America250org

National programs and partnerships significant work continued through quarter 4 to cultivate america250's partnerships with states and federal agencies. Some highlights include the addition of four state and two territorial commissions in Delaware, Maine, Missouri, south dakota, the virgin islands, and the district of columbia. As of september 30, 2023, 39 states and territories have established official 250th bodies to plan events for the semiquincentennial. Outreach and engagement the successful launch of america's invitation on july 4, 2023, marked an important moment to introduce america250 and its mission to the public and to kick off a multi-year effort to engage the public in building the largest, most inclusive commemoration in american history. America's invitation is an ongoing campaign that we will use to maintain a steady drumbeat of public engagement and to communicate directly with the american people about how they want to commemorate this historic milestone. Ahead of the campaign launch, america250 leadership engaged leaders across national organizations to inform and invite leaders to participate in upcoming efforts. This outreach included meetings with native american, african american, latino, aapi and many other leaders across constituencies. On launch day, we were thrilled to have the support of the milwaukee brewers, major league baseball, and american family insurance in launching america's invitation in milwaukee at american family field. This is a commemoration for all americans and we believe there is no better place for it to begin than in america's heartland celebrating one of america's favorite pastimes, baseball. On launch day, more than 41,000 fans saw the debut of the america's invitation video on the brewers' scoreboard - and hundreds stopped by our america250 booth on the ballpark's main concourse to learn about the commemoration and share their own stories. We announced new partnerships with nextdoor, an app dedicated to connecting neighborhoods, and ywca usa, the nation's oldest and largest women's organization, as we work to maximize engagement across the broadest possible audience. The launch of america's invitation garnered significant earned media coverage, including an associated press story that ran in more than 200 publications around the country, as well as stories in the new york times, the hill, milwaukee journal sentinel, fox news and npr stations, among others. With america's invitation, we are asking the public to share their own american stories and reflect on what this country means to them and their hopes for the future - through photos, videos, poems, essays, songs, and more. Our call-to-action was amplified across major broadcast and social media platforms in the days following july 4th - including from the stage of pbs's national broadcast of a capitol fourth, at large-scale independence day events, including the wawa welcome america festival in philadelphia and george Washington's home at mount vernon in Virginia. America's invitation was also highlighted by the department of veterans affairs in a newsletter to 11 million veterans, military families, and other subscribers, on the national park service's social media platforms reaching more than 5 million followers, and by the u.s. department of education, the library of congress, americorps, the u.s. mint, and the u.s. government publishing office, state commissions, and others. In the weeks since america's invitation was unveiled, we deployed an email program, digital and television advertising, and organic social media efforts to engage americans and drive story submissions. America250 is also leveraging the power of micro- and nano-influencers to continue amplifying our message and engaging diverse audiences. As of september 30, our america's invitation campaign collected nearly 1,100 photo, video, audio, and text submissions, representing 49 states and the district of columbia. The submissions reflect a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences - from a foster mom and cystic fibrosis survivor to a female veteran who served in four branches of the military, to three generations of a family sharing their traditions of singing and dancing around their piano together. The majority of these story submissions have been driven through the nextdoor platform and our paid media and email campaigns. To generate additional submissions, we are sharing these dynamic stories with the american public so they are able to see themselves represented in america250 and feel that this historic commemoration belongs to them. America250 is particularly grateful for the videos contributed by congressional leaders and members of congress, including then-house speaker kevin mccarthy, senate leader charles e. schumer, house leader hakeem jeffries, congresswoman bonnie watson coleman, and congressman robert aderholt. Through the fourth quarter of 2023, america250 has aired 587 spots nationally across several television networks, including own tv, lifetime channel, cooking channel, history channel, and hallmark channel for a total of over 98 million impressions. In addition, america250 has aired 9,424 spots locally for a total of 9.3 million impressions. The television ads aired in 11 local markets including: albuquerque-santa fe, nm; bangor,me; green bay-appleton, wi; jackson, ms; missoula, mt; omaha, ne; philadelphia, pa; richmond-petersburg, va; salt lake city, ut; tulsa, ok; and Washington, dc. To date, our digital advertising campaign has reached as many as 18.5 million americans, garnered 82.2 million impressions and 441,000 clicks, and generated 5,000 new email sign-ups. Our video advertisements, including a 30-second version of our launch video and other spots featuring user- generated content, delivered 29.3 million completed video views with an overall completion rate of 58.6%, amounting to more than 230,000 hours of watch time. This performance has also been remarkably similar in every region of the country, confirming that our message is reaching the broadest audience possible. America250's social media channels experienced a 639% increase in impressions, a 58% increase in audience engagement, and a solid 39% audience growth since the launch of america's invitation in july. With the launch of america's invitation, we have created a strong foundation to build on over the next three years as we develop future campaigns and additional programming. These metrics demonstrate that america250 is effectively increasing awareness around the semiquincentennial and our role as the official entity charged with orchestrating the nation's 250th commemoration, driving participation from the diverse communities, and strengthening america250's ability to engage new partners and funders.