As a valued member of the Covenant House family, your voice is an important part of our campaign to build the new Covenant House New York.
This toolkit will help you more effectively use your reach and influence to help New Yorkers face the realities of our city's homeless epidemic and proudly introduce them to Covenant House's hopeful, optimistic solution.
You are free to use the language and assets posted here as is, or to consider them as a starting point. You may, for example, want to edit posts and emails to better reflect the way you speak, or to add your own personal experiences and perspective.
OUR GOAL:
How do you respond when someone asks, "What is the Take Notice Campaign," or "Why is Covenant House building a new facility now?" We're providing you with two versions of the "Elevator Pitch": a shorter version which you may want to commit to memory, as well as a longer version that you could use in an email or other situation where you have more time and space to lay out the case.
SHORT ELEVATOR RIDE:
Take Notice is a campaign to take on youth homelessness. We're giving our city's most vulnerable youth all the services and support they need to achieve independence – all in one purpose-built facility.
LONG ELEVATOR RIDE:
Covenant House has been serving New York's homeless youth for many years. In that time, we've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. The Take Notice campaign is our chance to apply that knowledge and give our youth the facility they deserve. By starting from the ground up, we can design a program that's centered around their needs and gives them all the services and support they need to achieve independence – all under one roof.
KEY FEATURES OF THE BUILDING:
80,720 square feet
Six floors of residential shelter
Six floors of program spaces for personalized wraparound services, including outreach, legal services, life skills development, recreation, youth guidance programs.
1,900 youth to be impacted annually
Federally qualified Health Center located on the ground floor to ensure timely and efficient access, for both drop-in and in-house services.
1,500 square feet of outdoor green space for healing and meditation
The Take Notice Campaign One-sheet is a double-sided downloadable PDF designed to give people a high-level overview of Covenant House and the Take Notice campaign. We recommend emailing it as an attachment. If you print it, please use a high-quality color printer.
A personal email goes a long way. We've provided some language you can use as a starting point to communicate your own passion for the Covenant House mission and why you're supporting the Take Notice campaign. Please read carefully and be sure to edit to include your own personal experiences.
LONG VERSION/INTRO TO CAMPAIGN:
SUBJECT:
I’m taking notice. And hope you will too.
BODY:
Did you know that over 33,000 youth in New York City are currently experiencing homelessness? To me, that is simply unacceptable. We as a city have to do better. This crisis deserves a solution, which is why I’m proud to be supporting Covenant House’s Take Notice campaign. It’s a $128 million effort to construct a new Covenant House building in the heart of Manhattan. The new Covenant House New York will be so much more than a shelter. It’s a purpose-built facility that will give your city’s most vulnerable youth all the services and resources they need to get on a sustainable path to independence—all under one roof.
If you’re not already aware, Covenant House has been working to end youth homelessness for over 45 years. This campaign represents an important step towards achieving that goal.
Please consider joining me in my support for this amazing organization. I’ve personally met many Covenant House youth. They truly inspire me and I know they will inspire you. To take notice and learn more about the campaign, please visit: https://ny.covenanthouse.org/take-notice.
Sincerely,
SHORTER, FOLLOW-UP EMAIL:
SUBJECT:
Following up on the CHNY Take Notice Campaign
BODY:
I just wanted to send a quick follow up on my previous email regarding the campaign to build a new Covenant House in Manhattan. Right now, we’re about $19 million shy of our $128 million goal. I really think you could be a great asset to help us get over the finish line—and most importantly help more of our city’s vulnerable youth get on a sustainable path to independence.
Could we meet over dinner one night soon to discuss? I’m available next [Tuesday] or [Thursday] evening but am happy to be flexible.
Thank you,
Social media will be the main way we get our campaign message out to the general public. Your networks are a crucial part of this strategy. To help us be as successful as possible, we ask that you do three things:
1. FOLLOW:
Take a minute to make sure you’re following all of CHNY’s media properties on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Please note, these are different from the CHI pages.
2. SHARE:
As you see us post about the campaign, we’d ask that you repost/retweet/share to your networks and encourage your followers to learn about the campaign and give.
3. POST:
Please consider creating and sharing your own content. Below, we’ve included several images and sample copy that you are free to use. Please edit as you see fit, but do tag CHNY (see note below), include the hashtag #TakeNoticeNYC, and link to our campaign page where applicable: (https://ny.covenanthouse.org/takenotice).
NOTE:
Tags work differently across platforms:
CAMPAIGN INTRODUCTION:
Here are some sample posts you can use to introduce your network to Covenant House and the campaign.
YOUTH POSTS:
Introducing your network to the inspiring youth in our program is a great way to grab people’s attention and get them to take notice of the amazing things that are happening at Covenant House.
BUILDING POSTS:
Spreading awareness about the building and its benefits, will show your followers why this project is so essential.
ENGAGEMENT POSTS:
We can help you create a post designed to maximize engagement and incentivize your followers to share, interact, and donate. Please coordinate with us before using any of the following examples.
