Harvesting Support for Locally Grown Food - Community Involved In

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Buy Local Toolkit—i

Welcome to Harvesting Support for LocallyGrown Food: Lessons Learned from the Be aLocal Hero, Buy Locally Grown Campaign! Inthis toolkit, you will find a cornucopia oflessons about the mass media marketingcampaign known as “Local Hero.” We hopeit will inform your thinking and spark yourcreativity as you promote locally grown foodin your own community.

Since Community Involved in SustainingAgriculture (CISA) and FoodRoutes Network(formerly Fires of Hope) first teamed up in1998, we have been engaging consumers inwestern Massachusetts in local agricultureand encouraging them to purchase fresh,locally grown food.

Eighty farmers, 36 grocery stores, 12restaurants and dozens of farmers marketsand farmstands are now part of the LocalHero campaign. Participating farmers haveenjoyed rising sales while consumers are ableto buy locally grown vegetables, fruit, meat,dairy and specialty foods at a growingnumber of locations across the region.

While Buy Local food campaigns are not rightin all situations, we believe they can be animportant tool for enhancing the vitality oflocally and regionally based food systems. Weare also committed to sharing our experienceso that others may learn from both the successesand shortcomings of the Local Hero campaign—thus the Buy Local toolkit before you.

We would like to thank the W.K. KelloggFoundation for their resolute support of thiswork. They have been a steady supporterof CISA and also enabled FoodRoutesNetwork to provide critical communications,fundraising and evaluation assistance duringthe initial years of the Local Hero campaign.Without support from Kellogg and our manyother donors and supporters, the Local Herocampaign would not be what it is today.

We would also like to thank principle authorsMark Lattanzi of CISA and JoAnneBerkenkamp of FoodRoutes Network for theirvision and tenacity in creating this toolkit.Nancy Matheson (National Center forAppropriate Technology–ATTRA), Gary Gumzand Phil Pritchard (Mountain Partners in

Introduction○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Agriculture), and Cathy Roth (University ofMassachusetts, Extension) also reviewedearlier drafts of this document. We aregrateful for their wise suggestions forimproving it.

We hope you’ll find this toolkit to be athought-provoking and practical resource.We look forward to hearing from you asyou promote locally grown food in your owncommunity. Feel free to contact FoodRoutesNetwork at P.O. Box 443, Millheim, PA16854, or CISA at 893 West Street, AmherstMA 01002-5001.

Here’s to locally grown!

Tim BowserFoodRoutes NetworkMillheim, PA

Annie CheathamCISAAmherst, MA

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Buy Local Toolkit—ii

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Buy Local Toolkit—iii

1. A Brief History of Local Hero ............................................................................... 1

2. How to Use This Toolkit ......................................................................................... 5

3. Planning and Budgeting....................................................................................... 7

4. Funding Your Buy Local Program......................................................................15

5. Working with Farmers ........................................................................................ 19

6. Partnerships ..........................................................................................................25

7. Market Research and Message Development ............................................... 27

8. Designing Your Communications Plan ............................................................... 67

9. Communications Tools and Tactics .....................................................................79

10. Local Food in the Marketplace.......................................................................... 87

11. Evaluation ............................................................................................................. 99

12. Launching Your Program ................................................................................. 125

13. Keeping It Going ............................................................................................. 129

Table of Contents○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

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Buy Local Toolkit—iv

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Buy Local Toolkit—1

Communities across the United States arestruggling to keep farmers on the land andprofitable. Over the years, myriad strategieshave been used to sustain working farms.This toolkit explores one of them—themultimedia Buy Local campaign thatCommunity Involved in Sustaining Agriculture(CISA) began in 1999.

Throughout CISA’s campaign, we have workedin partnership with FoodRoutes Network. Nowan independent, national, nonprofitorganization, FoodRoutes Network (formerlyFires of Hope) promotes vibrant, community-based farming and food systems that areecologically sound, economically viable, andsocially just. CISA and FoodRoutes Networkshare a belief that Buy Local food programscan be an important tool for enhancing thevitality of locally and regionally based foodsystems and the communities in which they arebased. We are also committed to sharing ourexperience with other communities so that youmay learn from both the successes andshortcomings of our campaign. To that end,CISA and FoodRoutes Network have co-writtenthis toolkit.

This chapter explains why CISA concluded thata Buy Local campaign was a key strategy forus. Also, as we wrote this toolkit, we recognizedthat CISA’s circumstances—the demographicsof our region, the composition of our farmingcommunity, and so on—probably differ fromyours in some important ways. No doubt, thestrategies and lessons included in this toolkitwere influenced by our environment. So below,we highlight some key aspects of CISA’ssituation and encourage you to compare andcontrast your situation with the one that gaverise to this toolkit.

With that said, a brief snapshot of our BuyLocal program and a discussion of how CISAcame to pursue a Buy Local program for thePioneer Valley of western Massachusetts follow.

CISA’S BE A LOCAL HERO, BUYLOCALLY GROWN CAMPAIGNGeographic Scope:Three counties with a population of 670,000covering 3,500 square miles.

Urban / Rural:Largely rural with three metropolitan areasranging in population from 30,000 to150,000.

Farm participants:Currently 80 farmers and their families,farming more than 13,000 acres. Allpractice some form of sustainable agriculture.Sixteenn are certified organic.

Products:Vegetables, small fruit, tree fruit, poultry,beef, lamb, milk, maple products, honey, anda small number of value-added products.

Retail Partners:Three large supermarket chains (a total of21 stores in our area), 15 smallerindependent/family owned groceries, 12restaurants, eight farmers markets and 127farmstands.

Media and Outreach Efforts:Multimedia campaign featuring radio andnewspaper advertising, point-of-purchase(POP) materials, community events, Web site,Farm Products Guide and earned mediacoverage.

Campaign Budget:Currently about $80,000 in Buy Localexpenditures per year, plus two full-timestaff equivalents to manage the Buy Localprogram.

Launch Date:June 1999

CISA and FoodRoutes

Network share a

belief that Buy Local

food programs can be

an important tool for

enhancing the vitality

of locally and

regionally based food

systems and the

communities in which

they are based.

Chapter 1: A Brief History of Local Hero○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

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2—Buy Local Toolkit

CISA’S PATH TO THE BE A LOCALHERO, BUY LOCALLY GROWNCAMPAIGN

Our Farming CommunityCISA operates in the Pioneer Valley ofwestern Massachusetts, an area with a longtradition of agriculture and home to someof the best loamy soils in the world. Hundredsof small farms—ranging from one acre toseveral hundred acres—grow everythingfrom fruits and vegetables to dairy, lamband poultry. We benefit from a relativelylarge population of farmers who grew upon local farms, as well as newcomers whomoved to the area to take advantage of itsrural lifestyle and proximity to the culturalamenities provided by five world-classcolleges.

Farmers here have a long history ofexperimentation and innovation. A diversityof crops and seasonal and year-roundproducts allow us to promote farmingactivities 10 months a year. Yet, in spite ofthis diversity and bounty, farmers in our areastruggle to survive.

The communities in the three-county regionwe focus on range from small, rural townsnear the Vermont and New Hampshireborders, to college towns in the central partof the valley, to large, urban mill towns andcities to the south. Retailers include smallnatural food cooperatives as well as locallyowned independent grocery stores andlarge regional and national chains. Therelatively small size of our area—about 70miles north to south by 50 miles east towest—makes delivery and distribution moremanageable than in larger regions.

Our OrganizationCISA started in 1993 as a broad-basedcoalition of farmers, consumers, CooperativeExtension agents, agricultural supportprofessionals and nonprofit staffers, andregional and state political leaders workingtoward a common goal: the preservation offarming in our developing region of collegetowns and bedroom communities. CISA’sfounders wanted to ensure that ourcommunities supported working farms that,

in turn, provide open space, practice soil andwater conservation, and produce bountiful,fresh, local food. Our efforts includedsupporting farmer networks and variousvolunteer groups working to address theconcerns of area farmers. We were a verysmall, grassroots organization; before ourcampaign came into view, we had only twopart-time staff.

The Campaign Takes ShapeIn 1998, the W.K. Kellogg Foundationawarded CISA a grant to fund a new BuyLocal campaign. With that encouragement,CISA and our partners began planning whatbecame known as the Be a Local Hero, BuyLocally Grown campaign.1 Throughout thistoolkit, we explore how our campaign cameinto being.

In short, we wanted to encourage localconsumers to learn about and purchase localfarm products. With that goal in mind, weworked with our farmer members andpartners to plan our campaign strategy,began recruiting additional farmers, builtrelationships with retailers and the localmedia, and conducted market research.

With help from Kellogg Foundation staff andFoodRoutes Network, we attracted supportfrom funders, including the U.S. Departmentof Agriculture’s Natural ResourcesConservation Service, the Lawson ValentineFoundation, the Kendall Foundation and theCricket Foundation. CISA’s strong partnershipswith the University of Massachusetts atAmherst and the Massachusetts Departmentof Food and Agriculture provided additionalresources and bolstered the foundation onwhich to build our campaign.

Campaign ResultsCISA found that our Buy Local campaign hasbeen a positive strategy to help farmers andspur consumers to buy locally grown food.For instance, consumer surveys conducted inJanuary 2002 by CISA’s market researchfirm (Penn, Schoen, & Berland Associates, Inc.)showed that:

• Seventy-eight percent of those surveyedrecalled campaign advertising or

1 Please note this endeavor is referred to the “Buy Local program” and the “Local Hero campaign”interchangeably throughout this toolkit. While CISA staff typically refer to it as “the Local Herocampaign,” our Buy Local efforts go well beyond media and outreach activities to the manyrelated program elements discussed in this toolkit.

CISA found that our

Buy Local campaign

has been a positive

strategy to help

farmers and spur

consumers to buy

locally grown food.

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remembered some aspect of the LocalHero message.

• Of those, 65 percent said that Local Heroads influenced them to buy locally grownfood.

• Eighty-six percent think it is important tokeep running campaign ads so that peopleknow about the benefits of locally grownfood.

• Fifty-seven percent thought that the LocalHero campaign caused people to supportother local retailers and businesses.

Also, surveys conducted by CISA staff showedthat:

• Ninety-three percent of the participatingfarmers surveyed felt that the campaignprovided “greater community awarenessof local food systems.”

• Seventy-four percent of participatingfarmers surveyed reported that the dollarvalue of their sales increased in 2001 overthe prior year, while a similar percentagefelt the campaign provided themimproved market access.

• Seventy-five percent of participatingretailers surveyed reported that theypurchased more local products in 2000than in the prior year. Increases in thevolume of local purchases averaged fiveto 10 percent.

• All of the responding, participatingretailers purchased local farm productsdirectly from farmers in 2000. Retailerspurchased directly from two to 25 farmerseach, with an average of 10 farms perstore. Almost every retailer surveyedbegan purchasing from at least oneadditional farmer in 2000.

ChallengesWhile our campaign has enjoyed somepromising results in its first three years, itcontinues to be a work in progress and weconstantly seek ways to improve it. We havealso faced a wide range of challenges—some we expected and some we didn’t. Asa result, we encourage you to take a hardlook at the challenges of this work and assessyour capacity and commitment to make aBuy Local program work for you. Here aresome of the biggest challenges weexperienced:

• Media campaigns take skills that our staffinitially had in very limited supply. CISAexperienced a steep learning curve andneeded outside advice and support,particularly early in our campaign.

• Media advertising and educationalcampaigns cost real money. CISA had tolearn how to plan and budget well foractivities that were new to us, set ourexpectations appropriately, and bediligent about finding ways to stretch ourfunds and engage partners. Long-termfinancial sustainability of the campaignremains an ongoing challenge.

• Working with grocery stores took us intoa world that was relatively new to us.Learning to operate effectively in thatenvironment was critical for moving largequantities of food from farmers toconsumers.

• Our emphasis on communications worknotwithstanding, our Buy Local programdemands a wide range of skills: coalitionbuilding; community organizing; acommitment to working with sometimesreluctant farmers, retailers and consumers;diplomacy with funders; and politicalsavvy to deal with regional, state andfederal agricultural leaders. A sense ofadventure and a good sense of humorare a must.

As you can see, Buy Local programs offerpotential, but their success is far from given.As you read through this toolkit, weencourage you to explore your aspirations,the needs of your community, and therelationships, skills, partnerships, andfinancial and other resources you bring tothis task. Such an assessment will help youmake a sound decision about whether ornot organizing a Buy Local program is rightfor you.

A FINAL NOTEThe most important piece of advice we cangive you is this: the success of a Buy Localprogram hinges not only upon a great sloganand a zippy logo. It also hinges on yourability to work effectively as communityorganizers, bringing diverse and sometimeswary participants and partners together towork toward the common goal of ensuringthe future of agriculture in your region. Thetask is great, but the rewards can begreater. Good luck and have fun!

Ninety-three percent

of the participating

farmers surveyed

felt that the

campaign provided

“greater community

awareness of local

food systems.”

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Thoughtful planning

and budgeting are

essential to the

development,

implementation and

sustainability of a Buy

Local food program.

Chapter 2: How to Use This Toolkit○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

We hope this you will find this Buy Localtoolkit thought-provoking and informative.

As you know, Buy Local food programs aremultifaceted endeavors. They involve avariety of components, many of which takeplace simultaneously and impinge on oneanother. In this toolkit, we have tried to touchon each component that has been central toour Buy Local program. To bring some methodto the madness, we’ve devoted one sectionof this toolkit to each of those major pieces.You’ll find those pieces outlined below.

Throughout the toolkit, we’ve included avariety of Buy Local marketing materials,budgets, interviews, sur vey tools,worksheets and other resources. At variouspoints, we highlight key aspects of our ownhistory to acquaint you with the path ourcampaign has taken. In some chapters, wealso provide discussion questions to helpyou, your participants and partners talkthrough these issues.

We’ve written this toolkit with the hope thatother communities will benefit from oursuccesses—and our failures—and that byhearing about our experiences, you will gaina fuller sense of what to expect from yourown Buy Local program. We’ve tried to becandid and to share the many lessonsCommunity Involved in Sustaining Agriculture(CISA) has learned along the way.

You’ll also find a few highlights from BerkshireGrown, another Buy Local effort in the nearbyBerkshire Mountains. Berkshire Grown hasoperated with a much smaller budget thanour own and has its own unique experienceto share.

Also keep in mind that what works for CISAmay not be the best fit for you. Be sure topay close attention to your own community’shopes and circumstances. Listen. Think ahead.Be creative. And explore how you can usethis toolkit to help yourself, your staff andyour stakeholders set the stage for a high-impact Buy Local food program.

THE CHAPTERS AHEADEach chapter of this toolkit explores a keyfacet in the development and implementationof a Buy Local food program like CISA’s.We’ve tried to break the work down intodiscrete pieces so that you can find your waythrough the toolkit easily. You can skip aheadas you like or read the toolkit as arranged.

Planning and Budgeting (page 7)Thoughtful planning and budgeting areessential to the development, implementationand sustainability of a Buy Local foodprogram. In this chapter, we explore keyissues to plan for, encourage you to assessthe strengths and weaknesses you bring toyour Buy Local program, and discuss the costsyou might anticipate. We also share CISA’sexperience with campaign planning andoutline the strengths and limitations we facedas our campaign got rolling. You’ll also finda find an illustration of the key milestoneswe experienced as our campaign tookshape, as well as discussion questions youcan use in your planning.

Funding Your Buy Local Program(page 15)In this chapter, you’ll find a brief discussionof various avenues for funding a Buy Localprogram. We share CISA’s experience withfundraising and revenue-generation, andexplore some of the hidden costs of raisingfunds.

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Working with Farmers (page 19)The folks who grow locally grown food arelikely to be at the heart of your Buy Localprogram. Engaging farmers early in thedesign of your program and working wellwith them over time are keys to success. Inthis chapter, you’ll find a host of ideas forrecruiting farmers and maintaining fruitfulrelationships with this key constituency.

Partnerships (page 25)Partnerships with like-minded organizationscan help broaden the impact of yourcampaign. Partners can contribute freshideas, people to help get the work done,and political, financial and moral support.Here we give a brief summary of thepartnerships that CISA has found importantand provide discussion questions to help youexplore how partnerships can strengthenyour campaign.

Market Research and MessageDevelopment (page 27)CISA’s market research with local consumerswas the foundation of all of ourcommunications work. Market research canhelp you understand your audience, honeyour message, and frame yourcommunications efforts effectively. Thischapter shows you how CISA approachedour research, explores the basic steps ofmarket research and message development,and provides advice from CISA’s marketresearch firm. We’ve also included a list ofreference materials for those who want tolearn more.

Designing Your Communications Plan(page 67)A clear, comprehensive communications planwill help you be strategic and better manageyour marketing and outreach efforts. Thedevelopment of your communicationsmaterials and relationships with the mediaare just a few of the key aspects to address.This chapter explores the eight basic stepsof communications planning and offers acornucopia of tips, resources and discussionquestions to help you plan yourcommunications strategy.

Communications Tools and Tactics(page 79)Once you’ve researched your market,honed your message and developed a

communications plan, it’s time to develop yourmarketing and outreach tools. Here weexplore some of the tools and tactics CISAhas used—from radio ads to Local Herostickers to signs on the sides of buses. Wealso share the lessons we learned about eachof these tools, and offer tips about newsreleases, public service announcements (PSAs)and other vehicles for reaching yourcommunity.

Local Food in the Marketplace(page 87)Retail venues are essential for bringinglocally grown products to consumers. Herewe explore some of the many retail venuesyou might work with and share the ups anddowns of CISA’s experience with grocerystores large and small, institutional buyers,restaurants and others.

Evaluation (page 99)It may be tempting to think of evaluation assomething to do “when it’s all over” or “whenwe get around to it.” For CISA, evaluationhas been instrumental in our ability to keepimproving the campaign and attract newsources of funding, participants, publicity andcommunity support. This chapter explores howyou can make evaluation work for your BuyLocal program.

Launching Your Program (page 125)What will you need to have in place beforeyou formally launch your Buy Local program?Here we discuss some of the prep work thatyou should anticipate and share our adviceabout using community events to launch yourBuy Local campaign.

Keeping It Going (page 129)Significant time and effort are needed toplan and launch a Buy Local food program.And once it is off the ground, additional time,money and energy are needed to keep theprogram vibrant. Here we explore what ittakes to keep a Buy Local program humming.

TO SUM UP…CISA’s experience is but one approach to aBuy Local food campaign. We at FoodRoutesNetwork (formerly Fires of Hope) and CISAhope that by sharing this experience, we willhelp you plan and launch an even moresuccessful program. We hope you’ll enjoyusing this toolkit and welcome your feedback.

Partners can

contribute fresh

ideas, people to help

get the work done,

and political, financial

and moral support.

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This chapter tells the story of how CommunityInvolved in Sustaining Agriculture’s (CISA) BuyLocal program came into being and how weapproached planning and budgeting. Theseintertwining steps are perhaps the mostcomplex and important ones you will needto take. Our process was far from perfect,but we hope our story will give you someinsights that you can apply to your ownplanning and budgeting efforts.

In this chapter, we:

• Identify key issues to plan for

• Share CISA’s experience with planning

• Outline some of the key milestones in ourprogram’s evolution

• Encourage you to take stock of yourstrengths and limitations and share a fewof our own

• Discuss costs and budgeting

PLANNING YOUR BUY LOCAL FOODPROGRAMWhile your Buy Local program willundoubtedly have features unique to yoursituation, we found it helpful to consider fourquestions when planning a campaign:

• What are your goals?

• What strengths do you bring to yourwork?

• What limitations do you have?

• What strategies will best enable you topursue your goals?

As we discuss below, CISA found thatclarifying our goals was harder than wethought it would be. But getting that clarityenabled us to move forward with greaterpurpose and focus. We also learned(sometimes the hard way) that it’s importantto take stock of your strengths and limitationsbefore taking on an ambitious project like aBuy Local campaign. Only after CISA’scampaign was off and running, did werealize how much we didn’t know. Those firstfew months of the campaign really taughtus where our knowledge gaps were. And

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lastly, we learned the importance of a well-organized game plan for figuring out howto move toward our goals.

Based on our experience, the following issuesare important ones to plan for. Each of thesetopics is discussed at length in the remainingsections of the toolkit, as noted:

• Developing budgets and raising funds(chapters 3 and 4)

• Recruiting and working with farmers(chapter 5)

• Engaging partner organizations and otherstakeholders (chapter 6)

• Recruiting and working with retailers,restaurants and other campaignparticipants (chapter 10)

• Developing campaign policies (chapters5 and 6)

• Identifying your audience and developingyour message (chapter 7)

• Developing your communications plan andmaterials (chapters 8 and 9)

• Building relationships with the media(chapter 8)

• Evaluating your program and findingways to improve it (chapter 11)

• Launching your program (chapter 12)

. . . it’s important to

take stock of your

strengths and

limitations before

taking on an

ambitious project like

a Buy Local campaign.

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August 1998: Received W. K. Kellogg Foundation fundingfor the campaign; funds from other sourcesfollowed. Began sporadic campaign planning.

Early1999: USDA’s Natural Resources ConservationService stepped up to the plate with majorgrant support.

January 1999: Conducted initial message research. Startedcampaign planning in earnest.

January 1999: Sent mass mailing to recruit farmers.

February 1999: Hired campaign coordinator (not a minute toosoon).

Spring 1999: Hired local public relations consultant.

Spring 1999: Developed slogan and logo (the logoselection process was grueling!).

Spring 1999: Printed banners, POP materials, and more.

Spring 1999: Produced radio ads.

June 24, 1999: Launched our campaign (ready or not, herewe go!!!!).

Summer 1999: Started running radio and newspaper ads.Distributed POP materials to retail stores.

Summer 1999: Did our 25th public appearance at a fair,festival or event (time to scale back).

Summer 1999: Stop & Shop, a major grocery store chain,joined the campaign (yeah!).

Summer 1999: Staff began doing media interviews andradio appearances.

Winter 1999: Performed first independent consumerawareness surveys. (Got great awarenessdata! We’re doing well!)

Winter 1999: Conducted first annual farmer and retailersurveys.

Winter 1999: Produced brochure with 1999 evaluationresults. Massachusetts Commissioner ofAgriculture endorses our campaign as“outrageously successful” (yippee!).

February 2000: Signed up our 10th local, independent grocerypartner.

Summer 2000: Signed up our 30th farmer.

Summer 2000: Launched our restaurant program.

• Maintaining the program and keeping itfresh (chapter 13)

The Evolution of CISA’s Be a LocalHero, Buy Locally Grown CampaignBy the time CISA launched its campaign inmid-1999, we had been talking aboutconducting a Buy Local program for severalyears. We did initial market research in1997. Then, in August 1998, we received amajor grant from the W.K. KelloggFoundation, allowing the campaign idea tobecome a reality.

Things began to take off in January 1999.In the space of six months:

• We hired a campaign manager, startedformally recruiting farmers, coordinatedwith retailers, and contacted members ofother nonprofits in the agricultural sector.

• We hired a market research firm to helpus hone our audience and messages.

• Our communications consultant came upwith the Be a Local Hero, Buy LocallyGrown part of our slogan.

• We hired a local public relations firm,finished our graphic design work andsettled on the full slogan: Be a Local Hero,Buy Locally Grown. It’s fresh, it’s convenientand it helps the local economy.

• We organized a launch event, printedbanners, arranged for bus advertisingsigns, developed a mass mailing piece,issued news releases, printed point-of-purchase (POP) materials, and so on.

• On June 24, 1999 we launched ourcampaign with an event at which weofficially introduced the Be a Local Hero,Buy Locally Grown campaign to ourcommunity.

As you can imagine, the six-months leadingup to our campaign launch were quite awhirlwind. Our experience was that six monthswas not enough. Nine to 12 months wouldhave been more realistic given what we weretrying to do. In upcoming chapters, we talkat length about planning for each keycomponent of a Buy Local food campaign. Inthe sidebar (location), we provide somediscussion questions to help you sort throughyour own planning needs.

KEY MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENTKEY MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENTKEY MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENTKEY MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENTKEY MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENTOF THE BUY LOCOF THE BUY LOCOF THE BUY LOCOF THE BUY LOCOF THE BUY LOCAL CAMPAL CAMPAL CAMPAL CAMPAL CAMPAIGNAIGNAIGNAIGNAIGN

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WHAT STRENGTHS DO YOU BRINGTO YOUR BUY LOCAL PROGRAM?Developing our Buy Local program was abig adventure for CISA. We drew upon everyasset we had to get it off the ground. Beforeyou embark on your campaign, we wouldencourage you to take stock of what youhave going for your and what areas needstrengthening. Taking stock in this way canhelp you see your assets (which are, perhaps,more numerous than you give yourself creditfor), while also elucidating the gaps youneed to address.

For instance, CISA had the following things inour favor as we embarked on our Buy Localprogram:

• We knew our community. CISA wascreated by volunteers from manydifferent organizations in the PioneerValley. Volunteer working groups hadbeen in place for five years prior to thelaunch of the Buy Local campaign. We hadsolid ties with local farmers and othercommunity members concerned aboutagriculture.

• We had good connections with retailers.We had positive relationships with someof the family-owned grocery stores in ourarea as well as one of the larger chains.

• We had experience with a smaller,successful local marketing project thatcreated a local brand for a dairy farmcooperative (Our Family Farms).

• We had funding from the W. K. KelloggFoundation, a long-time supporter of CISA’swork. We received start-up funds for theLocal Hero campaign from Kellogg in1998, as well as a second campaign grantin 2000. That support allowed us to usea higher budget model and to get theexpertise we needed.

• We had help with fundraising. Ourprogram officer at Kellogg, OranHesterman, and the staff and consultantsat FoodRoutes Network (formerly Fires ofHope) were committed to CISA’s successand helped us approach other funders.

• We received technical assistance fromFoodRoutes Network that was integral tothe market research, communications andevaluation of our campaign. They pushedus to take all three to new levels.

• We had leadership. CISA had a small, butcommitted staff and a board of directorsmade up of dedicated individuals fromagricultural, educational, retail andnonprofit organizations who wanted theBuy Local program to succeed.

• We had the chance to be a big fish in asmall pond. By nonprofit standards, wehad a large budget to conduct acampaign in a relatively small geographicarea with a modest population. We alsolive in an area with fairly reasonablemedia costs, so our communications budgetcould go a long way.

What are your strengths? As you learn moreabout creating and implementing a Buy Localcampaign, consider keeping a list of your

Winter 2000: Seventy-five percent of participatingretailers report their volume of local productspurchased increased by 5–10 percent over1999.

Spring 2001: Decided to drop the bus signs and beef upnewspaper ads.

December 2001: Signed up our 62nd farmer.

January 2002: Consumer poll shows that 78 percent of theconsumers polled are aware of the Local Herocampaign. Of those, 65 percent wereinfluenced by locally grown food.

April 2002: Signed up our 80th farmer.

KEY MILESTONES IN THEKEY MILESTONES IN THEKEY MILESTONES IN THEKEY MILESTONES IN THEKEY MILESTONES IN THEDEVELOPMENT OF THE BUY LOCALDEVELOPMENT OF THE BUY LOCALDEVELOPMENT OF THE BUY LOCALDEVELOPMENT OF THE BUY LOCALDEVELOPMENT OF THE BUY LOCALCAMPCAMPCAMPCAMPCAMPAIGN (CONTINUED)AIGN (CONTINUED)AIGN (CONTINUED)AIGN (CONTINUED)AIGN (CONTINUED)

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organization’s strengths and assets. It’shelpful to have a realistic inventory of assetsthat you can leverage when approachingpartners. It can also be a nice reminder ofyour better qualities when you are feelingoverwhelmed.

WHAT LIMITATIONS DO YOU HAVE?Perhaps more challenging than assessingyour strengths will be a thorough inventoryof your limitations. Taking stock of yourlimitations can help clarify where you needto bolster your capacity and position you tofind the appropriate people—partners,volunteers, consultants, etc.—to help addressthem.

For instance, CISA had a variety of limitationsthat hindered the planning andimplementation of our campaign. While nonewere so big as to incapacitate us, taken asa whole they show that we were a youngorganization struggling to create andimplement a very sizable multimedia andcommunity-building project.

Here are some of the limitations CISA hadas our campaign took shape:

• We lacked a clearly definedorganizational structure. When welaunched our campaign, CISA was in astate of transition. During the prior fouryears, most of our work was accomplishedthrough eight volunteer, community actiongroups. As we began planning for theLocal Hero campaign, we shifted from ashort-term community project to apermanent organization with 501(c)3status. We were figuring out which of theaction groups’ activities should and could

be continued, and what staff and otherresources we would need to maintain andsupport them. As we planned thecampaign, staff, board and CISAmembers were still in the midst of workingout a new way of operating together.

• We lacked communications expertise andhad a very small staff. Nine months beforeCISA launched its campaign, we had onlytwo part-time staff—an executivedirector and a program assistant—withvery little communications experience. Tocompensate for this, we initially reliedheavily on outside consultants.

• We didn’t have an implementation planfor the campaign. We hired graphicsartists, public relations specialists, andothers to do individual tasks, such asdeveloping radio spots and newspaperads. However, we weren’t able to find acommunications consultant who could helpus develop a broader plan that wouldenable us to anticipate and manage theoverall process.

• We needed more planning time. Nine to12 months would have been much betterthan the six months we gave it.

• We weren’t prepared for the spotlight.Once we started doing a lot of mediawork, CISA was thrust into the public eyein a whole new way. We received manycalls from the media and soon realizedthat responding to them takes a lot ofstaff time. We also learned how importantit is to be clear about the message yourspokespeople present to the media.Lessons learned: Be well prepared forgreater attention and scrutiny. Bedisciplined about what your staff, yourboard members and your partners say.Avoid winging it.

• Our campaign policies weren’t clearenough. For instance, we needed moreexplicit policies about what it meant tobe a campaign participant. In the absenceof written policies, staff, board, farmersand retail participants had differingassumptions and expectations about thebenefits and obligations that came withjoining the campaign.

