Collaborative book project is a whole community approach to resilience

We want to expand on our April enews spotlight article that discussed a new way to share collaborative ideas and help generate excitement about preparedness using Public-Private Partnerships.

Studies and polls continually show that most Americans are not prepared for disasters. According to the American Red Cross, a recent national survey revealed that only 7 percent of Americans have taken the recommended actions to prepare for disasters.  And a recent poll by Health Day reveals that 55 percent of Americans think they can rely on local authorities to come to their rescue when disaster strikes.

But … as we wrote in our 9/9/2011 enews, the U.S. only has approximately 800,000 active Law Enforcement Officials (includes Police and Sheriff), 1.1 million Firefighters (over 70% are volunteers) and 210,000 EMT / paramedics. In other words, there are only about 2.1 million First Responders supporting over 300 million people..!

So … how do we get people to pay attention and take steps to get themselves (and their loved ones) prepared?

Money.

Utilize existing partnerships and relationships within your community and … pool money… raise money… and save money! And an innovative way to accomplish this is to use our collaborative tool and programs.

For 13 years we have called our disaster preparedness and basic first aid book a “tool” because that’s exactly what it is. It can help bring various players together within a community to help carry local safety messages, emergency data, plans and other information into local homes and businesses.

Sometimes the hardest part is getting agencies, businesses, and groups to understand the simplicity and flexibility of this tool and all the benefits associated with collaborating on a book purchase ~ either using custom labels on/in our standard red books in small volume or in the print process on 1,000 books or more. And we deeply discount our 266-page publication up to 75% off (or as low as $3.50 US) and customize them for free since our goal is to get this data into as many homes and businesses as possible.

But now that agencies, businesses, nonprofits, volunteer groups and families are all cutting budgets and expenses due to the tough economy, everyone needs to think creatively and “outside the box” more.

To help explain this collaborative book project, we’ve developed a brief overview in case these ideas can help your agency, school, organization and community.

Pool money

Public and private sectors can collaborate on this creative public education campaign and pool various buckets of money together to purchase ANY quantity of custom books with ANY combination of funds including grants, seed money, Sponsorship revenues or Fundraiser orders (esp. schools and youth groups who take advance prepaid orders using Fedhealth’s traditional fundraiser). And we can individually receipt each amount to keep everyone’s records clean.

Raise money

Ask local public and private sector partners to place sponsorship or safety messages, ads, coupon or QR codes and more inside books so citizens can get valuable information and discounts on all kinds of products and services ~ locally and nationally. Collect whatever you can get too — cash, lines of credit or barter / trade — and keep it all since we customize books for FREE!

Plus part or all sponsorship and ad revenues (and fundraiser pre-sales) can be used to purchase more books so groups can continue the cycle and grow year after year! Another benefit is the project can provide about a $4-to-$1 (or more) return on match that agencies, nonprofits or communities can use on matching grants programs.

And an idea to help disseminate books is have your local CERT (or other volunteer group, civic club, etc.) coordinate with schools or Scouts who can sell the finished customized (and paid for) books to the community as a fundraiser. It’s a fun way to get youth involved in preparedness campaigns and get lifesaving data distributed out to the community … PLUS funds help the kids and volunteers..!

Save money

Custom books that include lots of discounts and savings on products and services can help generate buzz and excitement about preparedness across your community. And residents will look forward to new versions of the book containing more savings in future projects.

Continue the cycle to help communities become more resilient

Agencies, VOADs, volunteer and youth groups [CERTs, MRCs, Scouts, etc.], K-12 schools, civic clubs, faith-based organizations and others can do similar projects using grant or seed money, sponsorship dollars, ad revenues, fundraiser orders or any combination of these things to continue the cycle and grow as more local and national partners join in each year!

And remember… many groups start out small and add in more and more partners as the word spreads. And we can be available for conference calls if presenting ideas to community groups (even off hours and on weekends) and have nonprofit contacts that can assist in organizing and coordinating projects on a contractual basis, if needed.

In summary…

This innovative custom book project can help build partnerships between the public and private sectors … fund volunteers, schools and First Responders … provide tons of resources and match for groups … and educate local communities while saving them money on preparedness supplies and services! It’s a whole community approach to resilience that can expand every year!

Please visit fedhealth.net for more information or call 520.907.2153 and let us know what we can do to help your communities become more prepared.

New way to share collaborative ideas

FEMA’s Whole Community Approach and their push for more Public-Private Partnerships across the nation fits perfectly with our core mission of collaborating with groups to help educate communities while helping fund and support volunteers, first responders and others.

For decades there have been many initiatives and programs offered by agencies and groups to get the public involved, but sadly there is still a ton of apathy and complacency in this country.

One key thing is … we’ve got to find ways to make preparedness an integral part of society and make it so everyone benefits within each and every community.

Our collaborative ideas can gently force preparedness data into homes and businesses using both public and private sectors … and … generate funds for local nonprofits, schools, volunteers + First Responders … and … create excitement about preparedness!

For example, some benefits of using our customizable books (and CDs and ebooks) include…

• educating local communities about disaster preparedness and basic first aid;

• maximizing grants (great draw down vehicle + qualifies as public education);

• earning about a $4-to-$1 return on match;

• including local data like evacuation maps, shelter data, plans, logos, etc for free;

• complementing employee or volunteer handbooks, safety data and plans;

• promoting your agency, business or volunteer group inside the front of books;

• collaborating with businesses to sponsor purchases or place ads (we print ads for free);

• helping CERTs, Scouts, VOADs, schools, etc earn funds + generate buzz by partnering with public & private sectors..!

We recently setup a new page where FEMA Think Tank and National Preparedness Coalition members, CERT and MRC coordinators, Chambers, VOADs, Troop leaders and others can download a free portion of our IT’S A DISASTER! book and some collaborative funding ideas.

Please share ideas with volunteers, agencies, businesses, churches, civic clubs and others trying to form Public-Private Partnerships in their communities.

Visit www.fedhealth.net to learn more or call Fedhealth at 520.907.2153 to discuss ways we can help support YOUR efforts!