Running Head: PAWS FOR SAM CAMPAIGN

Paws for Sam Campaign

James Myrick
Kimball Barker
James Oakes,
Mitchell Hatch
Asael Lopez
Ashley Hill
Mallory Siebers
Sean Christensen
Veronica Destro
Shannon Perkins
Communications 416
Professor Larry Dean Macfarlane
Brigham Young University

Running Head: PAWS FOR SAM CAMPAIGN

Background
Many children with autism do not have the ability to sense the world, so these children
are not afraid of real danger. Children who have no real sense of danger cannot judge whether or
not to run to a street by themselves and they do not know whether or not it is a good idea to jump
into a swimming pool without knowing how to swim (Brill 2008).
Sam is a 4-year-old child with autism who regularly bolts and runs away, often
getting himself into dangerous situations. As he grows stronger and smarter, he has become
increasingly more challenging to keep an eye on and keep out of danger.
For Sams family and many others that have a child with autism, a good solution is to get
a service dog trained to manage the dangers that come with autism. In Sams case, this would
mean keeping him away from water, roads, and from running off in the middle of the night. A
dog would keep him from bolting into traffic or parking lots, wandering from home or other safe
environments, and going near water. If lost, the dog can track his scent and find him before he
gets into danger.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths we have to work with:
Sam is a cute kid
They have an honest need
Stats/stories on how effective service dogs
are to children with autism

Weaknesses to our cause:

Feeling that a small donation is not enough.
Not understanding why Sam would need a
dog.
Utah is removed physically from Sam / not a
local child.

Opportunities (groups to possibly work

with):
Autism Facebook page
Local clubs and organizations
Youcaring donations page
PawsforSam.com DIY website?
Twitter/other social media

Threats to our cause:

Belief that parents are neglectful and that the
solution is to simply watch their child better.
(fundamental error in understanding autism)

Running Head: PAWS FOR SAM CAMPAIGN

Goals and Objectives
Paws for Sam is a campaign to raise social awareness about autism in children among
families, organizations and the community and to raise money to help Sam and other autistix
children. More specifically, our campaign has the following goals:
Raise more than $12,000 in funds for a service dog for Sam, and start helping another
autistic child;
Achieve 1,000 likes on the Paws for Sam Facebook page;
Get a story published about Sam in a traditional media outlet;
Connect 10 families with children affected by autism with resources.
In order to meet our chief goals, we intend to reach several objectives with regard to
social and traditional media consciousness of Paws for Sam.

Key Publics
We have chosen specific groups to reach out to our target audience via heart-warming
stories on both traditional and social media. We are targeting parents of small children, those
who are concerned about child safety, and people involved with autism-related causes. As our
ultimate goal is to raise funds for a service dog for Sam, we will primarily focus efforts on those
able and willing to donate to our cause. We have several advantages in appealing to our audience
as Sam is a cute child with an honest and evident need. Statistically, Dr. Melissa Nishawala,
medical director of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Clinical and Research Program at NYU
Langone Medical Center has said the limited studies done regarding service dogs and children
with autism have yielded positive results and a service dog can make a big difference for the who
family, as well as might benefit the childs behavior (Norton).

Running Head: PAWS FOR SAM CAMPAIGN

There are numerous testimonials and blogs devoted to these dogs, most notably featured
on autism service dog agencies including 4 Paws for Ability and Autism Assistance Dogs. Our
cause has many strengths and opportunities, thus we will showcase them through both tender and
frightening personal experiences recorded by Sams mother.

Obstacles and How to Overcome Them

Despite the undeniable goodness of the Paws for Sam campaign, there are several
obstacles that as a group we must consider. One threat to the success of our cause is the
commonly held belief that parents of autistic children are neglectful and this lack of care and
awareness results in dangerous situations. Through stories shared on social media, we will
counteract those beliefs. We are all including fact-based evidence regarding autistic behavior to
demonstrate that Sams actions are not unique and stem from his autism rather than his parents
efforts, therefore revealing the need of a service dog.
Another challenge is maintaining momentum with donations. Our community is limited
and only has so much money. Because we have a large fundraising goal, we need to reach well
beyond our initial community. To do this, we have to communicate the message effectively and
utilize our network to reach the crowd. If we can tell the story the right way and get the message
in front of the right people our momentum will be maintained with the crowd. Because of our
fairly large financial goal we realize that some people may be disinclined to donate because they
feel like a small donation will not help. To address this, in our social media posts, we are striving
to reassure the public that any support is appreciated. By recognizing our obstacles, we are able
to address possible solutions to further advance the success of Paws for Sam.

Running Head: PAWS FOR SAM CAMPAIGN

Media Use-traditional and social
Because our target audience is composed mainly of young to middle-age adults, our
campaign is largely reliant on digital media, as we strive to reach a large amount of people in a
short time. With regard to social media, we have utilized Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and
Instagram. Through pictures, videos and stories, we will raise awareness of the dangers children
with autism experience and how service dogs provide a way for families to keep these children
safe. We manage the Paws for Sam Facebook page and have used techniques such as online
scavenger hunts with donated prizes to draw attention and involvement from the public. In our
short time with the campaign, we have tripled the number of likes on the page. It will be a
useful source to link to our blog detailing Sams stories. Twitter enables us to reach out to
younger members of our audience. Using the hashtag #pawsforsam on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram, we will curate pictures, videos and stories of Sam and websites devoted to autism
service dogs. Pinterest is a useful tool for women, especially moms, which fits with a portion of
our audience of parents.
In addition to that, a blog featuring stories of Sams adventures and mishaps provide a
personal connection for our audience and give more comprehensive information about the safety
concerns of children with autism. These stories are written by Sams mother and they will assert
the necessity of our efforts in raising funds for families of children with autism. These emotional
and open explanations of Sam and his familys real need. The blog will also reference
testimonials on autism service dog websites.
Besides our heavy use of digital media, we will reach our audience through traditional
media. We will contact news agencies with the goal of mass publication of Sams story, either
online or in print newspapers, broadcast television or radio.

Running Head: PAWS FOR SAM CAMPAIGN

Conclusion
We will be able to measure our success or failure in different levels. First, we need to see
if we raised more than $12,000, which means full help for Sam and the surplus is a start for other
families with autistic children. Second, to measure our success in raising awareness, we will
check the number of Facebook likes and visualizations as well as the blogs number of visitors,
Pinterest followers, likes and reppins, Instagram followers, likes and comments, Twitter
followers, retweets and how many times the hashtag pawsforsam was used. Third, whether or
not our story was published in a local newspaper (digital or print). And finally, if we could
connect with more than 10 families who face the same challenge of raising a child with autism.

Running Head: PAWS FOR SAM CAMPAIGN

References
Brill, M. T. (2008). Autism. Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 24-25.
Northon, A. (26 February 2013). Can Service Dogs Help Kids with Autism?. Health Day
retrieved from: http://consumer.healthday.com/cognitive-and-neurological-healthinformation-26/autism-news-51/can-therapy-dogs-help-kids-with-autism-673659.html