• We didn’t know how to evaluate thecampaign. We had done very little formalevaluation before the campaign. Spurredon by the Kellogg Foundation, we worked

• Clarifies your goals and aspirations

• Helps you anticipate financial, staffing and partnership needs

• Helps you leverage your strengths and address the weaknessesof your organization and partnerships

• Helps you manage your program

• Positions you to weather the ups and downs that your programwill surely experience

GOOD PLANNING:GOOD PLANNING:GOOD PLANNING:GOOD PLANNING:GOOD PLANNING:

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with an evaluator from FoodRoutesNetwork to design and conduct ourevaluation. Our evaluation later showedwhat impact we were having and wherewe could make improvements. And itprovided outcome data that fundersexpected. Without that data, we mightnot have had a second year. We didn’tanticipate that evaluation could be sucha critical tool, but we found that weneeded some outside coaching to make ithappen.

• The campaign was swamping some ofCISA’s long-running programs. Somemembers were disappointed when olderprograms took a back seat. It was easyto show most people that the campaignwas important, but they wanted us tocontinue all other programs too. We didn’thave the staff or financial resources tolaunch a new campaign and maintainolder programs.

• CISA had no experience satisfyingexpectations from people outside ourcommunity. Kellogg and other funderswanted their investment to result in a highlyeffective campaign, but we were focusedon the needs of the Pioneer Valley anddidn’t always understand the nationalphilanthropic arena our Buy Local programwas part of.

• We had not clearly defined the roles ofstaff, consultants, board members, fundersand partners. We needed more explicitagreements about who was in charge ofwhat, who got to give input about what,and how decisions would be made. Forinstance, the process of choosing our logovividly illustrated our need for clear,agreed upon protocols for makingpotentially contentious campaign decisions.

• We were sometimes overwhelmed byexperts and friendly advisors. We oftenfelt torn by conflicting advice fromconsultants. We also had many differentpeople calling us and telling us what weshould do. While we tried to takeadvantage of good ideas, we had toget good at telling people, “Sorry. That’sa great idea, but we can’t take that onright now.”

• We had some unrealistic expectationsabout the costs of advertising in major

media outlets and hiring communicationsconsultants. Both were more costly than weexpected.

We hope that you will also identify thelimitations you bring to your Buy Local work.That assessment will help you make betterdecisions, set more realistic expectations,identify needed partners and plan aheadfor the challenges that are sure to come.

As you plan your Buy Local food program, consider the followingquestions:

• What are your organization’s hopes and intentions? Howwould your partners, participants and community membersanswer this question?

• Are your board, staff and membership base committed tothe campaign as a way to pursue your goals??

• What are your strengths and limitations? What don’t youknow that you need to know to be effective?

• Who can help you fill those knowledge gaps (preferably ina way that also builds your own capacity)?

• Who should be involved in your planning effort?

• What issues do you need to plan for?

• How much time will you need to plan?

• How will launching a Buy Local program affect your otherprograms?

• What unexpected developments could get in your way? Howcan you prepare for the unexpected?

• Who will be involved in making key decisions? How will youhandle potential disagreements?

• Do you have the human and financial capacity to designand run the campaign you’re envisioning? If not, how willyou and your partners obtain the resources you need?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:PLANNING YOUR BUY LOCAL PROGRAMPLANNING YOUR BUY LOCAL PROGRAMPLANNING YOUR BUY LOCAL PROGRAMPLANNING YOUR BUY LOCAL PROGRAMPLANNING YOUR BUY LOCAL PROGRAM

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BUDGETING FOR YOUR BUY LOCALFOOD PROGRAMWe found that budgeting can be both anart and a science. It bridges the gap betweenyour dreams and your financial reality.Unfortunately, in the nonprofit world weoften struggle to pursue our dreams on ashoestring budget.

Budgeting for your Buy Local food programwill be closely intertwined with your programplanning. Your budget process may includethe following steps:

• Outline what you hope to achieve

CISA’s former Executive Director, Margaret Christie, reflected on CISA’s early reliance on communicationconsultants:

CISA might have benefited if we had put more money into a campaign coordinator’s salary, raising it by 25to 35 percent, and relied less on consultants.

However, folks with skills such as marketing, advertising, media relations and graphic design could commandmore money at a for-profit business than nonprofits are likely to pay. The need for CISA to have some ofthose skills on staff didn’t escape us at the time, but we were unwilling to make the jump in salary neededto obtain them. We had to balance the cost of obtaining those skills with the existing staff salary structureand the possibility that staff salaries might be viewed as inflated relative to what farmers make. I think thelatter is always an issue in organizations that have an underpaid constituency.

Nevertheless, I think we probably could have built our own capacity faster and relied less on consultants ifwe had offered a higher salary for the new campaign coordinator position.

COMMUNICCOMMUNICCOMMUNICCOMMUNICCOMMUNICAAAAATIONS CONSULTIONS CONSULTIONS CONSULTIONS CONSULTIONS CONSULTTTTTANTANTANTANTANTS? STS? STS? STS? STS? STAFF? SOME OF BOAFF? SOME OF BOAFF? SOME OF BOAFF? SOME OF BOAFF? SOME OF BOTH?TH?TH?TH?TH?

• Explore a variety of different avenuesthat could help you reach your goals

• Rank your program priorities

• Identify potential costs (perhapsorganized as “essentials” and “wish list”)

• Assess the financial and in-kind resourcesyou have in hand

• Assess the resources that current andpotential partners could bring to bear

• Identify local, regional, state and nationalsources of funding and other support

• Set fundraising goals for immediate, short-and long-term needs

• Make decisions about how you can bestuse the resources you have

Your Buy Local program will be uniqueand, as a result, so will your budget. Forinstance, CISA emphasized media-basedcommunication and much of our campaignbudget is dedicated to newspaper, radioand other forms of advertising. Media costsvary greatly from one community to another.While your costs will surely differ from ours,we share our budget as a point ofcomparison as you explore the potential costsof your program.

The Cost of CISA’s CampaignTo the best of our recollection, ourexpenditures for the first three years of theBuy Local program were as follows:

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Pre-campaign market research $25,000 $0 $0

Graphic design services $26,500 $1,500 $500

Design of POP materials andnewspaper ads, and coordination ofradio and newspaper ad placements $74,500 $0 $0

Development of radio ads $7,600 $0 $0

Photographer $4,000 $4,000 $2,000

Purchase of newspaper ad space $35,000 $35,000 $40,000

Purchase of radio ads placements $30,500 $30,500 $17,000

Bus advertising signs $16,000 $16,000 $0

Point-of-purchase materials $2,000 $2,000 $2,750

Recipe booklet, cards and holders $0 $0 $1,400

Bumper stickers $1,000 $0 $1,000

Farmers market promotions $0 $0 $250

Newspaper subscriptions $0 $150 $200

Events $4,000 $5,500 $500

Post-season consumer survey $10,000 $10,000 $10,000

Interns $2,000 $1,500 $3,000

Campaign “summit” meeting $0 $0 $2,000

Total $238,100 $106,150 $80,600

While your costs will

surely differ from

ours, we share our

budget as a point of

comparison as you

explore the potential

costs of your

program.

EXPENSESEXPENSESEXPENSESEXPENSESEXPENSES 19991999199919991999 20002000200020002000 20012001200120012001

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CISA also devoted roughly three full-timeequivalent staff positions to the campaign(for oversight and management,communications, evaluation, participantrecruitment and relationship building,oversight of retail activities, Webdevelopment, and events). FoodRoutesNetwork also provided a public relationsconsultant in 1999 and a fundraiser whohelped with the campaign. Our FoodRoutesNetwork evaluator spent four to six days ofconsulting time on our campaign evaluationin each year.

As you look over these figures, you can seehow CISA’s costs changed over time. Forinstance:

• The first year of CISA’s campaign was themost expensive, since we incurred all ofour up-front market research andmaterials design costs early on. We alsohad few staff initially and relied heavilyon outside consultants.

• We shifted some functions, like placingnewspaper and radio ads, in-house whenwe added staff with more marketingexperience.

• We adjusted our communications budgetafter evaluating which advertisingchannels were most effective. For example,

our post-season tracking surveys (seechapter 7) showed that bus advertisingsigns had low public recognition. Weeliminated them in the third year andredirected those funds to newspaper ads,which were identified as more effective.

• Costs for promotional event fell after ourtwo kickoffs (the initial campaign kickoffin 1999, and a restaurant kickoff in2000).

• We also became savvier about what wehired consultants to do and the termsunder which we engaged them. Forinstance, we required specific budgets andproof of actual costs incurred rather thanless clearly defined service contracts.

• We eliminated some outside photographyexpenses when we purchased a digitalcamera.

As you think about your Buy Local program,take the time to explore what you want yourprogram to look like, then estimate costs, andfundraise to meet your plan. Funders will bereceptive to your ideas if you present a well-designed plan and can speak convincinglyabout why your plan makes sense and meritsfunding. Having evaluation data to show yourresults can be a big help as you enter yoursecond year.

Funders will be

receptive to your

ideas if you present a

well-designed plan

and can speak

convincingly about

why your plan makes

sense and merits

funding.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:BUDGETING FBUDGETING FBUDGETING FBUDGETING FBUDGETING FOR YOUR COR YOUR COR YOUR COR YOUR COR YOUR CAMPAMPAMPAMPAMPAIGNAIGNAIGNAIGNAIGN

• What will it cost to effectively pursue the campaign that you envision?

• What are your high- and low-budget scenarios?

• What are your best- and worst-case fundraising scenarios?

• How might your partners and participants help shoulder some of the costs?

• Where can you economize?

• How might your cost changes from one year or season to the next?

• How much time will you need to develop a realistic budget?

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There are many avenues for funding BuyLocal programs. Among the ones CommunityInvolved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) haspursued are foundation and governmentgrants, program fees, membership dues,major (and not so major) donors, events andmerchandise sales.

In this chapter we:

• Share our experience with differentfundraising tactics

• Explore some of the “hidden costs” ofraising money

• Provide a list of fundraising referencematerials

GRANTSFoundation funding has been the mostimportant source of funding for CISA’scampaign. We had the good fortune ofsecuring funds through the W.K. KelloggFoundation to get our Buy Local campaignoff the ground. Having one solid funderbehind the campaign certainly helped attractothers. The Massachusetts Department ofFood and Agriculture, Lawson ValentineFoundation, Kendall Foundation, CrickettFoundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture’sNatural Resources Conservation Service, andMassachusetts Society for PromotingAgriculture have all supported the campaignin the first, and in some cases, subsequentyears. CISA has also received gifts from adirector of the Charles Stewart MottFoundation.

Foundations are likely to be an importantfunding source for most Buy Local programs,particularly in the early years. CISA wouldnot be here today if not for foundationsupport. That being said, it is also importantto diversify your funding base early, whenyou have the foundation support to cushionyou. Like the parable of the grasshopperand the ant, it is better to start saving forthe long cold winter when the sun is shiningand the food is plentiful. Long-termsustainability of our campaign is somethingthat CISA continues to grapple with.

Chapter 4: Funding Your Buy Local Program○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Like the parable of

the grasshopper and

the ant, it is better to

start saving for the

long cold winter when

the sun is shining and

the food is plentiful.

Hidden CostsFoundation and government funders differon how much they ask of their grantees interms of report writing, site visits,deliverables and trips to conferences orother meetings. At the very least, you needto spend staff, consultant or volunteer timeresearching, producing and refining a grantproposal. You will also need to spend timeworking and coordinating with funders todevelop and maintain a workingrelationship.

PROGRAM FEESOur Buy Local program generates incomefrom program fees paid by our campaignparticipants. CISA charged farmers $35 ayear in the first three years of our campaign.Retailers and restaurants were charged $50a year. This low pricing structure was meantto enable all interested farmers, retailersand restaurants to join. These fees seemedan appropriate amount to charge, at leastin the first year. In hindsight, however, CISAwould have been wise to raise our feesthereafter to help make the campaign morefinancially sustainable.

In some instances, the low fee also enabledfarmers with very, very small operations tojoin the campaign. This can be seen asinclusive, but it also created some situations

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where part-time or very low-level farmersreceived benefits out of proportion to theirimpact on the local marketplace. You maywant to consider whether working withfarmers with net farm incomes in the tripledigits is worthwhile. CISA now chargesfarmers $100 per year and restaurantsand retailers $150, and our fees will likelyincrease in the years ahead.

Hidden CostsThink of the services and materials you offerto your farmers and other participants.What is the approximate dollar value ofthose services and materials? Does their feecover some meaningful portion of thoseservices? If not, how will you pay for thoseservices now and in the future?

MEMBERSHIPSIf you are a membership organization, yourmembers can be a steady source of supportyour campaign. About six percent of CISA’sannual organizational budget comes frommember dues. We now have about 300members who contribute anywhere from $10to $500 each, per year.

However, we have found it challenging toexpand our membership. This is partly dueto the time required to recruit and maintainmembers. It may also be due to the confusingmessage membership recruitment might giveconsumers: we are asking them to buy locallygrown, and they are doing so. Then we ask

them to join our organization, but many maythink that buying locally grown is enough. Asa result, CISA has elected to de-emphasizemembership and focus on larger individualdonations.

Hidden CostsYou might have shared our experience thatmember recruitment takes a lot of time. Youhave to develop a mailing list, create andsend out membership solicitation letters,develop and manage contributing membersin a database, send out renewal and specialappeal letters, and develop activities,policies and benefits for members.

Also, many organizations offer “gifts” toencourage people to join. These tokens costmoney. Conventional fundraising wisdom saysthat people will join your organizationbecause they share your values. Many willeven refuse the gifts, hoping to save theorganization the time and money it costs tosend them out.

DONORSDonors, as distinct from members, areindividuals, businesses or institutions thatmake large donations to fund your programs.They sometimes start as members and“upgrade” to donors, but it is often moreefficient to identify them early on and solicitthem directly. For CISA, potential donorsinclude banks, agriculture-related businessesand institutions, and community members of

ENHANCING YOUR FUNDRAISING POTENTIAL

• Ask local restaurants and retail stores to donate food for events.

• Recruit sponsors who can help shoulder some of the cost of community events.

• Explore the possibility of printing publications in large quantities through localnewspapers. Offer a sponsorship in exchange for help with defraying printingcosts.

• Use fundraising events to attract and provide benefits to members, such as discounts,coupons, maps to stores that sell locally grown food, your growers guide, etc.

• Use volunteers whenever possible.

• Make sure that for-profit businesses understand that they can write off donationsof space or products to nonprofit organizations.

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means who have an interested in agriculture,open space or the environment.

We’ve found that donor cultivation is morean art than a science. Careful planning andclear goals are essential, as is the willingnessof board members and participants to askother community members to support yourwork.

Hidden CostsWe find that donor solicitation takes a greatdeal of staff time. Tasks involved in solicitingdonors include:

• Developing a list of potential majordonors

• Creating and sending a major donorsolicitation letter

• Calling each potential donor andrequesting a visit

• Recruiting and training board membersor others who will be going out on donorvisits

• Visiting donors

• Developing a database for major donors

• Processing donations and sending thank-you notes and gifts

• Maintaining contact with donors

Note that we mentioned gifts. CISA createsa thank-you package featuring some of ourfarmers’ products (jams, jellies, wine, maplesyrup, honey, etc.) for donors who contributesignificant amounts of money to ourcampaign.

EVENTS, MERCHANDISE ANDOTHER “RETAIL” ACTIVITIESWe’ve found that major public events likefarm tours, local food dinners, silent auctionsand so on, have substantial fundraisingpotential. When planning these events, it isimportant to:

• Take a long-term view of the event’spotential. In our experience, major eventsmay not raise substantial funds in the firstfew years, but could have good potentialonce the event is established and yoursystems are in place.

• Approach your participants about helpingdefray the costs of events. Restaurantsare usually happy to donate dishesfeaturing locally grown food that show

off their skills at using these products.Farmers might like to show off their farmsto the general community and expandtheir customer base.

• Ask your board and volunteers to performas many of the organizing andimplementation tasks you can. Whenhosting a forum or putting on a farm tourand feast, the need for helpers is acute.Plan for more volunteers than you thinkyou’ll need—they will all come in handy.

• Consider collaborating with otherorganizations to increase your income andshare the workload. Collaborations alsohelp you utilize existing infrastructurewithout having to incur the expense.

Selling things like campaign T-shirts and hatsmay be a good idea if you have the fundsto tie up in inventory. We found that theyare helpful in spreading our message, butnot in increasing our bottom line. It is alwaysa good idea to have your farmers or otherspokespeople wear a campaign hat or T-shirt when talking to the media. You mayalso wish to purchase products from yourfarmers at wholesale cost and sell them atevents or fairs. You could also partner withthem in a concession stand.

Hidden CostsEvents have the potential of bringingthousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollarsinto your organization. But remember to getas much volunteer help as possible and to

TIPS FOR WORKING WITHTIPS FOR WORKING WITHTIPS FOR WORKING WITHTIPS FOR WORKING WITHTIPS FOR WORKING WITHFOUNDFOUNDFOUNDFOUNDFOUNDAAAAATIONS AND OTHER FUNDERSTIONS AND OTHER FUNDERSTIONS AND OTHER FUNDERSTIONS AND OTHER FUNDERSTIONS AND OTHER FUNDERS

• Send them updates, news articles and promotions for programevents on a regular basis.

• Call them regularly to maintain the relationship.

• Share anecdotal stories about the campaign.

• Do quality evaluation of your work and send the results toyour funders.

• Invite funders to special meetings and major events, regardlessof whether you think they will attend or not.

• Encourage site visits during the growing season to allow yourfunders to see your campaign in action.

We’ve found that

major public events

like farm tours, local

food dinners, silent

auctions and so on,

have substantial

fundraising potential.

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keep track of the staff time you arecommitting. And if you are paying a staffperson to coordinate large-scale events,take a hard look at the time it will take. Whatis your organization’s “net” after accountingfor staff time and expenses?

SHOULD YOU HIRE A FUNDRAISINGCONSULTANT OR DEVELOPMENTDIRECTOR?Donor management, event planning andthank-you-ing take time and attention. Youmay determine that staff hours are preciousand that you would rather use them forprogram development and hire a

professional fundraiser. Many options areavailable.

You can hire a professional fundraisingconsultant (part-time or full-time). You canhire a staff person to work on fundraising.Or, you can have some combination of thetwo (allowing for some training of staff bythe consultant). It all depends on what youcan afford. Be aware that fundraising plansare long term and that a developmentconsultant may need one to two years toidentify funding sources, solicit them and workon donor and member recruitment beforeresults will be evident.

BooksThe Foundation Center’s Guide to Proposal Writing, The Foundation Center, 2001.To order publications from The Foundation Center, call (800) 424-9836 or (212)620-4230, or visit www.fdncenter.org.

Fundraising for Social Change, Kim Klein, Chardon Press, 2001.

The PRI Directory: Charitable Loans and Other Program Related Investments byFoundations, The Foundation Center, 2001.

Raise More Money: The Best of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal. Kim Klein, StephanieRoth, editors, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2001.To order publications from Jossey-Bass, call (877) 762-2974, fax (800) 597-3299,or visit www.josseybass.com.

Selling Social Change (Without Selling Out): Earned Income Strategies for Nonprofits,Andy Robinson, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2002.

Storytelling for Grantseekers: The Guide to Creative Nonprofit Fundraising, Cheryl A.Clarke, Jossey-Bass Publishers.

The Wilder Nonprofit Field Guide to Fundraising on the Internet, Gary Grobman, et al.Available from the Amherst A. Wilder Foundation Publishing Center, (800) 274-6024

OnlineThe Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits provides a Free ManagementLibrary on its Web site, www.mapnp.org. See the fundraising section of the ManagementLibrary for materials and links to a wide variety of resources.

RESOURCES: FUNDRAISINGRESOURCES: FUNDRAISINGRESOURCES: FUNDRAISINGRESOURCES: FUNDRAISINGRESOURCES: FUNDRAISING

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Your relationships with farmers are likely tobe the foundation of your Buy Local effort.Engaging farmers and working with themeffectively requires patience, willingness tolisten, tenacity and enthusiasm for buildingrelationships. Good community organizing isessential to working effectively with thosewho provide the most basic component ofyour program—locally grown food.

This chapter explores some of the keyaspects of recruiting and working withfarmers as part of your Buy Local program:

• Developing shared expectations

• Suggestions for recruiting farmers

• The application process

• Grower meetings

• Maintaining good relationships

DEVELOPING SHAREDEXPECTATIONSCommunity Involved in Sustaining Agriculture(CISA) has found that clarity—about ourgoals, our strategies, the potential benefitsof our campaign, etc.—is the foundation forstrong, vibrant relationships with ourfarming community. Before you startformally recruiting farmers, it’s essential thatyou can succinctly articulate yourorganization’s values and the intentions andstrategies of your Buy Local program. Youalso need to have a clear sense of how youintend to engage with campaignparticipants and the factors that mightmotivate or deter their participation.Actively seek input from potentialparticipants and then take it to heart.

Even the words you use to describe thecampaign are important. For instance, CISAhas found that people use expressions like“campaign” and “communications”differently. You may think you’re being clearwhen you use such words, but you may findout later that some people heard adifferent message than you thought youwere giving. Being explicit and transparentin your communications with prospectiveparticipants is key.

Many participants also will be engaging in acampaign like yours for the first time, so it isincumbent upon you to articulate clearly whatbeing a participant means. That includesbeing clear about both potential benefits andobligations of participation—and clear aboutwhat the roles of your organization and yourpartners will be. And while no one looksforward to misunderstandings, it’s wise to beprepared for them. We’ve found that havingwritten agreements with our farmers (as wellas retailers and other partners) can avoid alot of headaches and confusion down the road.

Also, while some farmers may be a drivingforce behind your Buy Local effort, otherswill be downright skeptical. As with any newprogram, your Buy Local work will encountersome early adopters, others who haveserious doubts, and a variety of people inbetween. Some folks may wait to see howthings go before they commit to yourcampaign.

“You don’t have to be all things to all people,”said CISA former Executive Director,Margaret Christie. “You can do a campaignthat works well only for some people. Talkto all of your constituents, figure out who youare serving and who you are not, and becomfortable with that.” It’s also important tokeep in mind that your campaign may alsoaffect those farmers who don’t join with you.

Chapter 5: Working with Farmers○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

“You don’t have to be

all things to all

people,” said CISA

former Executive

Director, Margaret

Christie. “You can do

a campaign that

works well only for

some people. Talk to

all of your

constituents, figure

out who you are

serving and who you

are not, and be

comfortable with

that.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


CISA learned early on that some membersof our farming community viewed formalmedia efforts as suspect or a waste of money.Similarly, some questioned our use ofconsultants who were not from our area.Again, an inclusive approach and clearcommunication about campaign decisions arecritical.

Before you start recruiting farmers, askyourself:

How can the campaign benefit potentialparticipants? What benefits will participantsreceive? Which benefits are assured andwhich are not? Will the benefits be the samefor everyone or will there be levels ofbenefits corresponding with levels ofparticipation? What benefits might potentialparticipants assume they will receive that youmay not be able to provide? CISAdeveloped a one-page Farmer BenefitsChart to explain how our campaign worksand what farmers can gain by joining. A copyis included in the attachments at the end ofthis chapter.

What obligations will your participants have?Being upfront about participants’responsibilities is key. Will you ask farmersand retailers to agree to do a certain numberof tastings, appearances or other events?Face-to-face work with the public may bean important part of your program; areyour participants ready to put in the effort?

What obligations will you have to yourparticipants? Will you put Buy Local stickerson the farmers’ products or will they beresponsible for that? Who decides whichfarmers are featured in campaign ads? Willyou try to find markets for your farmers’goods, or respond to retailers’ needs forlocal products?

What fees are involved in participating? Areyou going to charge campaign participants?What will your annual membership fee be?Will it be the same for farmers and retailersor restaurants? Will one fee cover all aspectsof your campaign or will there be differentlevels with different services (i.e., you mayhave farmers that only want to be in a farmguide, while others may want to participatemore fully)?

What policy issues should you anticipate?Should point-of-purchase (POP) materials beused only for local products from farmerswho are signed up as campaign participantsor can retailers use them to promote alllocally grown products? Whose input do youneed to resolve these issues?

What understandings do you need to havein writing? What issues do your agreementsneed to address? What potential difficultiesshould you anticipate?

SUGGESTIONS FOR RECRUITINGFARMERSMake sure that your strategies for promotinglocal food sales are compatible with thegoals and circumstances of your farmers.For instance, some farmers don’t want to getinto retail stores; they want to bring morepeople to their farmstands. If you areconcentrating on retailers, then your campaignmay not be the best fit for this farmer. Arethere other ways this farmer could participate?

Work to understand what your farmers careabout and what would motivate them toparticipate. Also explore what concerns orbarriers might prevent them from joining.

Start with farmers you know. CISA was notable to convince all of the farmers we initiallyapproached to join our campaign. “Westarted with farmers we had relationshipswith,” said Margaret Christie. “This was alogical choice and made it easy at first.However, as we needed to widen the circleand engage other farmers, the recruitmentprocess became more challenging.”

Work to understand

what your farmers

care about and what

would motivate them

to participate.

• Hold grower meetings to discuss the benefits and goals ofyour campaign.

• Send out limited recruitment mailings.

• Use newspaper ads as recruiting tools. Our farmers saw theirneighbors in the newspaper and wanted to know why theyweren’t in the paper, too. Featuring participating farmers innewspaper and radio ads also gets them talking to otherfarmers about joining.

• Ask participating farmers to recruit their friends.

• Make sure you gather good data showing how farmersbenefited in the first year so that you can use the results toengage more farmers next year.

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES FOREVENTS AND ACTIVITIES FOREVENTS AND ACTIVITIES FOREVENTS AND ACTIVITIES FOREVENTS AND ACTIVITIES FORRECRUITING FARMERSRECRUITING FARMERSRECRUITING FARMERSRECRUITING FARMERSRECRUITING FARMERS

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Know when to back off. CISA spent a lot ofenergy recruiting an organic farmers’cooperative that we thought should be in ourcampaign, despite their assessment that wehad little to offer them. Some staff continuedto pursue them rather aggressively anyway.That annoyed the co-op and turned them offto our organization. Accepting their decisionnot to participate earlier would havepreserved our relationship and we couldhave redirected our energy to relationshipsmore likely to bear fruit.

Offer farmers benefits that are useful to theirbusinesses, even if they don’t join your BuyLocal program. For instance, CISA producesan annual Farm Products Guide, which givesfarmers the chance to become a member ofCISA without joining the Local Hero campaign.Once we get to know each other, they candecide whether or not to join our campaign.

Make sure the requirements of joining yourprogram aren’t too much of a burden. CISA’smain requirements for joining are filling outan application and becoming a member ofCISA. (Our application process is discussedbelow.) If you have membership fees, makethem reasonable.

THE APPLICATION PROCESSCISA has taken a variety of approaches toour application process. Before we launchedthe campaign, we sent a mass mailing to allthe farmers in our database. We sent a letterdescribing the campaign’s goals andobjectives, recent newspaper articles, anda survey. A CISA representative visited mostof the interested farmers to discuss thecampaign and gather the survey informationthat we required. This was great for buildingrelationships and awareness of ourcampaign, but it also took a lot of time.

We’ve since updated our application process,which now includes the following steps:

1. An initial form establishes eligibility. Wehave basic environmental and productrequirements—a prospective farmer mustbe producing an agricultural product asdefined by the state (e.g., horses andhorse operations are not consideredagricultural products in Massachusetts)and must meet minimum soil and waterconservation criteria.

2. A larger packet is sent to the farmer, whichincludes an in-depth survey, a letter of

agreement that must be signed andreturned, a membership form, and anorder form for the POP materials.

3. A signed agreement is received at ouroffice.

4. We conduct a farm visit to:

• Get to know the farmer

• Figure out the farmer’s expectations ofthe campaign

• Deliver POP materials requested by thefarmer

• See the farm’s operation and learnmore about what is produced and how

• Talk about the farmer’s plans for thefuture, and how the farmer sees thecampaign fitting into those plans

• Show the farmer how important eachfarmer is to CISA

GROWER MEETINGS: GOOD FORRECRUITMENT, GOOD FORRELATIONSOne tool CISA has found essential for bothrecruiting farmers and maintaining goodrelations with them are periodic growermeetings. Farmer gatherings can be a greatvehicle for talking about shared values,hopes for agriculture in your region, andyour campaign. Farmers appreciate beinginvolved in shaping the campaign and theycan offer a lot of great ideas.

We’ve also found that our farmers greatlyenjoy networking with each other. Some saidthat our meetings were one of the relativelyfew opportunities they had to spend time withfellow farmers. And some will meet otherfarmers with whom they can share equipmentand ideas. The networking opportunitiesassociated with the campaign are anotherreason why some farmers sign up. For thefirst two years, we brought our participatingfarmers together every few months.

Grower meetings can help you:

• Better understand what motivates andconcerns your farmers

• Obtain their feedback on media ideasand events

• Get their thoughts on what aspects of yourprogram are going well and which onesaren’t

One tool CISA has

found essential for

both recruiting

farmers and

maintaining good

relations with them

are periodic grower

meetings.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


• Ask how the campaign could be improved

• Solicit their involvement in outreach efforts

• Let them know about upcomingopportunities and events

As your pool of participants grows,considering bringing farmers, retailers andrestaurants together for at least some ofyour meetings. Many of our farmers havetried for years to get into certain stores orrestaurants, only to be stymied by takingthe wrong approach or simply not knowingthe best person to contact. We’ve hadfarmers and retailers connect since ourcampaign’s initial launch event; everysubsequent meeting seems to have at leastone or two such success stories. Yourcampaign will benefit immensely from helpingparticipants network.

MAINTAINING GOODRELATIONSHIPSNothing beats personal attention to farmers’needs. Here are some ideas for maintaininggreat relationships:

• Invite farmers to a wide variety ofactivities.

• Design your events to have a“participating farmer component.” Forexample, if your annual meeting featuresa popular speaker, combine it with afarmers market showcasing your farmers’products.

• Keep in touch with your farmers throughoutthe year by making phone calls and visitsto see how things are going.

• Let them know about campaigndevelopments and events by e-mail.

• Offer to help set up and staff tastingevents at retail outlets that sell theirproducts.

