Organize a crime awareness week at your school

Chances are there are tons of people out there who don’t know much about your cause or how many people it affects. They may hear about the crime problem in your area but do they know the stats? Do they know how crime affects them directly? Show them! Make some catchy flyers so they can be in the know and learn how they can make a difference too.

Double Check

First, make sure you are allowed to post your signs around school or on telephone poles and community bulletin boards. If your town won’t allow you to post around town, see if you can pass out flyers at your town hall, public library, a local business or at school.

Do Some Research

Gather some data for the signs and figure out how you want to present it. Do Something has some great info on crime, including gang violence, hate crimes, and gun control.

Investigate

Find out about some cause-relevant stuff in your area. Check out Do Something's project page to find out what young people are doing about crime in your town. Call your local police station and ask about the statistics on crime in your area. Include this info on your posters.

Details

See if you can get a quote from an expert. Call the police station and ask. See if you can interview someone who is working to fight crime in your community. Real stories are powerful!

Power in People

Now that you’ve got all this info, get some friends together to help you design and complete the posters or flyers. They can also help you put them up when you’re done.

Variety is Key

Keep in mind, that in order to make this campaign effective, you have to vary your strategy. So think about making a few different kinds of signs:

• Small flyers to pass out to people.
• Big, colorful posters to post on telephone poles: you want these to stand out because people will be driving and/or walking by them so you want to grab their attention.
• Informative flyers to post on cork boards or town message boards.

Be Bold

Think of strange places you can put up posters and see if you can get permission to post them there. Marketers have put up ads in odd places because it’s an effective tactic. Like the doors in bathroom stalls of restaurants, cafes, and/or even in restrooms of your local bus or train station. Try it out!

Post and Repost

While going out one day and posting is great, keep in mind that weather may damage posters so you’ll want to go out periodically and repost your signs. You also won’t catch everyone in one day so schedule a few days to go out and distribute fliers.

The Extra Mile

You can also recruit speakers to come in and speak to students at your school, church, or community center about crime and personal safety. You can even go to your local police station and ask for resources. They’re usually more than willing to help support a positive cause.

Find more awesome ways to get involved with action guides, volunteer opportunities, and causes at DoSomething.org