Cacfp social media campaign 2 0

2012
#CACFP Social Media Campaign

ChildCareInfo.com, A Part of The Minute Menu
Community
Minute Menu Systems, LLC
2/24/2012

#CACFP Social Media Campaign Guide

CONTENTS

What is the #CACFP Social Media Campaign? ...........................................................................................................2

Goal............................................................................................................................................................................2

Participants ................................................................................................................................................................2

When .........................................................................................................................................................................2

What do we do with Social networks? ......................................................................................................................2

Share, Share, Share. Reach Out, Reach Out, Reach Out. Educate, Educate, Educate .........................................2

How do we Share, Reach out and educate? ..............................................................................................................3

Reaching out to policymakers and opinon leaders....................................................................................................3

Policymakers .........................................................................................................................................................3

Reporters ..............................................................................................................................................................4

What Social Media/Networks Should We Use?.........................................................................................................4

Facebook is good for:.............................................................................................................................................4

Twitter is good for: ................................................................................................................................................4

Pinterest is good for: .............................................................................................................................................4

Linked In is good for: .............................................................................................................................................4

What’s the big deal about social media? ...................................................................................................................4

Facebook: ..............................................................................................................................................................4

Twitter: ..................................................................................................................................................................4

Pinterest: ...............................................................................................................................................................4

Linked In: ...............................................................................................................................................................4

Quick Tips for Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and Pinterest ........................................................................................5

Template Messages to get you started .....................................................................................................................6

Facebook messages ...............................................................................................................................................6

Twitter Messages (Total 140 Characters, Including Links).....................................................................................8

Linked In messages ..............................................................................................................................................10

Pinterest Messages ..............................................................................................................................................10

©Minute Menu Systems, LLC Page 1


Social Media Tools ...................................................................................................................................................10

Monitoring and Scheduling Social Media Posts ...................................................................................................10

Helpful Social Media Blogs and Websites ............................................................................................................10

WHAT IS THE #CACFP SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN?

This campaign is designed to help the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) community which is made up of
advocates, administrators, participants, parents and people passionate about child nutrition. Social media is an
efficient and cost-effective way to reach out to millions of people that have never even heard of CACFP. The
#CACFP Social Media Campaign is an opportunity to tell other people how to share the message of CACFP’s
important role in the health and nutrition of children.

GOAL

The #CACFP Social Media Campaign undertakes two goals 1) show the CACFP community how social media
canhelp spread the wordabout CACFP’s purpose, presence and success and 2) to educate providers, families and
the nation of CACFP’s significant role in child nutrition, especially in the child care environment.

PARTICIPANTS

YOU! If you care about child nutrition and children’s health participate in this campaign.

WHEN

ALWAYS.Always talk about the benefits and news of CACFP via social media platforms.
rd
FOCUS. Focus on the month of March during National Nutrition Month and National CACFP Week (3 full week of
March every year).

WHAT DO WE DO WITH SOCIAL NETWORKS?

SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. REACH OUT, REACH OUT, REACH OUT. EDUCATE, EDUCATE,
EDUCATE

SHARE
Share the latest CACFP news
Share your favorite CACFP qualified meal of the week
Share what your program did this week
Share the latest legislation
Share the latest statistic on childhood obesity and how the CACFP helps
Share the latest statistic on child hunger and how the CACFP helps
Share why parents should consider CACFP as a requirement when choosing care for their child



Share the best resources, online and off
Share ideas to make it better
Share questions and answers
Click here for example/template messages

REACH OUT
Reach Out to political figureheads and policymakers
Reach Out to parents
Reach Out to providers (centers, family child care, after-school programs, head start…)
Reach Out to sponsors
Reach Out to resource and referral agencies
Reach Out to nutrition programs
Reach Out to movement/exercise and kids health programs
Reach Out to associations
Click here for examples of who to reach out to and how

EDUCATE
Educate congress people and local representatives of CACFP year round, even if funding isn’t threatened that year.
Educate parents that their children, in addition to eating healthy meals, are learning healthy habits to grow into
adults with.
Educate all children’s health programs about CACFP’s impact on children’s nutrition and healthy habits.
Educate associations advocating for children’s safety, health, well-being and education about CACFP’s role in the
child’s growth in and outside of child care environment.
Educate all parts of resource and referral programs about CACFP’s role as a quality indicator in child care
Educate ALL nutrition programs about CACFP advocacy, work, progress and success
Click here for example/template messages

HOW DO WE SHARE, REACH OUT AND EDUCATE?

