For 12 years, a young lady in our town hosted “Lauren’s Treat Stand” – an annual bake sale held on the first Saturday in June. It benefits the BackPack Food Program, which is a local non-profit that sends meals home with elementary students on Fridays so they don’t go hungry over the weekend. Through the treat stand, Lauren has donated almost $20,000 to help fill hungry tummies! That is amazing! Lauren is now graduating from high school, so she is passing the torch (or more literally, the rainbow umbrella) to another aspiring leader.
Jade’s Treat Stand debuts on June 1, 2019, and her mom reached out to ask me to help with the marketing. Let’s walk through the process of building the event marketing from the ground up!
it starts with a logo
While we wanted to create Jade’s own “brand”, carrying forward the tradition and history of the fundraiser are important – not only to make sure that Lauren’s incredible contributions are recognized, but also to capitalize on customer recognition of the event. So the rainbow umbrella stays, and the name “Generous-organizer‘s Treat Stand” stays – not just with Jade, but also when she passes the event on to someone else in a few years. But how can we make this JADE’S Treat Stand for now?
I drew the the rainbow umbrella and “treat stand” image to keep tradition, incorporated a light teal/mint color and drew Jade’s pup Bailey, then left plenty of space to grow and modify as the event continues to change hands. We created a logo that nods to the past but also looks ahead to the future!
building for the future
From there, we created business cards. We decided to leave the date off and really dial in on “The First Saturday in June” so customers would know when to expect this event – not just in 2019, but EVERY year. Also, printing a larger run of cards that can be used in future years decreases the per-card cost, and allows us to maximize the donation to BackPack by minimizing expenses.
The plan is to continue to use the poster design each year as well, with just the modifications to the date, sponsors, and new photo of the event host. This will continue the visual identity of the event from year to year.
The event banner is just basic information with no date – it will be used as a sign for customers to identify the actual treat stand location. Keeping specifics off means the banner can be used for a few years.
relying on social influence
From there, we created a Facebook page and named it Jade’s Treat Stand, but intentionally gave it the more generic link/address www.facebook.com/MankatoTreatStand for a seamless hand-off in a few years. A Facebook page will collect her fans in one place, and they will get notified when the event is coming each year.
Of course, we created the Facebook Event as well. Facebook now allows you to add Event Sponsors, which is a great tool. We can add the businesses that are sponsoring her event, and by doing so, it adds the Event to those businesses’ Facebook pages. So not only are we giving them recognition for their contribution and connecting Jade’s customers with them, but it’s expanding the event’s reach to those businesses’ customers too!
The Page Profile Photo, Page Cover Photo, and Event Cover Photo all contain the same imagery; again, for consistency and to build that recognition with her customers.
Side note: We didn’t create an Instagram page because we are being mindful of the amount of time/energy that is going in to this marketing plan, but I did size some images for Instagram so Jade and her mom can share the event information on their own Instagram pages.
wrapping up
The goal here was to create fun, simple marketing that catches the eye and lays groundwork for the years ahead. We put in a lot of work this year creating the logo, document layouts, and social media; but, because of the way we set it all up, the workload will be significantly reduced in future years. (Work smarter, not harder, as they say!)
And of course, we want it to lead to the big dollars needed to fill those hungry tummies!
Interested in helping? Here’s how:
- Like and Share Jade’s Facebook page and/or the 2019 event
- Stop by the Treat Stand at Messiah Lutheran Church in North Mankato on Saturday, June 1 from 8am-5pm
- Donate to the BackPack Food Program in honor of Jade’s Treat Stand (if you can’t make it to the Treat Stand)
- Ask me about sponsoring the Treat Stand to help reduce her expenses and therefore increase her donation
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What do you think of the process? Of the designs? What would you suggest we consider for future years?
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cover image credit: user “silviarita” on Pixabay.com