Executive Summary

Research
Spokane Hearing-Oral Program of Excellence (HOPE) was founded in 2004 by a group of families with
children who are hard-of-hearing or are deaf. The families had the same goal of wanting to help all children in
Spokane with hearing loss to better transition into first school experiences. A devoted group of individuals with
significant experience in professional fields was attracted to the opportunity to make this educational dream a
reality for local families with deaf or hard-of-hearing children. The Hearing and Speech Clinic of Washington State
University and the Eastern Washington University Riverpoint campus are partners with Spokane HOPE, as
Spokane HOPE is located at EWUs Riverpoint campus. In the region, Spokane HOPE is the only program where
listening and spoken language are used.
Spokane HOPEs mission states:
To optimize the acquisition of listening, learning, and speaking skills in children who have hearing loss and
to provide a supportive environment for their families with the ultimate purpose to prepare the students for a
seamless transition into the students mainstream educational setting in their neighborhood schools.
Over 80 preschoolers have been served by the key services of Spokane HOPE including the Birth-3 In Home
Therapy, Preschool and Toddler Group, Speech-Language Therapy, Parent Caregiver Support, Outreach
Mainstream Services and Family Communication Services. program.
Spokane HOPE has a couple fundraising events during the year that greatly benefit the organization. One
fundraising event is the Negative Split Half Marathon, 10K, 5K. The event is open to people of all levels- runners,
walkers, and joggers. For the event, Spokane HOPE partners with Negative Split to raise money and awareness for
children with hearing loss and the services that Spokane HOPE offers. Negative Split is Spokanes local premier
running group. A second event during the year is Hoedown for HOPE, which take place every October. Hoedown
for HOPE includes a dinner, raffles, auction, live music, dancing and an inspirational message from Justin Osmond.
This is the largest fundraising event for Spokane HOPE.

Objectives
The goals chosen for the campaign plan for Spokane HOPE focus on increasing awareness of the
organization and the event throughout a wider range of the Spokane community in order to increase participation
and donations. As an organization that serves a very select group of Spokane residents, increasing awareness to a
wider range of the community is important in finding individuals to participate in events and donate to the cause.
The first goal is to increase engagement with the elderly community. This goal focuses on creating mutually
beneficial bonds with another group within the Spokane community. Having partnerships with retirement homes
will provide opportunities for the children at Spokane HOPE to communicate and work on their hearing and
listening skills with an entirely new set of people outside of their classroom. As well, the elderly will have the
chance to meet some of the youth in Spokane and create relationships with the children. These bonds create
awareness within the elderly community of Spokane and spread awareness about Spokane HOPE.
The second goal is to increase total contributions from the community. This goal is focused on increasing
the number of donors in the Spokane community to get more participation from residents. Through the creation of a
monthly donation plan called HEAR our HOPE, members of the Spokane community can make Spokane HOPE an
organization they continuously support throughout the year. This goal is important in recognizing the need to not
only increase awareness throughout the community but also the need for participation and donations for Spokane
HOPE to succeed.
The third goal focuses on social media to spread awareness of Spokane HOPE. Specifically, the goal reads
as follows, to use social media more effectively to engage businesses in the Spokane community and create an
overall greater awareness of the HOPE School. The business community could have a large impact on the way that
Spokane HOPE is seen and known throughout the community. By creating relationships with local businesses, the
employees and customers of those businesses will have an awareness of Spokane HOPE and can show their support
on social media by liking and sharing posts.

The last goal is to increase attendance at the Hoedown for HOPE event. This event is a great way for
community members to get involved and give back to Spokane HOPE while enjoying a fun evening with friends.
This goal can be achieved through a Facebook campaign surrounding the event and an open house to share details
of Spokane HOPE and the event to the staff and students on the Riverpoint campus.
Programming
The Spokane HOPE 2016 campaign plan is contingent upon four main tactics created for continued growth
of the organization. These four tactics include: to increase engagement of the surrounding elder community, to
create events and campaigns to increase the total contributions from the community, to create a social media
campaign during Deaf Awareness Month in order to increase awareness of Spokane HOPE in the Spokane
community, and to host an open house for the members of the EWU/WSU Riverpoint Campus at Spokane HOPE.
The first tactic is designed to increase Spokane HOPEs engagement with local senior citizen communities. One
way to accomplish this goal is by implementing a field trip for a group of senior citizens to visit Spokane HOPE at
the Riverpoint Campus. In addition to an organized field trip, creating announcements and informational pamphlets
for local churches is an effective way to reach older audiences.
The second tactic is designed to increase the total contributions from the community. In order to increase
contributions, Spokane HOPE will use the campaign name HEAR Our HOPE. This campaign will include
personalized promotional fliers featuring Spokane HOPE children, along with a photo booth at Hoedown for HOPE
that will run on a donation-based charge. The campaign HEAR Our HOPE aims to establish a monthly giving plan
that donors can participate in. HEAR Our HOPE is a specific campaign that will allow the community to increase
donations.
The third tactic is designed to increase the awareness of Spokane HOPE in the Spokane community. A
social media campaign will be implemented during September, Deaf Awareness Month. Through social media
campaign, the Spokane community and businesses will be encouraged to talk about deafness and hearing loss, and
to tag Spokane HOPE on social media sites. The campaign will also inform the Spokane community about Spokane

HOPE and hearing loss. This social media campaign will lead to an overall increase in awareness of Spokane
HOPE and hearing loss.
The fourth and final tactic is designed to increase awareness of Spokane HOPE on the Riverpoint Medical
Campus. In order to accomplish this, Spokane HOPE will host an open house for members of the Eastern
Washington University and Washington State University Riverpoint campus. These members will include medical
professionals, graduate students, faculty, and staff of the programs. These groups will be invited to learn more about
Spokane HOPE and ways to get involved through a one-day open house occurring early in the school year.
Spreading awareness among those on the Riverpoint campus is an important step in expanding name recognition
throughout the community.
Evaluation
To measure the success of the campaign plan designed for Spokane HOPE for the Hoedown for HOPE, the
campaign group will create pre and post surveys, focus groups, and exit polling to be conducted after the event.
These components will determine the effectiveness of the public relations and marketing efforts to determine if the
goals of the campaign plan were reached and if tactics were put into action effectively. By using these evaluation
methods, the success of the campaign and potential areas for improvements will be apparent.
Prior to the Hoedown for HOPE, pre-event surveys will be given to the stakeholders invited to and
attending the event. These surveys will allow Spokane HOPE to evaluate the expectations of the publics they serve
and predict the general outcome of the event. The goal of these surveys are to allow measurable results in the end
from what the target audiences wanted or expected and what will allow Spokane HOPE to achieve the best results
for the next annual Hoedown for HOPE.
While the campaign is in action, focus groups, consisting of Spokane HOPEs target audiences, both active
and latent, will be generated in order to produce a concrete evaluation of how the audiences feel about Spokane
HOPE and what actions can be taken to increase participation for enabling more success for Spokane HOPE. The

best way to reach these audiences are through SurveyMonkey sent via email provided after either RSVPing to
attend or after donations have been given. The focus groups will be categorized by the audiences most wanted to be
reached and audiences that already have an active role within Spokane HOPE.
Post Hoedown for HOPE, send another survey, via SurveyMonkey to measure the success of the event and
the general feelings of the targeted audiences. After a month, evaluate whether or not the goals have been met or
what goals and objectives need to be improved. Exit polling and surveys are the most essential in generating a
constructive conclusion on the ultimate success of the event.