Cahaba River Society Annual Report

1

110 1

2

3

4

Annual Report: 5

Coloring the Cahaba Campaign 6

2013-20147

2

Contents 8

I. Introduction ....................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.3 9

II. Group Contract ..................................................................................................4-7 10

III. Individual Contracts 11

A. Kaylyn Alexander……………………………………………………………8-11 12

B. Katie Stewart…..……………………………………………………………12-15 13

C. Justin Gilbert…..……………………………………………………………15-18 14

IV. Coloring the Cahaba 15

A. Outreach ……………………………………………………………………19-20 16

B. Success …………………………………………………………………………20 17

C. Failures ……….……………………………………………………………20-21 18

V. Appendices………..……………………………………………………………..…22-40 19

A. Justin Gilbert's Contributions………………………………………………...22-23 20

B. Katie Stewart's Contributions………………………………………………...24-28 21

C. Kaylyn Alexander's Contributions……………………………………………29-35 22

D. Group Contributions………………………………………………………….36-40 23

3

I. Introduction 24

25

Coloring the Cahaba is a campaign designed to connect Birmingham students from 26

kindergarten to college to Cahaba River Society's (CRS) mission to protect the Cahaba 27

River and its rich diversity of life. Coloring the Cahaba takes a creative visual approach to 28

engage students in CRS's mission by asking our future generation of water stewards, "How 29

does the Cahaba River color your world?" ASG Alliance asked students to submit artwork 30

January-March 2014 based on this prompt. The submitted artwork was displayed and 31

available for purchase at Coloring the Cahaba Art Fest on April 13, 2014. 32

The campaign was an overall success and involved over 100 students in six 33

different schools in Birmingham. A total of 165 drawings, paintings, photographs, 3D 34

models and posters were submitted to CRS over the course of three months. ASG Alliance 35

executed Coloring the Cahaba with a $0 budget and raised $274.00 for CRS at Coloring 36

the Cahaba Art Fest. By the conclusion of the campaign in April, ASG Alliance achieved 37

its primary goal to connect students in Birmingham with the Cahaba River. Students' 38

artwork can be viewed in Coloring the Cahaba, a book that was donated to Birmingham 39

Public Library – Central (BPL) at the conclusion of the campaign. 40

4

II. Group Contract 41

42

Objective 1: To increase the number of social media followers on Facebook (923 to 43

1,153) and Twitter (1,760 to 2,388) by 25%. 44

ASG's Alliance to increase Facebook and Twitter followers by 25% will benefit the 45

Coloring the Cahaba Campaign because these media outlets will be used to invite 46

followers to the Coloring the Cahaba event and call for art submissions. Fulfilling this 47

objective will also facilitate our goals to receive 50 art submissions because we will have a 48

larger audience to promote to. A higher number of social media followers will increase 49

exposure to CRS's posts relating to its mission, events and progress. This objective will 50

reflect each student's ability to attract and retain a social media audience, promote events 51

and encourage two-way symmetrical communication. Each member of ASG Alliance will 52

contribute at least one hour per week to fulfill social media duties for a combined group 53

total of three hours. 54

Objective 1 Results: 55

ASG Alliance exceeded its goal of increasing Facebook and Twitter followers by 56

25%. CRS's Facebook now has 1,153 followers and CRS's Twitter has 2,395 followers 57

(XIII-XV). Each member of ASG Alliance promoted the social media outlets by inviting 58

friends, sharing and re-Tweeting CRS's posts along with tagging CRS in personal posts 59

and Tweets. Increasing CRS's social media audience was largely successful; several 60

students and teachers became involved with Coloring the Cahaba after learning about the 61

campaign through CRS's Facebook posts and Twitter Tweets. ASG Alliance created a 62

"Coloring the Cahaba Art Fest" event on Facebook and invited over 900 guests (XIV-XV). 63

