School Bond – Great Schools for Great Kids

The Great Schools for Great Kids committee was defined by engaged Lincoln citizens who came together in support of the nonpartisan 2020 Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) bond initiative.

The mission of this independent organization was to educate voters and pass the LPS bond – which was proposed to relieve public school overcrowding in Lincoln without raising the existing property tax rate.

Our task: Build a winning campaign strategy and execute it.

(Spoiler alert) BCom Solutions was honored to lead the successful $290 million Lincoln Public Schools bond campaign.

Communicating With the Audience

Our market research told a story of Lincoln voters who care about the community and prioritize opportunities for the students within the public school system. Even so, most weren’t likely to hear the word “bond” without interpreting “tax increase.”

It was important to dispel the misconception that this bond would raise existing taxes, while shining a light on the mounting capacity and infrastructure challenges faced by schools in the LPS district.

It’s human nature to believe a message when it comes from a trusted peer. That’s why hundreds of grassroots community organizers served as our campaign’s frontal receiving line of communication. We served these influencers with biweekly emails packed with talking points, campaign resources and voter guidelines to share with their friends and neighbors across the city.

Strategy and Tactics

In this campaign, a positive, truthful and concise message was key. Our mixed media strategy presented the voters of Lincoln with important facts sandwiched in gratitude for Lincoln’s excellent school system and committed community members.

Timing was everything.

By the time the LPS Board of Education voted to put the school bond on a ballot, our team had already invested two months of production and planning.

In the hours following the vote, we unveiled the “Thank You, LPS” video series. The series premiered with a one-minute video featuring two students and one alumnus of the Lincoln Public Schools district. The video was also broken into three thirty-second pieces cinematically showcasing the story of each subject: Allyson, a bilingual elementary student; Britta, a middle school musician; Jerald Foster, Southeast High alum and former Nebraska Football standout.

Play Video

Since the ballot initiative was assigned a special mail-in election, turning out voters was paramount.

Our designers armed the Great Schools for Great Kids campaign with graphics to encourage voter registration, publicize events, showcase endorsements and highlight voting deadlines. Campaign branding was stamped on resources such as yard signs and postcards that community organizers used to advocate for the bond initiative across the city.

In the weeks to come, our team produced weekly — and eventually daily — content for Facebook, Twitter and email campaigns.

We ensured the campaign reached every voter in Lincoln by deploying paid digital strategies, as well as traditional media buying techniques. In other words, our videos appeared as sponsored Instagram and Snapchat stories and on local TV stations, even airing during the Super Bowl.

By Election Day, the versatile branding identity we developed had been profiled in every corner of the city.

Results

From an advertising perspective, BCom led the first digital-first campaign for a bond issue of this size — and that digital-first strategy paid off.

In an overwhelming victory, the bond passed with 62.05% of the vote.

We’re proud to have played a key role in passing this nonpartisan initiative that will leave a lasting legacy on the city many of us call home.