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Count On Me LB

Alexis Wolfe, Eddie Infante, Melanie Morales, Macey Klipp, Jonathan Rulison

California State University, Long Beach

Faculty Advisor: Krista Coriaty | Professional Advisor: Anne Milo Shanahan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary 1

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Situation Analysis 1

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Research 2

  • Secondary
  • Primary

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Planning 3

  • Campaign Goals
  • Key Messages
  • Target Audiences

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Challenges & Opportunities 4

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Objectives, Strategies & Tactics 5, 6

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Final Evaluation 7

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Budget 8

Appendix 9

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The 2020 United States Census is projected to undercount as many as 2.2 million Hispanic and 1.7 million Black residents nationwide – a crisis that could cost these communities thousands�in federal funding for school programs, healthcare, housing and more (A1). Count On Me LB, a public relations team led by five students at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau and the City of Long Beach Census Committee to raise awareness of the 2020 Census, educate our community on the benefits of participation, and collaborate with organizations that reach young Hispanic and Black males – a population that is historically hard to count. To accomplish these goals, our team produced a bilingual campaign, addressed misconceptions surrounding privacy and protection of information, made lasting impressions by partnering with leaders in our community, and encouraged students to take Count On Me LB’s Census “Pledge.”

�With more than 37,000 students at CSULB, 40.5% of which are Hispanic and 3.93% Black, Count On Me LB wanted to assure our community could “count on” us for information, questions and concerns regarding the U.S. Census (A1, A6). By attending regular meetings hosted by the City of Long Beach’s Census Committee, we were able to learn more about the local initiatives being implemented and align our tactics and messages to complement the communication goals of the 2020 Census (A3). We prioritized producing digestible, visually appealing content across all platforms, allocated a page on our website for questions, and created a scannable QR code for tabling events that allowed students easy access to our online materials (A5,A5b). �

Count On Me LB recognized the importance of entertaining, yet informative materials for our students that specifically aligned with the preferred types of media our young Hispanic and Black male target groups consume. Our content on Instagram reached over 54,000 people and was recognized by CSULB President Jane Close Conoley and CSULB’s Senior Communications Strategist for Academic Affairs (A31, A22). This led to opportunities that exponentially grew awareness, such as providing our official school website with excerpts about the 2020 Census, receiving 312,071 page views and presenting our campaign to more than 100 communications board members, promoting consistent messaging in our community (A23, A31).

In an effort to educate our population, Count On Me LB partnered with CSULB’s TEDx, a student-run organization that sparks critical thinking through live speaking events, to distribute 400 �U.S. Census toolkits, discuss where students want to be in the next 10 years and demonstrate how their participation in the 2020 Census could positively impact those goals (A29). We continued this �goal of education at our sock drive event, in partnership with the CSULB baseball team and CSULB’s National Association of Hispanic Journalists, where we collected over 400 donated socks for the �Long Beach Rescue Mission, an organization that helps clothe our homeless community (A25, A26).

In collaboration with leading organizations in our Hispanic and Black communities such as La Raza, a Latino student organization on campus, Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition (LBIRC) and For Undocumented Empowered Leaders (FUEL), Count On Me LB was able to generously expand our reach in this hard-to-count community, eliminate stigma surrounding the 2020 Census and develop a personal connection that fostered trust (A13, A30).

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Situation Analysis..……….............................................................................................................................................................................................................................�The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a count of the nation’s population once every decade to appropriately distribute federal funds, provide accurate representation within the U.S. House of Representatives and reconstruct congressional and state legislative district lines. The decennial census attempts to count everyone in the nation, however, various communities like renters, homeless individuals and young Hispanic and Black males make up a few hard-to-count populations that are underrepresented each decade. For instance, according to the 2010 Census, 2.1% of Black Americans and 1.5% of Hispanics in the United States were undercounted (A1). For each undercounted individual, their communities lose approximately $2,000 in funding for resources like Federal Pell Grants and student loans, Medicare and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), among others (A1).

To combat the disparity in data and decrease the number of undercounted individuals in our diverse local community, Count On Me LB chose to target the young Hispanic and Black male population, whose racial groups make up 12.9% and 42.5% of Long Beach, as well as 3.93% and 40.5% of CSULB respectively (A1).

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RESEARCH

Secondary Research ……………………......................................................

To better understand our audience, the U.S. Census, and the relationship between the two, our team analyzed peer-reviewed articles, websites and other publications.