• Advocate for your farmers withprospective retailers. While we don’tmake any deals for farmers, weencourage retailers to contact us if there’sa specific product they need and can’tlocate.

• Hold farmer meetings on a regular basis.

• Hold meetings that bring your farmers,retailers, restaurants and otherparticipants together.

Cooperation vs. Competition:Anticipating and Managing FarmerConflictsThere are many ways that farmers andothers can work together to build supportfor local agriculture and sales of local farmproducts. Our farmers can and do worktogether to help each other out, whether it isduring times of crisis like a barn fire orduring routine business, like sharingequipment, ideas or insights. But how will yourorganization address the tensions that arisewhen cooperation is supplanted by

We’ve had farmers

and retailers connect

since our campaign’s

initial launch event;

every subsequent

meeting seems to

have at least one or

two such success

stories.

• Move the location around to make sure the distance people have to travel isshared as equally as possible.

• Provide food and drink (ideally featuring some of your farmers’ products).

• Make meetings fun and interactive.

• Keep the meetings to two hours or less, with a clear agenda and good facilitation.

• Provide contact information so that participants can stay in touch with each other.

• Allow plenty of informal time for networking.

• Facilitate introductions and help people get to know each other.

TIPS FOR GROWER MEETINGSTIPS FOR GROWER MEETINGSTIPS FOR GROWER MEETINGSTIPS FOR GROWER MEETINGSTIPS FOR GROWER MEETINGS

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


competition? What if a farmer accusesothers of acting unfairly, or worse, yourprogram of favoring one farmer overanother?

We’ve found that clear, open communicationis the best approach, along with clearprogram requirements that are appliedevenly at all times. For instance, make surethat:

• Your mailings are sent to all participantsat the same time

• Your program benefits are available toall participants

• Campaign materials in short supply areclearly described as available on a “firstcome, first served” basis

• You create a waiting list, if necessary

• All campaign agreements and benefitsare in writing and signed by the farmersand your organization

• You keep accurate notes on conversationsthat address complaints, benefits orconcerns

While this may appear to be a lot of workon paper, it can help you avoid potentialconflicts with and among your key constituents.

AND ONCE THEY JOIN YOURPROGRAM. . .Recruiting farmers for your Buy Localprogram can be very gratifying—each newfarmer brings more products and energy toyour campaign. But signing them up is justthe beginning. At CISA, we’ve found that thereare a host of other details that need tending:

• Make sure farmers have appropriatePOP materials and know how to use them.In our campaign, farmers are responsiblefor labeling their products with our logo.

• Give your farmers a list of participatingretailers and restaurants and keep theminformed about who is looking for whatproducts.

• Generate “fresh lists” for retailers andrestaurants showing what products arecurrently available from your growers.

• Make sure your farmers can explain thecampaign to others accurately, especiallyif they will serve as spokespeople.

• Help farmers communicate with retailerson issues like back door deliveries.

• Keep communicating the otheropportunities afforded by your program.

• Update farmers on the campaign’soverall progress toward increasing salesof local farm products and generatingother benefits that are meaningful to yourfarmers

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○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


Any Buy Local program needs to begrounded in its community and bolstered bya healthy array of partnerships. Broadeningyour base of support through mutuallybeneficial partnerships can be a powerful—and necessary—way to heighten the reachand impact of your Buy Local program.

In this section, we explore several keyquestions about partnerships:

• Why are partners valuable to a Buy Localprogram?

• What kinds of partnerships are important?

• What caveats should you consider?

WHY ARE PARTNERS VALUABLETO A BUY LOCAL PROGRAM?Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture(CISA) has found partnerships to be essentialto our work on a number of fronts. Forinstance, good partnerships can:

• Build ownership of the campaign amongyour community and key institutions

• Help you gain access to knowledge andcapacity that you otherwise wouldn’t have

• Build your credibility and provide politicalbacking

• Provide more voices to advance yourcampaign’s goals

• Generate financial and in-kind support

• Enhance the stability and sustainability ofthe campaign by ensuring that it isn’tentirely reliant on one organization or asmall group of volunteers

• Provide manpower and moral support

As a result, we encourage you to make ahealthy investment in developingpartnerships that can support your Buy Localprogram. CISA couldn’t have carried our BuyLocal campaign alone. Our partnerships havebeen central to the progress we’ve made.

WHAT KINDS OF PARTNERSHIPSARE IMPORTANT?We have found that being strategic in your

approach to partnerships is essential. It’s alsoimportant to dedicate energy to the task,stick with it through the rough patches, andbe deliberate in your approach. For instance,one way to go about it is to:

1. Look ahead and identify the resources—both tangible and intangible—your BuyLocal program may need to be successful.

2. Identify other organizations that mayshare your values, would benefit from asuccessful campaign, and can offer someof the resources that are needed.

3. Craft a web of partnerships that canprovide the needed resources.

CISA works with a variety of partners. Theyhave brought the Local Hero campaign auseful mix of political backing, financialresources, technical assistance, and otherforms of support. Among the most importantof our partnerships are:

Massachusetts Department of Food andAgriculture (DFA). DFA has been anenthusiastic advocate and funder of our BuyLocal campaign from the beginning. Thecommissioner of agriculture has been a vocalsupporter and DFA staff often attend ourboard meetings and events. DFA even createda special pool of funding to start other BuyLocal campaigns in Massachusetts, in largemeasure because they were impressed withthe results of the Local Hero campaign.

Chapter 6: Partnerships○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Broadening your base

of support through

mutually beneficial

partnerships can be a

powerful—and

necessary—way to

heighten the reach

and impact of your

Buy Local program.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


FoodRoutes Network. Kellogg also fundedFoodRoutes Network (formerly Fires of Hope)to provide technical assistance and othersupport to CISA. FoodRoutes Networkconnected us with a number of communicationsexperts, cajoled us into doing formal marketresearch, coached us through our evaluation,and helped us raise funds. The communicationsexpertise provided by FoodRoutes Networkmade a big difference in our ability toanticipate what a campaign would involveand helped build our staff capacity to designand run a campaign. FoodRoutes Network alsoworked with us to bring this toolkit to you.

Hampden County Farm Bureau. In this case,our partner approached us first. One yearafter we released our Farm Products Guide(which at that time covered only twocounties), we were approached by theHampden County Farm Bureau aboutpublishing one for their part of our region.Unlike a lot of requests, this one came with afinancial commitment and staff support. Weworked together to create a new guide fortheir region and formally incorporated it intoour larger guide the following year.

WHAT CAVEATS SHOULD YOUCONSIDER?We’ve all experienced relationships thatwere fruitful and positive and others thatwere problematic. While CISA has beenfortunate to have terrific partners, we’d liketo offer a few caveats to consider when youexplore a new partnership:

• Are there strings attached to this support,such as progress reports, financialreports, requirements to work on thepartner’s initiatives at your own expense,or travel requirements that may divertstaff time from your projects?

• Are the “strings” explicitly stated or arethey implied?

• Do you have the staff capacity to meetthe partner’s expectations and effectivelyimplement your program?

• Organizations are often prompted byfunders to show evidence of collaboration.Are you collaborating for collaboration’ssake or are you working on a substantiveproject that is grounded in shared values?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPSDEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPSDEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPSDEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPSDEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS

As you begin to explore the partnerships that could best serveyour Buy Local program, consider:

• What mix of resources does your Buy Local program need tobe successful (e.g. financial support, political backing, technicalexpertise, volunteers, interpersonal connections, etc.)?

• What resources are needed that you and your current partnerscan’t provide?

• Who can help provide what the campaign needs?

• Of those potential allies and partners, which share your valuesand could benefit from a successful campaign?

• What do you and each potential partner want from arelationship?

• What are the broader implications of each partnership (bothpositive and negative)?

• What roles can each of you best play? What rights andresponsibilities will you have? What expectations do you haveof each other?

• What strings might be attached for each of you?

• What aspects of your relationship need to be clarified in awritten agreement?

• On what basis will you and your partners evaluate whetherthis involvement has met your expectations?

Hampshire College. Hampshire Collegeoffers us student assistants. One of the deansis on our board of directors. The collegedonates office space, phone lines and high-speed Internet access. Work-study studentshelp us reduce staffing expenses.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation. While the KelloggFoundation has been the primary funder ofour campaign, we also think of them as apartner in our work. Their significant,multiyear funding allowed us to plan aheadwithout the immediate worry of cobblingtogether many small pieces of funding. Theyhave also brought our work to the attentionof the philanthropic community.

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So you’ve done the initial planning for yourcampaign. Your staff, board and farmersare mobilized. You’ve lined up a host ofenthusiastic partners. And you have highhopes that your soon-to-be Buy Localprogram can make a big difference in yourcommunity. But you can’t bring your campaignmessage to everybody. And your campaignis more likely to be effective and affordableif you have a clear, consistent message ratherthan several, more complex messages.

Who are the most important audiences foryou to reach? What messages will they findmost compelling? You now need well-researched, well thought-through answers tothese questions. It’s time to define your targetaudiences and identify campaign messagesthat will get their attention and spur them tobuy local, local, local!

In this section of the toolkit, we explore thefollowing questions:

• Why do market research?

• What are the basic steps in doing marketresearch?

• How did Community Involved in SustainingAgriculture (CISA) approach it and whatdid we learn?

• How did CISA translate our research intoa campaign logo and slogan?

• What advice does our market researcherhave for you?

Starting on page 33, you will find aninterview with our market researcher andtips for selecting a market research firm. Atthe end of this chapter, we provide resourcesfor conducting market research, the resultsof our pre-campaign market research, andour most recent post-season consumerawareness survey.

WHY DO MARKET RESEARCH?Five months before CISA launched its BuyLocal campaign, we commissioned a marketresearch firm to help us figure out whataudiences to focus on and what message touse. Doing this market research was a turningpoint in our campaign. Up to that point, our

communications plan was quite undefined. Buthoning our messages and target audiencesreally jump-started our work. Once we hadthose pieces in place, we moved ahead muchmore quickly and with much greater clarity.We were also positioned to develop the“look and feel” of the overall campaign,including a logo and a slogan. The look andfeel we chose now permeates all of our LocalHero media, advertising, point-of-purchase(POP) and other materials.

Before we actually did the market research,however, we weren’t convinced that suchresearch was essential or that it would beworth the money. Message research wasn’tpart of our organization’s culture or history.Some of our members thought this “highgloss” research was a waste of money. Butour major funder and FoodRoutes Network(formerly Fires of Hope) were prodding usto do the research, provided funding for itand coached us through the process.

So we bit the bullet. We hired a polling firm,which interviewed 450 people in our three-county area. It cost about $25,000. Thatseemed like a huge amount, but it helpedCISA’s campaign in a number of ways. Theresearch gave our campaign direction andfocus. It gave us credibility. It helped ourboard and staff let go of somemisconceptions. It changed our thinking. Itidentified our target audiences and it helped

Chapter 7:Market Research and Message Development

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

. . . your campaign is

more likely to be

effective and

affordable if you have

a clear, consistent

message rather than

several, more

complex messages.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○


us create a message that resulted in acampaign more successful than we could havehoped for.

CISA was fortunate to have had the fundingand the coaching that we did. But even ifyou don’t have the resources to hire a marketresearch firm, there are many ways to obtaingood market research. The supply of low-cost or free message research and marketdata is expanding all the time. Manyuniversities have market researchdepartments that might be good sources ofassistance. You can also tap many publicsources of demographic data to build yourunderstanding of your market area. Severalresources are listed in the attachments,including the FoodRoutes Network Web site,which includes audience research sponsoredby that organization, which is available atno cost.

The key thing is to not assume that the publicthinks as you do, that they share yourperceptions, or that messages compelling tothose of us who advocate for local agriculturewill necessarily be compelling to anyone else.Do the best research you can. Getprofessional help if you can swing it andlisten to the results. Your Buy Local effort willbe stronger and more effective with goodmarket research as a foundation.

The key steps involved in doing marketresearch are:

1. Clarify the purpose of your marketresearch. Ask yourself and yourstakeholders:

• What are the goals and intended scopeof our Buy Local program?

• Where are we in the communicationsplanning process?

• What else do we need to know?

• What are our assumptions about howour campaign will unfold and the factorsthat will influence its effectiveness?

• What do we believe our research islikely to show? (Stating yourexpectations upfront will position you/your researcher to design a survey thattests those assumptions.)

2. Review the market information that iscurrently available to you. Identifypotential audiences. Learn about who theyare, what they do and what they want.

Locate national, regional and local sourcesof message research. Learn about yourlocal media market. Explore thecommunications channels you might use andthe cost of using them.

3. Explore your options for conducting moreformal market research. If you’reconsidering hiring a market researcher,put out a request for proposal (RFP).

4. Develop a research budget. Identifypartners who could benefit from yourresearch and help pay for it. Raise anyneeded funds.

5. Identify the individuals or organizationsthat will help you conduct the research. Ifyou work with a market researchorganization, discuss your goals and yourresearch with them.

6. Choose your data collection methods,timing and tools. Consider the followingquestions:

• What information do you most need tolearn from the research?

• What potential audiences do you wantto better understand?

• What messages do you want to test?

• What geographic areas do you wantto focus on?

• How much time do you have to do theresearch?

• What skills and financial resources canyou bring to bear?

• If you intend to use your data withoutside audiences, what researchmethods would give you the greatestcredibility with the media, partners,your local business community and otherstakeholders?

• What surveys, questionnaires, focusgroups or other research methods aremost appropriate given your goals andresources?

7. Conduct the research or hire someone toconduct it for you.

8. Analyze the research results and theirimplications for your Buy Local program.If you use a market research organization,have them give you a detailed, writtenrecord of the results and their analysis.

Do the best research

you can. Get

professional help if

you can swing it and

listen to the results.

Your Buy Local effort

will be stronger and

more effective with

good market

research as a

foundation.

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9. Use the results to clarify your audience,develop the look and feel of yourcampaign, choose a core message anddevelop a slogan that conveys it, createa logo and other materials, selectmessengers, and prioritize communicationschannels.

10. Develop a comprehensive communicationsstrategy and game plan (see chapter 8for more information).

11. Have the tools you need to evaluate yourcommunications work in hand when yourcampaign begins. For example, if youprovide a phone number for people tocall, be ready to track the number of callsyou receive and the questions that areasked. If you’re placing radio ads orpublic service announcements, plan to callthe radio stations the week the ads air tofind out what their listenership was at thattime.

12. After your campaign has been runningfor six to 12 months, conduct a “tracking”survey to assess the level of awarenessthat has been achieved, the campaign’sinfluence on purchasing patterns, theeffectiveness of your messengers andcommunications vehicles, etc. Revise yourcommunications efforts appropriately.

HOW DID CISA APPROACHMARKET RESEARCH?There are many ways to approach marketresearch. Here, we tell the story of how CISAwent about it. We hope this will help youexplore your own options.

Developing Our Market ResearchPlanWe begin our story in January 1999. Bythat point, CISA had been thinking about aBuy Local campaign for quite a while. We’dalready done some initial market research,and a committee of our partners andstakeholders had informally explored thedemographics of our area and possibleaudiences and messages.

Then we started working with our marketresearcher, Marty McGough, formerly ofPenn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Inc. (PSB)in Washington, D.C. PSB is a market researchfirm that conducts polls for politicians andmany large corporations, but they also havea strong interest in nonprofits. Marty sat

down with us and we told him what we wantedto get out of the research.

First, we had been considering a wide varietyof messages that we might use for ourcampaign. We wanted to find out which weshould choose. The core messages that wewanted to test included:

• Locally grown food is safer.

• Locally grown food is fresher.

• Buying locally grown food helps theenvironment.

• Buying locally grown food helps yourneighbor.

• Buying locally grown food helps theeconomy.

• Buying locally grown food supports abetter future for your children.

Second, we had some other key questionswe wanted the survey to help answer:

• What audience(s) should we focus on?

• What are the demographics, shoppinghabits, motivations and reasons for notpurchasing locally grown food among ourkey audiences?

• Do we need multiple messages to reachour three-county area or should we gowith one consistent message?

• Which newspapers, radio stations andother sources does our audience getinformation from on a regular basis?

• Which messengers would be mostcompelling to our audience?

Working from these questions, Martyidentified the specific kinds of research datathat we most needed. Then he translatedthose needs into survey questions. At PSB’srecommendation, we opted to use atelephone survey approach (see Marty’sinterview on page 33 for more about thisdecision). Four hundred and fifty phoneinterviews were conducted with randomlychosen area residents by PSB’s call center inDenver. The surveys were completed inFebruary 1999, and by March we had theresults and PSB’s analysis of the data. Alltold, it took less than three months to initiateand design the survey, conduct the interviewsand get the results.

Have the tools you

need to evaluate your

communications

work in hand when

your campaign

begins. For example,

if you provide a phone

number for people to

call, be ready to track

the number of calls

you receive and the

questions that are

asked.

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THE RESULTSHere are some of the key ideas that emergedfrom our pre-campaign market research:

• Most people found the messages, “Buyinglocally grown food contributes to theeconomy” and “When you buy locallygrown food, you are supporting yourneighbors” believable. On the other hand,they weren’t convinced that buying locallygrown helps the environment.

• The belief that locally grown food isfresher was already well-establishedamong those we polled. But many peoplealso believed that buying locally grownfood is inconvenient. This perception wasthe chief barrier that our messagingneeded to overcome.

• The audience segment whose behavior wecould most likely influence (i.e., the“swing” shoppers) are 35 to 49 yearsold, shop less frequently, and have slightlylower household incomes, less education,and more children than the general publicin our area.

• The two most effective messages got astrong response in all three counties andfrom both swing shoppers and committedshoppers (those who were alreadyspending 11 percent or more of theirgrocery bill on locally grown food). Thatmeant that we didn’t need differentmessages for different counties oraudiences—a huge relief.

• Farmers are viewed as the mostcompelling messengers, followed byhealth professionals.

• Several key newspapers are read by alarge portion of our target audience.

The message research gave us a few bigsurprises. For instance, we had tested manymessages (environment, personal health, localeconomy, help you neighbor, etc.) becausewe thought all of them might work. We weresurprised by how well received the “Buyinglocally grown helps the local economy” and“Buying locally grown supports yourneighbor” messages were and howineffective the environmental message was.But once we had the results, it made sense:people in our area value the environment,but they don’t view buying local food ashaving an impact on the environment.

If we had followed our initial instincts andgone with an environmental message, wewould have had to first convince people thatbuying local actually supports theenvironment and then motivate them to acton that new belief. We learned from ourresearcher that we shouldn’t try to convincepeople that they ought to believe somethingthey don’t. Instead, focus on what theyalready believe and value. Your messageshould convey that you have what theyalready want.

The effectiveness of the local economymessage was also consistent with theexperience of Our Family Farms, a localcooperative of dairy farmers that CISAhelped incubate. Although Our Family Farmssells hormone-free products, their primarymessage is about buying from your neighbor.We saw first-hand how well that kind ofmessage works as their milk gained inmarket share in our area. The researchclearly told us that we needed to develop acampaign slogan around the core messagethat buying locally grown helps the economy.

The survey also helped clarify the audienceswe should focus on. The PSB study states:

A major objective of this study is toidentify the segment among shoppers inwestern Massachusetts that demonstratesthe most market potential. Borrowingterminology from political polling, we referto this segment as the swing voter becauseit is the group most amenable to beingswayed and can influence the outcome ofan election. Other groups would includethe committed voter, who represents yourbase of support. Borrowing liberally fromthis approach, the steps we have used todefine the swing shopper are as follows:

1. Segment the shopper based on theirlevel of agreement with the statement,“I would buy more locally grown foodsif they were more convenient to obtain.”

a. Strongly Agree: 59%b. Somewhat Agree: 28%c. Somewhat/Strongly Disagree: 13%

2. Further segment the strongly agree(59%) into swing and committedshoppers based on the percentage oftheir monthly grocery bill accounted forby locally grown food.

We learned from our

researcher that we

shouldn’t try to

convince people that

they ought to believe

something they don’t.

Instead, focus on

what they already

believe and value.

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a. Swing (10% or less): 28%b. Committed (11% or more): 31%

Since [swing shoppers spend] less but[have] indicated [they] would spendmore [if it was more convenient] thissegment represents the best opportunityto influence and grow. We consider thisthe most important segment.

Based on their demographic analysis, PSBalso concluded that:

The swing shopper is more likely to havea slightly lower household income, lesseducation and more children (based onhousehold size) compared to all shoppersand committed shoppers. They are morelikely to be baby boomers (ages 35 to49) and also shop less frequently(perhaps avoiding the number of timesthey have to take their kids to the store).Little difference was found between theswing shopper and all shoppers andcommitted shoppers in terms of gender,household location, or the [total] amountthey spend on groceries each month.

With this information in hand, CISA had amuch clear sense of who to focus on.

Developing a Slogan and LogoOnce we defined our audiences andmessages, we met with a public relations (PR)professional who helped us develop acampaign slogan and logo. We talked aboutthe survey results and, to our surprise, theconsultant came up with Be a Local Hero, BuyLocally Grown right on the spot. (We feelpretty lucky that we arrived at a workableslogan so readily. It’s rarely that easy.) Thenwe expanded on the Local Hero languageso that our slogan would:

• Address the key perceived barrier thatkept people from buying local (i.e., thebelief that it’s inconvenient)

• Give our audience the sense that they canhave a positive impact on something theyvalue (i.e., the local economy)

• Tell consumers exactly what action wewanted them to take (i.e., buy locallygrown food)

• Reinforce what our audience alreadybelieved about local food (i.e., that ittastes better)

That thinking helped us complete our slogan:

Be a Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown.It tastes better, it’s convenient and it helps

the local economy.

Although it’s a bit long, the slogan covers allof our bases. We’ve also found that the LocalHero concept gives us lots of latitude in ourcommunications and outreach: farmers,consumers who buy local, kids, and the localproducts themselves can all be cast as localheroes. Everyone has an important role to playin our Buy Local campaign. While the LocalHero idea initially struck us as a bit off thewall, we have found that it works well.

As our campaign unfolded, we also foundthat the market research was important forother reasons. For instance, it allowed us totell all the people who had slogan ideas whywe couldn’t adopt their personal favorite.

The research process also clarified that ourgoal wasn’t fundamentally about educatingpeople (for instance, by trying to teach themthat there is a link between the environmentand buying local). It was about delivering acall to action that would motivate people topurchase locally grown food. That action wasthe thing that mattered most to us, and thatwas where we set our sights. The researchgave us the confidence and conviction thatour message would actually resonate andspark action in our community.

When it came to developing the campaignlogo, we sorted through a variety of

WHAWHAWHAWHAWHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEENWEENWEENWEENWEENA MESSAGE AND A SLOGAN?A MESSAGE AND A SLOGAN?A MESSAGE AND A SLOGAN?A MESSAGE AND A SLOGAN?A MESSAGE AND A SLOGAN?

Messages are the core ideas that can compel your targetaudience to think, feel or act. Slogans are short, catchy andoften memorable phrases that convey your messages, such as:

“Just do it” (Message: Exercise and fitness are important forgood health.)

“Got milk?” (Message: Milk is healthy and nutritious.)

Slogans are particularly useful in advertising, on posters, andon POP materials, where you often have a limited amount oftime or space to get your message across. One important thingto keep in mind: Messages can help develop your slogan, butyou shouldn’t let a witty slogan drive the development of yourmessages.

. . . the Local Hero

concept gives us lots

of latitude in our

communications and

outreach: farmers,

consumers who buy

local, kids, and the

local products

themselves can all

be cast as local

heroes.

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possibilities provided by our PR consultant.One option we considered incorporated anapple, but we felt that image had alreadybeen used in our area. We also considereda logo with an image of a barn. But wethought it lacked visual impact and seemedold-fashioned. It didn’t seem like a goodidea to use images that might implyagriculture was stuck in the 19th century.

Eventually, we arrived at this logo:

Which Messengers Can Best DeliverYour Message?Lastly, the message research also gave usmore data on which messengers could bestdeliver our message. We tested thecredibility of various messengers—everybody from farmers to elected officialsand our local meteorologist. The resultsreaffirmed what we had expected: farmerswere perceived as the most crediblemessengers. This data also reinforced theidea that it was important to personalize thecampaign and help consumers feelconnected to farmers. We’ve since made “thefarmer’s face” central to our newspaper ads,events, and other outreach.

POST-CAMPAIGN TRACKINGSURVEYFollowing the first summer of our campaign,in the fall of 1999, we conducted a “post-campaign tracking survey.” This was a shorterand less costly survey to find out what levelof awareness the campaign had achieved,which communications vehicles peopleremembered, and whether the campaign hadled them to change their purchasing behavior.This survey, also conducted by Penn, Schoen& Berland, included 330 phone interviewsand cost a little under $10,000.

The tracking survey was important becauseit told us what impact we were having andwhich communications channels were mostimportant to consumer awareness. Fifty-threepercent of the people surveyed said theyremembered our campaign. Of those people,61 percent were influenced by the campaignto buy locally grown food. Our pollster toldus that these figures were unusually high. Andthey certainly exceeded our expectations.

When you’ve spent significant resources developing your logo and “brand identity,” itmay be prudent to consider some form of legal protection for your investment. Youmay also want to anticipate situations where your slogan or logo could be used byothers for purposes that aren’t consistent with your goals or otherwise aren’tappropriate.

If you want to protect your work, then trademarking may be something to consider.You can start your research at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Web site,www.uspto.gov. For more information, contact an attorney familiar with trademark law.

A WORD ABOUT INTELLECTUALA WORD ABOUT INTELLECTUALA WORD ABOUT INTELLECTUALA WORD ABOUT INTELLECTUALA WORD ABOUT INTELLECTUALPRPRPRPRPROPERTOPERTOPERTOPERTOPERTY CONSIDERAY CONSIDERAY CONSIDERAY CONSIDERAY CONSIDERATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONS

The process of deciding on a logo was acontentious and very rushed one for CISA.Various board and staff members had verystrong feelings about the logo design. ThePR consultant visited in March 1999, wefinalized the logo in early June and welaunched the campaign in June.

In the end, with our launch date approaching,our executive director decided to go with thelogo shown above. One lesson we learnedfrom the logo experience was that we shouldhave clarified the decisionmaking roles ofboard and staff earlier in the campaign. Weencourage you to think about this whenplanning your campaign.

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The tracking survey also helped us evaluateour communications work and focus our mediadollars on what was shown to be mosteffective. For instance, campaignadvertisements in local newspapers had thehighest recall rate. Although newspaperadvertisements were expensive, we continuedwith them and pursued new ways of gettingour retail partners to include the campaignlogo in their ads. We also continued usingother media, like radio, because the datashowed that repeating the same messagethrough multiple channels increased theawareness that was achieved.

We’ve done tracking surveys every winterthroughout our campaign. You’ll find our mostrecent survey results, from January 2002, inthe attachments at the end of this chapter.

Survey data (along with our own evaluationswith farmers and retailers) also helped usenlist other farmers and partnerorganizations who had been skeptical earlierin the campaign. The data gave us thecredibility that we needed to broaden ourmembership and support. The data alsowere a great tool in our fundraising efforts.The fact that we had credible evidence thatthe campaign was getting attention andinfluencing purchasing behavior made aworld of difference with funders. Without it,we would have had to rely much more heavilyon anecdotal evidence and our belief (andhopes) that the campaign was working.

On the pages that follow, you’ll find a briefinterview with our market researcher. Fromhis vantage point with a major research firm,he shares his own colorful views about howto approach audience and messageresearch.

A FEW WORDS FROM OURMARKET RESEARCHERMarty McGough, formerly of Penn, Schoen& Berland Associates, Inc. (PSB), designedCISA’s audience research surveys. Foundedin 1975, PSB is a strategic market researchfirm with offices in New York, Washington,D.C., and Denver. PSB has conductedstrategic research for multinational Fortune500 corporations and major politicalcampaigns in more than 65 countries.

Marty had a big influence on CISA’s thinkingand the shape of our campaign. FoodRoutesNetwork, which supported CISA’s initial

market research, interviewed Marty in late2001 and we’d like to share his advice aboutdoing this kind of research.

FoodRoutes Network: Why is audience andmessage research important?

Marty: The most important thing when yourun any kind of a campaign is that you mustidentify the call to action that will motivatesomeone to take an action or be concerned.Unless you do this research, it’s impossibleto know the motivating factors that will spuran audience to action.

With CISA, we were looking for the messagesthat would spur purchases of local food—was it fewer pesticides, safer food, fresherfood, environmental impact? In our surveys,the most compelling call to action was thatbuying local “supports the local economy andit supports your neighbor.”

If you don’t do message and audience reach,you’ll miss the call to action. I find thatnonprofits often have preconceptions aboutwhat people care about. But you’reprobably wrong until you ask those peoplewhat they really think.

The other critical thing is to identify youraudience. Who do you really want toinfluence? What audiences should you putyour energy into? Segment the market. Whenyou’re doing the message research, you canalso assess people’s interest in an issue—what motivates them, what barriers to actionthey perceive. Then you can research thedemographics and develop a profile ofthose target groups that are most importantto focus on.

In choosing your target audience, you want toinfluence the swing voters—those who areeither somewhat interested or not veryinterested in your issue. Those are the peoplewhose behavior you have the best chance ofinfluencing. Focus on people who say they arewilling to and interested in buying local, butaren’t yet committed to it. Give themcompelling reasons to move forward. If youcan, find a message (as CISA did) that iscompelling to both the swing shopper and thecommitted shopper who already buys local.

In CISA’s case, “benefits the local economy”isn’t a campaign slogan, per se. But whatwe learned was the importance of stressingthe primacy of the “local” idea in CISA’scampaign. That was critical.

The most important

thing when you run

any kind of a

campaign is that you

must identify the call

to action that will

motivate someone to

take an action or be

concerned.

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FoodRoutes Network: What approachescan be used to conduct message andaudience surveys?

Marty: The most common methods are focusgroups and phone interviews. With a limitedbudget, do a telephone study. Don’t do focusgroups initially unless you have a lot ofmoney. Developing messages, addressingobstacles to your goal, and identifyingmessengers, marketing and ad vehicles forcarrying the messages can all be donethrough a phone survey. Make sure you hirea firm that can use a phone survey to giveyou all of that.

