chapter handbook - freedoms foundation...ing styles. it can even be represented aurally through...
TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 2016
EDUCATE HONOR
CHALLENGE
CHAPTER HANDBOOK
BRANDING AND
COMMUNICATIONS
GUIDE
A guide to understanding the key
elements of Freedoms Foundation
brand identity.
2
PART I: FREEDOMS FOUNDATION BRAND
INTRODUCTION
MISSION STATEMENT
LOGO
PART II: BUILDING A BRAND IDENTITY
INTRODUCTION
TAGLINE
CORPORATE COLORS
FONT
PART III: COMMUNICATIONS
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Boiler Plate
Media Alert
Press Release
Public Service Announcement
Press Kit
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
PART IV: CHAPTER RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER RESOURCES PAGE
MAINTAINING CURRENT INVENTORIES
APPENDICES
A: Boilerplate
B: Press Release
C: Media Alert
4
INTRODUCTION
Branding is an identity system that exempli-
fies the ideals of an organization or product.
Consistent use of this identity system builds
strength in the public’s perception of the
organization or product. A company’s
brand can be represented in many different
ways. It can be represented visually through
elements such as colors, logos, images,
fonts, and page layouts. It can be represent-
ed through descriptions such as mission
statements, taglines, key messages and writ-
ing styles. It can even be represented aurally
through signature sounds, jingles, and voic-
es.
By following our branding guidelines, Free-
doms Foundation staff, Chapters and part-
ners can play an important role in helping
build the credibility, awareness, and reach
of our organization in our membership com-
munity as well as the community-at-large.
PART I: FREEDOMS FOUNDATION BRAND
5 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission statement is one of the most im-
portant pieces of Freedoms Foundation
brand. This brief description embodies the
purpose and ideals of our organization.
While Freedoms Foundation’s mission state-
ment is a mere 21 words, this short state-
ment embodies a far reaching influence in
the lives, communities and American socie-
ties of the many teachers and students it
has served through its programs. This state-
ment is meant to provide others with a quick
understanding of what Freedoms Founda-
tion is all about and why they should care
about supporting its work and programs.
Therefore, it is critically important that the
correct statement be used. If the mission
statement you are using does not match
the current version in the upper right, please
update your materials to reflect this version.
Freedoms Foundation is happy to provide
you with any of our new materials should
you need them.
MISSION STATEMENT
CURRENT MISSION
We educate about
American rights
and responsibilities,
honor acts of civic
virtue, and chal-
lenge all to reject
apathy and
get involved.
6
LOGO
Currently, there is only one logo that is
considered the official brand of the
Freedoms Foundation. Over the years,
our logo has evolved and changed.
The latest version was updated August
25, 2016 when our corporate colors
were redefined so that our logo could
be created using only two colors. Prior
to that, it used a four color process that
increased the expense of printing. De-
tails on color are covered in Part II. If
any of the logos in your inventory were
received prior to that date, please use
the new logo when you replenish your
materials. The current Freedoms Foun-
dation logo is available in electronic files
that can be provided to you on the
Chapter Resources page. The Freedoms
Foundation logo should not be
stretched or distorted as shown in the
examples below. To prevent this always
use the round corner handles of an im-
age to change its size.
Current Logo
Examples of obsolete
logos:
PART I: FREEDOMS FOUNDATION BRAND
7 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
Design:
The current design of the logo was se-
lected for its uniqueness and contem-
porary look and feel. The design in-
cludes rough edges on the star that
should not be smoothed out or revised
in any way. A close look at this feature is
shown in the cutaway of the logo to the
right. Freedoms Foundation maintains
the correct version and should always
be the source of logo acquisition.
Correct logo style
LOGO
8
INTRODUCTION
This section will outline the elements of
the Freedoms Foundation brand identi-
ty and provide guidance and specifi-
cations (where applicable) in order to
allow you to reproduce and use these
elements accurately and consistently.
TAGLINE
The tagline embodies the values of the
mission statement and enables all who
see it to quickly understand what the
Freedoms Foundation represents.
When creating the tagline as an im-
age, it should be created with Century
Gothic font and stacked, without addi-
tional line spaces in between the
words. From the corporate color pallet,
Educate and Challenge should be
blue and Honor should be red. In our
materials, you will see it at the top, flush
right of the document, which is the
standard treatment. The exception to
this treatment is on our website where it
is horizontal and separated by periods:
PART II: BUILDING A BRAND IDENTITY
EDUCATE. HONOR. CHALLENGE
EDUCATE HONOR
CHALLENGE
9 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
COLOR PMS NUMBER RGB VALUES
CATEGORY C U R G B
Corporate Blue 282 2748 0 33 71
Teacher Gold 143 7549 252 169 0
Student Red 484 7627 184 0 0
Chapter Silver 7543 Cool Grey 5 97 117 106
CORPORATE COLORS
The Freedoms Foundation brand identity
system uses a color palette of blue,
gold, red, and silver to help distinguish
between main categories of content.
