Red Rooster Group

Seeking Top Talent

Howard — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:25:38 +0000

Red Rooster Group is bursting at the seams with good work and we are looking for passionate people to join our growing staff. We are currently seeking graphic designers, web programmers, social media experts, marketing experts, social media gurus and business development pros, as well as freelancers and interns. Check out our Careers section for job descriptions.

Red Rooster Group Wins MARK Award

Howard — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:59:23 +0000

Red Rooster Group, in a joint project with Moss Appeal, won a Silver MARK Award of Excellence for developing the “Cheap Date Kit” direct mailing for Reelzchannel. The award recognizes excellence in promotional creativity cable industry and puts us in the company of HBO, Showtime, other leading cable brands. The kit was mailed to decision makers of cable operators such as Time Warner Cable, to get them to consider Reelchannel for their line-up.

The nearly 2-foot box filled with Smack ‘N’ Cheese, an electric votive, a tin of mints and a blanket, all promoting Reelzchannel, conveyed the concept of movies as a cheap date and paved the way for the sales team to make their pitch. Credits go to E.B. Moss, President of Moss Appeal for the concept, copywriting and project management, and Howard Adam Levy, Principal at Red Rooster Group for creative development and design.

“It has been my pleasure to work with Howard on several occasions. As a “virtual agency” I am very discriminating about vendors I select to work on projects with my valued clients, so creativity, compatibility, and integrity are essential. On a recent very comprehensive project for ReelzChannel, Howard was the perfect teammate, taking our concept to the WOW level with fun design ideas and exacting attention to detail to help our “Cheap Date Kit” mailer come off perfectly. He is also a go-to source for pro social and eco-conscious clients. Thanks, Howard!”

—E.B. Moss, Owner, Moss Appeal

Ask the Expert: Media Sponsorship Expectations

Howard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:33:53 +0000

What should be expected from a media sponsor when asked to sponsor an annual gala fundraiser? When it comes to local TV, radio and newspaper sponsorships (if your sponsorship levels range from $600 to $10,000) what is reasonable to ask in return? It doesn’t seem like 10k would get you much air time if you were buying it outright. We are hoping to raise $30-50k in our second year and have 250-300 people attending. — Walter R.

OUR RESPONSE:

Walter, $10,000 can get you a decent reciprocal media exchange in a print publication. Typically, we have seen media sponsorships as barter deals of “sponsor benefits” such as logo placement and links on the nonprofit’s website, and logo on print collateral and event signage, or other special recognition or acknowledgment at the event, in exchange of ad space in the publications.

Larger sponsorship barter arrangements can include the publication creating a special insert in the publication or as a stand-alone product, or providing additional media coverage. The idea is to leverage the media sponsors’ infrastructure in a way that does not cost them a lot additionally but allows them to benefit from the positive association with your nonprofit. The media sponsor also has access to other resources such as reporters, on-air personalities, and advertisers.

The best media sponsorship deals benefit both parties equally at little cost to each. The idea is to be creative about what both parties bring to the table.

Work Hard. Be Nice. Lessons for Nonprofits

Howard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:02:36 +0000

BOOK REVIEW: Work Hard. Be Nice. by Jay Mathews

How the Founding of the KIP School Provides Lessons for Nonprofits

How can two young teachers, fresh off stints from Teach for America, create what has become one of the most successful models for a charter school in America? Work Hard. Be Nice. is the story of hard work, persistence, and above all, a deep-rooted commitment to helping kids in the face of an educational system that denies has written them off.

Since Red Rooster Group taken on the marketing of Child Development Center, a special needs school, and education is a particular interest of ours, I took a specific interest in this story, which combines the entrepreneurial drive with a mission-oriented passion.

A Story of Tenacity

The story starts with an unbridled belief in students’ ability to perform if given the right support. Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin take on the challenge of improving the test scores of the lowest performing minority students.

Modeling successful educators that they have the fortune to witness, they put their passion into action, dedicating long hours to refining their lessons, constantly talk to each other for feedback and support, and adapting their performance to improve their impact on a daily basis.

The book traces their struggle to recruit enough students to get their nascent program off the ground, their unyielding persistence in the face of educational bureaucracies, and their frustrations with staffing and their personal relationships as their grow their idea. Their hard work is rewarded with the opportunity to secure funding to develop the program in cities around the country.

Marketing Their Program

The central tenants of their program subverted the prevailing educational wisdom: High expectations for all students, a longer school day, a principal totally in charge, an emphasis on finding the best teachers, rewards for student success, close contact with parents, a focus on results and a commitment to preparing every child for a great high school, and even college.