ASG Alliance created a Google Drive file of social media posts for CRS 64

5

(Appendices LI). Social media posts were divided into the following categories: events, 65

species spotlights, trivia Tuesday, programs and other. Although the organization did not 66

use 90% of the posts, Director of Development Monica Carmichael expressed gratitude for 67

our efforts and told us, "Thank you for all of your contributions to the Google Drive 68

document. I am sometimes unsure about what to post, and your suggested categories such 69

as Trivia Tuesday gave me a great guide to work from." ASG Alliance managed the 70

Coloring the Cahaba Art Fest Facebook event and publicized the event by posting a picture 71

of a student's art submission each day leading to the event. 72

73

Objective 2: To sell 35 pieces of artwork from the Coloring the Cahaba Campaign by 74

April 13, 2014. 75

ASG Alliance aims to sell 35 pieces of artwork during the Coloring the Cahaba 76

Campaign. We will host an artwork competition on social media outlets Facebook and 77

Twitter to determine the winner of the t-shirt design. We will showcase the artwork at a 78

venue TBD. We will charge an admission fee to cover the rental space fee. The 79

competition is an opportunity to get members involved and in tune with the Coloring the 80

Cahaba Campaign. CRS will benefit from this objective by collecting proceeds from 81

artwork sales. ASG Alliance will work a minimum of three hours per week to book a rental 82

space; host an online artwork competition; organize the artwork showcase; and request 83

sponsors. 84

85


ASG Alliance secured Friends Bookstore in the BPL as a venue for Coloring the 87

Cahaba Art Fest where a total of 37 pieces of artwork were sold for a combined total of 88

$274 . The venue space was donated, so no admission charge was issued. The t-shirt idea 89

6

was replaced by printing art submissions in a book (Appendices XL), which BPL and 90

Phillips Academy (the school with the most art submissions) were awarded. 91

92

Objective 3: To receive eight donations by March 31, 2014. 93

ASG Alliance will seek donations from local businesses for Coloring the Cahaba. The 94

donations will be used at the Coloring the Cahaba Art Fest. ASG Alliance will distribute a 95

donation request letter to local businesses requesting cash donations, food, drinks and 96

prizes for the art competition. Food and drink donations will benefit CRS by creating a 97

larger appeal to Coloring the Cahaba Art Fest & Silent auction; in turn the number of event 98

attendees will increase. Donated prizes, such as tickets to the McWane Science Center, 99

provide an incentive for students to submit artwork. ASG Alliance will work a minimum 100

of two hours per week to create and distribute donation letters, follow up with businesses, 101

collect donations and distribute tax receipts. 102


Donation request letters were distributed to over thirty businesses (Appendices 104

XXV). Receiving donations from local businesses was an overwhelming success. Belk, 105

Whole Foods, Daylight Donuts, McWane Center, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Sloss 106

Furnace, Cahaba Brewing, Richard Joseph Salon-Spa, Whole Foods and Chick-Fil-A 107

donated items for a collective value of over $600. Belk was the largest donor and 108

contributed 20 KensieGirl t-shirts, Levi’s accessories, crayons and a $100 salon certificate 109

for the event. Chick-Fil-A donated twelve free kid's meal vouchers and $5 gift cards; 110

Whole Foods donated a fruit tray; and Daylight Donuts donated over 50 donuts. Donations 111

were used as food for the event and prizes for kids who placed in the art competition at 112

Coloring the Cahaba Art Fest. 113

114

7

Objective 4: To receive 50 art submissions from students in the Birmingham area by 115

March 31, 2014. 116

ASG Alliance will receive 50 submissions from K-12 students in the Birmingham 117

area by March 31, 2014. We will research popular adolescent themes to persuade students 118

of all ages to participate. We will meet with elementary teachers, art teachers and other 119

staff that have participated in the Shane Hulsey CLEAN Education Program to collect 120

artist submissions. This will demonstrate our ability to expand our network and build a 121

large crowd for the artwork showcase. CRS will benefit from this objective by getting free 122

publicity from posting event fliers at businesses that support the arts. ASG Alliance will 123

work a minimum of two hours per week to distribute flyers, conduct research and contact 124

parents. 125


ASG Alliance contacted over forty schools in the Birmingham metro area. The 127

schools that participated were Helena Middle School, St. Frances Xavier School, Phillips 128

