Kaplan University recognizes the sacrifices that servicemembers make every day. Our #Minutes4Military campaign is our small way of giving back. Using a Livefyre Microsite, we directed users on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to visit our #Minutes4Military site where they see rich content, a minutes donated ticker, and have the opportunity to donate and spread awareness via a social sharing element. This campaign culminated in a live event aboard the USS Midway on Memorial Day 2014. There we had a Military Zone to collect donations, an Instagram photo booth to spread use of our hashtag and a military-themed WWII flash mob, featuring over 30 dancers. The five minute dance performance was designed for viral sharing. We raised over $11,000 for phone cards for military members and awarded two full Kaplan University scholarships. That same day we simulcast the World Classic Rockers USS Midway Concert through the Pentagon Channel to all military bases, and also hosted a family day picnic where the concert was simulcasted to Joint Base Lewis McCord.
Twitter received 987 #Minutes4Military mentions and over 700 retweets. The Instagram kiosk had over 400 photos taken using our #Minutes4Military hashtag. The Military Affairs Facebook page received 800 new fans in the month of May and received over 2MM impressions.
Kaplan University greatly values the sacrifice our military members have made, and is committed to providing the support to help them succeed in their educational pursuits. Currently over 23% of our students have served or are the spouse of a military member.
The #Minutes4Military campaign had the clear objective of gathering donations for phone cards that would be distributed to military members via the American Freedom Foundation.
This campaign included:
- A #Minutes4Military landing page that included a ticker to count the number of minutes donated during the campaign, a hashtag curation tool that pulled in all uses of #Minutes4Military and an interactive map that showed from where the donations originated.
- A Twitter campaign that used original imagery and, for a limited time, a matching donation for #Minutes4Military retweets.
- A Facebook news feed campaign that gained over two million impressions and 800 new page fans within the space of a month.
- A live event aboard the USS Midway in San Diego, CA. This event included a Kaplan University Military Appreciation Zone where donors to #Minutes4Military received commemorative coins.
- An Instagram photo kiosk where visitors could sign into their Instagram account and then print their picture which included the #Minutes4Military hashtag. 400 photos were taken at the kiosk.
- A military-themed flash mob on the deck of the USS Midway that was recorded and shared by museum goers. The flash mob incorporated 30 dancers and the back-up dancers wore #Minutes4Military T-shirts so that the dance was lightly branded.
- A Kaplan University sponsored simulcast of the World Classic Rockers USS Midway Concert through the Pentagon Channel to all military bases, and also hosted a family day picnic where the concert was simulcasted to Joint Base Lewis McCord.
The #Minutes4Military campaign showcased the effectiveness of using multiple social media platforms to connect users online and in person for a great cause. This campaign was a way for Kaplan University to give back to service men and women by collecting donations for over eleven thousand minutes for phone cards.
