This program, created for Fedcap—a government-funded nonprofit in New York City which gains employment for difficult-to-employ individuals—was selected for recognition by the New York/New Jersey Port Authority upon the post-9/11 reopening of the World Trade Center PATH train station. Notably, it was the nation’s first workplace-based poetry contest promoting the meaning and value of work, and enjoyed a 12-year lifespan.
Background and Objectives
- Create relationships with private sector corporations that might serve as placement sites for clients.
- Raise visibility, as well as private sector funds, for this low-profile organization.
- Create a sense of community around the organization’s core value: work.
Program Elements
- Corporate Human Resources Directors, the campaign’s natural target, purchase and disseminate the contest to their workforces, and consider employing Fedcap clients.
- A “selected-for-cultivation” panel of judges evaluates entries.
- Winning entries are chosen and advertised on bus and subway cars, transit kiosks, and other billboards throughout the city.
- An annual celebration and recognition event at a historic site reinforces and wraps up the campaign.
Impact
- Relationships with hundreds of companies.
- Millions of impressions create organizational visibility and name recognition.
- Program is a teambuilding and recognition vehicle for internal constituencies.
- $500,000+ in funds raised annually during the campaign’s 12-year lifespan.