Determine WHO you want to reach. (For examples of WHO, click here)
Determine HOW you want to reach them. (For examples of Networks, Click here)
Determine WHAT TOOLS you will want to use to share, reach out and educate. (For examples of Tools, Click here)
You’ve done those three things, NOW:
Determine WHAT you are going to say about CACFP (For examples and messages to use, Click here)
**When “tweeting” use #CACFP in your tweets to provide more exposure and keep all of these tweets together!
For more information about how to use the different networks, Click here

REACHING OUT TO POLICYMAKERS AND OPINON LEADERS

Policymakers

The Food Action and Research Center (FRAC) and CACFP sponsor associations will often provide you with the
message that needs to be shared and acted upon during urgent campaigns for letter writing (and more)in order to
get the attention of our local and national policymakers. Follow their guidance and messages about the food
program during these times.



If CACFP is not in crisis, reach out to policymakers on Twitter or Facebook and let them know of CACFP successes
throughout the year. Show them and tell them that children are healthy and the difference it has made in their
lives and their parents lives.

NATIONALLY: There is a website called TweetCongress which provides you the Twitter Handles (accounts) of
congressional members. Scroll down and enter your representatives’ zip code or name and receive their handle.

AT THE STATE LEVEL: Search and bookmark their handles (or make a spreadsheet of them)

Reporters

You could also contact reporters, locally and nationally, via social networking platforms. For guidance of how
much to contact reporters, Strong Foundations,suggests using this article.

Tell reporters about the positive effects CACFP is having on our children. Tell them about the work you or another
agency are doing to help your community’s health and education. You could also share with them press releases
from your organization or a press release that you read about a colleague regarding CACFP.

You can try finding relevant reporters on this directory JournalistTweets.com.

WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA/NETWORKS SHOULD WE USE?

Here are four of the biggest and most common networks. Don’t get overwhelmed, try one! Here is the list and
how they differ.

FACEBOOK IS GOOD FOR:Longer messages, reach more providers and parents than Linked In or Twitter, more
interaction, links may or may not be necessary
TWITTER IS GOOD FOR:Short messages, acts as newsfeed, links are important
PINTEREST IS GOOD FOR:Images. A visual poster-board, this community is less interactive verbally but shares
a lot of “pins.” Here you will reach parents and providers
LINKED IN IS GOOD FOR:Joining a group, connecting with people, an interactive professional network. It’s a
good place to meet colleagues across the nation and educate early childhood groups about CACFP.

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA?

Hundreds of Millions of people (parents, possible funders, participants, colleagues) to reach out to: FOR FREE.

FACEBOOK:Facebook has over 800 million users.
TWITTER: Twitter has over 500 million users
PINTEREST:Pinterest is THE up and coming social media site, people love it. Women between the ages of 25-44
are the large demographic.
LINKED IN: Linked In has over 131 Million Members, 1 million Groups and 400% mobile growth



QUICK TIPS FOR FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKED IN AND PINTEREST

FACEBOOK

1) Keep Facebook posts to around 400 characters even though you can make them longer.
2) When someone comments, interact with them. Either like their post or comment back.
3) Providing links are helpful to substantiate the information you are providing. Using a URL shortener can
help you determine if what you are sharing is getting clicked even if people are not commenting on your
Facebook status/page/link.
4) When sharing or providing a link, make sure you always give a description in the status so people know
what you are posting and why they should like it or click it.
5) Since we are only talking about one type of message/topic, posting every day for the #CACFP campaign is
not necessary. However, if you are a provider or a sponsor and your daily interactions involve CACFP, post
something positive about your day in regard to CACFP.
6) Don’t forget to use Events, Groups, and pictures
7) Many people ask about the time of day to share, this isn’t an exact science. Experiment with different
times and see what gets you the most feedback.
8) More information about Facebook in general: Facebook Help, Mashable and Idealware are great
resources.
9) For ideas on what to post click here.

