Helpful Hints

• Brainstorm with your team - Have an idea-sharing session to identify your topic,
  goal(s), and possible activities.
• Develop a timeline - Use a calendar to determine major milestones for the campaign and the time needed to prepare and execute each item. Document the important steps from submitting the application, to purchasing materials and holding activities, to turning in the final report. Plan to start the campaign early, as past schools have experienced snow days, which greatly effected campaign activities.
• Create a budget - Decide as a team how you will use the campaign funds. Consider assigning a member of the team to be responsible for tracking the budget using the Expense Tracking Form. This step is important to make sure you have adequate money for your ideas. Remember, in-kind contributions are allowed.
• Use your resources - Ask team members about their community knowledge and connections that could help the team accomplish your goal. Community involvement and media attention are key elements in the campaign and in-kind contributions are allowed. A team member's connections may help you get started.
  • For example: Bob's uncle works at a local Ford dealership. He could place the campaign slogan on the dealership's marquis and post campaign materials in the building. Bob's uncle could also host an after-school seminar for parents and teens about what to look for when purchasing the teen's first car.

Writing Goals 
A campaign goal should be realistic, timely, and relevant to the focus topic, as well as measurable. Be careful not to confuse goals and activities. The goal sets the tone for the campaign by identifying what the team is working toward. Activities are the events and items that help you accomplish your goal. 

• For example:
  • Goal - Raise seat belt use among students at Sample High School by five percent
  • Activities - Tie campaign ribbons to car doors in student parking lot; post campaign signs at exits and parking lot driveways; decorate the school hallways like a road for the "wear your belts" spirit day

Activity Ideas
Do not limit yourself to these suggestions. This is just a list of ideas to help you get started. Remember: be creative!

• School assemblies
• Spirit days or weeks - Contests, essays, posters, public service announcements, etc.
• Articles in the school newspaper and/or community newspaper, messages on school and community marquis
• Games, information booth, announcements, etc. during school sporting events

Evaluation Suggestions
The purpose of the evaluation is to determine if the campaign met the proposed goal(s). This means the most appropriate type of evaluation will depend on the proposed goal(s). When brainstorming ideas for evaluations, make sure to keep your goal in mind and look for things that can be measured. 

• Ideas for evaluations include:
  • Pre- and post-campaign surveys of students
  • Counting the number of attendees/participants in an activity, collecting pledges, etc.
  • Observing pre- and post-campaign behavior changes (best for seat belt use and phone use while driving)