Academy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Pelham High School and Thompson 129

Middle School. Justin received 30 submissions from kids at the Belk’s Kid Fest that 130

attended schools in the Birmingham metropolitan area (Appendices IX). The overall total 131

of submissions was 164. We tripled the amount of our original goal. 132

8

III. Individual Contracts 133

A. Kaylyn Alexander 134

Tactic 1: Contact 20 schools and involve at least 10 schools in the Birmingham 135

area in the Coloring the Cahaba Campaign. 136

I will meet with either teachers and/or administrators from at least ten schools in 137

Birmingham. At these meetings I will ask if the school will participate in the Coloring 138

the Cahaba Campaign by distributing letters to students explaining the campaign and 139

requesting art submissions. I will also ask if I can post fliers around the school and 140

whether the school is willing to collect submissions from its students until I can pick 141

them up. Closer to the event I will ask to visit classrooms to promote the event and call 142

for last-minute art submissions. 143

Coloring the Cahaba will allow students, our future generation of water stewards, to 144

come in contact with the organization's mission. I aim to have at least five submissions 145

from each school to receive a minimum of 50 pieces of artwork. This goal can be used 146

to assess my performance since it will demonstrate my ability to gain community 147

participation in a campaign through outreach. I will spend two to three hours per week 148

on this task. 149

Tactic 1 Results: 150

I reached my goal of contacting 20 schools in the Birmingham area including: 151

Pelham High School, Glenwood Autism and Behavioral Health center, Alabama 152

School of Fine Arts, Pizitz Middle School, Homewood Middle School, Irondale 153

Middle School, Simmons Middle School, Oak Mountain Intermediate School, Shades 154

Crest Elementary School, Inverness Elementary School, Riverchase Elementary 155

School, Avondale Elementary School, Phillips Academy, Arrington Elementary 156

School, Charles A. Brown Elementary School, Ernest F. Bush K-8 School, George W. 157

Caver High School, Central Park Elementary School, Inglenook Elementary School, 158

9

Miles College and University of Alabama at Birmingham. Out of the 21 schools, the 159

following 6 participated: Pelham High School, Phillips Academy, St. Frances Xavier 160

School, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Helena Middle School and Thompson 161

Middle School. The completion of this task required three hours of work per week. 162

163

a. Tactic 2: Call for artwork submissions by creating and distributing a letter 164

with an attached art submission form and distributing fliers. 165

This task is vital to the campaign because it explains Coloring the Cahaba and calls for 166

artwork submissions. The artwork will be available for purchase at the main event; 167

100% of proceeds benefit CRS. I will distribute letters to teachers of at least ten 168

Birmingham schools. I will distribute fliers in Birmingham schools and libraries, 169

McWayne Center, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham Children's Theatre, 170

Forstall Art Center, Alabama Art Supply and Sloss Furnace. I hope that the fliers will 171

increase the number of art submissions and spark publicity for the event. My 172

performance can be evaluated as excellent if I receive at least 50 art submissions 173

because it proves ability to target a public to become involved with the campaign. I 174

will spend a minimum of two hours per week on this tactic. 175

176


I asked students from 21 schools in Birmingham, "How does the Cahaba River 178

color your world?" and distributed letters, artwork submission forms and fliers to their 179

parents (Appendices XXVI). I additionally posted fliers in Birmingham libraries, 180

McWane Center, Birmingham Children's Theatre, Alabama Art Supply and Sloss 181

Furnace. Birmingham Museum of Art and Forstall Art Center do not allow posted 182

fliers unless the event is organized internally, so I left fliers at the front desk of each 183

business and invited staff members to attend. Over 150 art submissions were collected 184

