Make-A-Wish Nebraska is a nonprofit organization that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Every year, it grants more than 100 wishes in the state of Nebraska. According to research, 97 percent of families observe increases in their wish kid’s emotional health. And 89 percent of health care professionals surveyed said they believe that the wish experience can influence the child’s physical health. Research also showed that about only 60 percent of eligible children in the state of Nebraska actually have their wishes granted. This is not because Make-A-Wish Nebraska can’t grant them; it’s because Make-A-Wish Nebraska never hears from them. Many families don’t know their child is eligible, and others see it as a handout. So Bozell worked with Make-A-Wish Nebraska to raise awareness about the organization.

In order to maximize our reach and frequency, we decided to concentrate our efforts into a short window of time instead of spreading it out over several months. We didn’t want our message to be lost in the clutter. So we created Nebraska Wish Week.

We put together a full campaign with TV, radio, sponsorships, in-store posters, direct mailers, online advertising, public relations and social media.

A compelling message was needed that would get attention, be easy to digest and have a strong call-to-action. We chose “Let a wish begin with you” and supplemented it with “donate, volunteer or refer a child today.”

Make-A-Wish Nebraska really wanted to ensure that the messaging drove home the idea that this is all for Nebraska: Nebraska money, Nebraska volunteers and Nebraska children having their wishes granted. We chose to use real Nebraska wish kids in all materials. For TV, we used wish kids’ photos, as well as having real Nebraska wish kids singing the song.