Focus groups are good at establishing aconsumer language. The focus group formatlets people talk about an issue in their ownlanguage. You want your campaign to usetheir language and focus groups help youidentify that language and then mirror it inyour own campaign.

Take CISA’s Local Hero campaign. Researchthat was conducted by phone identified localmessages as effective calls-to-action:benefits the local economy and supportingyour neighbors. But CISA did not simply takethe exact wording of the message that wastested for the campaign; instead, the “Be aLocal Hero” slogan was adopted. AlthoughCISA elected not to do focus groups, focusgroups can be an ideal way to developactual campaign materials and a sloganaround the message you have identified inyour telephone survey.

FoodRoutes Network: What does messagedevelopment research cost?

Marty: I’d say that you need about $25,000to do basic message and audience researchusing a large research firm. It’s a function ofthe math—the statistical significance thatcomes with different survey sizes. Ourstandard cost for each completed, 20-minutesurvey is about $50. (Editor’s note: Otherfirms may offer lower rates depending onsurvey length and complexity of research.) And500 interviews give you a margin of errorof plus or minus six percent. Why is thatimportant? Because if you intend to use thedata externally at all—with the media,government officials, etc.—results fromsurveys that are done with samples under500 will be scrutinized more and the mediamay be reluctant to publish the results.

Since CISA had a more limited budget, weinterviewed about 450 people for the pre-campaign message survey. It’s always betterto do more surveys than fewer. If you have$15,000, I’d tell you to find more money soyou can do 400 surveys rather than use the$15,000 to do only 300.

FoodRoutes Network: How can organizationsminimize the cost of their market andmessage research?

Marty: Find partners to share the cost. Findorganizations and businesses that can benefitfrom the outcomes that you yourself want toachieve. With [Buy Local campaigns], ifsupermarkets thought that they might bemore able to sell local food with shrewdmarketing, go to them and get them to kickin money for consumer research. Say thatyou’ll share the data with them and it willtell them how to sell this food in their stores.The key is to talk to as many groups as youcan and form a coalition so you don’t haveto ask for so much money from any one group.

Keep in mind that you must define theobjectives to suit their own needs and thenmake the case that that information willbenefit others. Don’t develop yourquestionnaire by committee. Don’t do that. Itwill dilute the value and relevance to yourown campaign. Have a reputable firmdevelop a survey that suits you, and getothers to see how your tool can benefit them.

FoodRoutes Network: Many nonprofits don’thave the resources to pay for professionalresearch. What about getting a marketresearch to give you a discounted rate ordo the research on a pro bono basis?

Marty: There are many firms that do workcheaply to help the company’s image—theymight give you a lower rate to get the workon their resume. Do not do that! I can tell youthat that kind of work is always relegatedto the back burner when firms have that sortof motivation. You could enter a nightmare—you could get lucky or you might not. Thereis only one exception, and that is if the firmis committed to nonprofits and believes inyour cause.

So be very selective when considering offersof pro bono work. Especially for largeresearch firms, work for nonprofits ismarginally profitable at best and they won’tdo a good job unless they are highlymotivated for “values” reasons.

Find partners to

share the cost. Find

organizations and

businesses that can

benefit from the

outcomes that you

yourself want to

achieve.

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FoodRoutes Network: What about havinga questionnaire professionally designed andthen using volunteers to perform the phoneinterviews?

Marty: It’s a bad idea to have volunteersmake the phone calls using a professionallydesigned survey because it takes skills thatvolunteers don’t have, you need consistencyin the calling technique, and if you intend touse the research publicly, it will have nocredibility to the outside world.

FoodRoutes Network: What common mistakesdo you see nonprofit organizations makewhen planning and researching outreachcampaigns?

Marty: They assume that the public thinks likethem, and they don’t. They think their issue isimportant to people, and it’s not.

You must convince people to believe you. Andyou must find the thing that most convincesthem. It’s often something that has nothing todo with your campaign. For instance, thepotential impact of the campaign on theeconomy of western Massachusetts overallis hard to predict. But ask people what theywant to hear, and then tell them that.

For example, you can’t go in withpreconceived notions that people care asdeeply about an issue as you do. There isan organization I know of, for instance, thatwants to save from extinction a specificspecies of fish. The staff at that nonprofithave dedicated much of their professionallives to this goal. But people really don’t carethat much about saving a fish, especiallywhen you consider all the other problems theyhave in their daily lives. Parochial interestsdominate. So cast your issue in a largerframework that people already careabout—such as the local economy or healthyfood—and that will engage them.

The whole purpose of this research is toidentify what people care about andgenerate a call to action that will work.Nonprofits are frequently blinded by theirown motivations and passion for an issue andoften think they know what call to action willwork. In my experience, they are rarely right.

FoodRoutes Network: What other advicewould you give you researching audiencesand messages?

Marty:

• Know that people don’t think like you do.

• You don’t know what people think andwhat will motivate them to action. The wholepurpose of this research is to understandthat.

• People have underlying attitudes that willinfluence the effectiveness of thecampaign. Until you do the research andthen use it to twist and turn messages torespond to their underlying beliefs, youwon’t be successful.

Advice From Our Researcher

• The higher the recognition that the firm has, the better. If you’lluse data only internally, finding a firm with the requisite skillsis probably enough. But if you’re going to release the resultsto the public, use the best-known firm because their namecarries the most weight.

• Timeliness and responsiveness—will the firm spend the time ittakes to do a good job for you?

• Examine the firm’s track record. Have they done work similarto what you need?

• Is the firm willing to give you a price that is all-inclusive andvery specific—and in writing?

• Does the primary contact person know your issue and careabout it? Does that person understand your organization andwhat you are trying to accomplish?

WHAWHAWHAWHAWHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FT SHOULD YOU LOOK FT SHOULD YOU LOOK FT SHOULD YOU LOOK FT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR WHENOR WHENOR WHENOR WHENOR WHENSELECTING A MARKET RESEARCHER?SELECTING A MARKET RESEARCHER?SELECTING A MARKET RESEARCHER?SELECTING A MARKET RESEARCHER?SELECTING A MARKET RESEARCHER?

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Market Research Data

FoodRoutes NetworkThis organization’s Web site, www.foodroutes.org, includes the results from focus groupsand extensive telephone polls conducted in locations across the United States in2001 and 2002. These surveys explored attitudes, purchasing behavior and consumermessaging related to locally and sustainably grown foods.

Attracting Consumers With Locally Grown Products.This October 2001 report was prepared by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln,Food Processing Center for the North Central Initiative for Small Farm Profitability.It can be downloaded at www.farmprofitability.org.

The Hartman GroupThis Seattle organization has produced various research materials. For a completelist of their research reports, visit www.hartman-group.com/productslisting.html orcall (425) 452-0818.

Perceptions of Rural AmericaThis November 2001 survey, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research,measured the perceptions of urban and suburban residents in an effort to determineattitudes regarding rural life and the cultural values inherent in rural America. Italso measured rural residents’ perceptions of themselves and their communities. It isavailable on the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Web site, www.wkkf.org.

Conducting Audience and Message ResearchThere are many resources for conducting audience and message research; the oneslisted here are a few of the best and easiest to read. Some of the best literature isabout focus groups. Many of the principles for planning and conducting good focusgroups apply to other research methods, so do consult them even if you expect toother use methodologies.

The Focus Group KitThis 1998 series of six books, is available as a set or separately from SagePublications in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (phone: (805) 499-9774; Web:www.sagepub.com, or e-mail: [email protected]). Sage publishes many of the most-respected texts on focus groups. These books contain a wealth of information aboutfocus groups, and are very easy to read and understand. The titles are nicely self-explanatory and include:

The Focus Group Guidebook, Focus Group Kit, Volume 1, David L. Morgan

Planning Focus Groups, Focus Group Kit, Volume 2, David L. Morgan

Developing Questions for Focus Groups, Focus Group Kit, Volume 3, Richard A.Krueger

Moderating Focus Groups, Focus Group Kit, Volume 4, Richard A. Krueger

Involving Community Members in Focus Groups, Focus Group Kit, Volume 5, RichardA. Krueger and Jean A. King

Analyzing and Reporting Focus Group Results, Focus Group Kit, Volume 6, RichardA. Krueger

RESOURCESRESOURCESRESOURCESRESOURCESRESOURCES

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Conducting Audience and Message Research (continued)

Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, Richard A. Krueger, 1994.This is regarded as the “bible” of focus group research. Good additions to the 1988edition are broader coverage of analyzing results and of cultural diversity.

The Wilder Nonprofit Field Guide to Conducting Successful Focus Groups, Judith SharkenSimon, Wilder Publishing Center.

Making Health Communications Work, National Cancer Institute, U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services.This is a classic for health communicators and covers excellent audience researchbasics in good “how-to” detail. The hard copy is no longer available, but you canaccess the information online at http://rex.nci.nih.gov/INTRFCE_GIFS/INFO_PATS_INTR_DOC.htm

Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art, David L. Morgan, ed., SagePublications, 1993.

Attachments

Penn, Schoen & Berland Final Research Report (March 1999)

Penn, Schoen & Berland Post-Campaign Tracking Survey Results (January 2002)

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Chapter 8:Designing Your Communications Plan

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Margaret Christie, former executive director of CISA, recalls:

In the spring of 1999, CISA sent out a news release sayingwe were going to do the campaign. Our staff had had basicmedia training and we knew we should do a news release.But the release wasn’t connected to any broader packageof communications or an event. After getting our release, alocal farm reporter went to his usual ag contacts and farmerfriends to get their take on our not-yet-unveiled campaign.Much to our chagrin, they said the campaign sounded like alousy idea! The reporter’s article printed their opinions andmentioned that we were using several non-local communicationconsultants. We got bashed twice in one article.

This experience showed us that we knew a little, but not enough.We knew enough to send a news release, but we didn’t knowhow to get the media to say what we wanted them to say.We didn’t anticipate that tapping flashy Washington, D.C.,consultants was a good message for some audiences, butmight be counterproductive for a local one. And we weren’tvery savvy at delivering our message so that the audiencepicked up just that message and not other things.

The lesson for us: plan ahead. Prepare a very clear, consistent,simple message and stick to it. Integrate your variouscommunications efforts so that appropriate messages arethe ones that get heard.

HOW NOT TO MANAGE THE MEDIA:HOW NOT TO MANAGE THE MEDIA:HOW NOT TO MANAGE THE MEDIA:HOW NOT TO MANAGE THE MEDIA:HOW NOT TO MANAGE THE MEDIA:A LESSON IN LEARNING WHAA LESSON IN LEARNING WHAA LESSON IN LEARNING WHAA LESSON IN LEARNING WHAA LESSON IN LEARNING WHAT YOU DON’T KNOT YOU DON’T KNOT YOU DON’T KNOT YOU DON’T KNOT YOU DON’T KNOWWWWW

Planning your campaign’s communicationsefforts can be a very exciting process. Yourcommunications work is a way to present yourissue to the community, to engage them andcall them to action. No matter what yourbudget, good planning is central to astrategic, well-organized communicationseffort. We hope that this chapter gives yousome ideas for how to plan well. Keepreading if you’re interested in:

• A step-by-step guide to strategiccommunications planning

• Things to keep in mind as you get started

• Tips for economizing

• Suggestions for working with the media

• Ideas for involving your community

• A list of resources for further learning

You’ll find more information on budgetingfor your communications work in chapter 2,Planning and Budgeting.

Given the challenges that Community Involvedin Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) experiencedwhen planning our own communications work,we encourage you to take yourcommunications planning seriously. Giveyourself enough time to do it well. Availyourself of outside expertise if you can,particularly if you haven’t communicated onthis scale before. You may find yourself ona very steep learning curve (as we certainlywere), especially during the first year ofyour campaign. A well-thought outcommunications plan can position you forsmoother implementation, better results andfewer sleepless nights.

THE EIGHT BASIC STEPS OFTHE EIGHT BASIC STEPS OFTHE EIGHT BASIC STEPS OFTHE EIGHT BASIC STEPS OFTHE EIGHT BASIC STEPS OFSTRASTRASTRASTRASTRATEGIC COMMUNICTEGIC COMMUNICTEGIC COMMUNICTEGIC COMMUNICTEGIC COMMUNICAAAAATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSPLANNINGPLANNINGPLANNINGPLANNINGPLANNINGAs Margaret’s story reflects (see sidebar),having a well-organized plan for yourcommunications work is critical. What followsis a step-by-step communications planningguide. It was provided by the communicationsfirm used by FoodRoutes Network (formerlyFires of Hope), Vanguard Communications inWashington, D.C.

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We hope it will give you a helpful frameworkfor developing the communications plan foryour Buy Local program.

1) Determine Your GoalTo initiate a successful and effectivecommunications effort, start with anassessment of your current program goals.Examine what your program stands for—itsmission, values, and beliefs. Look closely atwho your program is serving. This processwill help narrow and sharpen the focus foryour communications initiative(s).

• What issue is most important to yourprogram right now?

• Who is most affected by this issue?

• Who makes decisions about this issue?

• What is the overall goal you want toachieve?

• What tangible outcomes would you liketo achieve through a communicationseffort?

• How will you know you are achieving yourgoals?

2) Identify and Profile YourAudiencesOnce you’ve identified your key issues, it’stime to identify and profile specificaudiences to target with a communicationsinitiative. This kind of background informationis essential in choosing the most effective waysto communicate with the audience. MadisonAvenue has learned this lesson well, now weneed to apply some of the same kind ofthinking to communicating about your issue.

Think about the answers to the followingquestions, as they pertain to your Buy Localcampaign:

• Whose knowledge, attitudes, andbehavior must be changed in order tomeet your goal? (These groups nowbecome your primary audiences.)

• Who else is affected if you succeed inyour goal? (These groups are yoursecondary audience.)

• Are there others who can influence primaryand secondary audiences? (You may seea role for these folks as allies andpartners.)

• What do you know about this audience’s

knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors asthey relate to your issue?

• What are the barriers to this audiencefully supporting or participating inreaching your goal? What are the benefitsif they do?

• What are the characteristics of thisaudience? How do they spend their time?What are their gender, ethnicity andincome level? How have they beeneducated? What are the languageconsiderations? What or who are theyinfluenced by? What makes newinformation credible for them? What orwho could motivate change or action?

3) Develop Your MessagesYour messages are closely tied to your goaland objectives. They deliver importantinformation about the issue and compel thetargeted audience to think, feel or act. Theyshould:

• Show the importance, urgency, ormagnitude of the issue

• Show the relevance of the issue

• Put a “face” on the issue

• Be tied to specific values, beliefs, orinterests of the audience

• Reflect an understanding of what wouldmotivate the audience to think, feel, or act

• Be culturally competent

• Be memorable

The messages you develop can become theunderlying themes for your materials andactivities. You may develop slogans basedon them. You may develop sets of talkingpoints that members of your team will use inmaking presentations. And they easilybecome the basis for radio and print publicservice announcements (PSAs), the genesis forposters, and may suggest topics for factsheets, drop-in articles, and even letters tothe editor or newspaper editorials.

Regardless of the purpose, messages mustbe developed with consideration of thedesired outcome. Factors that help determinepublic acceptance include:

• Clarity

• Consistency

• Main points

Your messages. . .

deliver important

information about the

issue and compel the

targeted audience to

think, feel or act.

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• Tone and appeal

• Credibility

• Public need

Prior to final production, messages shouldbe pre-tested with the target audiences (andin some cases with channel “gatekeepers”)to assure public understanding and otherintended responses.

4) Select Channels, Activities andMaterialsCommunications channels carry the messagesto the target audiences. Channels take manyforms and there is an infinite list ofpossibilities. Answering some key questionswill aid you in identifying the most effectivechannels for reaching your audiences:

• Where or from whom does this audienceget its information?

• Who do they find credible?

• Where does this audience spend most ofits time?

• Where are they most likely to give youtheir attention?

Sample Channels:Television stationsRadio stationsNewspapersWeb sitesCommunity centersLocal festivalsLaundromatsLocal government offices (e.g., Division ofMotor Vehicles, post offices)MallsParksSchoolsCollegesLibrariesVocational and language training centersRecreation centers (e.g. basketball courts orsoccer fields)Community nonprofit officesTransportation depots/stationsSupermarketsFast food restaurantsLiterature racksVideo rental storesBeauty/barber shopsGas stationsMovie theaters

What are the activities, events, and/ormaterials—to be used in your selectedchannels—that will most effectively carryyour message to the intended audiences? Inchoosing these, you should consider:

• Appropriateness to audience, goal, andmessage

• Relevance to desired outcomes

• Timing

• Climate of community toward the issue/activity

• Costs/resources

• Cultural competence (including language)

• Environment—geographic considerations

Sample Activities:News conferencesNewspaper editorial board meetingsRadio talk or call-in showsBenefit raceParadesWeb site linksConferencesOne-on-one meetingsOpen housesSpeechesHotlinesListservsInformation fairsFamily gatherings

Materials to Support Activities:News releasesFliers and brochuresOpinion editorials (op-eds)Letters to the editorPostersPSAsBookmarksVideo presentationsWeb pagesParade floatsButtons, pins, and ribbonsBumper stickersPromotional items and giveaways

5) Establish PartnershipsGroups, organizations, or businesses mayexist that would aid you in reaching yourgoal by providing funds, expertise, support,or other resources. List allies or partners whosupport or work with your audiences or sharein your goals. Make your community partnerspart of your team.

Answering some key

questions will aid you

in identifying the

most effective

channels for reaching

your audiences.

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6) Develop and Pre-test• Develop prototype

• Review and pre-test

• Revise and refine

• Produce

7) Implement the PlanThere are many tools for organizing yourselfaround time, dollars, and staff needed toimplement an initiative. Of course you shouldfeel free to use your own tried and truemanagement tools. Here are some tips fordetermining your resource needs:

1. List all activities.

2. Under each activity, outline the steps, inorder, that will lead to its completion.

3. Assign a budget estimate to each step.

4. Assign a staffing needs estimate to eachstep.

5. Working backwards from the activitycompletion point, assign a date for eachstep in the activity.

8) Evaluate and Make Mid-CourseCorrections• Develop an evaluation plan for your

communications program (preferably atthe same that time that you develop yourcommunications plan).

• Develop systems and tools for trackingthe effectiveness of your communicationswork.

• Establish a timetable and assignresponsibilities for the evaluation of yourcommunications program.

• Assess the strengths and weaknesses ofindividual communications tools and youroverall communication strategy.

• Revise your approach accordingly.

For more information on evaluation, seechapter 11.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND AS YOUGET STARTED• Do you have a coherent communications

package? Communication efforts are mosteffective when the various communicationstools fit together, reinforce one another,and add up to a complete package. Youwant your communications efforts to be

greater than the sum of its parts, so reallyexplore how to develop a comprehensive,well-designed package.

• What will it cost? What are your optionsfor getting radio ads aired, or newspaperads placed? How much can you rely onfree media, community events and the helpof volunteers to get your message out?We found that the cost of paid media(and media consultants) was higher thanwe’d expected and that prioritizingcommunications activities is essential.

• How should your communications workbe sequenced? Will you use a variety ofcommunication tools simultaneously orintroduce some before others? Whatpreparation will be needed as variouscommunications efforts are initiated? Forinstance, what legwork should you do toensure that retailers are prepared to useyour point-of-purchase (POP) materials assoon as your ads begin hitting newspapersor the airwaves? What groundwork do youneed to lay with reporters in your area sothat they will attend your launch and othercommunity events?

• How will you staff your communicationswork? CISA created the position ofcampaign coordinator in the first year ofthe campaign. This staff person wasresponsible for ensuring that all aspectsof our communications—from ad designand placement to farmer and retailerrecruitment—were implemented accordingto schedule. This was an exceptionallychallenging position, especially in the firstyear of the campaign. This staff personwas constantly pushed and pulled indifferent directions and had a hugeworkload. You will find a job descriptionfor this position in the attachments, onpage 77.

• Are your spokespeople ready to roll?Before you ask the media to talk to you,it’s important to decide who’s going to talkto them. Choose people who are well-versed in your issues and can accuratelyrepresent your Buy Local program andits messages. Reporters usually prefer tospeak to the person in charge, so you maywant to make that a factor in yourdecision. You also may want to chooserepresentatives who can speak personallyabout growing or selling locally grownfood. Farmers tend to have great

Communication

efforts are most

effective when the

various

communications

tools fit together,

reinforce one

another, and add up

to a complete

package.

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credibility, but you may need to train themas spokespeople to be most effective.Before sending your spokesperson to dointerviews, conduct an in-depth, mockquestion-and-answer session to preparehim or her for the meeting.

• Do you have good message discipline?Communicating a clear, concise, consistentmessage is a key to success. And as yourcampaign attracts attention, your work willlikely come under more scrutiny. Thatmakes it essential for all of yourspokespeople (whether they have thatrole formally or informally) to know whatmessage to deliver and to haveappropriate answers to difficultquestions. Better to be prepared thanwing it and then need to do damagecontrol.

• What adjustments might you need tomake? As CISA’s campaign got rolling, wefound that we needed to revise some ofour newspaper ads, POP and othermaterials, and our approaches for gettingthem into public view. Anticipate that you’llprobably need to revise some of your toolsand that you may need considerable stafftime to manage that process.

• What is your process for makingdecisions? Have your Buy Local teamagree early on to a manageable processfor making decisions about yourcommunications work. Having a goodprocess in place can help you manage lastminute demands by busy board membersand designers working on tight deadlines.

• How will you evaluate your progress?How will you assess the effectiveness ofyour communications work? Whatinformation do you need to track? Yourevaluation can help you best if you thinkabout it early in your program’sdevelopment and get the needed systemsin place before your campaign is in fullgear. For more on these issues, seechapter 11.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORKING WITHTHE MEDIAThe local media are likely to be resourcesfor you as your campaign gets underway.Here are a few ideas to help you workeffectively with the media.

There are a lot of ways to use your resources on communications,so you’ll undoubtedly need to economize. Here are a few tips onstretching your communications dollar.

Recruit Flagship StationsEstablishing “flagship media” can ensure that your campaign’smessage is being promoted by at least one television and/orradio station in the community. When an outlet signs up as aflagship for your media effort, it normally agrees to reportregularly on your activities and get involved in community relationsfor the effort. Why would a station want to be a flagship? Mostmedia devote some airtime or advertisement space to publicservice, so they are constantly on the lookout for importantcommunity projects that they can promote. If an issue haswidespread public support, media, particularly radio andtelevision, like to be seen as supporters too.

In order to avoid alienating other stations in your area, it’simportant that you limit your exclusive “flagship” relationship tofeature news. This way whenever you have a truly hard newsstory, all of the media in town can have equal access to it. Contactthe public affairs person at the station to inquire about establishinga partnership.

Use Consultants JudiciouslyWhen you contract with consultants, make sure to include clearlanguage that spells out their responsibilities, your responsibilities,their pay, and the duration of the contract. Specify the productsthat will be produced, the formats they will be produced in andthe deadlines for production. Put everything in writing, especiallyany changes or amendments to the contract. And don’t be afraidto ask contractors to submit detailed reports of their work on aregular basis. Also make sure that graphic designers and othersgive you deliverables in an electronic format that you can edityourself rather than paying for their time to make revisions.

Build In-House SkillsYou may find that cultivating new skills among your staff andvolunteers is more cost effective than relying perpetually on outsidegraphic designers, Web site programmers, etc. Consider hiringa consultant to do most of the newspaper ad placement in yearone, for instance, but also have them teach you so that you canbring some functions in-house thereafter. Also, skills like desktoppublishing might be applied to tasks like Web site developmentand production of your farm guide and newsletter. Moving thework in house isn’t always feasible, but it’s worth considering.

Handle Your Own PhotographyA $600 digital camera and a good amateur photographer cansave a lot in professional fees. Consider using homegrown photosfor your newsletter and Web site and paying a professionalphotographer to take pictures only for newspaper ads and othermaterials that call for higher quality photos.

TIPS FOR ECONOMIZINGTIPS FOR ECONOMIZINGTIPS FOR ECONOMIZINGTIPS FOR ECONOMIZINGTIPS FOR ECONOMIZING

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Hire an InternConsider approaching a local college or university about hiringstudents as interns to work on your campaign. Many collegesrequire their students to complete internships or volunteer projectsto graduate. Photography and graphic design students canhelp with your materials. Marketing, business, public relationsand advertising students could help with communications planning,media outreach, market research and evaluation. Students canalso help staff your events, make follow-up visits to stores thatagreed to display your POP materials, and assist with officeadministration.

Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate!Campaign evaluation will be explored in detail in chapter 11,but remember that evaluation can tell you not only what isworking and what isn’t, but also how you could better use yourcampaign funds. For instance, after CISA’s year one evaluationwe stopped placing ads on buses and sending out direct mail.Instead, we redirected that money to newspaper and radioadvertising, which were shown to generate greater awarenessof our campaign.

TIPS FOR ECONOMIZING (CONTINUED)TIPS FOR ECONOMIZING (CONTINUED)TIPS FOR ECONOMIZING (CONTINUED)TIPS FOR ECONOMIZING (CONTINUED)TIPS FOR ECONOMIZING (CONTINUED)

Develop Relationships with theMediaLocal newspapers are typically on thelookout for positive local news, and youshould work diligently to ensure that theyknow what you are up to and why your BuyLocal program is important to their readers.Anticipate that radio news departments,however, will vary in their commitment togenerating their own local news stories.

Be sure to pay attention to which reportersare picking up your news releases and storyideas. Give them a “heads-up” phone callwhen you are getting ready to send out anews release or farmer profile. Ask themwhat interests them about your program soyou can be sure to feed them informationwhen it becomes available. Some reportersappreciate getting the “scoop,” but becareful that you don’t exclude otheropportunities by relying on just one reporterto get your information out to the public.

If you are fortunate enough to have a stationwith a commitment to local news, develop agood relationship with them. However, CISAhas found that local TV stations have a spottycommitment to rural issues, especially if you

are located near an urban center. One wayto increase the chance of getting TVcoverage is to invite a local news anchor toserve as emcee at one of your events orinvite the meteorologist to broadcast froman event.

Say Thank YouGestures like sending reporters a thank-younote after a well-written story are importantfor building and sustaining mediarelationships. Some reporters need toadvocate for your events or issues withintheir organization, and a “thank you”(perhaps accompanied by one of your niftyBuy Local T-shirts) can convey how much youappreciate their interest.

Send Targeted StoriesCISA has found that providing our ownfeature stories (beyond what we’d includein a typical news release) can lead todetailed coverage of local farming. Wewrite one to two page “farmer profiles”about local farms—history, products, hopesand dreams—and send them to localreporters as a way to pique their interestin a specific farm or story idea. On severaloccasions, reporters have either used theinformation as the impetus to create a moredetailed story, or printed our story withoutsignificant changes.

When thinking about whom to send yourreleases or story ideas to, think creatively.Editors, producers and reporters are alwayslooking for new ways to present their storiesor to put a local spin on national events.Columnists and special interest reporters(those who cover things besides straight news:lifestyle, food, agriculture, business, health,etc.) can bring your message home to loyalaudiences who are actively seekinginformation on your topic. Repeating yourstory with various angles can help you getmultiple placements and keep localagriculture issues in front of people in yourcommunity.

Hold Events and Get the Media toParticipateDon’t be shy about staging events or givingawards to get attention. In the best of allworlds we would get great coveragebecause our work is important, but that oftenisn’t the way it goes. One way to get morecoverage is to have local restaurants donate

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dishes made with locally grown food for yourcampaign launch event. The reporters willlove the food and the restaurants will lovethe free publicity. Another option is to stagean awards ceremony to commend retailersthat have sold locally grown products, aswe did at our kickoff. While they can be time-consuming to arrange, the possibilities forlow cost, interactive events are endless.

Write a News ReleaseNews releases can be a terrific, low-costtool for any Buy Local program and theycan be a great way to get the mediainterested in your work. Here are a fewpointers to help make sure your newsrelease stands out.

Format• Make headlines bold instead of ALL CAPS.

• List a contact person and his or her officephone number in the upper right-handcorner of the page.

• Type “FOR RELEASE [date, time]” in theupper left-hand corner of the page.

• For news releases issued in advance ofbreaking news, type “EMBARGOED FORRELEASE [date, time]” in the upper left-hand corner of the page.

• If longer than one page, type “-more-”at the bottom of every page.

• Type “—30—” or “###” at the end ofthe final page.

• Put shortened titleand page number inthe upper-right handcorner of the secondpage and on.

Copy Content• Use inverted pyramid writing

style, stating facts in descendingorder of importance.

• Write in the active voice and use shortsentences and paragraphs.

• Try to keep it one page.

• If possible, follow Associated PressStylebook rules.

• Every time you start a new topic, start anew paragraph.

• Proofread your release.

First Paragraph• Answers ‘what is news’ using the five W’s

(Who, What, When, Where, and Why).

• “Hooks” the reporter into reading the restof your release by isolating the mostinteresting aspect of your subject.

• Is direct and short and doesn’t include thename of an unknown unless it is written asa feature story.

Second Paragraph• Amplifies the lead, expanding on the

information provided in the lead.

• Answers anticipated questions that you hintat in the lead.

• Reveals the name of the organizationissuing the news release.

Third Paragraph• Includes a quote from an organization

representative or third party. This quoteendorses the news release message.

Final Paragraphs• The following paragraphs provide more

detail to the reader in descending orderof importance. Therefore, don’t putinformation in the last paragraph that youwant to get used. Editors may only readthe first few paragraphs.

• The final paragraph should includebackground information about yourorganization (major purpose campaigns,membership size, and nonprofit status).

Distribution• P r o d u c e

the news re-lease on your

o r g a n i z a t i o n ’ sletterhead and send

it out to localreporters who cover

local agriculture-relatedissues. Be sure to place a

follow-up call to thosereporters and ask them if they

One way to get more

coverage is to have

local restaurants

donate dishes made

with locally grown

food for your

campaign launch

event.

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If your “news” is not really newsworthy, even the best-writtennews release will get tossed. Make sure your release featuresan event, a result or a story that is of compelling interest to thecommunity. So, what is newsworthy?