10

as a result of this task. The completion of this task required two to three hours per 185

week. 186

187

b. Tactic 3: Promote the event and secure news articles by creating and 188

distributing press releases. 189

CRS will benefit from this tactic because it raises publicity for the art event. The 190

more people who hear about the event, the more likely the attendance number will rise. 191

A large attendance will likely increase the number of artwork sales. I plan to distribute 192

press releases to local media (Birmingham News, Gadsden News, Homewood News, 193

280 Living, Village Living, The Homewood Star, Kaleidoscope, AL.com, The Red 194

Mountain Post, Weld, Birmingham Magazine and Birmingham Times). The number of 195

articles published about the art event may be used to assess my performance. 196

Achieving this task will demonstrate my ability to create positive media relations. I 197

will devote one to two hours on this tactic per week. 198


I secured four articles about Coloring the Cahaba after distributing press releases to 200

Birmingham News, Gadsden News, Homewood News, 280 Living, Village Living, The 201

Homewood Star, Kaleidoscope, AL.com, The Red Mountain Post, Weld, Birmingham 202

Magazine and Birmingham Times (Appendices XXVIII). Two articles were published 203

in the Kaleidoscope, one promoting the event and the other summarizing the event and 204

its success. Nathan Prewitt from AL.com, Alabama Itica and Gerbong Artwork all 205

published news stories on Coloring the Cahaba (Appendices XLVI-L). Alabama's NBC 206

13 also shot the event and featured it on the 5 o'clock news (XXIX). The completion of 207

this task required two hours of work per week. 208

209

11

Tactic 4: Create posts for CRS's Facebook and Twitter. 210

CRS struggles to post creative material on its Facebook and Twitter page, so I have 211

created a Google Drive file that organizes social media posts by the following 212

categories: events, programs, species spotlights, trivia Tuesday and other. Director of 213

Development Monica Carmichael will have access to the Drive file and choose posts 214

for Facebook and Twitter. The posts will benefit CRS by promoting events and 215

educating its public about programs, species and Cahaba River facts. The amount of 216

posts Monica chooses to post, plus the number views and likes I receive on Facebook 217

and the number of likes and re-Tweets I receive on Twitter, can be used to assess my 218

student performance. My ability to increase social media involvement can be measured 219

with Facebook analytics, and it will demonstrate my ability to establish an 220

organization's social media identity and build relationships with its following. I will 221

devote one to two hours on this tactic weekly. 222


I created social media posts on a shared Google Drive file for CRS to use at its 224

discretion. This decision was made because CRS only allows internal staff to manage 225

social media. Although the organization did not use 90% of the posts, Director of 226

Development Monica Carmichael expressed gratitude for our efforts and told us, 227

"Thank you for all of your contributions to the Google Drive document. I am 228

sometimes unsure about what to post, and your suggested categories such as Trivia 229

Tuesday gave me a great guide to work from." ASG Alliance managed the Coloring 230

the Cahaba Art Fest Facebook event and publicized the event by posting a picture of a 231

student's art submission each day leading to the event (Appendices XXXII-XXXIX). 232

The completion of this task required two hours of work per week. 233

234

235

12

B. Katie Stewart 236

Tactic 1: To meet with five to ten venue owners to book a venue for the Coloring 237

the Cahaba art event. 238

I will email and call local venue businesses in the Birmingham area that are both 239

well known and safe. The venue must be able to hold at least 200 people. If the venue 240

owner is interested in the Coloring the Cahaba art event, I will set a time and date to 241

meet with him or her. I will also show the owner the PowerPoint that I created based 242

on the art event. Booking a venue will benefit the Cahaba River Society as it will be an 243

important step towards planning the event, and this can create new possible donations 244

and volunteers for the Cahaba River Society. I aim to have the venue booked by 245

February 17th. My performance will be based on my ability to gain a venue for the 246

event. I will spend two to three hours per week on this provision 247

Tactic 1 Results: ASG Alliance successfully booked a venue for the Coloring the 248