The primary use is to distinguish four
main areas: 1) Corporate, 2) Teacher
Programs, 3) Student Programs, and 4)
Chapter
Each one of these has a designated
number in the Pantone (PMS) color sys-
tem which enables them to be repro-
duced consistently each time they are
used. These colors can also be repre-
sented using RGB (red, green, blue).
RGB values can be used to replicate
the color electronically for use, for ex-
ample, in shapes in electronic docu-
ments or online.
Color specifications
CORPORATE COLORS
FIGURE X: EXAMPLE OF COR-
PORATE BLUE IN MS PUBLISH-
ER’S RGB COLORS
FIGURE X: EXAMPLE OF COR-
PORATE BLUE IN MS PUBLISH-
ER’S PMS COLORS
10
FONT
The font used in the Freedoms Founda-
tion corporate identity system is Centu-
ry Gothic. If you are using the tem-
plates in this style guide to develop
your own materials, and do not have
Century Gothic on your computer, you
can download it for free from a num-
ber of websites. Chapters may use
Verdana, as an alternate font, which is
a standard font across both pc and
Mac computers.
Font Specifications
Media Top Line (i.e. headline, busi-ness card name)
Content
*Print Century Gothic Century Gothic
*Email Century Gothic Century Gothic
*Website Century Gothic Century Gothic
Soc. Media Default Default
Letters Georgia Georgia
*Bus. Cards Georgia Century Gothic
PART II: BUILDING A BRAND IDENTITY
OUTLOOK FONT DEFAULT
TIP:
To change the default in
your Outlook emails,
while in Outlook:
1. Select FILE from the
top ribbon.
2. Select OPTIONS
3. Select MAIL
4. Select STATIONARY
AND FONTS from the
COMPOSE MESSAGES
SECTION
5. On the SIGNATURE
AND STATIONARY
screen select each
font option to CENTU-
RY GOTHIC. (Make
sure a theme has not
been selected).
* Verdana is an alternate font that can be
used when Century Gothic is unavailable.
11 Century Gothic
11 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
MASTHEAD
MASTHEAD
The masthead is used to provide a
standard look for documents and web-
site. The Freedoms Foundation mast-
head includes the use of our logo flush
left at the top and our tagline flush left
at the top right. The bottom of the
“Challenge” in the tagline should be
even with the bottom of “At Valley
Forge” of the logo.
FOOTER
The footer used in Freedoms Founda-
tion brand identity systems provides a
means to continue carrying the look
from the cover through the content
pages.
Cover Footer
The cover footer is used as a “key mes-
sage” feature that can either include a
FOOTER
COLOR CATEGORY
Corporate Blue
Teacher Gold
Student Red
Chapter Silver
EDUCATE HONOR
CHALLENGE
12
PART II: BUILDING A BRAND IDENTITY
small phrase or a date. It uses a col-
ored bar that corresponds with the
content category in the corporate col-
or pallet. So for example, a footer on
a brochure for the Spirit of America
Youth Leadership Program would look
like this, using the red color for student
programs and the date of the pro-
gram being promoted in the brochure.
On the content pages, the identity el-
ements are realized through the look
of a two-page spread. On the left
page, flush left in the bottom left cor-
ner, is Freedoms Foundation star (same
as in the logo). On the right page, in
flush right in the right, bottom corner, is
“FREEDOMS FOUNDATION”. It looks like
this:
EXAMPLE OF HISTORY ENCOUNTERS FOOTER
13 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
PROGRAM TITLES
The correct use of the names of our
programs is especially important. These
programs are what differentiate us from
other organizations.
Please use the names for our programs
or their acceptable abbreviations
shown to the right. Unacceptable ver-
sions are also shown in red and are
struck through.
Spirit of America Youth Leadership Pro-
gram
History Encounters
Service Learning in Public Policy
Graduate and Professional Develop-
ment Programs
Spirit of America
SOA
Freedom and Leader-
ship Youth Conference
American Leaders
Youth Summit
Spirit of America Youth
Elementary program
SLIPP
Graduate Workshops –
Traveling teacher pro-
grams
Graduate Seminars – On
campus teacher pro-
grams
PROGRAM TITLES
14
PART III: COMMUNICATIONS
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public relations is often an effective and
inexpensive way to create awareness of
your organization, its events and activi-
ties. Often the rewards of public rela-
tions are reaped over time as it is some-
times a slow build to gain traction in
public perception. However, this is not
a reason to resist employing this valua-
ble tool in your marketing “tool kit”.
