2012 Nonprofit PR Awards: Advocacy Campaign and Lobbying Efforts

Winner: The American Cancer Society and Cone Communications – Celebrating the First Anniversary of the Choose You Movement

To mark the May 2011 first anniversary of Choose You, which empowers women to stay healthy and reduce the risks of cancer, ACS wanted to expand the reach of this cancer prevention message. Joining together with Cone Communications ACS developed a documentary featuring real women who understand the odds of getting cancer, but refuse to become a statistic. “By focusing the documentary on the stories of real women succeeding in putting their health first, we were able to put a face on prevention and make the topic much more personally relevant for women,” says Amy Russ, VP at Cone Communications.

The documentary’s live premiere and online coverage helped generate 354 million media impressions, including placements on the Today Show and Access Hollywood, and in USA Today. —RA


Honorable Mentions:

The American Kidney Fund and Cone Communications – The American Kidney Fund Launches Pair Up: Pair Up, designed to help women learn if they’re at risk for kidney disease, featured PSAs with celebrity spokesperson Laila Ali, a Web site (PairUpNow.org) and social outreach.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids – Knock Tobacco Out of the Park: Seeking to end the use of smokeless tobacco at Major League Baseball games, the grassroots campaign engaged members of Congress, youth baseball leagues and state health groups urging MLB to take action. In Nov. 2011, MLB instituted the first limits on smokeless tobacco use in its 135-year history.

Easter Seals – Make the First Five Count: Easter Seals used a microsite, a team of early childhood experts and corporate and media partnerships to raise awareness of early identification and treatment of autism, driving nearly 34,000 new Easter Seals online subscribers.

The Fahad Al Salem Center for Dialogue and Edelman – Arab Spring Dialogue on Peace, Liberty and Human Rights: The Fahad Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations’ Inaugural Forum: Human rights activist and Kuwaiti royal family member Sheikh Fahad Al Salem enlisted Edelman to help host a forum for human rights leaders. In just three weeks the Edelman team brought together 26 human rights leaders, 10 former presidents, Nobel Prize laureates and other world leaders at the event in Kuwait.