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Awareness (A1)

Our secondary research indicated that our target audience of young Hispanic and Black males were at a very high risk of being undercounted both on and off campus. We also found that Hispanic and Black people comprised a significant portion of CSULB and the surrounding community population. This potential for a considerable section of the population to be undercounted would mean thousands upon thousands in federal funding lost for our community.

  • 40.5% of CSULB’s 37,000 students are Hispanic or Latinx, while 3.93% are Black.
  • $2,000 in federal funding is lost for every Californian that misses the Census.
  • A projection says up to 3.68% of the Black and 3.57% of Hispanic/Latinx people nationwide could be undercounted, leaving up to 3,943,400 people out.

Education (A1b)

Our research indicated that while Instagram (75%) and Facebook (76%) usage rates for 18-24-year-olds were within 1% of each other, Instagram had significantly stronger growth rates in recent years while Facebook remained largely static. The same study noted that, overall, Hispanic (51%) and Black (40%) adults are considerably more likely to use Instagram than White (33%) adults. In addition, our campus Instagram account receives much higher engagement among students than our campus Facebook page. With this information, we decided to make Instagram our sole social media outlet.

  • 63% of U.S. adult Instagram users use the site daily.
  • U.S. adult Facebook users have increased 1% since 2016, while Instagram users have increased 9%.
  • 75% of adults 18-24 used Instagram, while only 57% of adults 25-29 used it, with usage falling with each subsequent demographic.

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Collaboration (A1c)

In our literature review, we found that individuals can acquire knowledge more efficiently through interactions with content and their peers as opposed to formal learning. We also found that young Hispanic individuals respond well to bilingual ad messages as it mirrors their own usage patterns.

  • From a CDC communication report: “Consider using bilingual ad messages to appeal to Hispanic/Latino teens… Hispanic/Latino teens respond best to this message type because it mirrors their own usage patterns...”
  • “Learners acquire knowledge as a function of interactions between connected partners. �The interactions allow learners to raise their connections with content and peer-networks.”

Primary Research ……………..........................................

While secondary research provided critical knowledge on our target audiences

and their habits, primary research allowed Count On Me LB’s campaign to focus on materials, events and online outreach beneficial to our community’s specific needs. �We distributed surveys at on-campus events like Week of Welcome, CSULB’s club expo; Black History Month’s MLK Day of Service; and in classrooms. We conducted a focus group with CSULB students and attended City of Long Beach public hearings as well as the City of Long Beach’s Census Committee meetings.

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Some key insights we learned from the City of Long Beach public hearing included the importance of having a multilingual campaign to align with the 2020 Census’ all-inclusive objectives, eliminating stigma surrounding privacy and protection of information, and developing easily downloadable online toolkits for student accessibility.

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Surveys (A2)

We began our primary research by surveying CSULB students to gauge the average attitude and knowledge of the 2020 Census. Our team distributed hard copies and online surveys using phones and iPads at CSULB’s Week of Welcome and the MLK Day of Service event. �To reach an even wider sample, we also surveyed classrooms of students. For this distribution, we coordinated with willing professors across various colleges to schedule a time to pass out hard copies to their students in conjunction with 2020 Census awareness presentations. We found that most students preferred online communication and were not fully aware of the U.S. Census.

  • 73% of surveyed students preferred to receive Census information online.
  • 71% of students were unaware the Census could be taken online.
  • 91% of students indicated they were most likely to complete the Census online.
  • 57% of respondents were unable to accurately describe the function of the Census.

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Focus Group (A2b)

Our focus group included seven members of PRSSA’s Diversity and Inclusion subcommittee. Some key insights provided by the group were:

  • Do not try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to serving minority groups.
  • Concentrate on what the target groups are already doing in your campus community or in your city and how you can support those efforts.
  • Go to them (audience); do not wait for the audience to come to you.

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PLANNING

Campaign Goals..……...............................................................................................................................................................................................

  • Raise awareness about the 2020 Census among the CSULB campus and greater Long Beach community.
  • Collaborate with student and local organizations on and off campus that target young Hispanic and Black males.
  • Educate target publics about the importance of their participation in the 2020 Census and its benefits.

Key Messages..……......................................................................................................................................................................................................

What is the U.S. Census?

  • The U.S. Census is a count of every person living in the United States that is taken every 10 years. Data collected helps determine the allocation of billions in federal �funding and levels of congressional representation.
  • The U.S Census is safe and secure; none of your personal information can be shared with any other agencies or organizations, including immigration enforcement. �There will be no citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

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Why is it important?

