HOPE Springs Eternal, Pro Bono Effort Uses Unlikely Media Strategy

Nonprofit group Operation HOPE has turned to a relatively unlikely pairing of mediums--outdoor and radio--to launch a financial-literacy media campaign targeting two disparate groups, inner-city families and top-level financial execs. The campaign, which kicked off Thursday with the unveiling of a billboard in Torrance, Calif., will run in nine urban markets through 2004 and into 2005.

In addition to its divergent targets, what makes "Banking on Our Future Call to Serve/Call to Action" unusual is the extent to which it is being underwritten by a trifecta of media heavyweights. Clear Channel Outdoor, Viacom, and Premiere Radio Networks are offering much of their space pro bono (granted, some of it will be contingent on the availability of remnant space), and the rest of it at cost. In addition, five top mainstream news and business publications (Newsweek, Time, Forbes, Fortune, and Business Week) have pledged space for the organization's ads if it becomes available.

advertisement

advertisement

The campaign is by far the largest and most high-profile in the history of Operation HOPE, a group whose mission is to help inner-city residents achieve economic self-sufficiency. "There's so much that a media-intensive program like this can do for us," says vice president and chief of communications Andrew Sousa. "It gets people thinking about preparing their kids, and hopefully it will get even more of the financial community involved."

Bob Wolff, assistant vice president, corporate communications of Bank of the West (one of nine financial institutions that works closely with Operation HOPE), adds that the campaign shouldn't be overlooked as a means of branding the organization. "Just like a for-profit corporation values branding through advertising and media, a not-for-profit will derive just as much value by getting a brand out there in public," he notes. Of course, participating financial institutions could realize a secondary benefit: the more financially literate consumers there are, the more banking customers there will be.

Targeting inner-city families has been among Operation HOPE's primary concerns since its inception. In 2000-2001, for instance, the group helped to secure more home loans for minorities in California with annual incomes of less than $35,000 than the state's top eight banks combined ("we haven't had one loan go bad," Sousa adds proudly). But reaching out to white-collar executives via a media campaign is relatively uncharted territory.

Through the ads, Operation HOPE wants to lure volunteers to "Banking on Our Future," a program in which so-called "banker-teachers" go into classrooms in urban areas and relay financial information that might not be taught anywhere else. "Mostly it's the basics: how to write checks, the power of credit, basic investing," Sousa explains. "When it comes down to it, education is the ultimate poverty-eradication tool."

The radio ads, many of which will run in markets where Operation HOPE lacks a local presence, are designed as a call to action for the financial community. The billboards, on the other hand, will be split between two promoting financial literacy and another thanking "Banking on Our Future" participants.

Both Sousa and Wolff stress the urgency of Operation HOPE's appeal, especially given the increasing financial difficulties experienced by young Americans. The largest group of bankruptcy filers are adults between the ages of 18 and 24; the average college senior is $7,000 in debt and has school loans to boot. Given that 75 percent of children under the age of 10 are ethnic minorities, Operation HOPE views those communities as an ideal place to start.

"We feel we have an obligation to contribute to the social and economic vibrancy of the communities we operate in," says Wolff. "Fortunately, we're not alone in feeling that way."

Next story loading loading..