Note from the Director: Pepsi Grant Update
by Susan Resko, The Balanced Mind Foundation Executive Director
In case you haven’t heard, The Balanced Mind Foundation won a $250,000 grant in the December Pepsi Refresh Project, thanks to YOUR votes! We are so very grateful for your support and your outreach on Facebook, email, schools and for hitting the streets and malls with The Balanced Mind Foundation voter cards. This is a game changer for The Balanced Mind Foundation, and more importantly, for the families we serve.
We will be communicating with you on a regular basis about the good work we are doing as a result of this grant. We want to be careful stewards of your trust and support. As a result, we have been busy planning how to best put the funds to good use.
The Balanced Mind Foundation received the first installment of $125,000 last week. Assuming that Pepsi is pleased with our efforts and we fulfill the project plan and budget, we will receive the 2nd and last installment next fall.
The Pepsi grant is restricted which means that we must spend the funds as we outlined in our grant proposal to Pepsi. We cannot spend the grant on other items and we will be providing Pepsi with copies of our expenses and a detailed report of our outputs and outcomes.
The The Balanced Mind Foundation Board of Directors will be meeting the weekend of March 4-6. Most of the board meeting will be dedicated to discussion and planning of this project.
As we outlined in our Pepsi application, our goals for the project are to:
- Expand awareness of depression & bipolar disorder in youth
- Educate parents about symptoms and treatments
- Enlighten the public about teen suicide
- Eliminate the stigma associated with childhood mental illness
- Extend hope to families raising children with a mental illness
- hope to families raising children with a mental illness
| How will the $250,000 be used? | |
| $ 25,000 | Advertising, Marketing Strategy Development |
| $ 60,000 | Online advertising, i.e., Google, YouTube, Yahoo |
| $ 20,000 | Social networking consultant, part time, 9 mos. |
| $ 25,000 | Online video, production costs |
| $ 25,000 | Podcasts for teens, incl. production & salary costs |
| $ 25,000 | Educational Webinars for parents |
| $ 20,000 | Print Materials, incl. brochures |
| $ 35,000 | Outreach to Mental Health Professionals, Educators |
| $ 15,000 | Crisis Line Volunteer Training, incl. materials |
We will keep you informed on our progress as we fulfill this grant in 2011. Thank you again for your support of The Balanced Mind Foundation’s mission.