Better Marketing and Communications to Showcase the Work of our Hosts in Colombia

Salva Terra Foundation has focused on supporting vulnerable communities through sustainable agriculture. They work with impoverished populations and victims of violence in Medellin and aim to promote farming and develop local skills to work in the agricultural industry in an ecological manner. This process of bringing together concepts such as social impact, sustainable development, environmental protection, and food security requires excellent outreach and promotion. Therefore, they requested a F2F volunteer to help them develop a communication and marketing plan.

The chosen volunteer for this assignment was Dr. Sindy Chapa. She has a B.A. in Mass Media Communications, with a Minor in Television and Art Design, an MBA, and Ph.D. in International Business/Marketing. She is the Director and Associate Professor at the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University and has won several communications awards. Dr. Chapa decided to use Salva Terra as one of the case studies for one of the courses she teaches.

Her students formed three groups of between four and five people each and competed to see which group would present Salva Terra with the best strategy to raise awareness about its work in the US, especially among the Hispanic population. During the assignment, the host organization provided all the students with information about the foundation and its objectives. They also met individually with each group to answer any questions they had. Finally, after each competing team had presented its pitch, Dr. Chapa and Salva Terra’s Executive Director chose the winning group.

The champions created a very specific plan, divided according to the target audience (universities, private companies, NGOs, etc.) and by communications channel (university events, email newsletters, social media, etc.). The members of the winning team will support Salva Terra with the implementation of their proposed strategy. Thanks to Dr. Chapa and her students, Salva Terra now has a very detailed marketing and communications plan, with step-by-step instructions, that will allow them to better showcase their work on responsible farming, environmental protection, food security, and human rights. We are sure that their high social impact needs to be known, nationally and internationally!