Cahaba event. I contacted the owners to the following businesses: Birmingham Public 249

Library, Railroad Park, Caldwell Park, Cahaba Brewery and Iron City. The original 250

venue option failed through as our plan was to partner with Richard Joseph Salon’s 251

event, Every Drop Matters. Unfortunately the owner of the salon declined our event 252

last minute. Luckily Birmingham Public Library was more than happy for us to have 253

our event at their Central location. The venue was booked on February 15th. 254

255

Tactic 2: To host an artwork competition on Facebook and Twitter. 256

I will promote Coloring the Cahaba on the CRS’s Facebook and Twitter. I will 257

update current followers about art submissions, rules, location and contact information. 258

I will upload the art submissions to Facebook and Twitter. The Cahaba River Society’s 259

followers will participate in the competition by clicking “like” on their favorite piece of 260

art. The art submission that receives the most “likes” will be the winner of the art 261

13

contest. The art competition will encourage more people to “like” or “follow” CRS’s 262

pages for event updates and other miscellaneous information. The more people who 263

participate in the competition via social media, the more people will show up at the 264

actual art event. Currently the Cahaba River Society has 923 fans on Facebook and 265

2,299 followers on Twitter. My goal is to get the Cahaba River Society at least 1,110 266

fans on Facebook and 3,000 followers on Twitter by March 25th. My performance can 267

be evaluated based on my media relations performance since I encourage the 268

community to participate in the campaign. I will work on this five to six hours a week. 269


The overall results were successful. Since we went a different route with how the 271

winners were to be chosen, I did not upload the photos of the artwork to the Facebook 272

page for “likers” to vote on their favorite art piece. However I promoted the art event 273

fairly often on Facebook (Appendices XV-XVIII). The number of “likes” for the 274

Cahaba River Society’s Facebook page surpassed my goal of receiving at least 1,110 275

fans (Appendices XIII). The latest number of followers is 1,152. However Twitter was 276

much more complicated. I did not meet my goal of getting the Cahaba River Society 277

3,000 likes. Twitter originally had 2,299 followers and now they have 2,388 followers 278

(Appendices XV). As for the event, the Facebook page had 32 RSVPs and at least 50 279

people arrived. 280

281

Tactic 3: To meet and talk with teachers at local Birmingham schools by February 282

17th about students submitting art for the Coloring Cahaba event. 283

I will contact 10 to 15 local Birmingham schools about art submissions. I will meet 284

with a school official (art teacher, school board, principal, etc.) to talk about the campaign 285

more in-depth. If the school agrees to participate, I will show the faculty the PowerPoint 286

presentation (Appendices XII) I created for the students. This is important to the Cahaba 287

14

River Society because the entire art event is based on art submissions from students. If the 288

art event does not gain any submissions then ASG Alliance will not accomplish its goals 289

for the Cahaba River Society. Also, the CRS will not gain any donations or possible 290

volunteers, which is something CRS is in dire need of. I will be evaluated based on how 291

many students participate in the art campaign. I am demonstrating publicity by using my 292

PowerPoint presentation to the faculty and students. ASG Alliance is aiming for at least 50 293

student art submissions. This will require three to five hours a week. 294


The results were overwhelmingly successful. I reached out to Helena Middle 296

School, Helena Elementary School, Sylacauga High School, Pinecrest Elementary School, 297

Nicholas-Lawson Middle School, Indian Valley Elementary, Riverchase Elementary, 298

Riverchase Middle School, Epic Elementary School, Glen Iris Elementary School and 299

Ramsay High School – 11 total. It was a bit difficult to get in contact with a few schools, 300

however ASG Alliance received a few calls back from teachers. My goal was to receive at 301

least 50 submissions – the total of art submissions was 164. I kept the submissions 302

organized based on school and grade; scanned the art pieces to the website Dropbox; 303

purchased picture frames for photography submissions; and created and printed 160 bid 304

sheets for the art pieces (Appendices XI). 305

Tactic 4: To promote and distribute the art event by distributing fliers and handbills. 306