TWITTER

1) Try to keep posts to 120 characters which allows people to retweet and maintain your twitter name
(handle). This is difficult to do; it’s not the end of the world if you use the full 140 characters for your
post.
2) Use #CACFP in your twitter post
3) If you see a twitter post from someone you follow that is relevant to CACFP retweet it with the hashtag
#CACFP
4) Common Twitter “things” to use (taken from Could Twitter Really Be Useful to Someone Like Me?)
a. What does @ mean?@ is a way for you to directly message people on twitter. You can do it on
Facebook too, it is the same idea. People get notified that you have mentioned them directly in
your tweet. It is nice to do if you retweet (RT) something that person has posted. It is a good
way to get someone's attention too!
b. What does the # mean?# is called a hashtag in the Twitter world. When each and every person
in the twitter world puts a "#" in front of a word or phrase it will create an entirely separate
twitter feed for just that topic. For example if you search #preschool, you will get results of all of
the tweets people have made that have to do with preschool.
c. What does RT mean? RT means retweet. This goes in front of a tweet that you are reposting
from someone else's twitter feed.
d. What does MT mean? MT is a modified tweet. It is if you like someone’s link or want to
comment on their opinion. It’s just like a retweet but you are acknowledging you modified it.
5) Follow the right people/organizations and talk to them! Use the@ symbol to get an organizations
attention that you normally might have a hard time getting.



6) The more you tweet the better. There is a large volume of tweets being produced, if you only tweet once
a day, most likely people will not see it. Post at LEAST once a day about #CACFP
7) It is ok to post the same thing more than once. Most likely people didn’t see it the first time or didn’t
have time to click on the link.
8) For ideas on what to post, click here

LINKED IN

1) Connect with child educators
2) Place CACFP Advocate in your profile
3) Join groups and then participate in them. Ask questions/answer them
4) When people connect with you, send an email thanking them for their network connection and tell them
a little bit about the CACFP and what your role is with it.
5) Connect with Samantha Daleiden Marshall, Chris Clark, Cindy Vian, and Tom Copeland to get started and
see who they are connected to that might be relevant to your needs.
6) See what groups the above people are a part of to get a start on groups you can join!
7) Educate the groups you join about CACFP and the #CACFP social media campaign

PINTEREST

1) Images are key
2) Descriptions are important too
3) If people like your “pin” which is your article or blog – whatever you are sharing, they will repin (share) it.
4) Pinterest is new and still “invite only” but it is newest and up and coming social network

TEMPLATE MESSAGES TO GET YOU STARTED

FACEBOOK MESSAGES

1) Experiences in your care, in the field or in the office (could be posts for the sponsor or the child care
provider):
a. My favorite CACFP meal served this week was: [insert meal]. The meal was fun and delicious!
[attach meal picture if there is one]
b. I witnessed a really fun meal today that was tied in with a lesson plan. The meal was CACFP
accredited. It was [insert meal name] and the theme was [insert theme]. [attach picture of meal
or thematic]
c. Sharing a recipe that I really like from USDA’s recipe book [insert recipe]. Find more USDA
recipes here http://1.usa.gov/ypKmhn [or use your states approved recipes/or your agencies]
d. The children loved helping me make the snack today! They got to…*insert what the children did+
e. It really helps to use the MyPlate resources to encourage parents to take the nutritious meals
home with them http://1.usa.gov/rjJDtx
f. Don’t forget your claim is due *insert due date+
g. Don’t forget we are updating all enrollments *insert the date the enrollments are due+
h. Update on your payment [ insert date or other information ]