To create a palatable message coalesced these ideas into what they dubbed the Five Pillars:

High expectations
Choice and commitment
More time
Power to lead
Focus on results

Having a focused message and presenting it in a way that was easy to understand was essential in recruiting kids and parents, as well as getting the approval of school systems.

The Role of Branding

And branding played no small role in their success. As two young teachers, with no experience to trade on, they recognized the need early on to distinguish their fledgling program and establish credibility to develop their two-classroom program into a school. They hung a banner across the classroom reading “Welcome to Mr. Feinberg’s Fabulous, Fantastic Fifth-Grade Class.”

Knowing that names go a long way, they chose a unique name for their charter school experiment, calling it “Knowledge is Power,” referred to as the KIP School.

In addition, to smart naming, Mike and Dave employed other linguistic devices to help kids understand key concepts. One was a set of rules to guide students on a daily basis. They called these SLANT rules: Sit up straight, Look and listen, Ask questions, Nod your head, and Track the teacher.

Lessons for Nonprofits

So what lessons are there for nonprofits? From two kids who challenged the norm and came out on top, it is clear that bold solutions require audacious thinking. Mike and Dave were not looking for incremental improvements — they presented a new way to tackle a challenge that most people wanted to avoid. They personally invested themselves in addressing the problem and displayed a dedication to the mission at all costs – to the extent of visiting the homes of all the students to show the kids and their parents that they really care.

Their persistence was legendary. Instead of waiting for permission, or even asking for it, they went out of the way to demand and secure the classrooms, bus routes and resources they needed for their kids. This pro-active mentality, common in the entrepreneurial world, is a valuable lesson for nonprofits with a complacent corporate culture.

While Mike and Dave were largely alone in their crusade, they modeled their classroom activities from the best teachers. Fortunate to be across the hall from exceptionally talented teachers, they were smart enough to learn the techniques and enlist the support of others for help.

They also managed to make the right contacts leading to funding to grow their endeavors, and were smart enough to hire others in key positions. They realized that for their ideas to take hold on a national scale, they would need to build an organization that was beyond what they could accomplish on their own. In the end, their biggest lesson, was in knowing when to get out of their own way and pave the way for the success of the program.

Successful Seminar at the Foundation Center

Howard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 06:09:28 +0000

Howard Adam Levy spoke about Nonprofit Marketing on a Shoestring at the Foundation Center yesterday. He described the process for updating Friends of Karens’ brand and website and then interviewed Jill Gold, Friends of Karen’s Communications Coordinator. Marketing Consultant Nancy Schwartz opened the session with an overview of marketing for nonprofits.

10 Ways to Save Money on Your Marketing

1. Be consistent to foster recognition. This will save your audience from having to “decode” your message every time they encounter your organization.

2. Conduct your own research – do interviews over the phone and surveys online with Survey Monkey.

3. Have a Brand Manual that features your message points and design templates so that you are not constantly re-inventing
the wheel when it comes to grant applications, newsletters, and other marketing.

4. Use colors wisely. Digital printing typically becomes cost effective at quantities of 1,000.

5. Get support online. Join a discussion forum on LinkedIn.

6. Talk to your printer before you start your project — or better yet, at the beginning of the year, so they can find efficiencies.

7. Tap into volunteers for marketing functions such as photography. You won’t know what you can get until you ask.

8. Empower your board as brand ambassadors to speak about your organization. Give them the tools and make them aware
of this role.

9. Make your fundraising event budget go further by adding “mission awareness” as part of your events so that donors
are aware of what your organization does.

10. Plan your marketing for the year. It’s worth taking the time to determine your goals and the best way to reach them.

Howard Adam Levy discusses how Red Rooster Group developed Friends of Karen’s website. and then interviewed Jill Gold, Friends of Karen’s Communications Coordinator.

Read the full Nonprofit Branding Case Study on the Friends of Karen branding process.

Awnings & Banners on 23rd, Oh My!

Howard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:07:00 +0000

A passionate plea in preservation of our street life

Are awnings and banners awful eyesores or useful necessities? Red Rooster Group’s take on the Flatiron’s District’s Master Improvement Plan.

Red Rooster Group is active in improving our world, creating a better city and safer and more livable streets, examining the issues in the world around us. Since our office is on 23rd Street and Madison Avenue, the heart of the Flatiron District, we are interested in the what the local BID had in mind for the area, so we took a look at the Plan, prepared by Starr Whitehouse, landscape architects. Here is what I wrote to them.

As a business owner on 23rd Street, I was reviewing your Master Plan for the Flatiron District and was quite impressed. I think that the guidance and recommendations you provide will create much needed improvements in the area. However, I would like to point out two aspects that I believe require further consideration.

