Communication Students Form Student-Run Public Relations Agency to Benefit Local Organization

by Laura Maginley

Five public relations majors are navigating their way through a fundraising campaign for the duration of the semester, despite hefty workloads in other classes, part time jobs and juggling internships.  As a requirement for their “COMM 452: Campaigns” course, they created a student-run public relations agency, entitled “Blossom Public Relations.”  The senior-level students were then assigned real positions as account executive, research director, creative director, media planner and copy editor/ writer.  To top off the semester, these girls have an objective to raise between $1,000 and $2,000 dollars for their client, which is Church World Service (CWS) of Lancaster.

CWS Lancaster is a branch of the CWS national organization, but Lancaster’s branch specifically helps to resettle refugees and immigrant families in the Central Pennsylvania region.  All of the proceeds from the student’s fundraising campaign will go toward the Resettlement Program at CWS of Lancaster.  

“We have been marketing on campus through various media channels, and our biggest challenge has been to have people take a second look at our project.  We already know donating to CWS of Lancaster is a great cause, the trick is to have other people think so too,” explained Kristen Bergmaier, account executive of Blossom Public Relations.

Initially the team was going to hold one large seasonal event at the end of the semester in hopes of bringing in a lot of fundraising dollars during one night.  However, the girls didn’t want to put all of their eggs in one basket.  Instead they decided to call the semester’s fundraising campaign, “Give a Little, Change a Life.”  This is because there are several ongoing fundraisers throughout the semester, but each dollar or donation counts toward the end goal.

“Buying a cupcake or donating $5 doesn’t seem like a lot, but it adds up in the end and pushes us toward  that larger number in the end,” said Bergmaier.

So far the team has held one restaurant night at Isaac’s Deli for donations and sold sub sandwiches from Darrenkamps, which has pushed them further toward their goal.  Blossom Public Relations has one more restaurant event on November 18 at Iron Hill Brewery and they will also be holding a bake sale the following day in the Student Memorial Center.  They also hope to gain more attention by selling baked goods at the MU Idol competition on November 27.

The team continuously posts messages via their fundraising Facebook page, which can be found at www.facebook.com/PRcampCWSL in the hopes of gaining more “likes” and having a broader audience donate to the cause.  “We will continue to push our message of ‘Give a Little, Change a Life’ and the importance of donations until the conclusion of the semester,” shared Bergmaier.  

In the upcoming weeks, the team will continue to distribute creative pieces across campus to widen the awareness of their fundraising campaign.  At the conclusion of the semester, Blossom Public Relations will present their research findings and campaign information in a formal presentation during finals week. 

For more information on events and progress, visit their Facebook page.

• public relations