Our Work
In the examples below, we added the senior-level capacity needed to achieve organizational communications goals. We worked with high-achieving teams to move from near-burnout to breakthrough in order to effectively implement impactful PR strategies.
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By working closely to understand your organizational and campaign goals and developing repeatable systems for success, we helped these teams maximize a campaign’s impact because when passionate, do-good communicators succeed, the world is a better place.
American Heart Association
$117,000 raised thanks to strategic reactive media relations
Objective
Maximize media opportunity to not just educate about congenital heart defects, but to make a broader impact on much-needed research in the area by engaging a major donor and thousands of grassroots donors.
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Action
An inbound media request from the Today Show about a disease statistic was capitalized on, and through quick and strategic thinking by Small Adventures Communications founder, Alexson Calahan, this opportunity to share a stat that could have easily been left out of the final story became a $100,000 gift to further congenital heart defect research named in honor of two children living with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
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Result
The final story did not mention how many children are born with HLHS, but it did prominently feature the American Heart Association and effectively tell the story of the need for more research in this area, creating an emotional moment that inspired other donors to give an additional $17,000 to the Hope and Jack Fund.
American Cancer Society
ACS Toolkits
Objective
Build media relations toolkits to help regional media leads amplify the American Cancer Society’s work in earned media during major national health awareness months, such as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. The national and local media relations teams needed to complement each other’s media relations efforts while amplifying key stories that focused on the organization’s success metrics.
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Action
​Focusing on the unique position, voice, and audience of the organization, we built media relations toolkits that aided the more than 250 local ACS offices in having the resources they needed to enhance their regional media relations strategy during major awareness months.
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Result
National ACS media relations staff were able to focus on top-tier national media pitching and strategy leading up to and during five major awareness months because they trusted Small Adventures Communications to build robust toolkits for local use. Local markets garnered coverage that amplified messaging seen across national pitches and served in directly supporting ACS’s broader mission to end cancer as we know it, for everyone.
Iowa Food System Coalition
Comprehensive public relations plan
Objective
Develop a comprehensive public relations plan around launching a document designed to guide a statewide coalition to increase local food production and access in Iowa.
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Situation
​The Iowa Food System Coalition, a community of 40 organizational partners and 600 individuals with professional and lived expertise, developed Setting the Table for All Iowans - a working document to guide the work of the next decade in creating a thriving, sustainable, and equitable food system. The organization has a staff of one and relies on partners and contractors to organize work around this big goal.
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Action
Small Adventures Communications led the organization through the public relations strategic process, beginning with research. We assessed the current landscape and key publics and surveyed current partners. We then drafted goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics with the guidance of Coalition members before finalizing the messaging. We created a partner toolkit to support media relations and communications around the launch and trained media training panelists who spoke at the launch event.
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Result
The launch event propelled the Coalition into the public’s mind, educating them on food systems and the importance of building diverse farms and infrastructure. Within the first five days of the launch of Setting the Table for All Iowans, nearly 60 news stories focused on the work being done were shared across the state, reaching more than 57,000 Iowans and driving an increase in traffic to the Coalition’s website.