• Something new, that no one has ever said or heard before.

• Something timely—yesterday’s news is old news.

• Something that involves a public figure, a celebrity, or awell-known organization.

• Something unusual or ironic.

• Something with a human-interest angle.

• Something visual (for television and photography).

• Something that centers on an event or happening.

• Something that affects a large number of people.

• Something that is a variation of a theme already receivingmedia attention.

• Something interesting on an otherwise slow news day.

• Something that benefits a large number of readers, viewers,or listeners.

• Something that is a threat or danger to the community.

• Something that pulls at people’s “heart strings.”

Each of these elements alone may not make your storynewsworthy. But if several apply, you probably have a storyworth pitching to reporters.

WHAWHAWHAWHAWHAT IS NEWT IS NEWT IS NEWT IS NEWT IS NEWSSSSSWWWWWORTHY?ORTHY?ORTHY?ORTHY?ORTHY?

would like additional information.

• Put a copy of the news release on yourWeb site, so that reporters who did notreceive it or misplaced it can still get theinformation.

A Few Words on QUOTES• Refine quotes grammatically. Make sure

they use appropriate grammar.

• Quote source should be placed in anatural break (at the end of the sentence.)

• Source should always have “said” not“says” or any other description.

• Don’t put one quote directly after a quotefrom another source unless one isresponding to another. (In this case, reversethe order of where you name the source.)

• If you don’t have a title for the source,use, for example, “Joe Smith ofOrganization Name.”

• Source titles: short titles for a name gofirst and long titles go last. (e.g., ExecutiveDirector Joe Smith versus Joe Smith,Organization Name executive director).

IDEAS FOR INVOLVING YOURCOMMUNITYInvolving members of your community in yourBuy Local program is key to near-termsuccess and sustained impact. When youconsider activities and events for engagingthem, ask yourself: Will it help us reach thegoals of our campaign? Will it reinforce orcomplement our ongoing activities? Will itprovide an entry point for a wide varietyof people to participate in your program?Think about the timing of your activity. Andbe sure you’ve considered the cost—interms of both time and money—an eventmay involve.

Here are handful of events and activities tospark your creative juices:

I Hereby Declare. . . Ask your mayor or citycouncil to issue a proclamation declaring thelast week in August “(Your City) Buy LocalFood Week.” Attend the news conference ormeeting where the proclamation is issued sothat you can answer questions from reportersattending the event.

Draw or Write About Farming. Sponsor aposter or essay contest for junior high orhigh school students to raise awareness inthe community. Ask for drawings or essaysthat illustrate food and farming in yourcommunity. Provide school faculty with localfarming fact sheets and contest rules. Printthe winning poster or essay in thenewspaper with a local number or Web siteaddress to obtain more information. Askfarmers to donate prizes, farm visits, hayrides, etc.

Take ’Em Out to the Ballgame. Athleticevents provide a great opportunity todistribute information about yourorganization, whether it’s a professional,college, high school or community sportingevent. Set up a table at the entrance gateand pass out information. Ask the gameannouncer to mention your Buy Local programduring halftime or timeouts. You can also asksports organizations and facilities to put a

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:COMMUNICCOMMUNICCOMMUNICCOMMUNICCOMMUNICAAAAATIONS PLANNINGTIONS PLANNINGTIONS PLANNINGTIONS PLANNINGTIONS PLANNING

Buy Local food message in the program oron the scoreboard.

It’s in the Bag. Ask local stores to place BuyLocal information in shopping bags ascustomers check out. You can also design aflier and ask stores to display it by theircash registers or on their entrance and exitdoors. And ask these merchants to includeyour message on their next print run ofshopping bags.

Link Up. If you don’t have a Web site, youcan still get plenty of cyberspace mileageby networking with related organizations,agencies and companies. Ask groups andbusinesses to include a paragraph about yourorganization on their sites. Supply them withlogos from your organization to include ontheir sites. If you do have Web presence,you can use the same networking techniquesto increase traffic. Just ask those sameorganizations and companies to link to yoursite, and in return, you can offer to providea link to them.

Hang Your Message High. Put banners inthe lobbies of schools, grocery stores,libraries and other places. A simple messageworks best. Include your organization’s phonenumber and Web site address so thatpeople can request additional information.

Relate to the Community. Ask local civicorganizations, business and religious groupsif you can speak about your Buy Localprogram at one of their gatherings. Bringcopies of your educational materials todistribute. Ask attendees to fill out a sign-up sheet to receive more information. Followup with any local businesspeople inattendance about establishing a partnershipwith your organization.

• What are your short- and long-term communicationsobjectives?

• What is your timeline to launch and run the campaign?

• Who are your target audiences?

• What are the key communications messages?

• What are your staff and financial resources?

• What materials and activities will best disseminate yourmessage?

• What media will you target?

• What specific roles have you identified for yourspokespeople? What training will they need?

• What roles will participating farmers, retailers, partners,funders and staff play?

• How will you evaluate your communications work?

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Some of the materials in this chapter were adapted from the following sources:

Making Health Communications Programs Work: A Planner’s Guide, Office of CancerCommunications, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 1992. Availableonline at http://oc.nci.nih.gov/services/HCPW/HOME.HTM.

Enough is Enough! The Hellraiser’s Guide to Community Activism, Diane MacEachern,Avon Books, 1994.This book is out of print. For information on purchasing a copy, contact VanguardCommunications, 2121 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037; Phone: 202-331-4323; e-mail: [email protected].

Other suggested references include:

Community Activism and Communications Tactics

Hands on Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide, Nedra Kline Weinbrich, SagePublications, 1999.

The Jossey-Bass Guide to Strategic Communications for Nonprofits, Kathy Bonk et al,Jossey-Bass, 1999.To order publications from Jossey-Bass, call (877) 762-2974, fax (800) 597-3299,or visit www.josseybass.com.

Marketing Workbook Volume I: Develop The Plan, Second Edition, by Gary Stern withWeb Wisdom by Elana Centor, Wilder Publishing Center.To order publications from the Amherst A. Wilder Foundation Publishing Center, call(800) 274-6024.

Marketing Workbook Volume II: Mobilize People for Marketing Success, Gary Stern,Wilder Publishing Center,

FoodRoutes Network Communicators Toolkit

Publicity Campaigns

Guerilla PR, Michael Levine, Harper Collins, 1993.

Strategic Communications for Nonprofits, Benton Foundation and Center for StrategicCommunications, 1992.

Media DirectoriesMedia directories are available at most libraries. Your partners or other organizationsthat you frequently work with may also have copies. The most popular directories areBacon’s Media Directories, Gale’s Directory of Publications, and News Media YellowBook, all of which are national in scope. Call your local chamber of commerce orpress club for information on media directories for your city or state.

Remember, whatever printed source you use, special sections and programs are likelyto change, people in the media are likely to move around, and the information reportedin the latest annual directory may, in fact, already be dated by the time it is published.To ensure accuracy, a phone call is the best source for up-to-the-minute information.

AttachmentsMarketing Director Job Announcement

RESOURRESOURRESOURRESOURRESOURCES: COMMUNICCES: COMMUNICCES: COMMUNICCES: COMMUNICCES: COMMUNICAAAAATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONS

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Marketing Director Job Announcement

CISA’s Marketing Director will oversee a major organization program, a media andcommunications campaign supporting sustainable agriculture in western Massachusetts.Successfully coordination of this venture will require considerable skills in on-the-groundcommunity organizing, sophisticated communications planning, and knowledge ofagricultural marketing and distribution issues. Areas of major focus will include bothimplementation of existing campaign programs and long-term strategic planning for theevolution of this initiative.

Duties and Responsibilities:� Campaign planning and oversight in cooperation with CISA staff and board of directors

and the FoodRoutes Network Advisory Council� Partnership development: working with the executive director and board of directors to

build and maintain a cooperative relationship with funders, community organizations,institutions, and individuals; the FoodRoutes Network planning committee; the nationalFoodRoutes Network team; and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

� Media and public relations� Supervision of program assistant, interns, and work-study students

Desired Qualifications:� Commitment to CISA’s mission of sustaining agriculture in western Massachusetts by

strengthening the farmer/consumer connection� Marketing, communications and public relations skills� Successful track record of media, communications or advertising campaign

development� Experience with participatory, cooperative program planning and execution� Experience with marketing for nonprofit groups or social marketing� Knowledge of northeastern agriculture� Excellent oral and written communications skills� Strong interpersonal skills

Deadline: January 24, 2000, or until a satisfactory candidate is found.

CISA is an equal opportunity employer.

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There are a million and one tools and tacticsfor communicating with your audiences. Someinvolve mass media channels while others aregrassroots-based. Some are costly. Otherscan be done on a shoestring. Creativity isthe name of the game. It’s also worth keepingin mind that the cost of media buys, graphicdesigners, printing, and so on, vary widelyfrom one locale to another. As a result, we’dencourage you to get to know your mediamarket and explore a wide variety ofapproaches that might be a good fit foryour campaign and your community.

WHAT TACTICS TO CONSIDER?As Community Involved in SustainingAgriculture (CISA) began thinking about howto communicate with our target audience, wedrew heavily on our pre-campaign marketresearch and the pointers it gave us aboutwhich communications channels held promise.The research told us, for instance, thatnewspapers were an important source ofinformation for our audience. It also told uswhich particular papers they read the most.We also found that radio was an importantchannel, although the listenership wassplintered among a wide variety of stations.

We knew, as well, that more personalizedforms of community outreach were important.So events, tastings, in-store demonstrationsand farm tours needed to be a key piece ofthe puzzle. And point-of-purchase materialsat farmers markets, grocery stores and soon, were critical to enabling customers toidentify what was locally grown once theygot to the marketplace. CISA also wanted togarner as much “earned media” as possible(media coverage that we didn’t have to payfor: stories, editorials, etc.). So right fromthe get-go, we used quite a range ofcommunication tools.

We’ve since learned some important lessonsabout the challenges and benefits of eachof these tools. Our post-season consumertracking survey has also given us some veryuseful data about which techniques weremost effective in building consumerawareness and how the various toolsreinforce one another. (You’ll find our 2001

tracking survey results in chapter 11.) Wecontinue to hone the mix of tactics we useand to redirect our communications dollarsto those tactics that seem to generate thegreatest awareness.

To give you a flavor for how various toolsare working for us, this chapter exploreswhat CISA has tried to do and learnedregarding specific communications andoutreach channels. We hope this will giveyou some practical insights that you canapply to your own situation. On the followingpages, you’ll find summaries of ourexperience with:

• Newspaper ads

• Radio ads

• Point-of-purchase materials

• Posters

• Bus advertising signs

• Direct mail

• Promotional events

• Character suits (yes, that means peopledressed as carrots and apples)

• Farm Products Guide

• Annual farm tour

• Web site

. . . get to know your

media market and

explore a wide variety

of approaches that

might be a good fit

for your campaign

and your community.

Chapter 9:Communications Tools and Tactics

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• Swag (T-shirts and other items featuringour logo and slogan)

Examples of some of these materials areintegrated throughout the text, while otherscan be found in the attachments.

NEWSPAPER ADS

What We Did:In the first year of the campaign wepurchased a significant number of ads in tworegional daily papers. We ran about twoads per week, and each ad featured apicture of a farmer with a description ofwhat they grew as well as information aboutour campaign. We chose an eye-catching andmemorable design and a size that wasaffordable enough to run frequently. Theseads were very successful at building consumerawareness and interest in buying locallygrown and helping farmers get name andface recognition. “Putting a face on farming”was important to area consumers and thisadvertising strategy continues to work wellfor us.

What We Learned:• Once you start having a visible presence

in a few area papers, you may find thatmany other papers will start asking youto advertise with them. Some will try toshame or guilt you into buying ads; otherswill offer you some pretty tempting deals.You need to be skilled both at saying “no”and jumping on a good deal when oneappears.

• We persuaded a few of our retailpartners to add our Local Hero logo totheir own newspaper ads. This was a goodway to stretch our ad dollars and providedsome “feel good” publicity for the retailer.But many retailers and farmers werehesitant to do so because their ad spacewas tight or they did not want to changetheir long-standing ad design.

• Beware of the free weekly communitypapers that run a lot of classified adsand announcements. They may boast of alarge circulation and low advertisingrates, but unless they have a reasonablygood local news section it may not beworth the little money it costs to use them.We also ran into a problem with one suchpaper that refused to run a news storyabout our work until we bought ads from

them. Newspapers boast about a “firewall”between the editorial and advertisingsections, but apparently that wall hadburned down long ago at this paper.

• Make sure to ask for nonprofit ad rateswhen you approach newspapers, radiostations, etc. Many media organizationshave reduced rates for nonprofits, but youhave to ask for them.

RADIO ADS

What We Did:CISA had radio ads professionally producedfor our campaign. We had one 60-secondspot in our first campaign year and thenadded a second in year two. They weredesigned to be humorous, catch consumers’attention and “get under their skin.” Wethought that humor would be essential.People are exposed to hundreds of ads aday and ads are more likely to stand outfrom the crowd if they feature an emotionallyresonant or humorous theme.

We also had one of our farmers say a fewwords about his farm and say the tag lineat the end of each spot to make that personalconnection with consumers. While the bodyof the ad stayed the same, we had a varietyof farmers talk about their farms. Thisadded a spark to our standard ad and wasa perk that delighted many of our farmers.The ads cost $7,600 to produce and$15,000 to air for one season. But they alsogot very high rates of consumer recognition.They aired several times a day on a handfulof commercial stations each year, from Junethrough September.

Ultimately, we got a few complaints fromfarmers and others close to the campaignthat the ads were airing too frequently andwere becoming annoying. Our mediaconsultants assured us, however, that by thetime people close to the campaign were sickand tired of the ads, the general public wasjust starting to notice them.

What We Learned:• The cost of producing radio ads can be

daunting. Explore your options for low-costapproaches. (See page 82 for informationon public service announcements.)

• Explore locally produced alternatives, butmake sure the production and writingquality are up to snuff.

We persuaded a few

of our retail partners

to add our Local Hero

logo to their own

newspaper ads. This

was a good way to

stretch our ad dollars

and provided some

“feel good” publicity

for the retailer.

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• Watch out for media consultants who tryto entice you into higher gloss media thenyou want to use (e.g., television). We wererepeatedly encouraged by our radio adproducer to consider TV advertising despiteour adamant lack of interest. Unless youhave partnered with a TV station, think twiceabout producing television public serviceannouncements (PSAs). The ads may getlittle airplay, and when they do, it is likelyto be when your audience isn’t awake.

• Take care to monitor the radio stationsyou work with to make sure your ads areactually being aired.

• Inspect bills from radio stations for costdiscrepancies. Make sure to ask fornonprofit ad rates and verify that youare receiving them.

POINT-OF-PURCHASE MATERIALS

What We Did:We created point-of-purchase (POP)materials for use in stores, restaurants andother businesses, and by our farmers at theirstands, so that consumers could easily tellwhich foods are locally grown. Our POPmaterials include:

• Two sizes of “shelf talkers” (i.e., price cardswith our logo in the corner)

• Two sizes of Local Hero stickers to put onegg boxes, milk cartons, etc.

• A green, state fair-style Local Hero satinribbon

• Posters (discussed in more detail on page83)

• A six-inch, round Local Hero logo with awire stand for produce bins

• Local Hero bumper stickers and buttons

Thus far, we have provided POP materialsto our retail and restaurant partners freeof charge. They use a preprinted order formto request more materials when they run out.

What We Learned:• POP materials may be considered the

most important aspect of yourcampaign—how will the consumer knowwhich foods are locally grown withoutthem? Good design of appropriatematerials that get used is central to asuccessful campaign.

• We found that each grocery store,restaurant, etc. we work with has uniquesystems, requirements and aestheticpreferences. One set of materials definitelydoesn’t fit all. So before you invest in a lotof materials, work to understand yourpartners’ needs and past experiences withPOP materials. Then design materials theyare most likely to use.

CLERK: Excuse me ma’am. Please don’t squeeze the vegetables. Iwork here in the produce department. I can help you select thefreshest ones.

CUSTOMER: You look too young to work in such a big supermarket.What are you, a junior clerk or something?

CLERK: I’m the assistant manager of produce.

CUSTOMER: Assistant manager? You’re so young. Well, you mustbe very smart too. So tell me mister assistant manager, how can Itell if the vegetables are the freshest if I don’t squeeze them?

CLERK: It’s easy. If you want the freshets, all you have to do islook for this Local Hero label or sign.

CUSTOMER: The Local Hero?

CLERK: Yes, look over here. These tomatoes have the local herosign. That means they were grown on a local farm right here inwestern Massachusetts. Those tomatoes over there came from allthe way across the country.

CUSTOMER: So, when do I squeeze them?

CLERK: You don’t have to squeeze anything. When you see theLocal Hero sign, you know you’re getting food that’s farm fresh.

CUSTOMER: No squeezing? You sure mister assistant manager?

CLERK: Yes and there are also fresh Local Hero eggs, milk, poultry,meats, and maple syrup all grown or produced right here inwestern Mass—just look for the Local Hero signs or labels.

ANNOUNCER: For the freshest food in the store, look for the “LocalHero Western Mass Grown” labels or signs. A message fromCISA, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, on behalf ofwestern Massachusetts farms.

CUSTOMER: You’re pretty smart for such a young man. How ‘boutI just give you a squeeze?

CLERK: Mom, I’m working!

CUSTOMER: And so handsome. . .

CLERK: MOM!

CISA RADIO AD: LOCAL SQUEEZE (:60)CISA RADIO AD: LOCAL SQUEEZE (:60)CISA RADIO AD: LOCAL SQUEEZE (:60)CISA RADIO AD: LOCAL SQUEEZE (:60)CISA RADIO AD: LOCAL SQUEEZE (:60)

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If you are looking for less expensive ways to get yourmessage out through formal media channels, considerpublic service announcements (PSAs). PSAs are createdfor use like advertisements, except that they are“placed” without cost. Publications, radio stations andtelevision networks usually run PSAs on a “space-available” basis when they have unsold advertisingor commercial space. Here are some ideas to get youstarted on developing a PSA:

Brainstorm a List of PossibilitiesPSAs can be used in a variety of circumstances. Theycan be created on video cassettes and CDs, printedon grocery bags, posted on neighborhood bulletinboards, in theater playbills, and movie theater slideshows just to name a few. Radio PSAs can be writtenas “live announcer copy” to be read by on-airpersonalities. Print PSAs might even run as bookmark-sized versions of the complete PSAs.

Also think about the organizations that could makeyour PSA visible. Begin by identifying groups with whomyou often interact, businesses you support, groups whomight share your values, etc. Each is likely to have anewsletter or bulletin board where your PSA could beposted. They might include:

• Libraries, schools, city hall, other public buildings

• Community, neighborhood and tenant associations

• Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs)

• Houses of worship

• Shopping malls

• Youth centers, health clubs, arts centers, otherrecreational centers

• Neighborhood pharmacy or grocery store

Also look for low-cost ways to get your PSAs produced.For instance, a printing company might run a PSA onleftover scrap paper, print their company name onthe back side, and donate the bookmarks fordistribution at community events—a winning idea forall concerned.

If you have not already compiled a local media list,do so. You may be able to borrow lists alreadycreated by other organizations. Or go to your locallibrary and use one or more of the media directoriesavailable in the reference section. (See page 76 forsuggestions.)

CREACREACREACREACREATING PUBLIC SERTING PUBLIC SERTING PUBLIC SERTING PUBLIC SERTING PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTVICE ANNOUNCEMENTVICE ANNOUNCEMENTVICE ANNOUNCEMENTVICE ANNOUNCEMENTSSSSS

Think, too, about who the best contact person will beat each of these media organizations. In print media,the advertising director usually handles public servicespace. For television and radio, contact the publicservice director.

Getting Your PSA PlacedYour best bet for success is to visit those organizationsthat might feature your PSA. Remember, you arebuilding a relationship for the future as well as placingadvertisements. If it is not possible to make personalcalls, send the PSAs with a cover letter to the contactperson emphasizing why your PSA messages areimportant to their audience. Share evaluation dataabout your work and explain the social and financialbenefits to the community. Invite these organizations tobe part of your campaign.

And if you have volunteers at hand, involve them ingetting making your PSA out into the community.

Follow UpLastly, good follow-up is essential. Consider some ofthese approaches:

• Phone or Mail. Once you’ve made initial contact,follow up by telephone or mail to reiterate theimportance of running your PSA. Determine theparticular media outlet’s level of interest in yourPSA.

• Keep a Record of Response. Record the responsesto each pitch you make. Keep newspaper, televisionand radio clippings for your “brag book.” Trackthe public’s response when the PSAs run.

• Acknowledge Positive Responses. Send a thank-you letter to your contact when the PSA is run orposted. For those media outlets that have beenespecially generous, you might want to issue acertificate of appreciation or give specialrecognition at a local campaign event.

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• Really explore the specifics. For instance,we have two sizes of stickers but only thesmaller one gets used regularly. It turnsout that the larger size obscures too muchof most farmers’ labels.

• While it is easy to drop off POP materialsat the store and think that your job isdone, regular monitoring is essential toensure that the materials get used, andget used correctly. CISA hired a part-time“spotter” to visit stores during the heightof the campaign for just this purpose.

• Most retailers do their best with POPmaterials, but we’ve also seen Local Herosigns posted above avocados (obviouslysomething in that bin was local at somepoint). We’ve seen them promoting locallymanufactured food products (e.g., salsa)containing no local ingredients. We’ve seenthem languishing in the back room waitingfor someone who is motivated and knowshow to use them. Regular spotting is essential,especially if a store’s staff turnover is high.

• If your campaign is going to work with alot of retailers, take special care to ensurethat the stores’ employees understand thecampaign’s goals and the commitment thatthe store is making by participating—fromtop management to produce mangers andright on down to the shelf stockers. Thesepeople are busy and they move a lot ofproduct. A weak link in the chain can resultin POP materials that are in the wrongplace at the wrong time. Consider providingtraining to store staff about what the labelmeans and how to use your POP materialsappropriately. If they don’t understandyour campaign, they can’t answerconsumers’ questions. You need theirunderstanding and their involvement.

• And lastly, here’s a tip from one of ourconsultants: don’t put a sticker on everyjar or melon. Put stickers on every fifthone or so. That way the sticker stands outin the store rather than creating a uniformbackground. Consumers will notice themmore this way.

POSTERS

What We Did:CISA printed a full-color poster designed forgrocery store produce sections that read “Wesell locally grown products” and featuredpictures of farmers holding products, and our

logo. The posters came in twosizes, 11” x 17” and 21” x 30”and were intended to informcustomers of the store’ssupport for local farmers. Thebold, colorful posters got agood level of recognitionamong area consumers.

What We Learned:• It’s important to check with

area stores beforedesigning these materials.Ask about the spaces wherethey might display yourposters and find out whatsize would work best forthem. This will increase thelikelihood that your postersget used.

• Some stores may lack theequipment to display posters prominently.(For instance, posters requiring an easelthat takes up valuable floor space maynot be a good idea. Posters that hangfrom wires above produce bins might bea better choice.) Again, ask your retailerswhat would work best for them.

• We’ve found that store staff may notfollow through on promises to post thesematerials. Be sure to follow up—inperson—with every store that agrees todisplay your poster.

• We printed some posters featuring afarmer who subsequently left thecampaign. Those posters becameobsolete—a costly error. That experiencehas made us a bit more cautious aboutfeaturing farmers whose commitment tothe campaign isn’t solid.

BUS ADVERTISING SIGNS

What We Did:CISA had large, colorful signs placed on thesides of buses. We have a public bus systemin some of our more populated areas, sothis seemed like a good way to reachpedestrians, bus riders, car drivers and otherconsumers. The signs featured farmers andour logo and slogan, as well as the logos ofour sponsors. Our public relations consultantpurchased every single bus sign spot availablein our area during the first year of thecampaign (and that’s a lot of buses).

If your campaign is

going to work with a

lot of retailers, take

special care to ensure

that the stores’

employees

understand the

campaign’s goals and

the commitment that

the store is making by

participating.

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What We Learned:• Make sure that the images you use are

appropriate for your locale and yourfarmers. Our bus signs featured a whiteegg, which really bothered one of our localbrown egg producers. The egg producertold us of a marketing campaign yearsago that used the tag line, “Brown eggsare local eggs and local eggs are fresh.”What an embarrassing mistake!

• Purchasing so much ad space wasunnecessarily expensive. It turns out that ourbus company has a policy of runningnonprofit advertising for free to keep spaceson their buses filled. In fact, even though webought the ad space for a specific lengthof time (which has long since ended), we stillsee a few of our signs cruising by.

• Our consumer tracking survey found thatbus signs were not the most effectiveadvertising vehicle. We’ve since stoppedpaying for bus ads.

DIRECT MAIL

What We Did:We mailed out a glossy, four-page direct mailadvertising piece prior to launching thecampaign. The idea was that a direct mail piecewould “soften” the market and make peoplemore receptive to subsequent campaignadvertisements. The piece featured aphoto of a farmer’s grandchildren in hisstrawberry field, and included information onwhy buying locally grown was important to ourcommunity.

What We Learned:• The tracking survey showed that this piece

was not effective. We don’t know if this

was due to the mailing itself or problemswith its distribution. More than 60,000pieces (costing $9,000 to produce andmail) were reportedly sent to everyhousehold in a two-county area. However,no one on CISA’s staff received one in themail. This direct mail piece had one of thelowest awareness rates in the post-seasontracking survey conducted by our marketresearcher.

PROMOTIONAL EVENTS

What We Did:Our pre-campaign research indicated thatpeople in our community want to connect aface to the farm product and know the peoplewho grow their food. In the first year of thecampaign, we coordinated a very busyschedule of in-store tastings, tables at fairsand festivals, and other promotionalappearances. At each event we made sureto have our farmers there offering samples,whether it was milk, garlic, alfalfa sprouts,cheese or melon. The more events we did, themore calls we got from other organizationsasking us to bring farmers to their events.

What we learned:• Promotional events can be very important

for farmers on several levels. Some of ourfarmers reported that sales of theirproducts increased during tastings. Clearly,some shoppers liked what they tasted andbought more to take home. In some cases,it also strengthened relationships betweenour farmers and the retailers that hostedthe events. Some farmers, especially ourmilk producers, also reported that they had

Make sure that the

images you use are

appropriate for your

locale and your

farmers.

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a lot of comments from people telling themthey love their milk, that they already drinkit, and that they are glad to meet thefarmers in person. That morale boost canbe really important to farmers. And it’s agood opportunity for farmers to check outhow people react to their products.

• CISA wanted to have staff at every eventso that we could promote our messageand answer any questions. As moreappearances were requested, moredemands were made on staff time. Wehad to really scale back during the secondand third years of our campaign. Wesimply didn’t have the staff time to attendevery fair, festival or store all season long.We now focus on a smaller number ofevents and tastings that we think canmaximize our impact.

• Our market research showed that this kindof activity ranked low in recognition afterthe first year, perhaps because a relativelysmall number of people were reached. Butwe find that this kind of communityengagement—the very positive, personalinteractions between farmers, staff and thepublic—makes events important to do,albeit on a more manageable scale.

CHARACTER SUITS

What We Did:A local costume designer created two adult-sized costumes for our campaign: a carrot andan apple. The carrot and apple attendedevents and festivals to add fun, hand outinformation and engage crowds of people.

What We Learned:• The costumes get attention. Kids love them.

• We made a point of handing out LocalHero stickers to kids at fairs and usedthat interaction with kids to engage theirparents. Kids love the stickers.

• Some of our staff refused to wear thecostumes while others reveled in theirdebut as the giant carrot. After the firsttwo seasons, we hired two actors to wearthe suits and attend farmers markets, fairs,and other events. This arrangementworked well; the suits got out there andstaff did not have to wear them.

• The tracking survey showed that thecharacter suits had a low level of

recognition. Compared to the radio andnewspaper ads, the suits didn’t reach alarge number of people, but the personalinteractions can be fun and they certainlydo draw attention. We’d classify thisactivity as a low priority.

FARM PRODUCTS GUIDE

What We Did:CISA had published a guide to localfarmstands in the two years before ourcampaign started. With the advent of thecampaign, we decided to expand thegeographic coverage of the guide and recruitmore farmers. The guide has grown from 32farms in two counties to 139 farmsin three counties in just three years.The guide is distributed to 80,000local newspaper readers in lateApril, and includes area farmersmarkets, community supportedagriculture farms, a map locatingthe farms, and descriptions of eachfarm and the products sold. It is ayear-round guide to purchasingdirectly from local farmers. Theguide is also distributed to areatourist information centers andChambers of Commerce. Forseveral years we were able to geta local printing company to donatethe printing; recently we have hadto take on that cost ourselves and figure outways to make the guide self-funding throughlisting and ad fees.

What We Learned:• We see the guide as a good intermediate

step in our recruitment of farmers: they canjoin CISA and get into the guide withoutcommitting to the Local Hero campaign, orthey can do both. Some farmers who arereluctant to join the Local Hero campaignwill join CISA to be included in the guide.

• The guide has made a tangible differencefor many farmers, some of whom reportthat consumers arrive at their stands withguides in hand, and purchase enoughproducts to pay for several more years’listing in the guide.

• Production of the guide is a majorundertaking for CISA. In 2002, we’ll issue200,000 copies for about $20,000. Thisis funded through memberships, ads andsponsorships. We start recruiting farmers

. . . We find that this

kind of community

engagement—the

very positive,

personal interactions

between farmers,

staff and the public—

makes events

important to do . . .

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in December, with a cutoff in mid-February to allow at least a monthfor production, and another two tothree weeks for review, printing anddistribution.

• The map section alone takesseveral days to prepare. We mayeliminate it in the future to createmore space for farms, ads andsponsors.

ANNUAL FARM TOUR

What We Did:In the third year of our campaignwe created a special fundraisingand promotional event called the

“Fall Farm Tour and Feast.” The tour featureda self-guided visit to six of our member farmsand a locally grown luncheon created by arearestaurants. Each farm offered activities,demonstrations, tours and/or hayrides.