  • The U.S. Census is important for students to complete because it directly affects funding for programs you use like the Pell Grant and Medicaid, while also determining� levels of political representation.
  • The U.S. Census helps determine the allocation of $675 billion in federal funding per year, $115 billion of which goes to support California programs every year.
  • U.S. Census data determines States’ seats in the House of Representatives, shapes the redrawing of district lines and helps your community determine where to build businesses, from supermarkets to hospitals.

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What can I do?

  • After receiving your mail invitation on March 20, you can complete the confidential U.S. Census questionnaire online, by phone, at an on-campus kiosk or by mail. �You should base your responses off of where you are or will be living on April 1.
  • Visit our website at countonmelb.com to download our census toolkit and take our pledge.
  • Everyone counts! Spread the word to your friends and family to ensure they get counted.

Primary Audiences:

  • CSULB students, faculty, and surrounding community
  • Hispanic and Black male students and community members

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Secondary Audiences:

  • Undocumented community in Long Beach
  • On- and off-campus Spanish-only speakers

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Target Audiences..……................................................................................................................................................................................................

Ancillary Audiences:

  • Influential members of CSULB and surrounding communities
  • On- and off-campus media

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CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Challenge 1:

In Long Beach, there were county, state, federal and university efforts campaigning on behalf of the U.S. Census during our campaign implementation period. These organizations’ efforts were each led by different point people without any unified communications. Initially, we were unsure of who to �contact and work with.

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Challenge 2:

The City of Long Beach is the seventh most populated city in California, with 462,257 residents, and is part of the Los Angeles media market. Los Angeles is the largest city in California with a population of more than 4 million. The large size of this market made it difficult to secure off-campus media coverage due to massive competition. In addition, Coronavirus (COVID-19)-related stories became prominent during our campaign implementation period (see below).

Opportunity 1:

Once we established relationships with the appropriate points of contact for each organization, we received ample opportunities to share promotional materials and co-promote.

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Opportunity 2:

Given the demographic makeup of our large campus population and target audiences, our team decided to focus our efforts by pitching to multilingual media within our university. This decision made it possible for us to spread our key messages without a language barrier that often hinders participation from specific communities.

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Campaign Hurdle (COVID-19):

Due to COVID-19, in-person classes at CSULB were canceled effective March 11, and soon after we received a directive from California’s Governor to shelter in place. As such, Count On Me LB was unable to execute several planned, in-person events such as a Census Party with La Raza, Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition (LBIRC) and For Undocumented Empowered Leaders (FUEL) and several dorm tabling events. Instead, to better reach our publics online, we hosted an Instagram Live event to answer frequently asked questions while also clarifying rumors and misconceptions about what the 2020 Census entails. Despite �the cancelation of the Census Party with La Raza, the Instagram Live event was our opportunity to continue educating and informing our audience while encouraging them to take the U.S. Census online and in the comfort of their own homes during the shelter-in-place order implemented throughout the state.

Challenges and Opportunities (A4).............................................................................................................................................................

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OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES & TACTICS

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Awareness

OBJECTIVE I: Increase overall student and community awareness of the �2020 Census in Long Beach by generating 20,000 impressions through shared and owned media between Feb. 10 - March 20, 2020.

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Strategy I - Create and distribute original content in English and Spanish for students and the community through the Count On Me LB website.

Rationale: A website can act as an information hub throughout the campaign; CDC and others recommend using bilingual ad messages to appeal to Hispanic youth, as they respond best to this message type (A1c).

  • Tactic A: Promote the Count On Me LB website, countonmelb.com, on all collateral �and events throughout the campaign.
  • Tactic B: Include an interactive pledge page where users can let us know that we can �“count on them” to take the U.S. Census (A5).
  • Tactic C: Create and distribute a downloadable toolkit that includes educational materials about the U.S. Census and Count On Me LB (A5b).

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Strategy II - Pitch and post original social media content that educates our target audience about the importance and impact of the U.S. Census through the Count On Me LB Instagram.

Rationale: 63% of U.S. adult Instagram users use the site daily, and Instagram has a much higher usage rate among 18-24-year-olds than other social media channels (A1b).

  • Tactic A: Create an Instagram channel, @countonmelb, to showcase original informational �and interactive content (A7-14).
  • Tactic B: Utilize @countonmelb’s Instagram to document campaign activity, events, information, and drive traffic to countonmelb.com (A8).
  • Tactic C: Create and post original video content showcasing what students and faculty currently know about the U.S Census in a fun and creative way (A13).
  • Tactic D: Post original pictures, infographics, and illustrations to the @countonmelb �Instagram and encourage followers to post to their own feeds and stories (A7).
  • Tactic E: Host an Instagram Live event to answer questions and give a personal approach �to educating viewers (A14).

