Low Hanging Fruit

Welcome to the Harvesting the Low-Hanging Fruit and Other Juicy Metaphors web site, home to a series of short and sweet newsletters for activists, strategists, persuaders, and agitators working for the public good.

Read on to find pragmatic advice from top public interest consultants and surprising research findings from northwest pro-choice advocates.

This series was inspired by the New Insights and New Voices project, a communications initiative conducted by Susanne Frank of Frank Communications and Tom Novick of M&R Strategic Services on behalf of the northwest pro-choice movement, funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

To request the printed versions of the newsletters or to put yourself on the email-only distribution list, please send Susanne Frank (sfrank@earthlink.net) an email specifying which format you prefer, along with your mailing address, phone number, and professional affiliation.

newsletters

To get more copies or to add yourself or others to the email or snail mail list, please email Susanne Frank (sfrank@earthlink.net). We also invite you to write to us with your comments and questions.

downloadable issues:
(in pdf format - each about 1mb)
 

1
Welcome to the first issue of
Low-Hanging Fruit.
“Imagine your audience as an apple tree.”

2
Come to our substandard clinic for help having babies, please.
Rebecca Brookes on the perils of making assumptions about one’s target audience.

3
Are you penny-wise, pound-foolish when it comes to market research?
Six do-it-yourself audience research methods that won’t break the bank.

4
Why bad ads happen to good causes:
Andy Goodman lets us in on what corporate marketers have known for decades.
 
5
Eastern Washington is anti-choice… Right?
Some surprising findings from a phone poll conducted by Northwest Women’s Law Center.
 
6
“Roe? Who’s he?”
What Cedar River Clinics (formerly Feminist Women’s Health Center) learned when they asked women seeking abortions what they thought about choice and the movement devoted to preserving it.

7
Can we reframe the abortion debate?
Professor Lawrence Wallack challenges the pro-choice movement to articulate its values.

8
Strictly off the record:

Oregon and Washington journalists talk about what it’s like to cover reproductive rights. For complete research findings and analysis, please email Susanne Frank (sfrank@earthlink.net).

“Imagine your audience as an apple tree. There are apples you can grab with your hands. There are apples that require a stepladder to reach. Yet others require an extension ladder. Nonprofits tend to want to reach everyone with their message — to harvest the whole tree! Yet they rarely have the resources to buy the stepladder. Instead, they’re stuck on the ground reaching for fruit beyond their grasp.”

Rebecca Brookes
Director of Social Marketing
Planned Parenthood Federation of America

As consultants to public interest groups, we know it can be a challenge for nonprofits to acknowledge that, even though they would like to do everything and reach everybody, they have only the resources to do a few things effectively.

The low-hanging fruit metaphor struck a chord with participants in the New Insights and New Voices project. After all, when you have committed yourself to the long-term goal of harvesting every single apple on the tree — ensuring complete reproductive freedom for all — it’s hard to know where to begin.

We believe the information gathered here is useful not only to pro-choice activists, but to anyone interested in using communications to forward the public good. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Susanne Frank
sfrank@earthlink.net
Frank Communications

Tom Novick
tnovick@mrsspdx.com
M&R Strategic Services

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