Awnings

As a designer, I can fully appreciate the concept of “cleaning up” the streets to convey a less cluttered, more unified streetscape. So I can understand your suggestion to clean up the clutter of awnings on 23rd Street. (My office is on 23rd between Madison and Park Ave South between the Radio Shack Awning and the new Press awning.) However, I urge you to reconsider the role that awnings play on a practical and communal level.

First, they provide needed shelter. The front door to our building is locked, and there are many days when it is raining (as it does in New York), and the Radio Shack awning provides some cover as I get the key into the lock. Also, I often go outside to pick up something for lunch and can take refuge under the awning when it is raining (I and I am sure I am not alone in these two matters given the abundance of both small, locked building on the south side of 23rd Street as well as the abundance of food venues).

Awnings are useful cover in inclement weather, as you can witness people huddling under them when it’s raining. In fact, the awnings lining the south side of 23rd Street are very much used as cover by many to get to the two subway stations on either ends when it’s raining.

My second point about the value of awnings relates to their social function as facilitators of street life. In addition to awnings being a place for people to gather under in inclement weather, they provide mini focal points for street life, fostering discussion among people that may not otherwise meet. I think that Jane Jacobs would agree that awnings signal a vibrant street life. Compare the vitality of streets with awnings to those that don’t and you will typically find a more robust street life.

Thirdly, awning aid in navigation since they are dominant features on the street — I can tell a cab driver to stop at the black Radio Shack awning that can be seen from a half a block away.

This is of course, in addition to their function of advertising the existence of businesses (which is what the BID supports). By the way, I say this as a service business with an office on a third floor with no connection a business with an awning.

I am not by any means arguing that awnings don’t clutter the block or are ugly, crass and commercial, however absent them, I believe we lose something of the vital nature of the street and the district.

Regarding poles that hold up the awnings. Granted these do take up sidewalk space, which can block traffic, which is not good. I also noticed that they are used as a bike racks. Given the dearth of bike racks in New York in general and 23rd Street in particular, that is not a bad thing. Perhaps instead of banning awnings, there are guidelines for where poles touch down on the sidewalk, or even designing them to hold more bicycles, serving as benches or other purposed to double their function.

In your recommendations for what gets adopted for 23rd Street, I would urge you to take these views into consideration. Perhaps there are other means of providing shelter and fostering a vital community.

Banners

Another issue I would like to comment on are banners. I find it ironic that you suggest eliminating the visual clutter of competing awnings and signs, only to replace them with banners that feature advertising on them.

The utilitarian and decorative functions of street lamps are marred with commercial messages that add no value to the neighborhood (especially since the banners don’t actually contain any information other than identifying the area as the Flatiron district and some advertising).

If the BID’s ultimate goal is to increase consumer awareness of the district as a shopping destination, it is misguided to think that eliminating awnings, which indicate the presence of businesses, and replacing them with banners with general advertising, will foster more street traffic. People respond more to the businesses they see, and not banners.

In fact, I would argue that the banners with advertising add to the confusion, and send the wrong message to the public that public space is sponsored by private entities. I find this trend scary and abhorrent. More and more of our public space is being sponsored by private corporations (Bloomberg had even suggested that subway stations could be sponsored by corporations). This is definitely a step in the wrong direction and I would urge you to reconsider your recommendation to put up advertising banners throughout the district. I understand that this is a source of advertising for the BID, but I am sure that there are other, less obtrusive ways of bringing in revenue.

• • •

What do you think? What elements of street life are worth preserving as the city becomes more gentrified.

Strut Your Stuff as a Red Rooster Group Intern

Howard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:59:55 +0000

Red Rooster Group is seeking marketing and design interns for the January 2010 semester. We are looking for motivated individuals who share our passion for making the world a better place. Read the descriptions below.

Marketing Internship

Get hands-on experience on exciting projects at Red Rooster Group, a fast-paced marketing design firm. If you are passionate about making the world a better place and want to help nonprofit organizations improve the effectiveness of their marketing and fundraising, Red Rooster Group is the place to be.

We are an award-winning firm that is re-defining marketing for the nonprofit sector – combining strategy on how to best reach donors, competitive research on what other organizations are doing, and developing the best creative in branding and logos, websites, brochures and publications, and online strategies.

We are seeking talented individuals that share our passion for excellence to assist with a range of marketing activities and build their marketing abilities. This includes conducting market research and developing creative ideas, strategies and campaigns.

Red Rooster Group is a small firm and you will work directly with the Principal to get hands-on experience on client projects and Red Rooster Group marketing. Last semester, our intern helped to establish our video series and helped set up our video studio, developed a marketing campaign to public relations agencies and compiled a database for us. We are now launching a portal for the nonprofit sector and always have new projects and challenges.

Red Rooster Group has a friendly working environment in a studio office across from Madison Square Park on 23rd Street.

