UM Students Use Advertising To Support Local Charity Groups
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Students from the University of Miami's School of Communications are putting their skills to the test. They're creating advertising campaigns to benefit local organizations in need.
They're calling it "Philadthropy." It's a Philanthropic approach to helping local non-profits through advertising.
The students are working in teams to create advertising campaigns for the organizations that need the help without having to pay the pricey fees they'd normally have to when hiring a professional ad agency.
"These non-profits will get about $10,000 worth of work including advertising, print campaigns, social media, interactive and so forth," said U.M. School of Communications professor Meryl Blau.
Blau said it's a win-win situation. The organizations get what they need and their students get some real life business experience.
"What we're doing is we're staying up all night for 24 hours," said senior Seth Schreiber. "So we have to pull an all night and come up with a whole advertising campaign."
One of the organizations being helped in this year's Philadthropy is the 2LIVES Foundation.
It was created to honor the memory of Steven Sotloff, the American journalist from Pinecrest who was beheaded by ISIS last year. Steven's father, Arthur, said his organization offers scholarships to other young journalists like Steven and helps keep his son's memory alive.
"Stephen was a freelance journalist and because he was a freelance journalist, he really didn't have much backing," said Art Sotloff. "There's no particular company that was helping him. He was on his own to turn around and sell his articles and so forth."
Art Sotloff wants other young journalists who don't typically get the support they need in their careers to be safe out in the field and his organization strives to do just that.
He hopes that they will get "training -- survival training, insurance -- things they don't get. They have no support whatsoever," he added.
Sotloff and the dozen other organizations participating in Philadthropy are hoping to capitalize on the work the students can provide for their organizations and help save a great deal of money at the same time.
Some of the other organizations being supported by the event include National Voices for Equality Education and Enlightenment, Orchestra Miami, The Susan G. Komen Foundation of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, and The University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.
For more information on Philadthropy or any of the local non-profits involved, go to: philadthropy.com