“PR is a mix of journalism, psychology, and

lawyering—it’s an ever-changing and always

interesting landscape."
- Ronn Torossian

The Advanced Public Relations Group

The Advanced Public Relations Alexah Group Walcott-Taylor
Alexah Walcott-Taylor Prince George’s Family Services
Prince George’s County Family Services Portfolio
 Table of Contents
Prince George’s Family Services’ Public Relations Plan ………………………………Pages 2-4

This plan features background information on our client, Prince George’s County Family
Services. It also explains the objectives, strategies, target audience, key messages, schedule and
evaluation my team and I created catering to the specific needs of the client. We were assigned
the task of encouraging local young adults to participate in the county’s ‘Safe Dates’ program.
We were also tasked with finding organizations in Maryland that would be willing to partner
with Prince George’s County Family Services in educating teens in the curriculum.

Corresponding Emails……………………………………………………………………Pages 5-7

As the group leader’s assistant, I took on the responsibility of communicating with our client via
email to schedule two in-person meetings and discuss the Public Relations plan and the call pitch
used to make cold calls to potential organization partners.

First Meeting Write-up…………………………………………………………………...Page 8

This write-up summarizes the plan and objectives that were discussed during our first meeting in
October with the Prince George’s County Family Services Community Developer, Natasha
Hutton.

Organization Cold Calls Write-up…………………………………………………….....Page 9

This write-up will briefly discuss the organizations I contacted regarding the Safe Dates program
training and the overall feedback I received. It also discusses the setbacks I encountered and the
advice Mrs. Hutton provided that aided her in overcoming similar hurdles during her cold call
experience.

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 Public Relations Plan to Support Prince George’s Family
Services Safe Dates Program

I. Executive Summary/Background

As team members of Bowie State University’s APR Group, a student public relations

firm, we have been selected to assist Natasha Hutton, Community Developer of Prince

George’s County Family Services, with a promotional campaign for an educational

program called Safe Dates. Safe Dates was created to helps teens recognize the difference

between caring, supportive relationships and controlling, manipulative, or abusive dating

relationships. It is a ten-session curriculum program that is set to begin twice a week

starting September 17, 2019.

II. Objective

By the end of the semester, we’re hoping to recruit enough community partners, through

cold calls and in person meetings, that’ll be willing to participate in the free curriculum

training required to teach the Safe Dates program. We also plan to reach Natasha

Hutton’s goal of 50 program attendees through flyer advertising placement and social

media outreach.

III. Strategies

As a team, we will redesign program flyers and place them in organizations and

businesses that’ll attract the target audience. Cold calls and in person meetings with

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 potential community partners will also be conducted to seek engagement in the program

training.

IV. Target Audience/s

● Middle School Students

● High School Students

● Parents of Middle School and High School Students

● Local Youth Mentoring Groups

● Government Youth Programs

● Private/Alternative Schools

● Faith-Based Ministries

V. Key Messages

● Prince George’s Family Services want students to recognize the difference between

caring, supportive relationships and controlling, manipulative, or abusive relationships.

● Prince George’s Family Services believes parents should effectively prepare their

children for safe dating in the near future.

● Prince George’s Family Services motto is “Ask first, Respect the Answer.”

VI. Schedule and Tactic/Activities

September 2018 - We held a conference call with our client to determine how she would

like for us to assist her with the Safe Dates promotional campaign.

October 2018 (2nd week) - Meet with clients to discuss PR plan and moving forward

with promotion.

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 October 2018 (2 - 3rd week) - Begin reaching out to local organizations/community

partners that would be interested in participating in the Safe Dates training. The training

incentives (free training participation and program resources including snacks and

giveaways) will be discussed during these conversations to gain the organization’s

interests.

October 2018 (3rd - 4th week) - Submit final draft fliers to client for review.

November 2018 (1st week) - Follow up with client for review.

VII. Budget

No budget is required because the APR Group has agreed to perform the services

outlined in this plan at no cost.

VIII. Evaluation

In order to calculate the effectiveness and success of our plan, we will conduct a final

meeting with our client to ensure all the objectives were met and strategies were

completed according to the schedule. Our success will be determined by the amount of

newly recruited community partners who have agreed to participate in the curriculum

training and by the number of teenagers (prospectively 50) who complete all of the Safe

Dates curriculum sessions.

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From: Alexah N Walcott-Taylor <walcotttaylora0414@bowiestate.students.edu>
To: Hutton, Natasha A. <nahutton@princegeorgescountymd.gov>

Thursday 9/27/2018

Good Morning,

We would like to thank you again for the informative conference call we had with
you last Thursday in regard to the objectives for the Safe Dates program.

