Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana celebrates 130th anniversary with Day of Service

Written By Alicia Vial

Situation

Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana (VOASELA) serves children, families, seniors, veterans and individuals with disabilities across 16 southeast Louisiana parishes. With more than 30 human services programs from lifesaving emergency assistance to lifelong support services, they help more than 26,000 of our region’s most vulnerable residents each year.

As VOASELA approached their 130th anniversary, they wanted to elevate awareness of their legacy of service, highlight their ongoing impact in the communities they serve and reinforce their position as a trusted nonprofit leader across southeast Louisiana.

Strategy

To capitalize on this milestone anniversary, Gambel Communications developed and executed an integrated communications campaign that recognized 130 days of service during their 130th anniversary. We worked with VOASELA to identify services projects in multiple parishes that would generate meaningful community engagement while increasing visibility for their mission. Ultimately, it was decided that simultaneous service projects would take place on a single Day of Service in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parish. Community and parish leaders, key organizational stakeholder and members of the media would be invited to visit each service project and celebrate 130-years of service. Leading up to the Day of Service, Gambel Communications would secure earned media placements to showcase VOASELA’s impact and commitment to the community and place strategic paid media stories that would amplify those same messages.

At the conclusion of the Day of Service, Gambel Communications would distribute a press release celebrating VOASELA’s 130th anniversary and package the media assets from community service events.  

Results

Leading up to the Day of Service, Gambel Communications was able to secure a feature for VOASELA’s president and CEO called “Ask the Executive” that ran both online and in the print Biz New Orleans Magazine. The feature elevated awareness of VOASELA's legacy of service, highlighted their ongoing impact in the communities they serve and reinforced the CEO’s position as a trusted nonprofit leader across southeast Louisiana. Gambel Communications also placed impactful advertising on the front page of The Times-Picayune celebrating the 130th anniversary and secured a celebratory message on the Causeway Bridge’s digital message board.

For the Day of Service, Gambel Communications secured proclamations from Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes as well as a state proclamation from Gov. Jeff Landry recognizing  VOASELA’s Day of Service and 130th anniversary. The proclamations were presented to VOASELA by parish officials in the respective parishes ahead of the service projects.

Gambel Communications coordinated two on-site interviews with VOASELA’s president and CEO and curated real-time, impactful social media content for the organization and key leadership’s LinkedIn. Both the media interviews and social media content highlighted the strategic key messages that Gambel Communications developed in partnership with VOASELA.

In all, VOASELA’s 130th anniversary campaign earned four media stories, reaching a potential 120,200 people throughout the communities they serve. Those stories were amplified through multiple e-newsletters, further expanding awareness among business and community leaders throughout the region. The print ad in The Times-Picayune reached a potential audience of 77,000 readers and the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission who oversees the Causeway Bridge reported nearly 120,000 vehicles were exposed to the celebratory message over the three days it ran on the message board. The social media content Gambel Communications created for this campaign generated a 174% increase in engagement on Facebook and 133% on Instagram compared to the month prior.   

Overall, the integrated communications campaign was a success. The strategic media placements and carefully crafted content elevated awareness of the organization’s legacy of service, highlighted their ongoing impact in the communities they serve and reinforced their position as a trusted nonprofit leader across southeast Louisiana.

Alicia Vial

Alicia Vial is a New Orleans native with more than a decade of experience elevating client stories and leading crisis response. As the senior director of strategy, Alicia acts as a leader within the Gambel Communications team ensuring each agency team member is positioned to deliver strategic public relations services that meet the highest standards of the industry. In addition to supporting the agency’s long-term business growth and development, she coordinates day-to-day account services and oversees strategic direction while staying abreast of best practices and industry trends to provide innovative solutions to meet client’s needs.

Before joining Gambel Communications, Alicia served as the communications director for the Louisiana SPCA, the oldest and largest animal welfare organization in Louisiana that impacts more than 74,000 animals per year. During her nearly eight-year tenure, Alicia oversaw numerous crises, served on national communication taskforces, oversaw all aspects of internal and external relations and worked alongside the development department to raise critical funding. Prior to that, she worked in the fast-paced New Orleans hospitality industry focusing on digital public relations for multiple hotels.

Alicia is a member of the Public Relations Association of Louisiana (PRAL), Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF), a board member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) New Orleans Chapter and a member of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute. An accredited public relations practitioner (APR), Alicia is also certified in crisis communications, organizational leadership, content marketing and social media.

A well respected and trusted public relations practitioner, Alicia has been recognized by SPRF as a ‘Senior Practitioner of the Year’. Dubbed early on in her career as one to watch, she also received the ‘Rising Star’ award by PRAL and was profiled in St. Charles Avenue Magazine as part of their Young Bloods series. Most recently, she was recognized at PRSA’s annual Fleurish Awards and received four Awards of Excellence for her work along with the ‘Plate Spinner’ award for her efforts on the board of directors for the chapter.

An LSU graduate, Alicia received a bachelor's degree in mass communications with a concentration in public relations and minors in business administration and leadership development. She is a frequent speaker and presenter on public relations topics, most recently presenting at the Jefferson Economic Development Commission and SPRF annual conference.

When Alicia is not at work, you can find her at the ballpark with her three boys or cheering on the Tigers in Death Valley.

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