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Strategy III - Collaborate with CSULB’s communication teams to

pitch engaging Count On Me LB content for the university’s existing

communication channels.

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Rationale: By working collaboratively with the university’s communication professionals, we are able to broaden our reach to a captive audience of widely followed, existing channels.

  • Tactic A: Pitch Count On Me LB content and strategy to over 100 communication leaders at CSULB’s quarterly communication forum.
  • Tactic B: Develop creative material that are easily shareable across CSULB’s existing channels, using CSULB’s tags.
  • Tactic C: Provide U.S. Census and Count On Me LB language for CSULB's official website and community-facing marquee, as well as CSULB President Jane Close Conoley’s Instagram posts. (A22, A23, A24).�

OBJECTIVE II: Increase overall student and community awareness of the 2020 Census in Long Beach by generating 10,000 impressions through earned media between Feb. 10 - March 20, 2020.

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Strategy I - Create connections with off and on-campus targeted media outlets to share key messages about the U.S. Census and Count On Me LB with target publics, specifically Hispanic and Black males.

Rationale: Pursuing traditional media opportunities would complement our digital strategy and help us reach a broader audience.

  • Tactic A: Develop, distribute and post on our website a media kit, including press releases, media advisories, a backgrounder and fact sheet (A15).
  • Tactic B: Create targeted media lists, focusing on Hispanic and Black readership, on campus and in the surrounding community.
  • Tactic C: Develop strategic media pitches to key editors and reporters covering the 2020 Census.
  • Tactic D: Collaborate with CSULB’s student-run radio station, 22 West Media, to air an original Public Service Announcement (A16).

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OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES & TACTICS

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Education

OBJECTIVE III: Share key messages about the U.S. Census and Count On Me LB with 1,000 students and community members through face-to-face and

participatory events.

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Strategy I - Partner with the CSULB’s baseball team, the Dirtbags, to host a “Blue Out” event at a Friday night baseball game, where attendees were invited to wear blue in support of the U.S. Census (A25).

Rationale: This main event and promotion, in partnership with the most popular sports team on campus, would create visuals worthy of media attention and social buzz.

  • Tactic A: Promote the Blue Out on Dirtbags’ website and social media channels, encouraging attendees to wear blue in support of the U.S. Census.
  • Tactic B: Partner with the Connect Count Committee to host a table near the entrance of the Dirtbags game, distributing the Count On Me LB toolkit, blue glow sticks to wear to the game and other U.S. Census promotional materials (A25).
  • Tactic C: Hold a sock drive, “Box of Sox,” at the Dirtbags game to encourage the community to donate socks to the Long Beach Rescue Mission (A25).
  • Tactic D: Provide Dirtbags players with blue socks to wear during the game to support the �U.S. Census, and share with attendees via overhead announcement and scoreboard (A26).
  • Tactic E: Have a member of Count On Me LB throw the first pitch (A26).

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Strategy II - Through tabling events and workshops, inspire students to learn about the importance of the U.S. Census.

Rationale: During our secondary research, we found that individuals acquire knowledge efficiently through interactions with content and their peers (A1c).

  • Tactic A: Table on campus on Feb. 14 with a “Count On Your Valentine” event, where students were offered a free valentine’s donut if they visited our website and signed our pledge to complete the U.S. Census (A27).
  • Tactic B: Host a ‘We Count Wednesday” tabling event for students to visualize and share their goals for 2030 – the same amount of time from now that data collected from the 2020 U.S Census will be in effect (A28).
  • Tactic C: Table at “Count On Me LB x TEDx” with the theme “Where Will You Be in the Next 10 Years” to get students thinking about their future - then explaining how the U.S. Census could bring them closer to their goals (A29).

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Strategy III - Through classroom visits, provide a 15-minute presentation �about the U.S. Census that shares details about how student participation will positively impact our community, where they can find more information and how they can complete the form.

Rationale: One of the challenges facing the U.S. Census is an overwhelming amount of information. We want to provide easy to digest information to an already captive audience – students in the classroom setting.

  • Tactic A: Partner with the City of Long Beach’s Census Committee to introduce the Count On Me LB campaign, sharing key messages during an informational presentation.
  • Tactic B: Distribute Count On Me LB’s toolkit to students.
  • Tactic C: Use classroom visits as an opportunity to conduct primary research through a QR code, taking students directly to an online survey they can take in real-time.

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Collaboration

OBJECTIVE IV: Reach 300 community members, specifically Hispanic and Black males, through student and community partnerships.

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Strategy I - Partner with on- and off-campus organizations that support the Hispanic and Black communities.