What We Learned:• We sold more than 100 tickets at $30 each

and garnered some good local sponsorship.The event was a great success and a goodfirst step toward creating an annual eventwith significant fundraising potential. Wewant to do it again next year and tweak itto maximize the fundraising potential.

• This type of event can be great forrecruiting farmers and/or rewardingpartners and volunteers.

• It can also provide you with a mediaopportunity for those slow news weekends.

WEB SITE

What We Did:A month or so before CISA’s campaign launch,we had no plans or funds to create a Website. But one of our staff members leapt intothe fray, taught himself a bit about Webdesign, and had a basic site ready by thekickoff. The site, www.buylocalfood.com,provides information on the campaign andthe farmers, retailers, and restaurants thatare part of it. It also gives users online accessto the Farm Products Guide and serves as avenue to promote CISA events like our farmtour and annual meeting.

What We Learned:• We’ve found our Web site to be a useful

tool, albeit a time-consuming one to designand maintain. For us, it is best used forquick updates that are easy to post.

• We had ambitions of creating a reallyin-depth site with lots of backgroundinformation. Alas, we were deterred bythe time needed to design it.

• We also learned that a computer-savvystaff person can save a lot of money bycreating a site in-house. Web sitedevelopers can be expensive and findingone who fits your organization’s culturemay be a challenge. If someone on yourstaff or among your membership isinterested, is skilled and can spare sometime, developing your Web site in-housemight be worth consideration.

SWAG

What We Did:Early in the campaign, we developed abounty of swag—a stunning array of T-shirts,tote bags, bumper stickers, hats and apronsshamelessly bearing our logo and slogan. Wespent about $3,000 to create these materials.And we’ve carried our stuff all over the place,from upstate New York to Boston, from countyfairs to garlic festivals. We usually sell a shirtor two, but demand is never all that high.

What We Learned:• The swag is useful to have on hand,

especially if a newspaper photographeror TV news crew is doing a story aboutone of your farmers and you can get thefarmer to wear your T-shirt or hat.

• If you make shirts, staff should wear themat as many public events as possible tohelp promote the program. Staff shouldalso wear the shirts any time they aregoing to be interviewed on camera orphotographed.

• You might start by ordering smallerquantities or having a smaller variety ofitems. Don’t expect to sell a lot in oneseason, but do have it around to give toVIPs, extra-special donors, sponsors orfriends of your organization.

If you make shirts,

staff should wear

them at as many

public events as

possible to help

promote the program.

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Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture’s(CISA) market research indicated that localconsumers wanted to purchase more locallygrown farm products but were confusedabout where to find them and believed themto be inconvenient to purchase. These findingsmade it clear that we had to find and identifylocally grown products

Our approach to the retail market evolvedand expanded over time. We began byfocusing our efforts on small and largegrocery stores, and gradually expanded toinclude farmers markets, restaurants,farmstands and, most recently, institutionalfood buyers. Currently, we work with:

• Three large, national grocery chains

• Fifteen smaller, family and/or local ownedgrocery stores

• Twelve restaurants

• Eight farmers markets

• One hundred twenty-seven farmstands(through our annual Farm Products Guide)

In this chapter we discuss:

• CISA’s approach to working thesedifferent businesses

• Some of the challenges and benefits weexperienced

• Tips to help you succeed as you help bringlocal food to the marketplace

RETAILERS LARGE AND SMALLDespite the large number of farmstands andfarmers markets throughout our region, ourresearch confirmed that the vast majority ofconsumers get most of their food at one ofthe area’s many large and small grocerystores. In order to reach a large number ofconsumers, we needed to develop a strongpresence where they do most of theirshopping throughout the year.

From the beginning, CISA has worked withboth small, locally and/or family ownedgrocery stores and large supermarketchains. For us, it wasn’t a question of eitherlarger stores or smaller ones, but a matter

of both large and small. Both are importantto our farmers and to us.

Locally Owned Grocery StoresOur community is fortunate to have a numberof smaller, independent grocery stores. Manyhave a long-running commitment to localproduce and focus on shoppers who havean interest in healthy, local food. We hadgood relationships with several of thesestores before our campaign began. Theyhelped us design the Buy Local effort andwere among our greatest supporters.

We also felt that these stores were essentialfor philosophical reasons: they are local, theyare invested in the community, and they valuetheir relationships with local farmers. Theytend to be more willing to experiment, acceptbackdoor deliveries, share their sales datawith us, and help us improve the program.

Large Supermarket ChainsLarge supermarket chains also have beencentral to CISA’s campaign. They are ableto move much more product and reach manymore consumers than small grocery stores.Given the intended scale of our campaign,it was essential that we have sufficientpresence in the marketplace. Some of ourfarmers also needed retail outlets that couldaccommodate larger quantities.

Despite the large

number of

farmstands and

farmers markets

throughout our

region, our research

confirmed that the

vast majority of

consumers get most

of their food at one of

the area’s many large

and small grocery

stores.

Chapter 10: Local Food in the Marketplace:WORKING WITH RETAILERS, FARMERS MARKETS, FARM STANDS,INSTITUTIONAL BUYERS AND DISTRIBUTORS

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Grocery stores and chains may be importantcustomers for some of your farmers. Whilesome farmers may want to (or need to) workthrough smaller or less formal channels, thebenefits of working with large retailers canbe substantial if you can make thoserelationships work well.

CISA had worked with the local Bread andCircus, part of the national Whole Foodschain, before our campaign began. Breadand Circus prides themselves on their produceselection. While they often favor California-grown organic produce, they also have astrong commitment to local organic andintegrated pest management growers. Wefound that this commitment has grownstronger and more reliable over time. Breadand Circus is also a very important buyerfor some local farmers. We found that theyare enthusiastic supporters and are morewilling than other large chains to acceptfarmers’ backdoor deliveries.

Other area supermarket chains proved tobe more challenging for us. For instance,while the locally owned Big Y chain and theregional Stop & Shop chain were interestedin participating in our Buy Local program,their internal structures made it difficult todo so initially. Both use central warehousesto distribute products to their stores andgenerally do not allow backdoor deliveriesof produce. This meant that a Local Herofarmer could sell a few pallets of butternut

squash to the chain, but they would go to acentral warehouse, get mixed in with squashfrom other regions or states, andredistributed to multiple stores.

However, during the first year of thecampaign, our persistent wooing of upper-level management and local store managersconvinced Stop & Shop to allow two localstores to officially accept backdoor deliveriesfrom campaign members on a trial basis.

Having the products of Local Hero growersclearly labeled as such has also beenimportant to us and prospective retailpartners. For instance, we were fortunate tohave our local dairy farmer co-op, OurFamily Farms Milk, as an active member ofour campaign from the start. Their distinctlylabeled milk gave us a foot in the door atsome stores.

Our retailers currently pay $150 per yearto participate in our campaign. In exchange,they receive the following benefits:

• High visibility in Local Hero newspaperadvertising program through group adslisting retail members.

• Free photography services for Local Heroads and permission to access Local Herophotos free of charge.

• A listing in the Local Hero section of CISA’sWeb site (www.buylocalfood.com) with alink to their Web site, if applicable.

One of CISA’s retail partners, Serio’s Market, highlights their selection of locallygrown food in one of their radio ads. The ad refers to CISA and two farms thatare part of the Local Hero campaign, and is a wonderful complement to CISA’sown radio ads. The ad script goes like this:

Local. There are few words you can say in the Pioneer Valley that have moremeaning, more resonance. People in these parts just love things that are local.That’s what CISA is all about. And that’s why Serio’s Market is so popular. Serio’sis a truly local market, run by local folks, and stocked with local products whereverpossible. A new local item at Serio’s are delicious, homemade Bird Haven BlueberryFarm pies. They are all made from scratch and they are unbelievably good.Locally grown apples are coming in now, as are other fall treats, like Diemandfarm chicken and turkeys, like squash, pumpkins and cabbages. If you love local,then you’ll love Serio’s Market, State Street, Northampton…where customers arefriends and friends are customers.

RETRETRETRETRETAIL PARTNER HITAIL PARTNER HITAIL PARTNER HITAIL PARTNER HITAIL PARTNER HITS THE AIRS THE AIRS THE AIRS THE AIRS THE AIRWWWWWAAAAAVESVESVESVESVES

Having the products

of Local Hero

growers clearly

labeled as such has

also been important

to us and prospective

retail partners.

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• An unlimited supply of available Local Heropoint-of-purchase (POP) materials—pricecards, logo stickers, etc.

• An unlimited supply of available LocalHero promotional materials—bumperstickers and posters.

• Results from our year-end consumersurveys to use in their promotionalmaterials.

• Referrals to reporters seeking retailerspromoting locally grown farm products.This results in media coverage for theretailer and CISA.

• Priority referrals by CISA staff to farmerslooking to supply area businesses withlocally grown farm products.

• Priority opportunities to be featured atCISA events.

• In-store tastings, coordinated andattended by CISA staff.

• Frequent listing in CISA’s Local Herohandouts to the media, general public,funders and others interested in learningabout the campaign.

The Challenges of Working WithRetailersRetailers of all sizes present a complexarray of challenges to any Buy Localcampaign. Their margins are tight, staffturnover can be high, and internalbureaucracy can tangle up even the mostpersistent and enthusiastic local producemanager. We’ve encountered plenty ofchallenges in our work with retailers. Hereare some that we thought you should knowabout:

Segregation of product. The bigger theretailer, the harder it may be for the storeto keep Buy Local products separate fromeverything else. You can’t supply everythingthat big stores need, so local product tendsto get mixed with non-local ones.

Backdoor deliveries. Most of our big retailersrefused backdoor deliveries—at leastofficially—and only accepted produce thatcame through a central distributor. This madeit difficult to get local products into theirstores. Small grocery stores have consistentlybeen more willing to accept backdoordeliveries, and we have negotiated backdoordelivery systems with several of our larger

grocery partners. Linking up with a localdistributor has also helped.

Product availability. While CISA doesn’t wantto function as a broker, it was critical—especially early on—that our farmers hada sufficient presence in the marketplace onceconsumers started responding to thecampaign. We work with store managers toeducate them about what is available when,and who they can purchase it from. We alsorespond to retailers’ questions about localproducts and help them network with ourgrowers through meetings, phone calls ande-mail messages.

Use of POP materials and training store staff.Having the staff time to “spot” the use ofPOP materials by your retail partners isessential to the success and integrity of yourwork. You may need to train partners’ staffsso they understand your Buy Local programand make an effort to use your POP materialscorrectly. We learned the hard way thathanding our POP materials to producemanagers and expecting them to explain itto floor staff is not very effective. This wasa particular challenge with large retailersthat have large staffs and, often, more staffturnover than smaller stores.

Written agreements. Be sure to craft policiesthat make the terms of participation explicitand easy for you monitor. Have a writtenagreement with each retail partner in placefrom the beginning. You’ll find a sample ofCISA’s in the attachments at the end of thischapter.

Risks and rewards. Grocers’ profit marginsare notoriously tight—often one to twopercent—and they may not have much roomto experiment or wait for results. Beprepared to explain why they should takea risk on your program. Be realistic aboutthe results retailers can expect.

Varying attitudes and priorities. Whenworking with a larger chain, expect that staffat different layers in the chain’s hierarchymay have different attitudes and priorities.Senior managers, in particular, may viewincreased sales as the one and only measureof success. Produce managers and staff thathave more contact with consumers may havea broader perspective. Some producemanagers may be very keen on newapproaches, while others may be veryconservative or risk averse. Produce

. . . it was critical—

especially early on—

that our farmers had

a sufficient presence

in the marketplace

once consumers

started responding to

the campaign.

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managers are on the front lines with localconsumers and can make or break your retailprogram. Try to work with managers thatwill advocate for your program internallyand work to make it a success.

Time constraints. Expect large retailers,especially, to be swamped and unable toset aside significant blocks of time formeetings and trainings. It’s important to buildand maintain your retailer relationships andto do so within retailers’ time constraints. Tryasking for brief meetings of 20 to 30minutes. Have a clear agenda. Use the timeefficiently. And don’t even think about tryingto get their time between Thanksgiving andNew Years!

Getting sales and price data. As part of ourcampaign evaluation, we try to track retailsales and assess whether products from BuyLocal farmers are commanding a pricepremium (i.e., if products from our farmersare receiving a higher price than similar non-local products). This continues to be a bigchallenge. Our retailers typically don’t havea tracking system that can easily distinguish

Buy Local products from other foods. We’vefound that smaller retailers are sometimesmore willing and able to provide good datathan larger stores. We typically need to doa lot of cajoling and hand-holding to getgood information from our retail partners.

There’s no doubt that overcoming some ofthese challenges can be difficult. Butremember that retailers are very responsiveto consumer demand. If they see consumersrespond, they may become more interestedin joining your campaign and doing what isneeded to get local products on the shelves.Grocery stores looking for a way todistinguish themselves from their competitorsmay be a good place for you to start.

Our advice about working with retailers isto be organized, make good use of yourtime with them, work to understand theircircumstances, and be prepared to answersome tough questions. If you can showretailers how they may benefit from workingwith you and you minimize the hurdles todoing so, retailers will be more willing toplay a critical role in getting your farmers’

When CISA began identifying potential retail partners, Serio’s Market quickly roseto the top of our list; they have a great reputation among local farmers and a strongcommitment to buying locally. A locally owned neighborhood grocery, Serio’s featuresa deli, bakery, and full-service grocery in a bustling neighborhood of Northampton,

Mass., next to Smith College.

“The Local Hero campaign was a natural fit for us,” said owner Chris Cavallari.“We had been purchasing local all along, but the campaign helped bring ourcustomers’ attention to it and gave them a better sense of what products are local.The Local Hero signage really stands outs. And it’s been especially helpful late inthe season when people don’t realize that various local, year-round products arestill available.”

“A lot of our customers really like being part of something like this,” Chris said. “It’skind of cool for them to think they are helping keep farms going. Some people tellme they feel really good about doing this and that the campaign signs help keepthem focused.”

CISA has also found that smaller retailers appreciate the work we are doing ontheir behalf. “Farmers and retailers alike are struggling to increase their bottomline,” Chris said. “Anything that can help us stay healthy financially is a real blessing.I tell other grocers, ‘If you want to sell as much product as possible and a Buy Localcampaign is out there that can help you do that, join it!’ Participating in a campaignmay be a stretch for some small grocers, but the rewards are easy to see: customerappreciation, increases in sales and good farmer relationships. We’re glad tohave someone like CISA help us with our business.”

SERIO’S MARKETSERIO’S MARKETSERIO’S MARKETSERIO’S MARKETSERIO’S MARKET

Our advice about

working with retailers

is to be organized,

make good use of

your time with them,

work to understand

their circumstances,

and be prepared to

answer some tough

questions.

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products to market and getting your messagein front of consumers.

RESTAURANTSAs interest in healthy food continues toexplode, interest in quality dining is rising inCISA’s community as well. More and morecooking magazines, televisions shows andrestaurants emphasize fresh, localingredients.

Restaurants can become important membersof your campaign, but they probably varywidely in their use of local food. Staff andownership turnover in the restaurant worldis extremely high, and you may find, as wehave, that this year’s stellar campaignpartner may be long gone when next summerrolls around.

We found that many restaurateurs in ourarea view the time required to find andpurchase local food as prohibitive. Manyrestaurants are accustomed to using oneproduce purveyor for all of their orders.Each new farmer will add another contactand bill to manage, as well as a differentdelivery time. We found that our success inrecruiting restaurants hinges on engagingthose restaurants that already work withlocal farmers and then encouraging them toeducate other restaurateurs.

Two years into CISA’s restaurant program,our participants vary widely. One restaurantopened with the expressed intention of usingas much fresh, local produce as possible.Others use only a few seasonal fruits indesserts like blueberry cobbler or peach pie.However, all restaurants that use locallygrown products are eligible to join CISA’scampaign. We do not currently have aminimum quantity of local product they mustuse. There is a wide range of restaurants inour community and we believe it is importantto work with all that express interest in usinglocally grown food.

In exchange for their membership, currently$150 per year, restaurants receive benefitssimilar to those of retailers described onpage 88. We also prepare a “Fresh List” ofavailable farm products that CISA faxes torestaurants on a weekly basis. While theFresh List is useful for both farmers andrestaurants, we find that preparing it takesconsiderable staff time. Farmers are hardto reach at harvest time and it requires a

LA CAZUELALA CAZUELALA CAZUELALA CAZUELALA CAZUELA

Barry Steeves is co-owner of La Cazuela,a restaurant thatcelebrates the cuisineof the Americansouthwest. He foundedLa Cazuela 18 yearsago with his wife andchef, Rosemary Schmidt.Barry said that workingwith the Local Herocampaign is, “worth it,absolutely worth it.Local produce gives usa better product to sellto our customers, andmakes us more a partof the community inwhich we run ourbusiness. One of thefarms we buy from hasits year-end party atour restaurant everyyear and we see otherfarmers for dinner allseason long. Thoseconnections are reallyimportant to us.”

CISA has found thatmany restaurants will use one or two Local Hero POP materials,but don’t want to dramatically alter their restaurants’ aesthetics.But Barry is different. He has used Local Hero POP materials inalmost every way possible: our logo is in a display by the door,on the “specials” board, on table tents, in nooks and crannies inthe dining room, on his menu, and in his newspaper advertising.“What seems to work best with any marketing is for people tobe exposed to it in different kinds of media,” said Barry. “It’sbetter for me and for the organization to use Buy Local materialsin many different ways.”

Barry said his customers notice his participation in the campaign.“It’s all so positive. Some people are happy to see that we buylocally grown. Others remark on how good a certain localingredient tastes. That gives me an educational opportunity totalk about the freshness, flavor and quality of locally grown.”While Barry clearly enjoys these connections, he is also clearabout this: “I do this for my own marketing as much as I do it forfarmers or CISA.”

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• Convey the benefits of buying locally grown products bysharing your market research data with potential restaurantpartners.

• Discuss the benefits of being associated with your campaign.

• Leverage the fact that restaurants, like farmers, are oftentoo busy to think about their own marketing. Provide helpfulPOP and public relations coverage. Make sure to ask yourrestaurant partners what sorts of POP they would be mostlikely to use and why.

• Establish clear criteria for restaurant participation andcommunicate your policies early on. Ensure that restaurantsunderstand what it means to join your program.

• Build connections between restaurants and farmers by faxingor emailing information about the availability of locally grownproducts, along with farmers’ names and contact information.

To launch the

restaurant campaign,

we held a lunchtime

news conference

featuring food

prepared by our

restaurant members

and invited the

media, our VIPs and

politicians to enjoy a

“taste of summer.”

lot of phone calls to get the information forthe list. To be most effective, that info needsto be compiled and distributed quickly.

Where restaurants and CISA connect best isat our events, forums and festivals. Manyrestaurants are more than willing to eitherdonate a dish they made with local ingredientsor come to an event and help cook and serveon site. This really is the best of both worlds—CISA and event participants get great localfood, expertly prepared, and therestaurants get a direct connection with localconsumers, many of whom are eager topatronize restaurants that serve locallygrown food.

One of the ways we have shone the spotlighton local restaurants is through our restaurantcampaign kickoff. To launch the restaurantcampaign, we held a lunchtime newsconference featuring food prepared by ourrestaurant members and invited the media,our VIPs and politicians to enjoy a “taste ofsummer.” The resulting publicity was good forus, good for our farmers and good for therestaurants.

FARMERS MARKETSWe found that farmers markets are a greatway to make that personal connectionbetween farmers and consumers because:

• They are a terrific venue for emphasizingthe community-based aspects of ourcampaign

• They have a long history in our region andare places where consumers already goto look for local products

• Promotional materials can be integratedinto existing markets fairly easily.

• Including them in the campaign heightensconsumers’ sense that they are seeing ourlogo and message repeatedly and inmany locations throughout our region

However, there are some important policyquestions you’ll need to resolve beforeengaging farmers markets in your campaign.For instance, does every vendor in the marketneed to join your Buy Local program beforethe entire market can join? What happens ifone of the vendors at the market comes froman area outside of your definition of local?

In CISA’s case, we opted to have each farmersmarket join the campaign as a whole ratherthan each individual farmer in the market. Wepromote the markets as a place to buy locallygrown products rather than promote all ofthe individual farmers. Our farmers marketsdo not sell items grown outside of the areawe consider local, so there are no issues aboutlocal vs. non-local products.

We provide each farmers market (andfarmstand) participant a limited amount ofPOP materials to promote themselves as alocal food source. Farmers markets alsoreceive a Buy Local banner and radio andnewspaper ads highlighting their market. Wealso hold tastings and other community eventsat area farmers markets, and have ourapple and carrot characters hand outcampaign literature. While time-consumingfor staff, this is a great way to engageconsumers and build loyalty to local products.We also found that working with farmersmarkets can be a good way to recruit newfarmers for our campaign.

In our region, several markets experience ahuge rush of customers in the early spring,when vegetable and flower plant sales arehigh. As residents’ gardens begin to bearfruit, the markets lose steam. Our hope is todraw people to the markets throughout thesummer, as well as boost attendance atmarkets with low customer bases in general.

Our local farmers markets are very

TIPS FTIPS FTIPS FTIPS FTIPS FOR ENGOR ENGOR ENGOR ENGOR ENGAAAAAGING RESTGING RESTGING RESTGING RESTGING RESTAAAAAURANTURANTURANTURANTURANTSSSSS

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Berkshire Grown is a program with deep roots in Berkshire County, Mass. TheBerkshires is an area known for beautiful farm and mountain landscapes andinternational cultural amenities that attract a large number of tourists andpart-time residents from the metropolitan New York area and beyond.Berkshire County farms face immense development pressure as wealthyindividuals purchase farms as second homes. Part-time residents own overhalf of the housing stock in the county.

The robust tourism economy in the Berkshires has led to the development of asignificant number of inns and upscale restaurants.

Founded in 1985, Berkshire Grown is a grassroots organization that supportsand promotes locally based agriculture as a vital part of a healthy Berkshireeconomy and landscape. They have a budget about one-third of CISA’s.Berkshire Grown pursues its mission by creating and expanding markets forlocally grown products, establishing local food and farm networks, increasingpublic awareness through education and outreach, and encouraging supportiveagricultural programs and public policies. Berkshire Grown has one part-time staff person and a dedicated crew of board members and volunteers.They have started to actively promote and market locally grown and producedfood and flowers in the last four years.

“Working with restaurants seems a natural fit for our area,” said Amy Cotler,director. “Both the restaurants and farms have peak seasons during the same months.”

Several Berkshire County farmers are seizing the opportunity to develop workingrelationships with white tablecloth restaurants, collaboratively planning plantingschedules and delivery systems to get more local food on the tables of theserestaurants.

“This was a good beginning,” said Amy. “Food system work is complex, but consumerscan certainly wrap their minds around this simple concept: you can eat out at aBerkshire Grown restaurant, enjoy a great meal, and support local farms and theland they protect too!”

In three years Berkshire Grown’s restaurant membership has increased from 26 to90 restaurants. “Some simply buy a few locally produced items and others are quiteactively involved, but overall, buying of local farm products from Berkshire Grownmember restaurants has gone up about 50 percent. Restaurants feel the pressurefrom the community to buy local. . .that’s good,” said Amy.

Berkshire Grown’s Business to Business restaurant program includes a “fresh” fax/e-mail listing of available products, an annual networking meeting, some one-on-onemeetings with big buyers, a newsletter and periodic mailings when needed. Restaurantsare given inserts that they can give patrons with their bills to let them know aboutBerkshire Grown and how they can all work together to support local farms. An annualharvest event, with 20 restaurants and about 30 farms, serves as a fundraiser. BerkshireGrown raises about one-third of their annual funds from this kind of community support.

Restaurants and farms in the program are also supported through a Web site, limitedadvertising, news releases and media coverage, when appropriate. The Business toBusiness program is guided by a steering committee of restaurants and farms, whomeet and determine items such as what the agenda will be at the annual meetings,whether professional farmer/restaurant tours are helpful, etc. These folks, along withan active board, have taken a leadership role in the organization.

MAKING RESTMAKING RESTMAKING RESTMAKING RESTMAKING RESTAAAAAURANTURANTURANTURANTURANTS CENTRAL TS CENTRAL TS CENTRAL TS CENTRAL TS CENTRAL TO YOUR CAMPO YOUR CAMPO YOUR CAMPO YOUR CAMPO YOUR CAMPAIGN:AIGN:AIGN:AIGN:AIGN:THE BERKSHIRE GROWN STORYTHE BERKSHIRE GROWN STORYTHE BERKSHIRE GROWN STORYTHE BERKSHIRE GROWN STORYTHE BERKSHIRE GROWN STORY

In three years

Berkshire Grown’s

restaurant

membership has

increased from 26 to

90 restaurants.

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appreciative of our efforts tohelp with promotions. One of thefarmers markets asked us if wewould help them with a raffle.We agreed and purchased theprize baskets, which are filledwith local products from themarket vendors. The marketfound additional sponsors andhad coupons printed in the localpaper. The patrons brought thecoupons to the market and adrawing was held to choose aweekly winner.

This sort of low-budget marketingwent a long way towardincreasing the number of

customers the markets see on an averagemarket day. We were happy to help, giventhe high return for a small monetaryinvestment. We anticipate increasing ourparticipation with farmers markets in thefuture and look forward to helping themincrease their exposure and income.

FARMSTANDSFarmstands are very prevalent throughoutour region. Our annual Farm Products Guide,published since 1997, has grown from ahandful of farmstands in a few towns to 127in three counties. This publication is our firstbig outreach effort each spring. We startsigning up farmers in January, and the guideis published and distributed in three majornewspapers (200,000 readers) in time for

the farmers markets’ opening days in May.Farms that are listed in the printed guidealso receive a listing in the online version,with a link to their Web site, if applicable.

The guide has become a good recruiting toolfor the campaign. It costs farmers $65 tobe listed in the guide, and only $35 more toenroll in the campaign. Around here, localfarmstands are owner-operated by thegrowers or their employees. As such, theyare treated as an extension of the Local Herofarm and receive the same benefits asfarmers participating in the campaign—POPmaterials, signage, photography services,ads, etc.

While some of our participating farmers donot run farmstands, a significant number do.And they want to use the Local Hero campaignto drive more customers to their stands. CISAtailors our newspaper ads to highlightwhatever aspect of the business the farmwants—whether it is a roadside stand, apick-your-own operation or productsdistributed through local retailers. Severalof our farmers attribute large increases insales at their stands to membership in thecampaign. “Our stand saw a 40 percentincrease in sales since we joined thecampaign,” said one blueberry farmer. “Weattribute this to our appearance in the LocalHero ad campaign.”

INSTITUTIONAL BUYERSAs with restaurants, CISA didn’t have thestaff capacity to take on the institutionalmarket when our campaign was just getting

One farmers market that joined the Buy Local campaign caters to a bilingual audience,so CISA worked with another nonprofit to have the Buy Local banner translated intoSpanish. We also worked out a deal with a local radio stationto have them do live, remote broadcasts at the markets. Thestation raffled off chances to win a trip to an exoticdestination, while CISA provided the runner-up prizes,such as food from local farmers. In between the action,the radio personalities interviewed market vendors.These broadcasts were a big hit. In the days precedingthe broadcasts, the radio station would heavily promotethem. All of this advertising was free to CISA and thefarmers market. And the radio station was happy to havea place where they could draw a crowd for their contests.

“LIVE, FR“LIVE, FR“LIVE, FR“LIVE, FR“LIVE, FROM YOUR FARMERS MARKETOM YOUR FARMERS MARKETOM YOUR FARMERS MARKETOM YOUR FARMERS MARKETOM YOUR FARMERS MARKET. . .”. . .”. . .”. . .”. . .”

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off the ground. Now, in the fourth year ofour campaign, we’re looking at the volumeof food that local colleges and otherinstitutions buy and are seeing how much afew good partnerships could do for ourfarmers. But institutional buyers aresometimes viewed, mistakenly, as a potentialcure-all for a local farm economy. “If onlywe can get State University to buy all ourmilk or eggs,” the thought goes, “all ourproblems would be solved.”

A careful analysis of your farmers, theirinterests and the context you are working inwill help you decide if institutions have thepotential to be a great source of businessfor your farmers—or a great big headachefor your staff. We’re finding that sometimesthey can be both.

Buy Local activists often identify state-ownedinstitutions and school systems as places thatshould serve locally grown food. Don’t ourcommunity’s children deserve the best,freshest, local milk and apples money canbuy? Unfortunately, money is typically the firstand biggest hurdle to institutional purchasesof locally grown food. State institutions areoften mandated to purchase from the lowestbidder as a cost savings measure. In our case,that means that local kids drink milk fromdairy farms in Texas and California ratherthan from the cows down the road. This ironyis not lost on our farmers (or yours either,we’d guess).

In one of our early forays into the institutionalscene, we worked with the MassachusettsDepartment of Food and Agriculture and alocal egg farmer to explore the possibilityof getting local eggs into the dining halls ofthe University of Massachusetts, Amherst(UMass). There were many barriers toovercome, including:

• Price. Would the university be able to paywhat the farmer determined was a fairprice for the eggs?

• Delivery. Could the farmer meet theweekly delivery requirements of theuniversity’s central warehouse?

• Payment. Would the university be ableto pay the farmer in a timely manner?

• Previous vendor. Would the winner of theuniversity’s food services contractor bewilling to subcontract this part out to a

local vendor?

• Supply. What will happen if the local eggfarm cannot meet the demand?

After extensive conversations with the statecommissioner of agriculture, local electedofficials, CISA folks, and interested UMassadministrators, the university decided to startbuying eggs from one of our participatingfarmers as a pilot project.

The farm provides UMass with eggs on aweekly basis, and delivers them directly tothe central UMass warehouse, for a price thatthe farmer feels is fair. The farm suppliesabout a million eggs a year to UMass. Theuniversity has arranged for very timelypayments to the farmer via its primaryvendor. This is positive for the farmer andUMass doesn’t have to step outside itsprimary vendor/bidding system. If the farmcannot provide the required eggs for somereason, the primary contractor can purchasethem from the previous non-local vendor. Thefarm does not have a written agreement withUMass, but has had no problems to date,and has been delivering fresh, local eggs tothe university for almost a year.

