Marketing Prairie Plains
Posted by Bill Whitney on March 29, 2007 - 14:26 PM
Prairie Plains needs to remain financially sustainable at its current level of staffing in order to be able to offer the programs and services it now offers, much less entertain significant program expansion. We know that we want to involve many more people in our mission. The Prairie Plains Education Center now in progress will be an important tool to do this, and with slight modifications in our present activities we’ll be able to make good use of the building. For example it will ultimately give us the potential for expansion of programs like SOAR, to expand our regional visibility and the number of people benefiting from our work.
Prairie restoration has been a major program builder for Prairie Plains since 1991. We are now creating a new program intended to diversify our funding sources for restoration projects so that this will remain a major program. This idea will be presented in detail in the near future, but to give readers an idea, it is a people-centered approach involving matching up a donor for planting an acre or more of prairie with a landowner who wants to plant their land. The unique aspect we envision is the relationship building between donors, landowners and the people who do restoration work (e.g., Prairie Plains staff). We can envision a future of hundreds of restored prairie sites in Nebraska involving many hundreds of people celebrating their common interest in the land, the prairie, and their communities. In essence we are using the idea of planting prairie as a vehicle to get people together.
The real key to our financial sustainability is to grow in membership. We believe in the quality of our programs and our lands. People who do know first-hand about Prairie Plains through participation in its various activities like what they see. Many are extremely loyal supporters. The main difficulty we face is simply being known. Therefore we have to market what we do more aggressively. We want to grow from our current member count of near 300 to well over 1000 as fast as possible.
This being the 21st century and all, like every politician and business, Prairie Plains Resource needs a sound bite to enable people to grab onto it – a short phrase that encapsulates and brands a product or idea. We view our work, such as the SOAR program for area youth, as having profound depth and character - more fulfilling than anything an advertising campaign one liner could suggest. We have a unique story to tell about our history, all the things we are involved with and the relevance of our work. There’s too much information we can give, and unfortunately it’s all too often that we stumble trying to tell people what we do. A good slogan along with our great new logo can help people register Prairie Plains in their minds when they are exposed to advertising in radio or print media.
We have been discussing marketing in the office – What is PPRI’s target market? What’s a common theme in the four project areas (4 areas: education, preserves, restoration, Platte Corridor Initiative)? How do we get people to go to the web site and learn more about Prairie Plains? Recently as an exercise we jotted down a few phrases that pertain to our identity, character, work and mission. They all seem rather inadequate for one reason or other since none relate perfectly to everything we do but they are all great talking points. So, here below are the phrases we listed in our Mike/Amy/Bill brainstorm and a few comments about each, grouped according to similarity. Sorry to say we did not come up with a perfect one-liner that sticks. We’ll need to get a larger group together to hammer out our slogan later. Readers should feel welcome to offer their comments regarding Prairie Plains marketing.
List of talking points for marketing
Proud of our origins
Home grown
Grass roots
Boot strap
These statements pertain to the fact that Prairie Plains sprang up from nothing but an idea – a tiny seed if you will, and built up without a lot of hoopla or money. Its origins are based in small town living and sensibilities, and the values of rural agricultural culture. This means we look at things through a pragmatic, conservative, resourceful, and non-bureaucratic lens, and basically have been able to do many things on the cheap. One-on-one relationships are all important. We have built our programs and land base through the gifts of many people who were committed to our goals for community based conservation. We try our best to be true to the original purposes. It is pretty easy to over-use the grassroots metaphor since we actually plant grass, but it does fit. We are rightfully proud of our origins and like being from a small town.
We are of Nebraska and for Nebraska
Appreciating Nebraska
A Nebraska land trust
Connecting to Nebraska
Making the best of Nebraska available to everyone
We don’t wish to convey a chauvinistic view that our place is better than anyplace else, but Prairie Plains embodies a healthy love for Nebraska, warts and all. Our staff and most board members are Nebraska born and bred. It’s a great part of the world in many respects and we feel more people should appreciate it – and would if given the opportunity. Prairie Plains is one of the first and still one of only a few land trusts in the state (and Great Plains region). A land trust owns land in order to perpetuate various public values, for example, for preservation of nature, scenery, open space, history and agricultural land. Our goal is to broaden people’s thinking about what Nebraska has to offer and what type of future we want to create here.
We make our landscape accessible
Celebrate relationships of people to land
Creating opportunities on the land
Getting people out on the land
We’ll get your feet on the ground
Lots of people want access to land and outdoor experiences, but it’s getting tougher to do without having money to buy access. Nebraska has a wonderful landscape, but it’s mostly private land. People need accessible areas of land near their homes for purposes of recreation, education and leisure. We want to make our properties more accessible as places to learn and enjoy. People need more opportunities to be on the land, some for shear enjoyment and exercise, others for work projects. In encouraging the connection of people and the land we value our agricultural heritage and the work ethic it engenders. Again, our goals are to regain some of the frayed connections to the land and get people to have a good experience outdoors. A native prairie landscape, with its diversity and esthetic qualities of rivers, wetlands and wildlife lends great potential for human enjoyment, also, a fulfilling integration of nature with our agricultural and small town traditions. The last one on the list about getting people’s feet on the ground is simple yet elegant when one considers the play on words related to fundamental stability, learning, becoming firmly rooted and established or learning the basics of things. Knowledge of the land and the human culture upon it is basic to being content and at peace with the world. This is true wherever one lives, not just the prairie.
Creating a sense of place
Learning about our place
Creating a sense of place is a buzz phrase to many people, but it is an accurate way of saying that we like where we are, feel content here and really appreciate the fullness of our history, our natural environment, our ways of earning livings, our art, literature and much more. I believe the natural environment of the prairie and its true connection to our history and way of life has been sadly short-sheeted by our educational system. I learned nothing of my area when I grew up in the 1960s. The more we know and can appreciate about where we live, the better will be our quality of life and opportunities to create positive change.
Envisioning a sustainable future
Quality human life on the Great Plains is by no means a sure thing. The area is tough to make a living in, our agriculture now is subject to major fluctuations in the federal Farm Bill and market forces, our resources are strained, or easily can be. We need to think more about how to build sustainable communities here. Prairie Plains is interested in building a sustainable future. We’re not just about prairie.
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Reply #1 on : Mon April 16, 2007, 16:45:03