Rationale: Hispanic and Black males were the two groups that we aimed to target the most. We chose to partner and create connections with on and off campus clubs and organizations to reach these distinct audiences.

  • Tactic A: Partner with La Raza – a Latino organization on campus – to host a “Breaking Barriers” U.S. Census party (A4).
  • Tactic B: Partner with For Undocumented Empowered Leaders (FUEL) and Immigrant Rights Coalition to produce a video emphasizing the importance of our undocumented public’s participation (A13).
  • Tactic C: Partner with the Dirtbags and CSULB National Association of Hispanic Journalists (CSULB NAHJ) to host a sock drive.
  • Tactic D: Serve as the featured guest at a meeting for the Men's Success Initiative, sharing educational information about the U.S. Census (A30).

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EVALUATION

OBJECTIVE I: Exceeded

Our first objective aimed to increase overall student and community awareness of the 2020 Census in Long Beach by generating 20,000 impressions through shared and owned media between Feb. 10 - March 20, 2020. We far exceeded this goal by acquiring 375,289 digital media impressions:�

  • The Count On Me LB website received 944 pageviews and 90 pledges/toolkit downloads. (A5c, A31).
  • The CSULB website received 312,071 overall page views between Feb. 10 - March 20 (A23, A15).
  • Count On Me LB distributed 400 physical tool kits (A15).
  • In total, the Count On Me LB Instagram recieved 2,173 unique profile visits. �We received over 8,661 impressions from Instagram story content and 13,653 impressions in content on our feed. With CSULB sharing our content, including photos and original videos, we gained 33,957 impressions. Lastly, our custom Instagram story filter attracted 1,278 impressions (A9, A10, A11, A31).
  • Bruce MacRae, director of athletic affairs for CSULB, posted a video on his Instagram promoting our campaign that achieved 1,556 views (A26).
  • We worked with the CSULB communication team to ensure a marquee on 7th St., near CSULB, displayed our campus-wide U.S. Census efforts, which was �seen by an estimated 1,000 cars that drove by (A24).

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OBJECTIVE II: Exceeded

Our second objective was to increase overall student and community awareness of the 2020 Census in Long Beach by generating 10,000 impressions through earned media between Feb. 10 - March 20, 2020. We exceeded this goal by achieving 43,856 earned media impressions through:

  • Partnering with DIG, an on-campus magazine, to pitch a story about the importance of the U.S. Census to both their English and Spanish issues. DIG (English) received over 21,333 unique visitors online (A20).
  • Obtaining the cover story for DIG En Espanol’s Spring 2020 edition, reaching 21,032 Spanish-speaking readers through its print and online editions (1,000 printed copies and 20,032 unique visitors online), that touched on all of our key messages (A18, A19, A32).

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  • Partnering with 22 West Radio, a student-run radio station on �campus, to create and air an original public service announcement �(A16). 22 West Radio receives over 1,000 listeners weekly (A32).
  • Coordinating with CSULB Campus Connection, the video newsletter created by CSULB’s Journalism & Public Relations Department, to create a video reel highlighting our campaign and the census. Campus Connection reaches over 291 viewers a week (A17, A32).
  • Partnering with a local podcast, Much About Nothing, to create and air an original podcast PSA. Much About Nothing receives over 200 listeners a week (A21, A32).

OBJECTIVE III: Exceeded

Our objective was to share key messages about the U.S. Census and Count On �Me LB with 1,000 students and community members through face-to-face and

participatory events. We exceeded this goal by achieving 1,483 interactions through:�

  • Reaching 863 attendees at the Dirtbags baseball game though tabling, overhead announcements and messages on the marquee.
    • Thanks to a generous donation by Bruce MacRae, director of athletic affairs for CSULB, we received over 400 pairs of socks at the game to donate to the Long Beach Rescue Mission (A26).
  • Over 320 students engaged at our on-campus tabling events.
  • We reached over 300 students during classroom visits.

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OBJECTIVE IV: Exceeded

Our last goal was to reach 300 community members, specifically Hispanic and Black males, through student and community partnerships. We exceeded this goal by reaching 566 people through:

  • Creating a video in partnership with the For Undocumented Empowered Leaders organization (FUEL) representative, Citlali Ortiz, and the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition (LBIRC), which received 531 impressions (A13).
  • Leading the Men’s Success Initiative workshop with 35 attendees. (A30, A33).

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EVALUATION

Budget………………………………………………………….…………..