While this is a cursory explanation, the actualdeal was intricate, complicated and involvedpersistence, insight and creativity from allparties involved. We hope that the successof this pilot will lead to easier deals in thefuture. Staff changes and bureaucracy canthrow a wrench into things at any time, butthe potential for larger volumes and thechance to reach college kids—futureconsumers of locally grown food—seemsworth the effort.

Buy Local activists

often identify state-

owned institutions

and school systems

as places that should

serve locally grown

food.

“We have encouraged one local business—which makes pastausing local farm products—to deliver farm products as well. Henow takes local tomatoes and goat cheese to more than 30restaurants,” said Berkshire Grown’s Amy Cotler. “But this kindof business is not for everyone, which is why we try to focus on adiversity of farm businesses. Farmstands and markets, forexample, do not require the same delivery infrastructure andmay be more appropriate for some farms.”

BERKSHIRE GROWN:BERKSHIRE GROWN:BERKSHIRE GROWN:BERKSHIRE GROWN:BERKSHIRE GROWN:Using Existing Businesses to Expand LocalProduct Distribution

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DISTRIBUTORSDistribution is another persistent stumblingblock for local farmers and often impactsretail, institutional and restaurant purchasesof locally grown food. Most businessesprefer as close to one-stop-shopping as theycan get. Individual accounts mean morebookkeeping, more tracking and moreattention from already busy people.Revamping local distribution systems, alongwith cracking the institutional buying code,are probably among the most ambitiousprojects your organization can pursue.Nevertheless, there may be opportunities inyour community that are worth pursuing.

While this is a fairly small part of our work,CISA has worked with a local, farmer-ownedco-operative distributor, the Pioneer Valley

Growers Association. This distributortransports produce to the Boston wholesalemarkets, about two hours away. From there,they deliver to the backdoors of some largechain grocery stores. The distributor workswith about 100 large-scale growersthroughout the Pioneer Valley. While thebenefit to our farmers is small—we havevery few large-scale (over 100 acres)produce growers in our campaign—thebenefit to the farm community and consumersis large, as this distributor can meet thedemands of a large grocery store.

Our role in this project is that of facilitator.We help the distributor and chain storesfigure out a way to get the produce into thestores and help monitor the relationship tomake sure that it is continuing.

RESOURCES: LOCAL FOOD IN THE MARKETPLACERESOURCES: LOCAL FOOD IN THE MARKETPLACERESOURCES: LOCAL FOOD IN THE MARKETPLACERESOURCES: LOCAL FOOD IN THE MARKETPLACERESOURCES: LOCAL FOOD IN THE MARKETPLACE

Attachments

Sample Letter of Understanding

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LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING

BETWEEN CISA AND [RETAILER]

Listed below is an outline of the mutual responsibilities and expectations upon whichCommunity Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) and retailers participating in thecampaign have agreed to.

[NAME OF RETAILER] AGREES TO:

· Share confidential sales and financial information, for evaluative purposes only· Do consumer outreach, such as “tastings” at the store and talking to the media· Provide high-quality, locally grown products, when available· Become a dues-paying member of CISA ($50 suggested), if not already a

member· Send a store representative, when requested, to meet with other retailers and

CISA staff to discuss campaign-related issues· Use CISA’s Buy Locally Grown materials only to promote products grown in

western Massachusetts

CISA AGREES TO:

· Provide results of consumer surveys and marketing trends analyses to [retailer]· Provide [retailer] with coordinated and visible promotional support through the

Buy Locally Grown campaign.· Serve as organizer of media and consumer events that focus on the contribution

of western Massachusetts retailers and producers to the local economy, qualityof life and scenic beauty of the region

· Advocate for increased sales volume and market penetration of locally grownproducts through western Massachusetts retailers.

· Promote the long-term goals of profitability, stability and sustainablestewardship for the farming community of western Massachusetts.

CISA [Date] [Retailer Contact Name] [Date][Store Name]

Please return a signed copy of this form to CISA and keep one copy for your records.

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One of the most important—and most oftenneglected—aspects of a Buy Local programis assessing your effectiveness andidentifying the lessons learned; in otherwords, evaluation. Evaluation can help youtake stock of the difference you’re making,communicate about your accomplishmentsand identify ways to keep improving yourBuy Local program. These are all central toyour success.

To explore how evaluation might help you,we use this chapter of the toolkit to look atthe following issues:

• Using evaluation as a tool forstrengthening your Buy Local program

• Using the “learning loop” approach toevaluation

• Planning your evaluation

• Staffing your evaluation

• Analyzing your results

• Keeping your evaluation fresh

In the attachments we provide a variety ofevaluation tools, including templates forretailer and grower surveys, and referencesif you want to learn more.

EVALUATION: A TOOL FORSTRENGTHENING YOUR BUY LOCALPROGRAMWhen there are so many immediate demandson your time, you may ask why you shouldmake time for evaluation. At CommunityInvolved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), weinitially had our doubts too. But we’ve sincefound that our evaluation helps us:

• Think strategically and longer term

• Move ahead with a clear sense of whatsuccess could look like for us, our farmersand our partners

• Take stock of what’s working well andwhat’s not, and why

• Make mid-course corrections that improveour campaign and how we spend ourmoney

• Document what we’re accomplishing andcommunicate it to current and potentialsupporters

• Build our credibility by having solid dataabout our campaign’s impact

And while evaluation takes time and energy,we think these benefits are more thanworth it.

Pages 100 and 101 illustrate the kinds ofinformation that evaluation helped uscapture. This information was drawn from theconsumer awareness survey conducted by ourmarket researchers, and the surveys andinterviews that our staff conducted with ourfarmers and retailers. We hope this will giveyou a flavor for how an evaluation canilluminate the progress your campaign ismaking. You will also find the executivesummary of our 2001 post-campaignconsumer research in the attachments tochapter 7.

Evaluation can help

you take stock of the

difference you’re

making, communicate

about your

accomplishments and

identify ways to keep

improving your Buy

Local program.

Chapter 11:Evaluation: Learning As You Go

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THE LEARNING LOOP APPROACHTO EVALUATIONBefore jumping in, we thought it might behelpful to talk about what we mean by“evaluation.” That word is used different waysby different people. Some folks think of itprimarily as judging the effectiveness ofsomething that’s over and done with. Othersthink of it as recording activities or countingup those things that can be measurednumerically. Those are pieces of the pie,certainly, but we would encourage you tothink of evaluation more holistically.

For instance, when FoodRoutes Network(formerly Fires of Hope) and CISA teamedup back in 1999 to design CISA’s evaluationplan, we grounded our effort in a philosophyFoodRoutes Network has come to call the“learning loop.” Introduced to us by JoAnneBerkenkamp (our evaluator and co-authorof this toolkit), the learning loop model is

broader than “just evaluation.” It starts withgood planning, then involved learning fromwhat you do, and then uses what you’velearned to make practical improvements inyour campaign. While assessing outcomes iscentral to this process, we really wanted touse our evaluation to help us improve ourBuy Local program. We wanted to learn fromthe evaluation process in a way that helpedus be more effective. The learning loopapproach helped us do that.

We hope that this approach, illustratedbelow, will be a powerful tool for thestrategic development and management ofyour campaign

The learning loop has several key stages,some of which will occur and recursimultaneously. As shown in the (location)illustration, the loop begins by groundingyour Buy Local work in the values and

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aspirations of your organization, yourpartners and those you hope to serve. Thosevalues and aspirations should be thefoundation of any work your organizationpursues.

Next is setting your intentions and planning,which includes both the planning of your BuyLocal program and your evaluation. This isthe stage where all of those pre-implementation activities occur—marketresearch, conducting internal and externalscans of your environment, developingbudgets, and so on. This work positions youto move into the implementation stage. Thatis followed by evaluating and reflecting onyour work, and then integrating what you’velearned into future program plans.

These stages may occur simultaneously. Forinstance, you might occasionally revisit yourplans, and we want to be learning all thetime, right? But given all the demands we’rejuggling, it’s not unusual to spend nearly allof our time on implementation. The otherstages—particularly the one where weintegrate what we’re learning into our futureplans—often get short shrift. And that meanswe may not be taking the time to fullyrecognize the progress we’re making, sortout sticking points, and figure out how toimprove our Buy Local work from one yearto the next.

It’s also important to remember that havingknowledge and actually making practical useof what you know are two different things.The rubber hits the road when you activelyuse what you’re learning to make yourcampaign stronger. And getting smarter andmore confident about your work is the nameof the game.

There are also three important spin-offs fromthe learning loop.

One is communicating your results. So often,good things are happening but we don’t taketime to document and communicate aboutthem to the outside world. CISA has foundthat sharing our results has also been criticalfor engaging farmers, retailers and othersto our program.

Second, you may also have lessons learnedand a campaign model that other communitiescould learn from. Disseminating yourknowledge (as CISA and FoodRoutes Networkare doing with this toolkit) can be helpful toother organizations and is a good way to

spread the word about how Buy Localprograms can advance local food systems.

Lastly, by helping you identify youraccomplishments and impacts, evaluation cangive you reason to celebrate! And that’ssomething we can always use more of.

As much as anything, this approach toevaluation is a philosophy—a commitmentto honestly assessing your effectiveness andlearning from experience. It’s an attitudebacked up by good planning, a broad senseof what “success” means for you and yourstakeholders, and tools and systems that helpyou assess and learn as you go. We’ve foundthis approach helpful and encourage you tothink about how you can use it in your ownwork.

Once you’ve decided that evaluation issomething you want to do, developing anevaluation plan is your next step. In the nextfew pages, we outline some basic componentsof an evaluation plan that you can adapt toyour own situation.

PLAN YOUR EVALUATIONWhen CISA started its evaluation planning,we focused on two basic questions that wecared a lot about:

1) What difference is our Buy Local programmaking?

2) What are we learning that can help usimprove the program?

Our evaluation plan is structured aroundthose lines of thinking, too—we try to assessthe impact we’re having and we look forlessons learned. That led us to an evaluationplan with two core elements.

What are we learning that can helpus improve the program?First, we identified some of the key questionswe would need answers to if we were tomanage our new Buy Local program well.Especially in our first year, our list of questionswas pretty long. The W.K. KelloggFoundation, our primary funder, also wantedto better understand our work and asked usto include evaluation questions in our grantproposals. Some of the key questions wewanted to explore were:

• How is the Buy Local program benefitingour farmers, in both tangible andintangible ways? How do the results being

. . . getting smarter

and more confident

about your work is

the name of the

game.

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achieved differ from our expectationsand theirs? How could our Buy Localprogram better serve them?

• What communications channels and tacticsare most effective at raising awarenessof the campaign and why? How can ourcommunications effort be improved nextyear? How can we best spend ouradvertising budget?

• What have we learned about enlistingretailers and restaurants in the campaign?What are the implications for how we workwith them in the future?

These evaluation questions help us assesswhat’s working well, what isn’t, why, and howwe can improve the campaign. The questionsgive us a framework for analyzing ourexperience and sorting out the implicationsof the more numerical data we’re alsogathering. Quantitative data alone will nottell you about success factors, barriers andimplications, so it’s important to pair yournumber gathering with this kind of analysis.

CISA’s evaluation questions also became areason to gather people together and talkabout what we were learning individuallyand collectively. Different stakeholders viewthe campaign from different perspectives.Discussing your evaluation questions with themcan help you understand those differentbeliefs and experiences. When you do thisthinking together, it can also build teamworkand heighten ownership of your Buy Localprogram.

This process of reflection also helped CISArealize that we knew more than we sometimesgave ourselves credit for. At the same, ithighlighted the gaps in our knowledge thatneeded addressing. The evaluation provideda framework for that dialogue. Each winterwe sit down and take stock of what we’velearned over the past campaign season,share those insights in a progress/evaluationreport for our key funder, and integratethose lessons into our plans for next year.

What difference is our Buy Localprogram making?The second big piece of our evaluation planlooks at outcomes and impacts—or as welike to put it: What are we accomplishing?(e.g., What Buy Local work is getting done?,What near-term progress is occurring?) andWhat difference is the Buy Local program

making for our stakeholders? (e.g., Whatmedium- and long-term impacts are we havingon farmers, consumers, etc.?) To get answersto these questions, our evaluation plan outlinesthe following pieces of information:

• Our overall goals

• The specific objectives we hope to achieveunder each goal

• The various kinds of data, or indicators,we will gather to indicate what progresswe’re making toward our goals andobjectives

• Our baseline data, our “starting point”when the campaign began for each ofour indicators

• Our methodology for gathering each kindof data

• Our timeline for gathering the data

• How we’ll staff data gathering.

To help us track this info, we use anevaluation matrix like the one on page 105.

CISA found that a matrix format gave aneeded structure to our evaluation process.It also gave us an easy way to see wherewe had gaps or missing information, torecord data as we got it, and to keep trackof the evaluation tasks we needed to do atdifferent times of the year. But keep in mindthat evaluation plans can take many forms.The important thing is to find an approachthat is straight-forward, relatively easy tomaintain and suited to the unique qualitiesof your Buy Local program.

Now we look very briefly at some of the keypieces of an evaluation plan.

Goals: What Are You Trying to Accomplish?The first step—clarifying your goals—isperhaps the most important one. CISA foundthat clarifying our goals was essential toour ability to manage our program. Cleargoals are the foundation for yourevaluation—if your goals are vague, it’spretty tough to evaluate whether you’repursuing them effectively or not. We definegoals as the long-term change we want tooccur as a result of our work. For instance,when CISA began its Buy Local program,our major goals were to:

• Increase the economic viability of farmersparticipating in the Local Hero campaign

Different

stakeholders view

the campaign from

different

perspectives.

Discussing your

evaluation questions

with them can help

you understand those

different beliefs and

experiences.

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CISA EVALUATION PLAN—SAMPLE

Goal 1: Increase the economic viability of growers participating in the “Local Hero” campaign

OBJECTIVES INDICATORS: EVALUATION WHEN TOBASELINE & METHODOLOGY MEASUREPROGRESSTO DATE

Baseline: Dec 98 = 0growers

Progress:· May 99 = 16

growers· Dec 99 = 24· Dec 2000 = 41· Dec 2001 = 62

Indicators of potentialbenefits:· New vendors· Increased farm

gate sales· Higher prices· Increased # of

customers at farmstore/stand

· Improved mar-keting and out-reach tools

· Networking withgrowers andretailers

Review total # ofgrowers semi-annuallyin June and December

1. May: Pre-seasoninterviews

2. Nov/Dec: Post-season writtensurveys s

3. Jan/Feb: Post-seasons interviews

A Raise the numberof participatinggrowers to:· 50 by Dec 2000· 75 by Dec 2001· 90 by Dec 2002

B. Use Local Herocampaign to generateeconomic & non-economic benefits forparticipating growers

Database ofparticipating growers

1. Pre-season:interviewparticipatinggrowers to identifydesired benefits.

2. Post-season writtensurvey of allparticipants:· Rank benefits

received andtheirimportance togrowers.

· Documentchanges in farmgates sales,new vendors,prices, etc.

3. Interview one-thirdof participatinggrowers in depth

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• Promote the environmental stewardship ofparticipating farmers

• Increase the sale of locally grown productsthrough retailers and other outlets

• Ensure CISA’s organizational health

You may find that clarifying your goals isharder than you expected. Or you might findthat various folks in your Buy Local programhave differing opinions about what yourgoals should be. Working through thosedifferences is important, not only becauseyour goals are the basis for your evaluation,but also because a clear sense of purposeis the basis for harmonious and productiverelations with your partners and otherparticipants.

Objectives: Making Progress Toward YourGoalsFor each goal, you may have one or morespecific objectives you hope to achieve. Forinstance, objectives related to a goal like“increase sales of locally grown products”might include: sign up two more natural foodretail partners in the next six months, launcha restaurant program this year, or increasesales at three local farmers markets by 10percent this summer. Objectives capture theprogress you’re making toward your goals.The more specific, measurable and time-bound your objectives are, the better.

One way of identifying specific objectives isto complete the sentence, “We would feelsuccessful if ________ occurred.” The ideasyou insert in the blank space can be turnedinto objectives.

Indicators: What Are the Key Signs ofProgress?

The next step is to identify indicators—measurable data points that capture theprogress being made toward your goals andobjectives.

For instance, one of CISA’s goals is to improvefarmers’ economic viability. That’s a broadgoal and one that’s hard to measure on itsown. So we needed to choose some specificdata points that we could track and thatwould indicate whether farmers’ economicsituations were improving or not. Weconsidered a variety of indicators beforewe settled on those that seemed to work best.

For instance, we thought about trying toassess how the Buy Local program wasimpacting the farmers’ bottom line, or netincome. But a host of factors got in our way.One is that many other things influence afarmer’s bottom line that have nothing to dowith the campaign, such as production coststhat the campaign can’t influence and themethods a farmer uses to account forequipment, among many others. Also, veryunderstandably, our farmers were reluctantto share their net income figures with us.

So instead of looking at net income, we askedthem about gross farm sales. And we askedfor the percentage changes in sales, not thetotal dollar value of their sales. Asking fora percentage change rather than a dollarvalue was a way of accommodating farmers’legitimate need for privacy.

We found that farmers are typically willingand able to estimate percentage shifts intheir gross sales. While a percentage changein sales figure doesn’t have quite the punchthat a dollars sold figure has, it is data wecan obtain while maintaining good relationswith our farmers. You may also that you needto balance these kinds of considerations, too.

CISA now uses a variety of indicators to trackprogress toward our main goals, including the:

• Number of participating farmers,retailers, restaurants and farmersmarkets

• Percentage of consumers polled whorecalled the Buy Local campaign

• Percentage change in farmstand sales

• Number of new retail accounts thatfarmers gain

• Specific sustainable production practicesused by participating farmers

Use a mix of

quantitative and

qualitative indicators.

Some forms of

progress can be

captured numerically

while others cannot.

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• Number of people who are members ofCISA

Here are a few tips for choosing your ownindicators:

• Use a mix of quantitative and qualitativeindicators. Some forms of progress canbe captured numerically while otherscannot.

• Choose indicators that your Buy Localprogram can directly influence and thataren’t unduly influenced by outside factors.

• Choose indicators that can showmeaningful change within the time periodthat you’ll be gathering the data.

• Make sure you can actually gather thedata. Can retailers’ tracking systems reallydistinguish local from non-local food? Evenif they can, are retailers willing to take thetime needed to gather that data?

• Once you’ve chosen your indicators, tryto stick with them so that you can gathertrend data from one year to the next.

• Anticipate that your data will beimperfect.

Baseline Data: What’s Your Starting Point?After you’ve chosen your indicators, the nextstep is to gather your baseline data.Baseline data is simply the starting point thatyou measure your progress from. It’s the “x”that allows you to say that the number of

participating farmers or dozens of local eggssold changed from “x” to “y” from the firstyear to the second.

It’s important to gather your baseline databefore your campaign is launched. It’s muchmore difficult, and sometimes impossible, torecreate data about sands that have arealready started shifting. Gathering baselinedata up front will allow you to demonstratethat “y” is actually a significant improvementover “x.” Knowing only the “y” is good, butbeing able to show the significance of thatchange is even better.

As seen in chapter 7, Market Research, aconsumer survey is one way to gatherbaseline data on consumer attitudes aboutbuying locally grown. Pre-campaign farmer,restaurant and retailer surveys are also ahelpful, low-cost way of gauging yourcampaign’s starting point.

Methodology: What Evaluation Tools Do YouNeed?Now that you know which data are importantto you, it’s time to develop the tools you’llneed to actually gather those data. Thereare many, many options. The three mostimportant for CISA have been:

1. Formal consumer phone surveys conductedby our market research firm the winterafter the busiest part of our campaignseason (see chapter 7 for a samplereport)

• Make sure you’re very clear about what information you really need. Pare yoursurveys down to what’s most important and most realistic to obtain.

• Explain to your stakeholders why you want the information and what you’ll dowith it.

• Take care when you design survey questions. Ask questions that are concise andaren’t subject to misinterpretation.

• Keep your surveys short and uncluttered.

• Respect people’s time constraints and their privacy.

• Make it easy for people to respond.

• Follow up with your stakeholders to share the results of your evaluation.

TIPS FTIPS FTIPS FTIPS FTIPS FOR GAOR GAOR GAOR GAOR GATHERING STTHERING STTHERING STTHERING STTHERING STAKEHOLDERS’ FEEDBAAKEHOLDERS’ FEEDBAAKEHOLDERS’ FEEDBAAKEHOLDERS’ FEEDBAAKEHOLDERS’ FEEDBACKCKCKCKCK

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One of our favorite tasks at CISA is keeping a file filled withstories we hear about our Buy Local program. For instance, onefarmer told us that our Farm Products Guide brought a customerto his farm early in the season, and that the customer spent enoughin one trip to pay for four years’ inclusion in the guide. Anotherfarmer told us that his kids were often teased about being froma farm. But when their family’s picture was featured prominentlyin a Local Hero newspaper ad, the teasing stopped and the kids’schoolmates took a new interest in their life on the farm.

These stories are colorful facets in the mosaic that is the LocalHero campaign. They are integral to what our program is about.And they are a valuable resource for news releases, public events,proposals and more.

We’ve also heard our funders and state legislators repeatingthese stories when discussing the campaign with other people.Such stories give people a way of talking about our campaignin a vivid, conversational way and they give our campaign ahuman touch.

CAPTURING THE INTCAPTURING THE INTCAPTURING THE INTCAPTURING THE INTCAPTURING THE INTANGIBLESANGIBLESANGIBLESANGIBLESANGIBLES

2. Written surveys with our farmers, retailers,restaurants and other participants eachwinter

3. One-on-one interviews with a subset ofour farmers, restaurants and retailers

The formal market research gives us dataabout the level of consumer awareness ofour campaign, the percentage of consumersthat said they were influenced to buy locallygrown food, and the rates at which consumersrecall various communication channels suchas newspaper ads and point-of-purchase(POP) materials. Having a professional firmdo this piece of the evaluation also gave usdata that were statistically valid and

independently generated. That was criticalwhen we needed data to use with the media,legislators and other stakeholders.

Our written surveys of farmers, retailers andrestaurants give us quantitative data aboutfarmers’ new vendors, changes in farmstandsales, changes in prices received by farmers,and increases in the volume of local purchasesby retailers and restaurants. You’ll findtemplates for farmer and retailer surveys inthe attachments at the end of this chapter.

One-on-one interviews are also important.Interviews tell us much more about theintangibles—interviewees’ impressions andfeelings about the campaign, their reasoning,the more nuanced ideas that people don’tusually try to express in writing. Interviewswere especially important in the first year ofour campaign, when the campaign and manyof our relationships were forming.

As Jaana Cutson of CISA said, “Manyinterviews with our farmers took place aroundthe kitchen table. Farmers are very busy andwere sometimes reluctant to meet with us. Butonce we got started, they wouldn’t stoptalking! And as conversations progressed,farmers would get more relaxed and wouldgive feedback (both positive and negative)that they wouldn’t have in writing or earlier inthe conversation. While time consuming, talkingtogether in a more relaxed atmosphere helpsbuild relationships and create trust. It helpsus to better understand farmers’ points ofview and their circumstances. And it’s a greatway of getting to know them as both farmersand friends.”

CISA staff interview our retailer andrestaurant partners each winter as well.Retailers tend to be very busy, so we’vefound it essential to be very clear about whatwe want to get from the interview and tokeep it short. Few retailers will put much timeinto written surveys, so you may need to visitthem in person if you want your survey to becompleted on time. Personal interviews canbe important for really understanding theirperspective and building rapport. We’vefound that while some larger retailers arereluctant to provide data, they doappreciate that we are trying to understandhow well the campaign is working for them.

Other evaluation tools we use include:

• Tracking our Web site hits

• Tracking our membership database

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QUALITIES TO LOOK FOR IN ANQUALITIES TO LOOK FOR IN ANQUALITIES TO LOOK FOR IN ANQUALITIES TO LOOK FOR IN ANQUALITIES TO LOOK FOR IN ANEXTERNAL EVEXTERNAL EVEXTERNAL EVEXTERNAL EVEXTERNAL EVALALALALALUUUUUAAAAATTTTTOROROROROR

• Tracking the phone calls we receive

• Recording media appearances andreadership/listenership

• Assessing the cost and utility of specificoutreach tools (see the Evaluation Formfor Individual Communications Tools in theattachments at the end of this chapter,which you may want to adapt to suit yourown situation)

STAFFING: WHO IS RESPONSIBLEFOR DATA-GATHERING?As you plan your evaluation, you’ll also wantto think about the staff resources needed toimplement your evaluation. There’s no doubtthat evaluation takes time and skill. CISAfound that a combination of staff andoutside expertise is a good mix for us.

For instance, CISA began working with anexternal evaluator several months before welaunched the campaign. We found that ourevaluator provided direction and continuitywhen we were scrambling to design and runthe campaign. Our evaluator lived far away,and CISA staff did nearly all the legwork togather evaluation data. But it was helpful toget advice about clarifying our goals,designing our evaluation plan, developingsurveys and thinking through the implicationsof the data we received. Our evaluator alsohelped us remobilize when we got stuck orde-energized. Having her show up on ourdoorstep periodically also made us focus onthe evaluation and bring our staff togetherto reflect on what we learned and where wewere headed.

However, engaging an evaluator takes money.And finding the right fit—of interpersonalchemistry, skills and philosophy—can be achallenge. On the other hand, trying to assessyour own work objectively (and in the midstof so many other immediate demands) is apretty tall order. Having that fresh andunbiased perspective along with someadditional evaluation skills can be a big boostto your program. An outside evaluator canalso build your staff’s capacity to do goodevaluation by bringing you new ideas andnew tools. If you can swing it financially, wewould encourage you to explore how anoutside evaluator might help you.

Also, make sure that you budget time forstaff to be involved in your evaluation. That’skey to enabling people to help plan the

• Ability to see both the forest and the trees (e.g., they get thebig picture, but can also stay on top of details).

• Good “radar” and observation skills.

• Strong verbal and written communications skills.

• Ability to engage with you as a team player.

• Adept at building trust. Brings positive energy and can handledelicate situations diplomatically.

• “Speaks your language” and brings knowledge of your issues.

• Fits in with your organization’s culture and can adapt to yourreality.

• Is committed to building your capacity and strengthening yourcampaign, and not only to documenting activities or writingan evaluation report.

• Has formal evaluation skills, or at least very strong analyticalskills.

• Has a healthy dose of natural curiosity and a sense of humor—both are qualities that make evaluation more enjoyable.

• Clarify roles. Have reasonable expectations about what youand the evaluator can do.

• Set clear timelines and deliverables.

• Give the evaluator opportunities to get to know you, yourissues, your stakeholders, and to interact with your campaignover time.

• Do the work together. Mark sure your staff and key partnersfeel ownership of the evaluation and understand its intentionsand methods.

• Agree on how the evaluator should handle feedback that isunfavorable or that may be controversial.

• Commit to really using the information that your evaluationprovides. The evaluator can provide recommendations butcan’t take action for you.

TIPS FOR WORKING WITH ANTIPS FOR WORKING WITH ANTIPS FOR WORKING WITH ANTIPS FOR WORKING WITH ANTIPS FOR WORKING WITH ANOUTOUTOUTOUTOUTSIDE EVSIDE EVSIDE EVSIDE EVSIDE EVALALALALALUUUUUAAAAATTTTTOROROROROR

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evaluation, participate in it, and explore itsimplications for their own work. Andremember—if your folks don’t feel ownershipof your evaluation, its benefit to them willprobably be limited. Try to involve your staffand stakeholders throughout the process.

INTERPRET YOUR INFORMATIONPlanning your evaluation and gathering dataare really just the lead-up to an evaluationthat makes a difference for your program.Analyzing those data and figuring out whatthey mean to you and your stakeholders iswhere the rubber hits the road. We’dencourage you to involve some of yourfarmers, retailers, board members and otherstakeholders when you do this analysis. Thiscan lead to a much richer discussion, one thatbuilds teamwork and clarity of direction. Youmay find that this kind of discussion becomesan integral part of your organization’sannual meeting, campaign planning sessions,or other events.

Questions you may want to explore togetherinclude:

• What aspects of our Buy Local programworked well this season? Why? Which

aspects fell short of our hopes and why?

• What are the key lessons we learned?

• What are we proud of?

• What internal and external factorsinfluenced our effectiveness this year?

• Is our definition of success changing?

• Given all of the above, what are theimplications for our campaign? Whataspects should we continue, expand,modify or de-emphasize next year?

• What else do we need to consider?

USE THESE INSIGHTS TO IMPROVEYOUR CAMPAIGNThe next—and perhaps most importantstage—is to be proactive about applyingthese insights to your next round of activities.Given the time pressures we all live with, it’seasy to dive into more activities without takingthe time to really reflect on the lessons learnedfrom last time around. But Buy Local programscertainly aren’t cut-and-dried ventures; oftenthey are experiments in which we test differentapproaches and keep looking for newopportunities and ways to improve.

• Plan your evaluation early, preferably as part of your program planning.

• Make your evaluation a tool to help you manage, develop and communicate about your Buy Local program(not just document activity or identify shortcomings).

• Start by clarifying what you’re trying to accomplish and what success would look like for you and yourstakeholders.

• Gather your baseline data early and use a variety of tools for gathering data.

• Create trust and reward honesty.

• Budget staff time to do evaluation work.

• Make your evaluation participatory.

• Integrate your evaluation with the work you already do and care about.

• Remember that efforts that didn’t succeed make for great learning opportunities.

• Keep it manageable. Be realistic about how much evaluation work you can do. Anticipate some frustrationalong the way.

• Reflect on the implications of the data and insights you’re gathering: commit to translating your experienceinto insight, and insight into action.

• Keep asking “Why?” and “What’s the lesson here?”

• Remember to celebrate the good stuff and tell others about it!

