Grandparents often wield a significant amount of influence in the lives of their families. Some are caregivers within multigenerational households while others have assumed legal guardianship of their grandchildren. In Pennsylvania, nearly 200,000 children under the age of 18 live with their grandparents.
Changes in the health or financial status of a grandparent can hinder them from providing the level of attention and care their grandchildren need.
To the team at PPO&S, a Color & Culture catalyst, it seemed that Milton Hershey School (MHS) offered an ideal solution for these situations. MHS provides cost-free quality education, a safe living environment and many opportunities for kids to work toward a brighter future.
We recommended exploratory research within the school’s backyard to determine if reaching out to this segment would yield applications for enrollment. Findings revealed that this approach did, indeed, show promise. Our team then created a direct mail piece as well as TV, radio and digital advertising with messaging specific to grandparents.
The result? A series of successful grandparent-targeted events over a two-year span that yielded a higher rate on the return of completed applications than any other recruitment events during the same time period.