IN-KIND

AMOUNT

SPONSOR

PRINTING

$40

CSULB Journalism Department

DIRTBAG SOCKS

$127.92

STELLO INDUSTRIES

DIRTBAG GLOW STICKS

$9.99

STELLO INDUSTRIES

TOTAL: $177.91

ITEM

AMOUNT

W.O.W CANDY

$6.80

WEBSITE- DOMAIN

$20.00

WEBSITE- FEBRUARY SUBSCRIPTION

$16.00

WEBSITE- MARCH SUBSCRIPTION

$16.00

DONUTS

$11.99

POP-UP CANDY

$8.36

POST-ITS

$5.08

SHIRTS

$54.00

DIRTBAGS GAME

$17.54

POSTER BOARD

$3.29

POSTER BOARD DECORATIONS

$5.58

POSTER BOARD DECORATIONS

$5.55

TOTAL: $170.19

We successfully remained under budget by spending $170.19 in out-of-pocket expenses and receiving $177.91 of in-kind donations.

Conclusion………………………………………..

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Count On Me LB’s campaign was focused on accomplishing the U.S. Census’ goals and was rooted in our primary and secondary research findings. First, we were able to improve awareness of the U.S. Census by acquiring 419,145 impressions through shared, owned and earned media. Second, we were able to successfully educate the community about the importance and benefits of taking the 2020 Census by accumulating 1,483 interactions through on-campus tabling, classroom visits, and an event at the Dirtbags baseball game. Lastly, we were able to collaborate with community organizations to reach over 566 people through video partnerships and workshops.

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Together, in collaboration with our campus and community organizations, we created a powerful circle of people who were motivated to participate and teach others about undercounted and underrepresented populations. We did this by creating memorable content, hosting various events and activities, and utilizing students and the community to help us share our key messages. This experience not only enhanced our ability to work in team settings, but also significantly increased our professional development and work ethic.

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We are proud of our campaign and how it served the diverse community of Long Beach. To reach our target audience, we understood it was vital for our content to be engaging, multilingual and informative. Our efforts resulted in our community being better prepared and educated about the critical role of the 2020 Census.

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APPENDIX

Secondary Research (A1)....................................................................................................................................................................

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Awareness:

“The nonpartisan think tank found that the danger of an inaccurate census could hit some of the country's most difficult to count populations the hardest. Based on the institute's analysis, the 2020 census could lead to the worst undercount of Black and Latino and Latina people in the U.S. since 1990.”

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“Nationally, Black residents could be undercounted by as much as 3.68%.”

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“The institute also projects as many as 2.2 million (3.57%) Latinos and Latinas around the U.S. could be undercounted in the 2020 census.”

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/728034176/2020-census-could-lead-to-worst-undercount-of-black-latinx-people-in-30-years

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“The full-time enrollment at California State University-Long Beach is 30,980 students and the part-time enrollment is 6,642… The enrolled student population at California State University-Long Beach, both undergraduate and graduate, is 40.5% Hispanic or Latino, 21% Asian, 18.7% White, 4.72% Two or More Races, 3.93% Black or African American, 0.245% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders, and 0.146% American Indian or Alaska Native.”

https://datausa.io/profile/university/california-state-university-long-beach

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“For every Californian missed by the census, L.A. County officials say, the state loses about $2,000 a year in federal program funding.”

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-la-county-census-hard-to-count-20190429-htmlstory.html

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“The 2010 Census undercounted 2.1 percent of the Black population, which was not statistically different from a 1.8 percent undercount in 2000. In 2010, 1.5 percent of the Hispanic population was undercounted.”

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb12-95.html

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APPENDIX

Secondary Research (A1b) ………....................................................................................................................................................

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Education:

“The shares of adults who say they use Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter are each largely the same as in 2016, with only Instagram showing an uptick in use during this time period.”

“Majority of Snapchat and Instagram users also say they visit these sites daily… The shares of young adults using these platforms daily are especially large. Roughly eight-in-ten Snapchat users ages 18 to 29 (77%) say they use the app every day, including 68% who say they do so multiple times day. Similarly, 76% of Instagram users in this age group visit the site on a daily basis, with 60% reporting that they do so several times per day.”

Usage demographic breakdown. Overall, Hispanic (51%) and Black (40%) adults are considerably more likely to use Instagram than White (33%) adults.

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APPENDIX

Secondary Research (A1c)........................................................

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Collaboration:

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“As students progress from high school to college and graduate schools, the role of informal learning becomes more and more important because learning can happen anywhere at any time. Learners acquire knowledge as a function of interactions between connected partners. The interactions allow learners to raise their connections with content and peer-networks.”

