Public Awareness and Community Outreach Campaign Services

Purpose

OCPSC hopes to develop partnerships with community organizations who will act as trusted messengers for their respected communities. Trusted messengers will be expected to conduct interactive engagements and promotional outreach within their respected communities, on priority campaigns identified by the OCPSC.

Description

As outlined in Government Code 65052, the objective of the Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications (OCPSC) is to coordinate California’s most important statewide public awareness and community outreach campaigns so the state can realize more inclusive and effective outcomes while preventing equity gaps in statewide outreach. Additionally, it is specified that the OCPSC shall work with local community-based organizations and other partners to engage Californians with culturally competent and relevant information with the goal of improving the quality of their lives and livelihoods. Using the best practices identified through prior work on the 2020 Census and Vaccinate ALL 58, the OCPSC has partnered with community-based organizations throughout the state to form a Trusted Messenger Network (TMN) that can build trust with communities through on-the-ground engagement. The TMN is made up of community-based organizations who reflect the language and culture of the community they serve and can have authentic interactions with their communities and provide accurate information and resources on critical issues. Grantees shall serve as a “trusted messenger” who can raise awareness, mobilize public support, and provide critical, timely and accurate information on the state’s most important issues. The OCPSC is currently directed to build and manage campaigns related to COVID-19 vaccines and harm reduction, water conservation, Individual Taxpayer Identifications Number (ITIN), and extreme heat. This is subject to change as needs emerge. TMN grantees will be expected to conduct interactive engagement with their communities on priority campaigns identified by the OCPSC, interactive engagements include, but are not limited to, door-to-door canvassing, outreach at events, phone banking, and conducting trainings or workshops. Additionally, grantees will be expected to conduct promotional outreach, such as posting information on social media, engaging with ethnic media, working with the news media, including messaging in communications tools, and distributing materials to further engage communities on the OCPSC priority campaigns. OCPSC will assess the success of outreach and education initiatives. Applicants are expected to involve communities in campaign topics for the entire performance period, even if the minimum engagement goals are met before the end date of March 31, 2026. The OCPSC will not increase awarded grant amounts if an organization completes their minimum engagements before March 31, 2026.Within the first year of the agreement, Grantee should not exceed 50% of the interactive engagement goal specified in this agreement.