I will promote the event via social media. I will also distribute fliers around the 307

schools that are participating in the campaign, local businesses and college campuses. I 308

will also inform people about the book that will be for sale. My evaluation will be based on 309

how many people buy the book. My goal is to sell a minimum of three books. This will 310

display my social media, publicity and marketing skills. The CRS will benefit by this since 311

the book proceeds go toward the Cahaba River Society. I will work six or more hours a 312

15

week. 313


The books were more expensive than ASG Alliance imagined, and it was harder to 315

afford a set number of books since we did not receive any cash donations. ASG Alliance 316

donated one book to both the Birmingham Public Library and Phillips Academy since they 317

had the most art submissions. One person at the event bought a Coloring the Cahaba book 318

for $25. However, as for promotion, I went to every building (not dorms) on UAB campus 319

and distributed fliers on community boards, tables and taped the fliers on doors and in 320

elevators. I went to local businesses in the Southside area and distributed fliers to the 321

owners and employees. At the beginning of the campaign I received 100 fliers, and by the 322

end of the flier I did not have any fliers. The handbills were distributed inside of books at 323

the Birmingham Public Library. Coloring the Cahaba promotion also took place via social 324

media. I promoted the event on yelp.com, 365Event, MyGreenBirmingham.com, 325

BirminghamWeekly.com, AL.com, ABC33/40 website, Fox 6 website; and I contacted the 326

publishers for Weld, My Town Birmingham and Birmingham Weekly. 327

C. Justin Gilbert 328

Tactic 1: Create flyers for Kaylyn Alexander and Katie Stewart to distribute for the 329

Cahaba art event with an audience of no less than 50 people. This task will 330

demonstrate my ability to strategically place advertising in relevant areas. 331

a. Relevance to the Client’s Needs: This will generate awareness of the 332

Cahaba River, The Cahaba River Society, and most importantly, generate 333

interest and involvement in the art event, which will be measured by the 334

number of submissions we get the week following the posting of the flyers. 335

b. Man-Hours Required: Overall, between three hours. 336

16

c. Format: Graphic/Photoshop 337


I successfully created flyers that were distributed at parent-teacher stores, 339

restaurants, libraries, schools and art institutions all over the metropolitan 340

Birmingham area (Appendices VI). I spent many hours editing the flyers to satisfy 341

the desire of Monica Carmichael, Regina Ammon, Katie Stewart, Kaylyn 342

Alexander and myself. I also dedicated a few days to driving all over the city to 343

distribute them in relevant places with lots of daily foot traffic. 344

345

b. Tactic 2: Create a radio spot to be aired on a Birmingham’s 107.3 and 107.3’s 346

online radio station eight times a day. (That station heavily promotes non-347

profit promotion). This task will demonstrate my ability to advertise by using 348

effective persuasion. 349

a. Relevance to Client’s Needs: Promotion of the Cahaba River Society for 350

potential donations and attendance of the Cahaba Art Event 351

b. Man-Hours Required: Two hours (writing, recording, multiple takes, and 352

post editing) 353

c. Format: Audio/Logic 8 Software. 354


I recorded a promotional voice recording that I submitted to radio station 107.3, but 356

I never heard much response or enthusiasm from the broadcast director. Due to our 357

advertising plan being more face-to-face and flyer based, the idea of radio promotion 358

dissolved. 359

17

360

c. Tactic 3: Invite followers on Twitter to follow the Cahaba River Society’s 361

page. This task will demonstrate my ability to interact with people through 362

modern forms of communication by making them feel involved and important 363

to the organization. 364

a. Relevance to Client: Twitter is presented in a simple newsfeed format, 365

which will be easy to deliver necessary details to followers/members about 366

the Cahaba River Society and the Cahaba art event. 367

b. Man-Hours Required: Two hours 368

c. Format: Social Media 369


Collecting followers on Twitter was an easy success because of Twitter’s 371

interactivity and simplicity of sharing information in 140 characters. 372

373

d. Tactic 4: Share Cahaba River Society’s page on Facebook with friends and 374

friends of friends for a gain of 150 new followers. This task will demonstrate 375

