Making History in Massachusetts!

January 15, 2020

In 2019, The New Media Firm worked with Fund Our Future in Massachusetts, a coalition of education activists and teachers’ unions, on a groundbreaking education bill, the Student Opportunity Act. The Student Opportunity Act provides $1.5 billion dollars in funding to public schools across the state, providing education equity for all students.

Over the course of nine months, we helped build a real grassroots campaign, reaching millions of people with an aggressive digital strategy across the state – and we won.

Beginning in March, we focused on building grassroots support for rallies and state house hearings, driving attendance to these events utilizing social media, digital advertising, and a sustainable grassroots network through the Fund Our Future Facebook page.

Leading up to the statehouse rally in May, we partnered with the NFL Players Coalition, including, Devin and Jason McCourty, Duron Harmon, and Matthew Slater to lift up our message and increase turnout. Tens of thousands of people showed up at the State House for the rally, garnering local media attention and positive momentum for the legislation.

Heading into the fall legislative session, we continued to apply pressure on elected officials to pass the bill. We targeted key legislative districts across the state on social media and through programmatic digital advertising, asking constituents to contact their legislators and voice their support of the bill. After lots of deliberation between the two legislative chambers and thousands of contacts by Massachusetts residents, the Republican governor signed the bill into law last November.

This was a historic win for education advocates in Massachusetts – and we were thrilled to be a part of the campaign. Not only did we win, but we won with a digital campaign at half the cost of one week of statewide television. As we advocate for educational equity in the state and across the country, strategic digital campaigns continue to be a key and cost-effective way to win.