We welcome intelligent, driven individuals who are looking to learn and develop their skills. We take an interest in helping you develop in the areas that you want to improve upon, so if this sounds of interest, we encourage you to contact us

We have 2 coveted spots per semester, so contact us as soon as you are ready. Call 212-673-9353 or email howard@redroostergroup.com with the words MARKETING INTERN in the subject.

• • •

Design Internship

Award-winning design firm is looking for creative individuals in graphic design, website design, SEO and social media to help make the world a better place. Get hands-on experience on exciting projects at Red Rooster Group, an innovative design firm that specializes in working with nonprofits. If you are passionate about making the world a better place and want to help nonprofit organizations improve the effectiveness of their marketing and fundraising, join the creative team at Red Rooster Group. We launch and re-invigorate nonprofit brands, develop fundraising strategy, design logos, websites, brochures and online promotion.

You will gain the opportunity to work hands-on with the Creative Director on a range of projects including branding, brochures, websites and more. You will work on design projects, learn about printing and papers, build your portfolio, and gain an understanding of how a design firm works in our comfortable work environment.

Red Rooster Group has a friendly working environment in a studio office across from Madison Square Park on 23rd Street.

We have 2 coveted spots per semester, so contact us as soon as you are ready. Call 212-673-9353 or email howard@redroostergroup.com with the words DESIGN INTERN in the subject.

Websites That Work Seminar at United Way of Westchester

Howard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:34:06 +0000

Nonprofits seek to improve their websites for many reasons:

Raising Money
Building a Community of Supporters
Improving Membership Rates
Increasing Participation in Programs
Promoting Events
Educating People About an Issue
Inspiring Action
Increasing Visibility and Clout
Demonstrating Viability to Funders

These were the key points I made at our Websites That Work seminar at the United Way of Westchester yesterday. The 3-hour session helped nonprofits to understand the essential steps in the website process which include:

Determine your objectives.
Assess your site.
Identify your audience.
Create your site map.
Determine your budget and resources.
Determine the features needed.
Select your Content Management System (CMS).
Determine your keywords.
Develop your content – words and pictures.
Install Google analytics.

Download a PDF of the Websites That Work presentation

Handling the Big Questions

Howard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:02:46 +0000

Red Rooster Group has been handling some big-picture questions recently:

Should a huge, 100 year-old Jewish organization with an older donor base retrench its strategy to attract the younger generation of donors, and if so, how?
How can a Jewish federation serving a population with divergent interests build a cohesive community that boosts the fundraising of all Jewish organizations in the county?
How can a Jewish social service agency serving an Orthodox community unify its six operating divisions and address taboo social concerns, while instilling an obligation to support the organization?
In times of economic uncertainty and unstable relations in the Middle East, how can the number of people moving permanently to Israel be increased?
How can an umbrella organization for Jewish day schools demonstrate its relevance and viability in a time of decreasing engagement in Jewish education?
How can a Jewish venture fund remain relevant amidst increasing competition and fragmentation in the market?

These are some of the issues that we are addressing from the strategic and marketing perspectives. We relish the challenge of grappling with issues that have the ability to move the needle, create real change, and provide lessons for other agencies.

It requires a combination of understanding the Jewish communal and nonprofit worlds, drawing upon deep expertise in branding and marketing, and bringing a fresh perspective that takes into account social innovation, technology, and trends in the business and nonprofit sectors. It also requires a deftness in building consensus among divergent parties and the ability to define a clear process and move it forward.

Check back as we report on progress on these issues and share our experiences along the way. We invite you to share your experiences in these areas as well.

WAKE UP CALL: What are the big picture issues that your agency needs help with?

Red Rooster Group Promotes Center for Non-profits Conference

Howard — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:31:03 +0000

As part of our commitment to the nonprofit sector, Red Rooster Group is proud to sponsor and promote the New Jersey Center for Non-Profits’ conference.

Red Rooster Group is providing naming, branding and promotional services for the conference including development of the theme, conference logo, and design of postcards, posters, and website graphics.

Titled, Ready, Set Recover: Succeeding in the New Landscape, theme is intended to convey the practical nature the sessions, with hands-on advice that nonprofits can use to improve their organizations.

The Conference will bring together nonprofits in the state to gain insight into big picture issues and learn practical tactics for  improving their organizations. Sessions will address the issues of accountability, advocacy, boards of the future, collaboration, human resources, marketing, media, and technology.

The conference will be held on December 9, 2009 at the Crowne Plaza Monroe / Jamesburg, NJ. Other sponsors include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Novartis, Prudential, Bank of America, Mercadien Group and Nonprofit Central.

See our other work promoting the Center for Non-profits