2) Statistics about CACFP (posted by anyone)
a. Did you know that “1 in 5 children is overweight by age 6?” Child Care Providers and the CACFP
play a crucial role in changing this statistic for the better! – Statistic from Lets’ Move Child Care
http://bit.ly/AlMG9C
b. Let’s Move Child Care has 5 major goals from infancy through preschool and CACFP participation
directly addresses 3 of them: Food, Beverages and Infant Feeding. http://bit.ly/AlMG9C
c. CACFP Trivia: “In fiscal year 2010, 848,637 low-income children attending family child care
homes relied on CACFP to provide healthy meals each day” – Food Action and Research Center
http://bit.ly/ziMfaP
d. CACFP Trivia: “Nationally 137,063 family child care homes participated in CACFP in fiscal year
2010, a 2.5 percent decrease from the previous year.” http://bit.ly/ziMfaP
e. CACFP Trivia: “CACFP provides up to three meals a day for children age 18 and younger living in
homeless shelters.” –Food Action and Research Center http://bit.ly/wLZ0dm
f. CACFP Trivia: School-based afterschool programs providing enrichment activities for children and
teenagers after school can also provide free snacks through CACFP in areas where at least 50
percent of children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. CACFP funds also can pay for
suppers for children attending afterschool programs. – Food Action and Research Center
http://bit.ly/wLZ0dm
g. “More children are in child care today than ever before. Some spend more time in child care than
they do at home. The meals and snacks served in your center or child care home, through USDA's
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) are an important part of providing proper care.” –
FNS http://bit.ly/zYGY9m
3) Resource Sharing (resource may be more relevant to one audience than the other)
a. Join CACFP SummerTalk and chat with other CACFP Administrators through email! “CACFP-
Summertalk is an email discussion group intended to enable state and local Child and Adult Care
Feeding Programs (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Programs (SFSP) administrators to share
ideas about feeding children nutritious meals.”http://1.usa.gov/AsWUJx
b. Check out these different resources for Recipes for Child Care Providers compiled by USDA
http://1.usa.gov/zZFird
c. Let’s Move Child Care has some neat resources listed for child nutrition, these resources qualified
meals might be state specific so make sure you check with your sponsor if you are unsure of how
the meal qualifies http://bit.ly/vZqlpU
d. The National Food Service Management Institute, also known as NFSMI, has short and easy to
comprehend “memos” for providers and parents to help provide the most nutrition meals
possible and understand the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The CARE Connection:
http://bit.ly/AnUOeH
e. NFMSI’s resources are in many different formats, including training videos, PDF Mealtime
Memos, a hotline to call or even face-to-face trainings! Resources are for trainers or
providers…http://bit.ly/zhK3kJ
f. Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has a whole list of great resources directed toward the
CACFP called the Child Care Food Program Wellness Tool Kit! http://bit.ly/zoLwK7
g. These are some of our State’s great CACFP guidance and ideas to help with a great CACFP
program. [insert state links and if possible a better description of what is offered].
h. Share this brochure explaining what the CACFP is! http://1.usa.gov/zA6w5P



i. ChooseMyPlate.gov has some child care resources: "Lets Eat for the Health of It" brochure found
herehttp://1.usa.gov/xzlVv7 or "10 Tips Nutrition Education Series" found here
http://1.usa.gov/wrzWL6.
j. ChildCareInfo.com keeps you informed of newsworthy and fun happenings in the world of CACFP
http://bit.ly/pBfpOO
4) Topics:
a. News-Latest changes in rules or regulations statewide, within your sponsoring agency or
nationally.
b. Feature a provider
c. Feature a good eater (with parents’ permission or do it anonymously)
d. Resource Sharing
e. Statistics/Facts about CACFP and Child Hunger and Obesity Prevention
f. Tie-In with topics people have heard of: Quality Child Care, Obesity, Child Hunger, MyPlate, Let’s
Move
g. Benefits of the CACFP for Parents, Providers and Children and the community as a whole
5) Poll people:
a. Who knows what the food program is?
b. Do providers advertise that they participate?
c. Do providers feel that parents understand what it is and why it is important?
d. Do parents, even after educated of what CACFP is, consider it as a determining factor in choosing
their quality child care program?
e. Did you know about NFSMI?

TWITTER MESSAGES (TOTAL 140 CHARACTERS, INCLUDING LINKS)

1) Experiences in your care, in the field or in the office (could be posts for the sponsor or the child care
provider):
a. My favorite CACFP meal served this week was: [insert meal]. The meal was fun and delicious!
[attach meal picture if there is one] #cacfp
b. I witnessed a really fun meal today that was tied in with a lesson plan It was [insert meal name]
and the theme was [insert theme]. #cacfp
c. Sharing a recipe that I really like from USDA’s recipe book *insert recipe+. Find more USDA
recipes here http://1.usa.gov/ypKmhn #cacfp
d. The children loved helping me make the snack today! They got to…*insert what the children did+
#cacfp
e. It really helps to use the MyPlate resources to encourage parents to take the nutritious meals
home with them http://1.usa.gov/rjJDtx #cacfp
f. Don’t forget your claim is due *insert due date+ #cafcp
g. Don’t forget we are updating all enrollments [insert the date the enrollments are due] #cacfp
h. Update on your payment [ insert date or other information ] #cacfp