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1027/2115

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“Consider using bilingual ad messages to appeal to Hispanic/Latino teens—especially from English-language celebrities ‘who happen to slip in some Spanish.’ Hispanic/Latino teens respond best to this message type because it mirrors their own usage patterns…”

https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/pdf/audience/audienceinsight_culturalinsights.pdf

Primary Research (A2, A2b)..................................................

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Survey (A2)

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Participants: 187 CSULB students

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Method: Online and physical survey

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Purpose: To gauge students’ baseline attitude and knowledge of the �U.S. Census and preferred method of content delivery.

Primary Research cont’d…….......................................

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“If you were to receive more information about the U.S. Census, how would you like to be reached?”

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When asked how they were most likely going to complete the 2020 census, �we found that:

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  • 90.5% of respondents indicated they were mostly likely to complete the Census online, while the remainder said they were going to complete it by phone (7.1%) or mail (2.4%).

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Primary Research cont’d…….......................................

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“What would prevent you from participating in the U.S. Census?”

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Short answer: What would make you more likely to participate in the U.S. Census?

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“If I knew it was secure and I knew how to do it.”

“If they prove it’s safe and if it’s made easy.”

“More info! I didn’t know this was happening.”

“First knowing exactly what a census is for. Who is in control of census � and that my info will not be passed on.”

“Understand why this is so important.”

Primary Research cont’d..…….....................................

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Focus Group Highlights (A2b)

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Q: As our team begins to put our campaign together targeting Black and Latino communities, what advice would you give?

  • “Don’t over complicate things.”
  • “Sometimes the best results come from the easiest solutions.”
  • “Convince those people that your campaign matters to them because it affects them. How does it? Tell them.”

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Q: Is there any specific way we can reach these audiences?

  • “I think just making things accessible, that’s a big start. If I have to struggle to find something to suit me then I won’t waste my time.”
  • “Go to where the people are. What are people in those communities doing? Do Black people prefer digital content, then do that. Do Latino people prefer in-person interactions. Ask yourself those questions and adjust accordingly.”
  • “Well ask yourself: what are other groups doing on your campus? �How can you uplift those efforts?”

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Discussion leader: Eddie Infante, Count On Me LB’s research director.

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Participants: PRSSA Diversity and Inclusion International Subcommittee: (Ages 18-25) Madison Smith, Ke’AÍra LoLow, Hanna Bae, Brenda Pomar, Giana Darville, Adrienne Bolden, Facoundo Luque.

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Date & Location: Feb 9, 2020 via Skype.

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City of Long Beach Public Hearing - A3

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As part of our primary research phase, Count On Me LB attended a public hearing about 2020 Census strategies and future campaign plans for the cities of Long Beach, Los Angeles, Santa Ana and the county of Orange. Our team learned what hard-to-count populations were most impacted in our region, why a multilingual campaign is necessary and how our community leaders partnered with ethnic media outlets to raise awareness.

APPENDIX

December 10, 2019

Long Beach Presenters: Mayor Robert Garcia and Senator Lena Gonzalez

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APPENDIX

Challenges & Opportunities - A4

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APPENDIX

Website - A5

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Website - A5b

Toolkit: Includes quick and essential census facts and eye-catching graphics along with a printed QR code that led to our website’s pledge page.

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APPENDIX

Website Metrics - A5c

Traffic stats for www.countonmelb.com:

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Logo Design - A6

APPENDIX

The “LB” in our logo is a well-known emblem in our community, so when designing our creative materials we knew that we had to include it. This also helped tie our census efforts back to our city and school.

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APPENDIX

Instagram - A7

Selected informational posts

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APPENDIX

Instagram - A7b

Selected informational posts

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APPENDIX

Instagram - A8

Selected campaign activity posts

In addition to original images and artwork, we used our Instagram page to showcase our campaign events and serve as a digital information hub for our community throughout the implementation period.

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APPENDIX

Custom Instagram Face Filter - A9

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APPENDIX

Instagram - A10

Instagram post impressions

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APPENDIX

CSULB Instagram Reshares - A11

Sample shared stories

CSULB Official Instagram

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APPENDIX

Instagram Story Impressions- A12

Sample shared stories

Sample unshared stories

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APPENDIX

Video Content - A13

“Eddie on the streets”

For Undocumented Empowered Leaders (FUEL) PSA- Citlali Ortiz

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APPENDIX

Instagram Live - A14

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Media Kit- A15

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APPENDIX

22 West Radio PSA - A16

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Campus Connection- A17

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APPENDIX

DIG en Español print (Cover Story) - A18

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DIG en Español Online - A19

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DIG Online - A20

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Much About Nothing Podcast - A21

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Jane Conoley, University President Instagram - A22

“The U.S. Census is approaching. It happens every 10 years, and everyone counts! See how CSULB - with help from Count On Me LB, the CSULB Complete Count Committee and the City of Long Beach - is involved in the U.S. Census: csulb.edu/census. Make yourself counted. Go Beach!”