my ability to establish a proactive network for potential opportunities to join 376

or participate in CRS activities. 377

a. Relevance to Client: Facebook is presented in a more intimate forma,t 378

which will provide more information about the Cahaba River Society to 379

users. Facebook also has newsfeed format, which will easily deliver 380

necessary details to likers/members about the Cahaba River Society and the 381

Cahaba art event. 382

b. Man-Hours Required: Two 383

c. Format: Social Media 384

18


I shared Cahaba River Society’s Facebook page several times over the past four 386

months and it gained over 250 new followers. I also created an Eventbrite page to 387

supplement the Facebook page with a more formal format of the event details. 388

19

IV. Coloring the Cahaba 389

A. Outreach 390

Coloring the Cahaba involved outreach to schools, businesses and media in the 391

community. ASG Alliance contacted over 40 schools via face-to-face meetings, phone 392

calls and emails including: Pelham High School, Glenwood Autism and Behavioral 393

Health Center, Alabama School of Fine Arts, Pizitz Middle School, Homewood Middle 394

School, Irondale Middle School, Simmons Middle School, Oak Mountain Intermediate 395

School, Shades Crest Elementary School, Inverness Elementary School, Riverchase 396

Elementary School, Avondale Elementary School, Phillips Academy, Arrington 397

Elementary School, Charles A. Brown Elementary School, Ernest F. Bush K-8 School, 398

George W. Caver High School, Central Park Elementary School, Inglenook 399

Elementary School, Miles College and University of Alabama at Birmingham. Of the 400

schools contacted the following 6 participated: Pelham High School, Phillips 401

Academy, St. Frances Xavier School, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Helena 402

Middle School and Thompson Middle School. Outreach to schools was more 403

successful if a teacher or school was already involved with CRS, such as Mrs. 404

Shephard of Phillips Academy, wife of CRS's Board of Directors President Bob 405

Shephard. ASG Alliance would have involved more schools with the campaign if 406

outreach efforts were made prior to the spring semester so teachers could incorporate 407

Coloring the Cahaba with their lesson plans. 408

Outreach efforts also involved business and media relations. ASG Alliance sought 409

donations from over 30 companies and received items from 18 companies, most of 410

which are Birmingham-based. A donation request letter was distributed to businesses 411

through face-to-face interactions or via email after a dialogue was established through 412

a phone call. ASG Alliance distributed thank you letters to donors within a week of the 413

20

event. To establish media relations, a press release for Coloring the Cahaba was sent to 414

Birmingham News, Gadsden News, Homewood News, 280 Living, Village Living, The 415

Homewood Star, Kaleidoscope, AL.com, The Red Mountain Post, Weld, Birmingham 416

Magazine and Birmingham Times. Two articles were published in the Kaleidoscope, 417

one promoting the event and the other summarizing the event and its success. Nathan 418

Prewitt from AL.com, Alabama Itico and Gerbong Artwork all published news stories 419

on Coloring the Cahaba (XLVI-L). A camera crew from Alabama's NBC 13 showed up 420

to the event and filmed a segment for 5 o'clock news on Sunday, April 13. 421

B. Success 422

ASG Alliance had many successes during the campaign. We received over 160 art 423

submissions. The Coloring the Cahaba art event received food donations from Whole 424

Foods and Daylight Donuts. Organizations that donated awards for winners included: 425

Cahaba Brewery, Sloss Furnace, McWane Center, Belk’s, Chick-Fil-A and personal 426

gifts. Coloring the Cahaba was included in an issue of UAB’s Kaleidoscope, front page 427

on Al.com and the local news station NBC 13 came and recorded a segment about the 428

event. ASG Alliance raised over $274 for the Cahaba River Society through the bids at 429

the silent auction. 430

C. Failures 431

ASG Alliance's primary failure is not collecting the desired donation amount of 432