TIPS FTIPS FTIPS FTIPS FTIPS FOR DOING HIGH-IMPOR DOING HIGH-IMPOR DOING HIGH-IMPOR DOING HIGH-IMPOR DOING HIGH-IMPAAAAACT EVCT EVCT EVCT EVCT EVALALALALALUUUUUAAAAATIONTIONTIONTIONTION

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Explicitly integrating your lessons learnedinto future plans can help you become moreeffective and confident. You may also findthat doing this exploration in a participatoryway enables better decision-making andhelps build buy-in for improvements to yourBuy Local program.

COMMUNICATE YOUR RESULTSWho should you tell about the progressyou’ve made and the differences your BuyLocal campaign is making in the community?This is a key question to ask yourself (and tokeep asking yourself).

For instance, Jaana Cutson said that in thefirst year of CISA’s evaluation, “we had datato show that the campaign was influencingconsumers and making a difference forfarmers—that was the big thing. Thatinformation was critical with both funders andparticipants. For them, the proof had to be inthe pudding. Our results also generatedmedia interest. We did news releases. Wetold people about our results at communityevents. We put our evaluation data front-and-center. It made reluctant farmers more willingto join the campaign. They saw it was workingfor other farmers, and that it was continuing.The evaluation also showed that we wereserious about the campaign and that it wasn’ta fly-by-night thing.”

One tool that CISA uses to communicate itscampaign results is the brochure provided inthe attachments at the end of this chapter. Wefind that it gives us an attractive, concisesummary to tell people what was accomplished.It’s a great communications tool for ourparticipants, partners, funders and staff.

KEEP YOUR EVALUATION FRESHAs your campaign evolves, your evaluationshould too. Over time, you may find that theindicators you’re using don’t effectivelycapture your progress. Or your definitionof success might change as new partners orconstituencies get involved. You’ll also findout which data points are critical and whicharen’t. CISA also started with the “Cadillac”of evaluation plans and has streamlined ourscope and survey tools over time. Ourevaluation has evolved from something newand somewhat disconnected from our day-to-day work into a more integral part ofour program. It is becoming part of ourculture, as we hope it is (or will be) for you.

If you’re short on funds for evaluation, try some of these ideas:

• Engage a mixture of external consultants, staff, board andvolunteers

• Use grad students, members, volunteers, etc., to do the legworkof gathering your data

• Do focus groups or other group events rather than moretime-consuming one-on-one interviews

• Use interactions at farmer meetings, community events, yourannual meeting and other events to generate qualitative datato help fill the gap (at least temporarily) if quantitative dataare in short supply

• Offer prizes to encourage people to respond to your surveyswithout needing to be asked several times

• Streamline your list of indicators to those that are mostimportant and reasonably easy to gather

• Use e-mail to increase the efficiency and ease of datacollection

TIPS FOR ECONOMIZINGTIPS FOR ECONOMIZINGTIPS FOR ECONOMIZINGTIPS FOR ECONOMIZINGTIPS FOR ECONOMIZING

Outcomes for Success! 2000 Edition.Available from the Evaluation Forum, Seattle, WA, (206) 269-0171.

Performance Scorecards: Measuring the Right Things in the RealWorld, Richard Change and Mark Morgan.

How to Evaluate Foundation Programs, Stacey Stockdill withMarlene Stoehr, Commissioned by The Saint Paul Foundation,Inc., 1993.

Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits FreeManagement Library, www.mapnp.org.See planning and evaluation sections for materials and links toa wide variety of resources.

www.innonet.orgOnline resources for program planning and evaluation.

Attachments

1999 Campaign Results Summary

Sample Year-End Grower Survey

Sample Year-End Retailer Survey

Evaluation Form for Individual Communication Tools

RESOURRESOURRESOURRESOURRESOURCES: EVCES: EVCES: EVCES: EVCES: EVALALALALALUUUUUAAAAATIONTIONTIONTIONTION

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SampleYear-End Grower Survey

Your Name: ______________________________ Date: ________________

What products did you grow in 2001? What % were they of your total farm sales?

� Vegetables ___________%� Fruit ___________%� Meat or poultry ___________%� Dairy ________________ ___________%� Value-added products ___________ ___________%� Other ________________ ___________%

What single product would consumers most readily associate with your farm?____________________________________________________________________

Where do you sell your products? This represents what % of yourtotal farm sales:

� At farmers markets _______� At a farm stand _______� Through other direct sales to individuals _______� Directly to restaurants _______� Directly to grocery stores _______� Directly to institutional buyers (e.g., colleges) _______� To wholesalers _______� Others ____________________________ _______

What percentage of your 2001 sales were made to buyers in the “local area”?

(indicate here how your campaign defines “local”) _______%

Did your farm use any of these advertising Was this part of the XX Buy Localchannels in 2001: campaign?

� Television (list stations) __________________ ______ Yes ______ No� Radio (list stations) _____________________ ______ Yes ______ No� Newspapers (list newspapers) _____________ ______ Yes ______ No� Roadside signs ______ Yes ______ No� Direct mail ______ Yes ______ No� Posters, handbills, etc. ______ Yes ______ No� Internet ______ Yes ______ No

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Did your farm do any of the following Was this part of the XX Buyactivities in 2001: Local marketing and outreach campaign?

� Used your own logo _______ Yes _______ No� Participated in promotional events _______ Yes _______ No� Distributed promotional literature _______ Yes _______ No� Distributed coupons _______ Yes _______ No� Managed a mailing list _______ Yes _______ No� Had your farm featured in a news story _______ Yes _______ No� Had your farm features in a radio story _______ Yes _______ No� Invited the public to your farm _______ Yes _______ No� Other _______________________ _______ Yes _______ No

How have you benefited from participating in the Buy Local Campaign in 2001?

Please rate the following statements on a scale of one (1) to five (5):1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly agree

The campaign has helped distinguish my farm’sproducts from others in the marketplace. 1 2 3 4 5

The campaign provides advertising and outreachtools that enhance the marketing of my products. 1 2 3 4 5

Participating in the campaign has enhancedmy business with existing customers. 1 2 3 4 5

The campaign has helped me access new marketsand new vendors. 1 2 3 4 5

Campaign-related opportunities to networkwith other farmers are valuable to me. 1 2 3 4 5

Campaign-related opportunities to network withretailers and other vendors are valuable to me. 1 2 3 4 5

The campaign has enhanced the securityof my farm income. 1 2 3 4 5

The campaign’s media and public relations workhas created greater community awarenessof locally grown food. 1 2 3 4 5

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Products Sales and Prices

The campaign has helped increase sales of my products. 1 2 3 4 5

In the past year, my sales have increased due to the campaign by:

____ 0% ____ 1–5% ____ 6–10% ____11–20% ____more than 20%

The Campaign helped raise the prices I receive. 1 2 3 4 5

On average, the campaign has helped raise the prices I receive by:

____ 0% ____ 1–5% ____ 6–10% ____11–20% ____more than 20%

What other benefits have you gained from the Buy Local campaign?

How useful are the Buy Local marketing materials?

Please rate the following marketing materials on a scale of one (1) to five (5):1- Not at all useful, 2- Not very useful, 3- Neutral, 4- Useful, 5- Very usefulN/A – I have not tried to use this material

1” x 2” stickers N/A 1 2 3 4 5

Banners N/A 1 2 3 4 5

Posters N/A 1 2 3 4 5

Local Hero yard signs N/A 1 2 3 4 5

The overall usefulness of XX Buy Local marketing materials is: 1 2 3 4 5

How could our campaign improve the marketing materials we currently use?

What other marketing materials would be helpful to you?

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Support from XX Organization’s staff


XX organization understands my situation and goals. 1 2 3 4 5

XX is open and responsive to new ideas forimproving the Buy Local campaign. 1 2 3 4 5

XX staff is available when I need to speak with them. 1 2 3 4 5

I am pleased with my interaction with XX staff. 1 2 3 4 5

Improving the Buy Local Campaign

1. How could the XX campaign have better served you in 2001?

2. What steps could we take to improve the Buy Local campaign in 2002?

3. What other suggestions or feedback do you have?

I intend to participate in the campaign next year: ______ Yes ______ No

Please send your completed survey by XX date to:(Provide your contact info here)

Thank you!

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SampleYear-End Retailer Survey

Your Name/Store: ______________________________ Date: ________________

Sales of Local Hero Products

Please indicate what local products you sold in 2001:

Product Amt Sold$

Which of these products would you like to carry more of next year?

What additional local products would you like to carry?

How did your sales of local products change in 2001 relative to last year?

� Increased more than 20%� Increased 11%–20%� Increased 6%–10%� Increased 1%–5%� Did not change� Decreased

On average, did you pay more for local products than similar products from non-local sources in 2001?

� More than 10% higher than similar products from non-local sources� 6%–10% higher� 3%–5% higher� 1%–2% higher� No difference� Paid less for local products

Please rate Local Hero products overall: Very Poor Poor Average Good Very GoodProduct Quality 1 2 3 4 5Product Supply 1 2 3 4 5Product Movement 1 2 3 4 5

What percentage of your (produce) sales were from local growers in 2001? _________%

What percentage would you like to locally source in 2002? _________%

How many local farmers did you purchase from directly in 2001? ________

How many of those farmers are new accounts (e.g., farmers you had not purchased from in prior years)? ________

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Promotional Materials

Please rate the following: Very Poor Poor Average Good Very Good

Posters 1 2 3 4 54” x 6” shelf talkers 1 2 3 4 52” x 3” shelf talkers 1 2 3 4 56” round logo/wire stand 1 2 3 4 5Local Hero stickers 1 2 3 4 5Satin “state fair” ribbon 1 2 3 4 5In-store demonstrations 1 2 3 4 5

Overall Rating 1 2 3 4 5

We use Local Hero promotional materials:

� Consistently throughout the season� Frequently� On occasion� Rarely� Never

How could the Local Hero campaign improve our marketing materials and in-store events?

Benefits of Participating in the Local Hero Campaign


Our store has benefited from participating in the Campaign in the following ways:

Fresher, higher quality produce 1 2 3 4 5Increased product choice for consumers 1 2 3 4 5Increased product sales 1 2 3 4 5Built relationships with local growers 1 2 3 4 5Improved public image of store 1 2 3 4 5Received help with marketing& promotions 1 2 3 4 5

Please describe other benefits you have received:______________________________________________________________________

Our customers’ response to the Local Hero campaign has been:� Very positive� Positive� Neutral� Negative

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My staff are well-equipped to answerconsumers’ questions about theLocal Hero campaign. 1 2 3 4 5

I am pleased with my interaction withLocal Hero campaign staff. 1 2 3 4 5

I would give the Local Hero campaign an overall rating of ________(1 = Very Poor, 5 = Very Good)

Improving the Buy Local Campaign

How could the Local Hero campaign have better served you in 2001?

What steps could we take to improve the Buy Local campaign in 2002?

What other suggestions or feedback do you have?

I intend to participate in the Local Hero campaign next year: ______ Yes ______ No

Please send your completed survey by XX date to:(Provide your contact info here)

Thank you!

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Evaluation Formfor Individual Communication Tools

Outreach tool: (e.g., 2” rectangular sticker; T-shirt; radio ad)

Intended audience:

Used by whom/when/where/how often:

Total cost and number produced:

Cost per piece:

Results to date. What worked about it? What didn’t? Why? Cost-effectiveness?

Overall rating (on a scale of 1–5) _____________

Would we use this tool again? What changes should we make to it?

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It’s essential to have your ducks in a rowbefore you formally launch your campaignand begin attracting the interest (andscrutiny) of consumers and the media.You may also want to use one or a series ofcommunity events to kick off your campaign.Such events can be a great way create asplash and engage a wide array of citizens,farmers, retailers, partner organizations,political figures, business people, the mediaand others in your Buy Local program.

This chapter explores those issues,particularly:

• Campaign elements you should have inplace before you formally launch

• The ups and downs of CISA’s launchexperience

• Thoughts about staging kick-off events

• Discussion questions to help you assess yourreadiness to kick off your campaign

BEFORE YOU LAUNCH

Before you launch your campaign on asignificant scale, you’ll want to have keycomponents of your Buy Local program inplace and ready to roll. Here are some thatCommunity Involved in Sustaining Agriculture(CISA) has found most important.

• An appropriate number of farmers,retailers and/or other purveyors of localfood signed on to your campaign. CISAhad about 16 farmers and six retailers(both large and small) on board when welaunched. This was a good number to startwith. It gave us some product diversitywithout being too many farms to manageas we were starting out. Striking thatbalance is important, both to the publicwho you are asking to buy locally grownfood, and to your staff who are realizingfor the first time what it means to actuallyrun a program like this.

• Plenty of local products available ingrocery stores and other outlets. You mayneed to do some coordination betweenfarmers and retailers to make sure thatthe food is on the shelves when it needs to

be. While you may not want to serve asa broker for very long, we’d encourageyou to do whatever is necessary to makesure consumers can find local food onceyou begin advertising.

• Make sure your retail outlets, restaurants,farmstands, etc., have plenty of point-of-purchase (POP) materials, know how touse them and are ready to start usingthem at the appropriate time.

• Have your outreach and communicationsefforts planned and ready. These mayinclude newspaper and radio ads orother paid media, media interviews foryour staff and stakeholders, newsreleases, in-store events with your farmers,and more.

• Written agreements with participants andclearly documented campaign policies.

• Plans for a high energy, very visibleevent to launch your campaign (or severalevents, if they suit your purposes). Makesure you have a strategy for enticing themedia to come to your event and primethem to deliver the most importantmessages about your campaign.

Our experience was that the more preparedyou are before you formally launch yourcampaign, the better your life will be. CISAfolks had a great time at our launch event,but it was stressful. And there were a fewkey pieces that we didn’t have in place.

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Make sure you have

a strategy for enticing

the media to come

to your event and

prime them to deliver

the most important

messages about

your campaign.

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For instance, we didn’t get our POP materialsinto the stores until a week after the launch.And then we realized that there was animportant policy issue that we hadn’t sortedout: could retailers use our POP materials topromote only products from Local Herofarmers or to promote all local products?What about locally manufactured products,not just locally grown ones? We didn’t wantto exclude some local products, but alsowanted farmers to have an incentive to jointhe campaign. The frenzy to reach closureon this issue illustrates how important policydecisions can be—and that such decisionsare much easier to make before the horse isout of the barn.

Suffice it to say, CISA didn’t have a clearlaunch plan that outlined exactly what issueswe needed to address, what tasks neededto happen in what sequence, who would dowhat by when, etc. Having that plan wouldhave made the run up to our launch dateless chaotic. And that would have made ourstaff a little saner and much more at easewith the big unknown we were heading into.As a result, we encourage you to take stockof the various pieces you need to have inplace before you launch and then planaccordingly.

Also keep in mind that once you formallylaunch, you will enter a new phase of thecampaign—a phase that may involve boutsof excitement and fear, gratification andregret. We found that it helps your campaignkeep an even keel if you anticipate andacknowledge the range of emotions that thisexperience may trigger in those staff, boardmembers, farmers and partners who bearmuch of the responsibility.

The Big EventOur big community event marked the formallaunch of CISA’s Buy Local campaign in June1999. We looked at our launch event as aparty celebrating the community of peoplecommitted to local farming and local food.For you, that community might include farmers,retailers, restaurants, the media, politicians,institutions, the public and others.

We found that engaging our communityduring the launch was essential for buildinga sense of team spirit, creating early visibilityfor the campaign, and celebrating this neweffort to bolster agriculture in our region.We also found that folks will come to an

event if they think it offers something for them.As Margaret Christie, our former executivedirector, said, “Our retail awards got theretailers there. The politicians’ presence gotthe media there. Our loyal farmers came.And everyone enjoyed the great food.” CISAtried to ensure that all of our stakeholdershad a good reason to come to the launchand that they enjoyed it once they got there.

For instance, we had some of our friends inthe state legislature come and offer wordsof encouragement. Having politicians linedup to participate in advance was probablythe key factor in motivating the media tocome. Without our legislators and thecommissioner of agriculture there, weprobably wouldn’t have gotten the mediacoverage we did. Having our politicalleaders speak briefly—with commentarythat we helped prepare—also gave themedia great sound bites that reflected ourcore messages.

Our participating farmers came out as well.They were integral to the event, giving thecampaign credibility and legitimacy. Soon,other farmers who had been skeptical aboutthe campaign (but then saw some great TVstories and newspaper articles about thelaunch) called to join us. These were oftenthe same folks who wouldn’t return our callsbefore the launch. The launch and earlymedia coverage were a great way toengage farmers that needed to see somesigns of legitimacy before they would getinvolved.

PLANNING YOUR LAUNCH EVENT

Here is just some of the planning that wentinto CISA’s launch event.

Location, Location, LocationCISA agonized over the location for ourlaunch. Was there a farm that would let ususe a field? What about a grange hall?Church basement? We debated the pros andcons of each site and the infrastructure thatwe would need to bring to each one.

Our launch was in late June, the height of thelocal strawberry harvest. One of our earlyjoiners was a strawberry farmer withconsiderable acreage. He agreed to let ususe one of his fallow fields. So we set aboutrenting a tent, public address system,generator, port-a-potties, tables, chairs andmore to create a comfortable spot for

Keep in mind that

once you formally

launch, you will enter

a new phase of the

campaign—a phase

that may involve

bouts of excitement

and fear, gratification

and regret.

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people to come to. Luckily we had rentedlarge, freestanding fans for under the tent.An early heat wave struck suddenly and thosefans saved the day.

Despite the heat and myriad logisticaldetails, holding the launch on a farmhighlighted the campaign’s authenticity andit signaled the centrality of farmers to ourwork. The images of a local farm also cameacross nicely in the resulting media coverage.

Good EatsLocally grown food was central to our event.We tried to have a variety and to highlightit throughout the event. We had farmersbring “fresh from the field” items like greens,berries and milk to give out as samples. Afew cases of local hard cider helped relaxthe crowd.

We hired a caterer to prepare the bulk ofthe food. It really helps to find a catererwho is enthusiastic about using as much localfood as possible. Be sure to make it clearup front that locally grown is what you want,even if you have to buy the food yourselfand bring it to the caterer.

It may be tempting to think that volunteerscan prepare all of the food. While volunteersmay save you money, they are rarely asorganized or efficient as an experiencedcaterer—and they might drop out at the lastminute. Tables laden with local food andquick, efficient service will reinforce theimpression that your campaign is wellorganized.

Giving RecognitionWith the help of the MassachusettsDepartment of Food and Agriculture, we gaveout awards to area retailers. The awardshelped spark a large turnout from retailers(including several who hadn’t yet signed on),and they also enjoyed the photo opportunitieswith the media.

VisualsIt’s also important to think about the visualsaround the event site. You want the event tobe celebratory and photogenic. Our mediaconsultant did a good job of creating acolorful backdrop for the event. He hired aphotographer months before the kickoff totake pictures of farmers, farms and localfood. The photos were then turned into amassive collage that was posted on one side

of the tent. We also had one of our bus signsmade into a banner that stretched acrossthe other side. Farmers’ food displays andsamples, flowers and other decorationscompleted the festive scene and helpedattendees connect with our farmers and ourmessage.

EARLY SUCCESSES. . .AND SNAFUS

The Local Hero campaign really came aliveat the launch event and in the weeks thatfollowed. One of the best results from ourlaunch as the new relationships farmersforged with local retailers. Farmers reportedthat they met retailers they had wanted tomeet for a long time, and made deals toget products into their stores. One local eggproducer saw an immediate 50 percentincrease in sales at a local store in the weeksfollowing the launch. And as mentioned above,we also got some great publicity, whichproved to be a great recruitment tool forCISA.

Six months after the launch event we hadseveral new retail partners, as well as morefarmers. The event also prompted asomewhat indignant letter from a localrestaurant owner, suggesting that we alsowork with local restaurants. His interestpointed out another gap in our plan. Althoughwe had our hands full trying to set up ourretail program, we asked the restaurateurto participate in a new planning committee.We worked with his and other restaurantsthat winter to plan a restaurant program thatbegan in the second year of our campaign.

Our retail awards got

the retailers there.

The politicians’

presence got the

media there. Our

loyal farmers came.

And everyone enjoyed

the great food.

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Remember that once your campaign launchis over, your work is just beginning. Yourworkload may increase exponentially asmore people become aware of yourcampaign and more potential participantswant to join. As you have seen from ourexperience, strong relationships withparticipants, good planning, clear policies,a sense of humor and an openness topossibility should serve you well as youbegin your campaign and work to broadenits impact.

ARE YOU READY TO LAUNCH?

As your launch date approaches, bring yourcampaign team together to make sure youhave all of the pieces in place. Discuss thefollowing questions:

• How many retail and farm participantswill you need to meet the consumerdemand sparked by your campaign? Doyou have enough participants involved?

• Have you taken steps to ensure that plentyof local food will be on store shelves whenyou launch?

. . . strong

relationships with

participants, good

planning, clear

policies, a sense of

humor and an

openness to

possibility should

serve you well as you

begin your campaign

and work to broaden

its impact.

• Have you identified the various campaignpolicies you’ll need? Have you developedthem and put them into place?

• Do you have appropriate, signed writtenagreements with your participatingfarmers, retailers, institutional partnersand others?

• What POP materials will you need? Areyour retail partners and farmers trainedand ready to use them properly?

• Have you developed positive relationshipswith local media? Have you primed themto cover your work? Have you lined upinterviews and other engagements foryour staff, farmers and partners?

• Are your newspaper, radio or other adsand community outreach materials ready?Do you have a schedule and process forplacing the ads?

• Have you planned a high-energy, high-visibility event that will engage yourcommunity, partners, the media and others,and serve as a fitting kickoff for yourBuy Local program?

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So far we’ve focused on the ingredients thatgo into designing and launching a Buy Localcampaign. Now we look at what it takes tokeep the program going.

The scale and complexity of your campaignwill greatly influence the resources you’ll need.We share our experience in hopes that it willgive you a benchmark for planning your ownneeds in the years after your launch.

Below, we explore three key dimensions ofmaintaining a Buy Local program:

• Activities that keep the program humming

• The skills necessary to run the program

• Adequate staffing

WHAT ACTIVITIES WILL

NEED TO BE DONE?For Community Involved in SustainingAgriculture (CISA), the following activitieshave been central to keeping our Buy Localprogram going:

• Community outreach and events

• Ongoing recruitment of farmers, retailers,restaurants and other partners

• Coordination with retail partners:spot checking current ones and trainingnew ones

• Updating and placing your advertisements,point-of-purchase (POP) and othercampaign materials

• Maintaining relationships with themedia and securing coverage of yourprogram

• Maintaining relations with participantsand institutional partners

• Evaluating your work and continuallyimproving your program

• Generating funds

• Oversight and management

WHAT SKILLS ARE MOST CRITICAL?As this toolkit shows, a Buy Local program

requires a wide variety of skills to be effective.Among those we’ve found most important are:

• Ability to work with farmers and retailersand an understanding of their businesses

• Community organizing and outreach

• Media and/or formal communications

• Design, layout and desktop publishing

• Planning and evaluation

• Fundraising and planning for financialsustainability

HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL IT TAKE?Since the beginning of CISA’s campaign, ourorganization has had four full-time staff: anexecutive director, a campaign coordinator,a program coordinator (to handle our otherprograms and pitch in on the campaign) andan office manager. This has proven to bethe minimum number sufficient to manage ourcampaign and various other programssimultaneously. We recently added afundraiser.

While we make extensive use of our boardof directors and member volunteers, CISAhas found that having a core of full-time staffis invaluable, particularly early in thecampaign. But before we launched, wethought that one full-time staff person wouldbe enough to manage our campaign. Thatturned out to be a woeful underestimate.

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The scale and

complexity of your

campaign will greatly

influence the

resources you’ll need.

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So, during the first summer of the campaign,we hired a part-time consultant to work withthe campaign coordinator on recruitment andother campaign tasks. Two other CISA staffcontribute about one-third of their time tothe campaign and its evaluation. While theinitial summer of the campaign required aHerculean effort, subsequent seasons havebeen more manageable. Since 2000, we’vehad a full-time campaign coordinator, anexecutive director who spends about half-time on the campaign, a staff member whospends about 10 percent of her time on

campaign evaluation, and additional help

on an as-needed basis. That adds up to

about three full-time equivalents over

the course of the year.

THE NEXT CHAPTER: QUESTIONS

WE ARE ASKING OURSELVESAs we approach the fourth year of ourcampaign, CISA is encountering a new cropof questions about how to move ahead.While we had several very positive years,new challenges continue to presentthemselves. We have highlighted some ofthese issues in the hope that they will alertyou to questions that may be important foryour long-term success as well.

How Will We Keep Funding Our

Campaign?CISA was fortunate to have had three solidyears of funding for a significant portion ofour campaign. Now we’re looking to diversifyour funding. Raising our participant fees,exploring earned revenue, and engaginglocal businesses are among the avenues CISAis pursuing.

In our largely rural community, and perhapsin yours, there is a dire need for local,sustainable economic development. Your localbanks and businesses need to under-stand how important a vibrant rural economy,based on farming, can be to your community.CISA is cultivating relationships withsuch organizations in the hope that they willsee the merit of our work and join us incontinuing it.

We’ve also taken steps to raise our partici-pant fees. It is perfectly understandable tohave nominal fees early in your campaignbefore you have a track record. But onceyour campaign starts getting results, you may

want to increase your fees so that they meeta larger portion of your campaign costs. Onmore than one occasion CISA has been toldby participating farmers that the value theyget from our campaign far exceeds the costto join and participate. The challenge isencouraging your participants to pay morefor that value. At the beginning of 2002 weraised our annual farmer fee from $35 to$100 and, as yet, have not had anyparticipants balk at the increase.

What Is the Right Mix of Staff,Volunteers, Board Members and

Consultants?As our Buy Local program evolves, how canwe best staff it? How can we best balancewhat we need to do with what we can afford?Key questions CISA is now exploring include:

• How do we want our campaign to growand change in the years ahead?

• What work will be needed?

• What skills will be required to succeed?

• How much staff time will be needed atdifferent times of the year?

• What roles can board members, internsand volunteers play?

• How should consultants and other serviceproviders fit into the mix?

The question of how to find the bestcombination of staff and outside serviceproviders is one CISA continues to wrestlewith. Using consultants has someadvantages—no payroll taxes or healthinsurance payments—but it also raises somefundamental questions.

Can a part-time consultant give yourparticipants the level of service andresponsiveness they deserve? Is paying aconsultant’s hourly fee a better deal thanemploying someone to do the same work? Ifyou out-source much of the work, will yourcampaign have the same degree ofcohesiveness, commitment and availability asin-house staff would? How might the use ofconsultants influence your organization’sculture or its relationship to its membershipand partners? As you think about your ownstaff structure, we’d encourage you to takea hard look at these issues and find thestructure that serves you best.

As we approach the

fourth year of our

campaign, CISA is

encountering a new

crop of questions

about how to move

ahead.

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When to Expand? When to Scale Back?At some point, you may question whether toexpand or scale back your campaign. If youenjoy some early successes, you may soonstart envisioning all of the improvements andexpansions you’d like to make. It can alsobe tempting to respond to new ideas fromyour community and begin adding newfeatures to your program. But it is importantto carefully consider the implications of thesechoices. Each will place new and differentdemands on your staff, volunteer base,finances and more.

And while no one wants to consider scalingback, we may all face it at one point oranother. If your program is successful, thegeneral community and your participants willwant to keep it going. If you cannot raiseenough funds to do so, you will have to makehard decisions about what to keep and whatto set aside. While it may be tempting todiscard expensive media advertising in favorof events and appearances that can be donewith volunteers, look to your evaluation todetermine what you can pare down to andstill be effective.

Do We Need to Reinvent Our Campaign?Some marketing experts suggest that apublic awareness campaign needs to bereworked periodically in order to stay freshin the public’s mind. This is contrasted byanother marketing maxim: it takes numerousrepetitions for your message to get throughto consumers—saturation over an extendedperiod with the same message is essential.How do you reconcile these views? How doyou respond when funders, staff or boardmembers express desire for something new,even when the course you’ve embarked onshows results?

Having just completed the consumer surveyof our third year, CISA’s data are showingthat consumer awareness of our program andthe percentage of people who are spurredto buy local has not waned. Our figures havebeen surprisingly steady over the past threeyears. As a result, we remain confident thatour campaign strategies, slogan andmaterials are still on the right track. For thetime being, CISA intends to carry on with thecommunications strategies that brought us thisfar, adjusting our use of variouscommunications channels and POP materialsin response to the consumer and retailerfeedback we receive each year.

Can It Get Too Big?In the early days of your campaign,you may be trying like crazy (as CISAwas) to recruit more farmers, retailersand other participants. By the time ourthird year ended, CISA counted 65farmers, 15 retailers, 12 restaurantsand eight farmers markets among ourparticipants. But at what point shouldyou step back and ask whether moregrowth is a good thing?

Why not start working with local foodmanufacturers? Or any localbusinesses? After all, they’re localtoo. How can we balance the desireto embrace all those who supportlocal agriculture with the limitations of ourstaff capacity and financial resources? Thereare myriad factors that come into play withsuch questions. Many of those questions willbe unique to your circumstances and theaspirations of your community.

As you ask yourself these questions,remember to give serious consideration toyour ability to bear the financial costs ofexpansion. For instance, when CISA adds onenew farmer, we incur the following costs:

• $120 in staff time for the initial enrollmentpaperwork

• $250 in professional photo fees

• $150 for an annual newspaper ad thatfeatures the farmer

This does not include all of the other workwe do with our farmers, including getting theirinformation on our Web site, helping themnetwork with retailers and restaurants,seeking their input for our evaluation, gettingthem POP materials, troubleshooting,coordinating, and more. We want to supportas many farmers as we can. But we also needto balance that enthusiasm with ourcommitment to running programs that are ofa high and consistent quality.

Having well-designed plans and open linesof communication with your community willhelp you make choices that best support thoseyou are trying serve. To that end, weencourage all of you who are reading thistoolkit to think ahead. Dream big. And pursueyour dreams with the combination of passion,realism and creativity that can best advancethe goals of your campaign and theaspirations of your community.

. . . think ahead.

Dream big. And

pursue your dreams

with the combination

of passion, realism

and creativity that

can best advance the

goals of your

campaign and the

aspirations of your

community.

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Harvesting Support for Locally Grown Food - Community Involved In

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