For many nonprofit organizations, marketing budgets are tight. This is no different for Mutual Ground, a nonprofit focused on eliminating domestic and sexual violence and the harms of substance abuse in the Chicago suburbs. Mutual Ground aims to use its funds primarily for the services that directly impact clients. However, Kathy Melone, Advancement Director at Mutual Ground, knows that they need to get the word out about the services that Mutual Ground provides to the community. That’s where transit advertising with Pace Suburban Bus and Adsposure comes in.
Reaching Those Who Need to Know
According to the Out of Home Advertising Association of America, “OOH [Out of Home] can deliver virtually 100% reach in every DMA, at a fraction of the price. From a media planning perspective, it is the most effective way to reach mass audiences with high frequency and at low cost.” That’s why many nonprofits choose out of home options like bus and shelter advertising.
Melone says that Mutual Ground chose transit advertising with Pace because of its ability to reach the population that they serve in the Chicago suburbs, more than other forms of advertising like radio, television, or digital.
“We feel that Mutual Ground clients primarily are using public transportation, we noticed that when they come in for their counseling sessions, we noticed that when they show up for shelter, a lot of people don’t have vehicles, they don’t have the resources for that at the point in their lives that they’re at,” says Melone. “So, we were thinking that a lot of [our clients] are using the bus lines, especially pace. And not only are they on the bus, but the buses are traveling all over our service area. And what we liked about that was that we could target where our moving billboards were within southern Kane and Kendall County and really target the population that we are striving to serve.”
That’s where Adsposure and Pace step in, to provide those moving billboards and ensure that Mutual Ground’s message reaches the community – so that they can continue to support survivors.
Serving Survivors and Educating the Community – Mutual Ground’s Mission
Mutual Ground, a nonprofit organization in Aurora, Illinois, believes that everyone has the right to live without fear, oppression, abuse, and violence. Their services are available for families and individuals impacted by domestic and sexual violence and substance use disorders.
And the numbers tell the story of just how many people Mutual Ground impacts each year. They serve approximately 1,400 people through their counseling services, both individual group and family counseling. There are around 300 people who stay in their shelter annually. They are in over 100 schools, providing prevention education to more than 40,000 students. Their crisis hotline gets over 6000 calls per year, and their staff is also dispatched to local hospitals approximately 100 times in a year to support victims of domestic or sexual violence. Additionally, Mutual Ground facilitates around 350 orders of protection in the Kane and Kendall County courthouses.
Mutual Ground serves as a support system for survivors of trauma and abuse. Melone says, “We’re never there to tell the victim what to do. We’re just there to support them with all the options that they have and try to lead them to a path of safety and health.”
And it’s important for survivors to know that these services are available to them. That’s why Mutual Ground’s messaging can be found throughout Aurora, IL, and the Greater Chicago area.
“We feel like having the bus advertising going around town on such a consistent basis really is making our services more aware in terms of our hotline, numbers, our website, and just that Mutual Ground is here to help anybody that has an issue related to domestic violence, sexual violence or substance use,” says Melone.
Adsposure’s Design Team Helps Create Impactful Advertisements
When working with Adsposure for transit advertising in Chicago, clients can utilize our in-house design team. That was one of the benefits of working with Adsposure for Mutual Ground. They didn’t have to put more resources and time into the creative that goes on the buses and shelters. Instead, they were able to send over their logo, colors, and messaging and let the experts at Adsposure do the rest.
“I think what we liked most about utilizing the services of Adsposure was that we didn’t have to worry about the graphics component ourselves,” says Melone, “We were able to give our general imaging and our general style and our brochures to the designer and they came up with ads that matched it perfectly. We were able to effectively push out our domestic and sexual violence hotline numbers as well as our number for our substance use services and our website which really encompasses all that we do.”
The Adsposure team enjoyed working with Mutual Ground and is proud to help share the mission and services that the nonprofit provides to the community. From start to finish, Adsposure is dedicated to assisting our advertisers reach their target population through transit advertising. If you want to learn more about Mutual Ground and the important services they provide to the Chicagoland community, visit their website at https://mutualground.org/.
Advertise with Pace and Adsposure!
Our Adsposure team is ready to help you move your message. Just as Mutual Ground worked with our Chicago team to reach their community, we can help you reach your target population in cities across the United States. Reach out to us to learn more and let Adsposure stretch your marketing dollars further – so you can focus on what’s important.