she will spend the year learning how Orange County works from the people who lead it, insight she will bring to her work with our clients. She follows Sara Sloan, Class of 2022, as the second Idea Haller to take part in the program.
Looking Ahead
As this month’s stories show, the right story in front of the right audience can change how a community sees an organization.
If your organization has a story worth telling, we would welcome the conversation.
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