The Shoestring Agency was selected as the PR and advertising agency of record for Salesian Missions of New Rochelle, NY in 2008. The initial work included a complete rebranding of the international humanitarian organization as well as a television and internet campaign called “Find Your Mission” which tied to the new slogan created for the organization (“What’s your mission?”). Watch the public service announcement that aired nationally. The rebranding and awareness effort also included the development of a new website, the launch of a social media presence and an increased focus on online fundraising efforts. The Shoestring Agency’s work included creating a crisis communications plan as well as continuous media training for executive and international program staff. More recently, SHOESTRING created an online newswire for Salesian Missions and secured memberships with respected humanitarian aid news consortiums such as Reuter’s AlertNet service and ReliefWeb. Shoestring Agency’s role and its work took on a new meaning when the earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010 – including the destruction of Salesian Missions schools, killing hundreds of students. Working with contacts on the ground, SHOESTRING coordinated information with the media 24/7 for the month following the disaster. (See NBC piece: Cite Soleil’s best and brightest buried in mission school.) From getting word out in the early hours about those lost and missing, to working with media contacts such as CNN, NBC News, Nightline and the Wall Street Journal, and many more producers to tell the story of what was happening in Haiti. The work continues to this day and the role of public relations to tell the stories of the work Salesian Missions does in 130+ countries is an ongoing effort, requiring daily attention with both proactive and reactive dealings with the media. Read some sample press releases: Salesian Missions launches emergency fund to assist efforts to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, issues urgent appeal for donations (resulted in national and international coverage -below) Bloomberg (see story) National Geographic (see story) Washington Post (see story) Chicago Tribune (see story) Business Week (see story) New Haven Register (see story) Breit Bart (see story) Merced Sun Star (see story) London South East (see story)  

Watch packaged news segments (aired nationally) produced by The Shoestring Agency: www.missionnewswire.org/videos-2/videos