Based on our telephone conversation, we are prepared to create a public relations

plan within the next two weeks that will expand the outreach to potential
Community Partners and develop new tactics to attract more teens to join the
program. We also agreed to create two new flyers for the program targeting middle
and high school students who are a part of different organizations and
communities. Also, we discussed your scheduling times/dates for us to meet with
you and/or community partners already participating in the program.

We look forward to working with you.

Best Regards,
The APR Group
Alexah Walcott-Taylor, Michael Wallace, Gilbert Lunsford, and Emanda Pratt

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From: Alexah N Walcott-Taylor <walcotttaylora0414@bowiestate.students.edu>
To: Hutton, Natasha A. <nahutton@princegeorgescountymd.gov>

Saturday 10/19/2018

Good Morning,

I have attached the public relations plan for the Safe Dates program. After your
review, we will be happy to meet with you this upcoming Tuesday, October 16th at
11:30AM to discuss the plan and schedule of strategies. Please confirm if this time
is good for you. We look forward to meeting you!

Best Regards,
Alexah Walcott-Taylor
The APR Group

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From: Alexah N Walcott-Taylor <walcotttaylora0414@bowiestate.students.edu>
To: Hutton, Natasha A. <nahutton@princegeorgescountymd.gov>

Wednesday 10/24/2018

Good Afternoon Mrs. Hutton,

Below is the proposed pitch for the cold calls to potential organizations. Please let
us know any feedback you may have. We also plan to create a FAQ sheet,
tomorrow, during class to better assist us with the calls.

"Good evening. My name is ________and I’m calling on behalf of the Prince

George’s County Family Services. We would like to encourage you to participate
in the Safe Dates Program by becoming a trainer. Safe Dates was created to helps
teens recognize the difference between caring, supportive relationships and
controlling, manipulative, or abusive dating relationships. To become a trainer, you
would need to participate in a free ten-session curriculum program. The training
help to increase your understanding about the difference between caring,
supportive relationships, and controlling, manipulative, or abusive relationships.
We are looking for people who love mentoring and have a passion to better the
youth and uplift their community to become better people. If you’re interested in
participating in the program, Natasha Hutton, Community Developer for the
Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Division, can get you started in the
program. You can contact her at 301-265-8454."

Thank you.

Best Regards,
Alexah Walcott-Taylor
The APR Group

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 Meeting I

The Advanced Public Relations Group’s first meeting with our client, Prince George’s

County Family Services (PGCFS), took place on Tuesday, October 16th. We met with the

Community Developer, Natasha Hutton to discuss the public relations plan that was created to

rectify the low-volume traffic of the organization’s Safe Dates curriculum program.

Mrs. Hutton explained the current schedule for the program: Mondays, Wednesdays, and

Fridays from 6:30PM-8:00PM at the Westphalia and Bowie Community Centers. She expressed

that PGCFS would like to expand the program to other community centers across Prince

George’s County, specifically in neighborhoods such as Seat Pleasant, Palmer Park, and

Glenarden.

Mrs. Hutton was very pleased with our plan and receptive to the APR Group recreating

the Safe Dates promotional flyers and logo.

Lastly, we discussed creating a pitch for the cold calls that would take place late October

in hopes to develop partnerships with organizations whom are willing to participate in the Safe

Dates program training. Mrs. Hutton agreed to create a FAQ document and Excel spreadsheet of

organizations that have already been contacted by PGCFS to aid in the success of our cold calls.

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 Cold Calls Experience

As promised in the public relations plan, The APR Group made cold calls to several

organizations across Maryland in hopes to gain a partnership with Prince George’s County

Family Services’ Safe Dates Program. The goal was to recruit at least seven organizations that

would be willing participants in the free two-day curriculum training.

I was able to get in contact with several churches, community centers, and non-profit

organizations over the course of three weeks. There was little to no success with these calls for

reasons such as lack of interest, schedule conflict, and failure to return calls after leaving a

voicemail.

In our second meeting with Mrs. Hutton, we expressed to her the difficulties we initially

faced with the cold calls. Mrs. Hutton shared the same difficulties and explained that she’s

reached out to over seventy organizations but received interest from only a small percentage of

her contacts. She suggested that we continue to make calls continuously in hopes that at least

some of the new contacts will agree to participate in the training.

In short, I believe recruitment for partnership would be more successful through emails

and in-person meetings. The APR Group began using these new communication methods in

November in hopes to provide better feedback for our client.