By Jessica Booth
While most college courses focus on homework and studying, the Public Relations Campaign course for public relations majors focuses on something entirely different. The course takes students outside of the classroom and out into the real world, offering them the chance to make a difference. Last semester, Professor Suzanne Berman’s class took this opportunity and raised over $2,200 for the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island using a program they created called ‘College Cares.’
The Public Relations Campaign course is the final required course for public relations majors. It is dedicated to doing a public relations campaign for a real non-profit organization. The course gives students the chance to see what really goes into promoting a cause. Last semester, Berman’s class worked with the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island, a charity that helps improve the health and well-being of children. The House works mainly off of donations they receive on behalf of the organization.
In the past, classes have worked with organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Momma’s House and Bethany House. Participating students focused mainly on the publicity part of the class. Berman’s class last semester switched it up a bit by focusing on fundraising, and as a result, they received the most money a class has ever raised for an organization.
“Each time the client has a different requirement,” says Berman. “The Ronald McDonald House needed assistance in raising awareness to help with fundraising efforts.”
While brainstorming different fundraising ideas and trying to come up with the best course of action, the class eventually came up with the ‘College Cares’ program.
“We realized that untapped audiences that we might not have reached out to were college students, because you don’t typically think that they have the money to give out for this type of thing,” says Berman. “And we also thought that local families in the community were important because they are most often touched by the Ronald McDonald House.”
The College Cares program consists of three different fundraising activities that are meant to raise both money and awareness for the organization. The students came up with ‘Coins for Kids,’ ‘Miles for Smiles’ and ‘Children’s Fair for Kids Who Care.’ Throughout the semester, they put these activities into action. The first fundraiser they did was the ‘Coins for Kids,’ which was essentially a coin harvest. The class wanted to be able to utilize the campus and get other students involved as much as possible. The students in the class worked in groups, setting up their respective stations at different places on campus. Using large collection buckets, they asked University students to donate small change.
The class had a college student’s budget in mind when coming up with this idea. “If it’s just loose change alone, students can handle that, and they do care,” says Berman. “Loose change is not too much for a caring college student.”
‘Miles for Smiles’ was a walk-a-thon that the class organized next. They spread the word within the local community, then held the walk-a-thon in Central Park. Participants walked the North section of the park, from around 85th street to 110th street, making the endeavor a huge success.
While the first two parts of the program were successful, the last part was unfortunately never completed. The class came up the idea to have children’s fair in an effort to raise the Ronald McDonald House more money. They set up small rides and fun booths, and they were going to have various vendors donate food. The plan was to get students, as well as the local community, involved and to hold it at Hofstra USA. However, at the last minute, their corporate sponsor pulled out of the project, leaving them with insufficient funds to hold the fair. It was a big disappointment but also an important lesson for the class.
“The big learning lesson was how you just have to keep on going when you have a setback, like losing your corporate sponsor, because you have a client who is expecting something at the end of the day,” says Berman. The fair would have helped raised about $15,000 for the organization if it had been held.
“We created the College Cares program so that the Ronald McDonald House would have this nicely packaged fundraising kit, if you will, to hand out and give to other universities in the area,” says Berman. The class put together press releases, posters and an entire plan for the House. Shortly after, the Long Island Volunteer Center asked Berman to help them organize similar packages for other non-profit organizations.
In the end, the students had not only helped raise money and make a difference, but also learned a valuable lesson. “I think it really struck the students how much a non-profit relies on donations to stay afloat,” says Berman. “You can forget, I think, that a huge part of what they have to do is raise money – they’re not a business. The students really learned that raising money for a non-profit is really an extremely helpful thing to do for society.”