$500. The lack of funds raised from the silent auction stems from the lack of 433

communication between teachers, students, parents and us. Our communication with 434

school faculty could have been stronger, but there was much stubbornness from 435

teachers not willing to restructure their schedules and curriculums to make room for 436

collecting art submissions, as well as parents with zero desire to do anything “extra” 437

with their children or anything that involves spending money. The art fest and auction 438

21

concept also did not come across very clear to many students and parents, and having 439

to pay for your own child’s artwork was a turnoff for some. If ASG Alliance had the 440

opportunity to address this failure, we would have personally called participants' parent 441

to invite them to the event. We called 25% of parents and emailed 100% of parents 442

inviting them to the event. Most of the parents that we called showed up to the event 443

and purchased artwork; if we had called 100% of parents, we would have had a better 444

success of achieving this goal. 445

22

V. Appendices 446

Justin Gilbert’s Contributions 447

VI. 448 Coloring the Cahaba Art Fest fliers and handbills 449

VII. 450 An example of the certificate for winners 451

23

VIII. 452 Justin and Kaylyn received food donations from Whole Foods and Daily Donuts 453

IX. 454 Art submission Justin received from Darius Ridgel 455 456

457 Organized and worked Belk Kid Fest to obtain art submissions 458

459

24

459 X. Katie Stewart’s Contributions: 460

XI. 461 An example of the auction sheets 462

463 An example of a bid sheet 464 465

25

XII. 466 PowerPoint presentation for teachers and administrators 467 468

XIII. 469 Facebook fans 470 471

XIV. 472 RSVPs to Coloring the Cahaba 473 474

475 Twitter followers 476

26

XV. 477

XVI. 478 XVII. Promotion - Facebook 479

XVIII. 480 Promotion 2 481

27

XIX. 482 Promotion 3 483 484

XX. 485 Promotion 4 486

XXI. 487

488 XXII. Promotion 5 489

28

XXIII. 490 One of the many art submissions Katie received: Xavier Moore “Flamingo” 491

492

29

492 XXIV. Kaylyn Alexander’s Contributions: 493

XXV. 494 495 Donation letter request created by Kaylyn Alexander 496 497

498

30

498

XXVI. Letter of request for parents 499 500

XXVII. 501 Dual membership example 502

31

503

504 XXVIII. Press release 505

506 507

XXIX. 508 Kaylyn contacted Channel 13 for media coverage 509

32

XXX. 510 XXXI. An art submission Kaylyn received 511

512

XXXII. 513 Promotion #1 514 515

XXXIII. 516 Promotion #2 517

33

XXXIV. 518 Promotion #3 519 520

XXXV. 521 Promotion #4 522 523

P 524 XXXVI. Promotion #5 525

34

XXXVII. 526

527 Promotion #6 528 529

XXXVIII. 530 Promotion #7 531

35

XXXIX. 532 Promotion #8 533 534

XL. 535 536 Coloring the Cahaba book 537

538

36

538 XLI. Group Contributions: 539

XLII. 540 Art pieces for Coloring the Cahaba 541

XLIII. 542 During the event 543

XLIV. 544 Clean-up 545 546

37

XLV. 547 Alabama Itico article 548 549

550 XLVI. AL.com article 551

38

552 XLVII. Gerbong Artwork Article 553

554

XLVIII. 555 Kaleidoscope article 556

39

557 XLIX. Kaleidoscope article 558

559

L. 560 “Keep the Cahaba Clean for Goodness’ Sakes” by Chris McDuff 561 The art piece that raised over $100 562

40

LI. 563

564 "Cahaba River Society Social Media" shared Google Drive document 565 566

LII. 567 ASG Alliance during Coloring the Cahaba 568

Cahaba River Society Annual Report

Business