There are five tools you can use to sup-
port your public relations efforts: 1) boil-
erplate, 2) media alerts, 3) press releas-
es, 4) public service announcements,
and 5) press kits.
Boilerplate
An organization’s boilerplate is a brief
paragraph that concisely describes the
organization distributing it. It can be
used for to meet a variety of require-
ments, such as an event guide where
you might be exhibiting or a directory
you may be listed in. It is also used at
the end of a press release to provide
editors with a brief characterization of
your company in case they are not
See Appendix A for full
size example and for-
EXAMPLE: BOILER
PLATE
15 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
PUBLIC RELATIONS
familiar with it. Often times, a boilerplate
may be written in various lengths so that
you have options to meet a number of
different publishing requirements.
Media Alerts
A media alert is a simple but effective
way to bring attention to an upcoming
event. It briefly provides the typical
Who, What, Where, When and Why of
journalistic writing and then provides
contact information should a media out-
let desire more information. The Media
Alert (also known as Media Advisory) is
written on your organization’s letterhead
and has 5 main elements:
1.Title: Media Alert
2.Headline
3.Body (the 5 W’s)
4.Spokesperson contact
5.Three hashtags to indicate the end of
the Alert.
This document should be sent to perti-
nent media 3 – 5 days in advance of an
event and can be effective in creating
awareness of educational and fund rais-
ing efforts.
See Appendix B for full
size example and for-
EXAMPLE: MEDIA
ALERT
16
Press Releases
A press release is used to provide cover-
age of an event either after it has oc-
curred or while it is still happening. It
provides the same details of the Media
Alert but is written in the style of an arti-
cle and will also typically include
quotes, perspective, and context of the
event. There are 7 elements that you
should include in a press release:
1.Headline (and subhead if necessary)
2.Date Line
3.Location
4.Summary
5.Body
6.Boilerplate
7.Three hashtags to indicate the end of
the Press Release.
Press releases are typically given to any
press that might be at an event, sent to
local press if just of local interest, or dis-
tributed to a news wire. See Appendix
X for full size press release example and
format.
PART III: COMMUNICATIONS
See Appendix C for full
size example and for-
EXAMPLE: PRESS RE-
LEASE
17 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public Service Announcements
Public Service Announcements can be
an inexpensive way to get your event
promoted on the radio. TV will be more
of an expense because of the need to
produce the PSA. Depending on what
market your chapter is in will impact how
easy it is to get a station to play your
PSA. Most stations prefer a thirty second
spot. If you are unfamiliar with writing
PSA’s contact your local station and get
their specifications.
Press Kit
If your chapter is going to be participat-
ing in an event where press will be in at-
tendance, providing a press kit can in-
crease the chances of getting cover-
age. You should contact event organiz-
ers ahead of time and find out if there
will be a press room where press kits can
be dropped. A press kit can be provided
in a folder or electronically and include:
1.Press release(s)
2.Photos
3.Quote sheet
4.Contact information of press contact
18
CHAPTER RESOURCES PAGE
The Freedoms Foundation provides re-
sources to chapters in both print and
electronic formats. The electronic ver-
sions are available on the Chapter Re-
sources page and can be printed on-
demand from personal printers or pro-
vided to a printer for professional print-
ing. Also, located on this page are a
wealth of resources designed to help
make the Chapters successful. There
are both print materials that can be or-
dered for free and electronic materials
that Chapters can print.
Chapter Resources Page:
Resources that are available to support
the Chapters can be found in this area
and include items such as down-
loadable materials, helpful links, fund-
raising guidance, and contacts.
PART IV: CHAPTER RESOURCES
www.freedomsfoundation.org
/chapterresources
19 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
Maintaining Current Inventories
The current versions of Freedoms Foun-
dation materials will be indicated on
the Chapter pages in the Available Ma-
terials area. When a new version of a
document is created, the Chapters will
be sent a communication that advises
of the updates, what the current version
is of the updated material, and how to
get the current version.
CHAPTER RESOURCES
HISTORYEN-2017-01
20
21 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: BOILERPLATE
APPENDIX B: MEDIA ALERT
APPENDIX C: PRESS RELEASE
Note: The Appendices in the following pages are repre-
sentative of actual document size, but are a reduced ver-
sion in order to fit within the size limitations of this handbook.
22
Boiler Plate
APPENDIX A
APPENDICES
23 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
Media Alert
APPENDIX B
24
APPENDICES APPENDICES
Press Release
Page 1
APPENDIX C
25 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
APPENDIX C
Press Release
Page 2
26
NOTES
27 FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
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