Florida-based Sachs Media Group won the coveted Silver Award in the national Bulldog Reporter recognition for the best PR agency for not-for-profits in the 2014 award competition. This signifies that Sachs Media Group is one of the top two firms in the country recognized for excellence in nonprofit public relations services.

Sachs Media Group was recognized for its deep experience and documented track record of helping not-for-profit organizations fulfill their missions and achieve strategic objectives through creative, effective and novel approaches.

“We are proud of our long history of providing diverse groups of nonprofits with smart, strong and strategic public relations services that help them succeed,” said president and CEO Ron Sachs. “This is among the most satisfying work we do every day of every year.”

Leveraging an array of tactics from bartered television programming to social/digital campaigns to culture-changing community relations programs, the firm’s work has helped not-for-profit organizations educate the public about childhood sexual abuse, increase child abuse reporting, increase donations of clothing and household items, promote volunteerism among high school students, increase charitable giving and make Floridians aware of their rich, diverse state history.

“Our work for not-for-profit organizations is about selling ideas or behaviors rather than products,” said partner and Chief Operating Officer Michelle Ubben. “We use all the same communication tools, from social media to video to earned media, but for a different outcome.”

Among the firm’s honored work on behalf of not-for-profit organizations were campaigns to:

• Generate public awareness, media coverage and social media engagement for the Lauren’s Kids foundation and its mission to end childhood sexual abuse, including promoting founder Lauren Book’s 1,500-mile advocacy walk across Florida.

• Help more than 400 Florida cities showcase their history through an interactive website and companion earned media campaign for the Florida League of Cities, called “History Happened Here.”

• Create and broadcast a statewide television special and companion PSA series called Viva Florida 500, about the 500^th anniversary of the arrival of Juan Ponce de León in Florida for the Friends of the Museums of Florida History, Inc.

• Generate extensive media coverage and raise awareness about academic gains made during the 15 years since Florida adopted education reform for the Foundation for Excellence in Education. Media and grassroots events focused on different aspects of Florida’s educational success story, including gains by minority students, the needs of the business community for graduates who are ready to succeed in the workplace and other related topics.

• Launch the “Sign Me Up Miami” Campaign to help the Miami Beach Community Health Center support its outreach and enrollment coordinators and encourage Miami residents to come to the Center for free help enrolling in an Affordable Care Act health care plan. The campaign helped this not-for-profit community health center triple its enrollments in less than one year.

• Create the Best and Brightest Awards in partnership with World Class Schools to recognize high school students who excel in one of 15 diverse categories, such as journalism, public speaking and music, and also by making a significant community service contribution. The program, now in its ninth year, has recognized more than 1,050 exceptional public and private high school seniors and awarded more than $350,000 in scholarships since its inception.

• Help the United Way of the Big Bend close a gap in fundraising by conceiving an edgy campaign theme that depicted “Apathy” running against the United Way in public service announcements and live events. The “Elect United” campaign helped the United Way exceed its ambitious goal of $4.66 million, and the PSAs earned a Suncoast Regional Emmy® Award.

• Generate national media coverage for the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) in such prominent outlets as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports and the Washington Post for its efforts to rein in the use of performance-enhancing drugs by high school athletes. The work on behalf of FHSAA also produced numerous news stories and editorials highlighting the association’s efforts to recognize off-the-field achievement, including academic excellence by student-athletes, sportsmanship by individuals schools, excellence by new members of the association’s Hall of Fame, and even school spirit among a school’s student body, faculty and community supporters.

• Help Bridges of America, the oldest and most successful program of substance abuse treatment, transition and work release in the State of Florida, fend off a threat to close two of its most accomplished programs. In addition to harnessing public outrage and raising opinion leader awareness about the programs’ successes, the communication effort raised public awareness about the importance of transition programs for inmates soon to be released from prison, and positioned the Bridges of America leadership team as recognized experts in this arena.