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- President Jane Close Conoley

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APPENDIX

Official CSULB website - A23

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APPENDIX

Official CSULB marquee- A24

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APPENDIX

Dirtbags “Blue Out” - A25

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CSULB Director of Athletic Affairs Bruce MacRae donates 100s of socks to the Count On Me LB drive and posts a promotional Twitter video: https://twitter.com/dd_macrae/status/1233589269622476800?s=21

Count On Me LB partnered with the Long Beach State Dirtbags at one of their home games to promote our campaign, our sock drive and the importance of taking the U.S. Census. We decided to hold a sock drive to donate to the Long Beach Rescue Mission because socks are a highly requested item by the homeless population. We also did this because the homeless population is another group that is considered undercounted in the U.S Census.

LB State Dirtbag players in blue socks to support the U.S. Census.

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Appendix

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PA Read from the Dirtbags game - A26

LBSU Dirtbags promotes the “Blue Out” on their Twitter.

https://twitter.com/LBDirtbags/status/1232802006357536768

LBSU Athletics promotes the “Blue Out” on their Twitter.

https://twitter.com/LBSUAthletics/status/1232800426329640960

Bruce MacRae generously donates to our sock drive at the “Blue Out”.

https://twitter.com/dd_macrae/status/1233589269622476800?s=21

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APPENDIX

“Count On Your Valentine” - A27

Count On Me LB hosted a pop-up event on Valentine’s Day, “Count On Your Valentine”, for students where we offered free donuts in exchange for visiting the Count On Me LB website and taking the Count On Me LB pledge. We did the pop-up event on Valentine’s Day to promote awareness of how one were to count themselves in the U.S. Census if they were in a domestic relationship or single.

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APPENDIX

“We Count Wednesday” - A28

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Count On Me LB hosted “We Count Wednesday” for students to provide more information about why they should take the U.S. Census. With this event, we hosted an activity where students filled out post-it notes about where they saw themselves in 10 years. Our team chose to have participants fill out post-it notes with their 10-year goals and aspirations because we wanted to provide a visual representation of how U.S. Census data affects the next 10 years.

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APPENDIX

“Count On Me LB x TEDx” - A29

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Count On Me LB partnered with TEDx to table at their annual �on-campus event. We brought back the same activity we had provided for “We Count Wednesday”, as it was a success, to gain even more participation. Further, Count On Me LB passed out our pamphlets and encouraged participants to take the U.S. Census. Our goal was to emphasize the importance of taking the U.S. Census and the major effects the collected data will have over the next 10 years to everyone who came to our table.

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APPENDIX

Men’s Success Initiative - A30

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Count On Me LB served as a featured guest to present a workshop for the Men’s Success Initiative, informing them about the importance of male participation in the U.S. Census. One of our main target groups was Hispanic and Black males, so this workshop not only introduced them to our campaign, but also helped us directly reach part of our target audience.

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APPENDIX

Media Coverage Table- A31

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Objective 1: Generate 10,000 impressions through shared and owned media - EXCEEDED

Method:

# of Impressions:

Count On Me LB Website

944 pageviews and 90 pledges/toolkit downloads

CSULB Website

312,071

Tool Kit Distribution

400 physical tool kits

Count On Me LB Instagram

2,173 unique profile visits

Instagram Story

8,661 impressions

Instagram Content Posts

13,653

CSULB Instagram Account Sharing

33,957

Count On Me LB Instagram Filter

1,556

7th St. marquee

an estimated 1,000 cars that drive by every day

TOTAL: 375,289

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APPENDIX

Media Coverage Table- A32

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Objective 2: Generate 5,000 impressions through earned media - EXCEEDED

Method:

# of Impressions:

21,333

21,032 (Print: 1,000)

1,000

291

200

TOTAL: 43,856

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Media Coverage Table- A33

Objective 3: Share key messages with 1000 community members at events - EXCEEDED

Method:

# of community members reached:

Dirtbags

863

Tabling events

320

Classroom visits

300

TOTAL: 1,483

Objective 4: Reach 300 community members - EXCEEDED

Method:

# of community members reached:

FUEL & LBIRC Video

531

Men's Success Initiative Workshop

35 attendees

TOTAL: 566

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Count On Me LB

California State University, Long Beach | 2020 Bateman Competition Entry