Salesian Missions has announced that June 1, 2009, will mark the launch of the nonprofit organizations first-ever national awareness campaign. Salesian Missions has been working with its advertising and public relations agency since August 2008 on the development of its first-ever national awareness campaign.

The “What’s your mission?” campaign is the first-ever national awareness campaign for Salesian Missions. The purpose of the campaign is to shed light on the work of Salesian Missions all around the globe, and the 3 million children who have been helped to date in more than 130 countries.

With this new national campaign, Salesian Missions celebrates its current supporters while reaching out to new audiences that will help to further important programs helping children around the world.

“The great work that Salesian Missions does around the globe in over 130 countries too often goes unnoticed by the public at large,” says Father Mark Hyde, SBD, Director of Salesian Missions. “Raising more resources and attracting new donors will depend heavily on getting our message out for people to hear and see.”       

A key element of the unique campaign is highlighting those who make a difference through generous donations – and empowering the audience to join them. Featured in the television commercial are real Salesian Missions staff members, their families and other supporters of the cause. By using real people to ask the audience “What’s your mission?” the call to action is strong and sincere. To answer the call to action, the audience is given the campaign website address: FindYourMission.org. The new campaign website allows site visitors to find their missions through an interactive tool that highlights the work Salesian Missions does in more than 130 countries around the world. The website reads: “No matter what issue or country around the world tugs at your heart, Salesian Missions supports what you care about most.”

• New logo and campaign slogan
• National television commercial (airing beginning in mid June 2009 on cable television)
• New campaign website (FindYourMission.org)
• Internet ads
• “In the Know” news segments on Direct TV
• Online social networking tools such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook
• Public relations campaign
• Cause-marketing partnerships

Salesian Missions selected Shoestring Creative Group as its agency of record in August 2008 and has been working with the firm ever since to get ready for the June 2009 launch of the campaign. Shoestring is a small agency located in Gardiner, Maine, that provides services exclusively to nonprofit organizations.