Campaign Overview
At the rate we're going, we need one and a half earths to sustain our lifestyle. By 2030, we will need two earths. For millennia, humankind has depended on a stable climate, which has shaped life as we know it. In the last 170 years, we have added 2.4 trillion tons of carbon dioxide to our atmosphere. Half of this amount was added in the last 30-35 years. Communities across America are already feeling severe impacts, with working-class people and people of color being hit hardest.
Today, the world is facing the frightening reality that this once stable foundation will crumble unless immediate action is taken. Young people around the world are protesting governments that fail them and policies that are outdated, and are demanding change through marches, rallies, and sit-ins. Today, unprecedented global pandemic has swept our world. Young activists must continue the fight, as the climate cannot wait.
The Sunrise Movement is building an army of young people to stop climate change and create millions of jobs in the process. Sunrise has hubs all around the country dedicated to climate-based activism and fighting for a Green New Deal, with goals to end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executives on politics, and elect leaders who stand for the health and wellbeing of all people.
Sunrise's focus is on "ordinary young people" who are scared about what the climate crisis means for the people and places they love. From gathering in classrooms, living rooms and worship halls across the country, Sunrise believes everyone has a role to play. Uniting by the millions is how we turn solidarity into political power and reclaim democracy. Young people feel trapped, unheard, and afraid.
This campaign called #DearMomAndDad, a collaboration with the Sunrise Movement, aims to educate older generations through heartfelt letters from those fighting for a better future, today. Too often, young leaders of the movement are brushed off as not understanding the economy, world affairs, or ignorant to the state of politics today. Eco-anxiety is a symptom of the young generation, and education is the key to making change where it's needed: with older, more experienced voters, who hold valuable voting power in elections.
In a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll of American teenagers released in September, 57 percent said that climate change made them feel scared and 52 percent said it made them feel angry, both higher rates than among adults. Just 29 percent of teens said they were optimistic. The key to change is expressing these feelings in a heartfelt way. With true emotion, change can be made.
#DearMomAndDad would launch during the month of April, as COVID-19 impacts families around the globe. Letter-writing can be virtual, it can be done from indoors, and it will unite millions of young people confined to their bedrooms and looking to make a change.
Objectives
Increase climate change awareness through personal, physical messages to parents, guardians and friends.
Enact change in family members, leading to a more green future.
Implement a global conversation surrounding family and the future of our world, with an emphasis on calling representatives.
Advocate for a Green New Deal and more sustainable future, all while leading up to Earth Day.
Target Audience
This campaign’s target audience is adults, specifically parents, who feel they do not have power in stopping the climate crisis. These adults will likely be Gen-X to Baby Boomers, and we hope to reach them through their children.
We want to make adults feel they have power in advocating for a more sustainable future, inspiring them to fight alongside their children for the Sunrise Movement, and eventually, a Green New Deal.
We also want to reach out to legislators and senators in their complicity in the climate crisis through these letters.
Deliverables
Deliverables will include visual content and posts for Sunrise's social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook), along with customizable letterheads, and a pledge for notable activists to sign on to the cause.
Graphic Content
Pictured are mock-ups that would work well for visual mediums, such as Instagram. The color palette follows Sunrise's Media Kit, notably dark grey, bright yellow, fuchsia and off-white.
Graphics feature eye-catching design, envelope and mail-based imagery, and Sunrise's logo.
Letterhead Templates
Our movement is accessible, and we aim to make it as simple as possible to get a heartfelt message through to parents, friends and family.
The Sunrise Movement will provide letterheads, letter outlines and templates to make the process easier and offer inspiration, as well as reposting letters from young people across the country.
Pledge of Action
We want to engage everyone to send a letter or amplify our cause. To do so, we will create a webpage with the option to pledge to send a letter, or share the campaign via social media, like Twitter and Facebook.
The webpage will also feature Green New Deal candidates and ways for parents to become involved and support a greener future, as well as a submissions section, where participants can submit their letters for inspiration to encourage others to do the same.
Social Media Outreach Plan
Promote the webpage and pledge using graphics, share personalized letters from young people around the world, and utilize personal stories from teen activists.
Instagram is Sunrise's strongest media presence, and we plan to utilize it for this campaign. We will use the platform to share letters, testimony from teen activists, and visual elements of our campaign.
We will utilize IGTV in a video-mashup of letters being read by different participants in order to better promote our cause.
Twitter is where our campaign comes alive. We encourage participants to share their story in 240 characters with the hashtag, #DearMomAndDad, encouraging worldwide conversation.
Conclusion
Climate change is a problem that needs to be acted on yesterday. Spreading awareness is crucial, and we believe our campaign does just that.
Through genuine human interaction, the sending of physical letters, and online conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, we believe we can raise awareness and make change by fostering familial community and bringing groups together.
An organization like the Sunrise Movement, that reaches young people across the United States, needs to engage the heart, and needs actionable steps. We believe we've created those, and can't wait for the change that comes.
Sources
Content: Sunrise Movement, The World Counts, Renewable Resources Coalition, Washington Post
Vectors: The Noun Project: Stamp by Setyo Ari Wibowo, Bottled Water by chappara, Whale by Template, Elephant by Georgiana Ionescu
Photographs: The Sunrise Movement Public Archive, Isra Hirsi (via Instagram), Janet Leigh, Unsplash: Ben Sweet, Iheb AB, Daria Nepriak, Diana Ahkmeti, Erica Steeves, Mathyas Kurman, Siora Photography, Sue Hughes