Supporting those that support others – the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) Public Awareness Campaign and Website
By: Chris Veiga
Who is NAPSA?
The National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) is a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization that has been around for over 30 years, advocating for Adult Protective Services (APS) throughout the country. Their goals are to advance the field of APS, raise awareness of elder and adult abuse, and advocate on behalf of those who work with victims.
NAPSA’s Public Awareness Problem
NAPSA came to Marcomm with a request for a public awareness campaign that could be distributed across multiple states and that would identify the basics of APS and increase visibility around APS services. More specifically, NAPSA’s wish list included a resource sheet, a PSA video about APS, and a community engagement plan that would allow various state agencies to utilize those assets in their state.
See the above PSA video that we did in partnership with Plural Films
As a Marketing Project Manager who has been involved in several large-scale client campaigns at Marcomm, I knew this was no easy task list. This particular case was even more interesting because we were not just dealing with one central hub of client contacts—in fact, each state has a different definition of APS and has unique laws/statutes that qualify those who are eligible to receive APS services. NAPSA also wanted this national project to be completed before their annual conference, which was roughly 11 months from their initial inquiry to Marcomm.
So how did we create a Public Awareness Campaign and check all the boxes that NAPSA wanted, while also meeting their ideal timeline? Marcomm took a multi-phased approach to this big project.
Marcomm’s Approach
To tackle a project of this scale, the team at Marcomm understood the importance of breaking down the key steps into several phases, and creating a detailed plan to execute the deliverables in each phase.
The first phase in focus was the “Discovery” phase, also known as the “become an APS expert in 90 days” phase. Although the team at Marcomm would probably never become true experts in the social services field, it was important to learn as much as possible from each of the stakeholders about the main issues and problems regarding APS. Throughout the first 90 days we conducted interviews and research, and then presented that research to the group to confirm our assumptions about APS.
The second phase was the shortest, but that didn’t mean it was the least important. The “Planning” phase spanned approximately 30 days, and it involved presenting and confirming with NAPSA stakeholders that the materials we were planning to create aligned with their vision. It was important for the group to agree and align on the deliverables before we moved forward. If there was a time to challenge assumptions or or change direction, this was the time to speak up.
The third—and perhaps the most interesting—phase was the “Execution” phase. In this phase--you guessed it—Marcomm started creating the assets that were necessary for the Public Awareness Campaign. This is the phase where many projects have the potential to go off the rails in terms of deadlines and budgets, so making sure we all agreed to the original plan was pivotal. Getting all 10 states to provide feedback and review these assets was no easy task.
Getting 10 different organizations on the same page
There were 10 state agencies involved in this campaign, and the review process varied greatly for each one. Some states had to get approval from other departments on certain language being used, while others took one quick pass and approved the resource sheets. However, in each circumstance, it was imperative that Marcomm gave them a deadline and made them aware of how any delays could affect the overall project timeline.
I attended many calls with individuals at state agencies to talk through what changes we could keep, what had to go, and what items we could compromise on. Some of the stakeholders at these agencies were very new to these types of conversations, so they weren’t 100% sure what they could change. Could they change the wording or add clarifying language? Could they remove text that didn’t fit their state guidelines?
Yes and no.
As part of the project, Marcomm had determined that to reach our end goal, we had to set boundaries around what could be modified by local state agencies for this Public Awareness Campaign. Without that line in the sand, it would have delayed the project and wasted unnecessary funds. Thankfully, we managed to move forward with getting final files delivered to all the states—which included videos as well as printable resources—before their annual conference in Grand Rapids, MI on August 29th, 2022.
After these new assets were finalized, they provided Marcomm with a guide to help us update content on their website.
NAPSA’s Website Facelift
One project that NAPSA hoped to get done, in addition to the PSA campaign, was a website update. It is a recommended practice for most businesses to update their website (software, plugins, content, security, etc.) every 1 to 2 years, but NAPSA hadn’t updated their website for quite some time. Although there were a multitude of reasons why it had not been updated, Marcomm was passionate about finding a way to help NAPSA tackle this long overdue and important task.
Over the past 10 years, NAPSA had built loads of pages on its website, and although it seemed overwhelming at first, Marcomm committed to helping NAPSA reorganize and revamp their website. This meant monthly meetings with key stakeholders to identify the items that were necessary to keep and cutting out anything that did not meet those criteria. This would help improve the user experience and make NAPSA’s site more accessible to the people they sought to serve.
The team at Marcomm got to work. We designed web page mockups that incorporated bigger and more legible font, brighter colors, and visuals that aligned closely with the APS audience. We also added functionality that made it easier to find PDFs—including the creation of a resource library—to help users find their state APS information more quickly.
Today, the redesigned site allows NAPSA to update their content more easily. It also communicates a more effective visual story on how NAPSA supports APS agencies across the country.
Does your organization need a public awareness campaign or a website refresh? Are you curious about our Fractional Services Team at Marcomm? Want to know more about how we completed this campaign? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Jamie Simpson, our Chief Revenue Officer, for more information.
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