2) Statistics about CACFP (posted by anyone)
a. "1 in 5 children is overweight by age 6?” #CACFPmakes this statistic better! Statistic from
@letsmove childcare http://bit.ly/AlMG9C
b. @Let’sMove Child Care has 5 goals for the young child and #CACFP directly addresses Food,
Beverages & Infant Feeding http://bit.ly/AlMG9C



c. In FY 2010, 848,637 low-income children in fcc homes relied on #CACFP to provide healthy meals
each day @fractweets http://bit.ly/ziMfaP
d. Nationally 137,063 fcc homes participated in #CACFP in fiscal year 2010 @fractweets
http://bit.ly/ziMfaP
e. #CACFP provides up to 3 meals a day for children age 18 and younger living in homeless shelters.
@fractweets http://bit.ly/wLZ0dm
f. Eligible Afterschool programs with enrichment activities for children provide free snacks through
#CACFP http://bit.ly/wLZ0dm @fractweets
g. #CACFP funds also can pay for suppers for children attending afterschool programs. –
@fractweets http://bit.ly/wLZ0dm
h. Meals and snacks served in your child care setting, through #CACFP are an important part of
providing proper care.-FNS http://bit.ly/zYGY9m
3) Resource Sharing (resource may be more relevant to one audience than the other)
a. Join CACFP SummerTalk and chat with other #CACFP Administrators through email!
http://1.usa.gov/AsWUJx
b. Check out these different #CACFP resources for recipes for Child Care Providers compiled by
USDA http://1.usa.gov/zZFird
c. @let'smove has resources for child nutrition. Check with your #cacfp sponsor if you are unsure if
meal qualifies http://bit.ly/vZqlpU
d. NFSMI, has short “memos” for providers and parents to help provide the most nutritious meals
and understand the #cacfp. http://bit.ly/AnUOeH
e. NFMSI’s resources are include #CACFP training videos, Mealtime Memos, a hotline to call or face-
to-face trainings! http://bit.ly/zhK3kJ
f. @fractweets has a whole list of great resources directed toward the #CACFP called the CCFP
Wellness Tool Kit! http://bit.ly/zoLwK7
g. These are some of our State’s great CACFP guidance and ideas to help with a great #CACFP
program. [insert state links and if possible a better description of what is offered].
h. Share this brochure explaining what the #CACFP is! http://1.usa.gov/zA6w5P
i. @MyPlate has some child care resources such as the "Lets Eat for the Health of It" brochure
http://1.usa.gov/xzlVv7
j. @MyPlate has some child care resources "10 Tips Nutrition Education Series"
http://1.usa.gov/wrzWL6.
k. ChildCareInfo.com keeps you informed of newsworthy and fun happenings in the world of
#CACFP http://bit.ly/pBfpOO @Child_Care_Info
4) Topics:
a. News-Latest changes in rules or regulations statewide, within your sponsoring agency or
nationally.
b. Feature a provider
c. Feature a good eater (with parents’ permission or do it anonymously)
d. Resource Sharing
e. Statistics/Facts about CACFP and Child Hunger and Obesity Prevention
f. Tie-In with topics people have heard of: Quality Child Care, Obesity, Child Hunger, MyPlate, Let’s
Move
g. Benefits of the CACFP for Parents, Providers and Children and the community as a whole



LINKED IN MESSAGES

1) Sync your Twitter with your Linked In. You will automatically update both your twitter account and your
Linked In status with your tweets.
2) Group Participation
a. After you join relevant groups, check in on the discussions and questions. There are template
responses here but you will find you have the opportunity to talk about CACFP. For example:
with this post regarding ideas for a child that just will not eat. http://lnkd.in/Ywien9

PINTEREST MESSAGES

1) Examples of CACFP Pinners: http://pinterest.com/terrijsc/cacfp-child-and-adult-care-food-program/ and
http://pinterest.com/christomclark/cacfp/. Messages are going to vary based on the pins or repins you
choose to add to your boards.

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS

MONITORING AND SCHEDULING SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

1. Tweetdeck is a popular “dashboard” to use in which you can schedule your Tweets and Facebook posts.
http://bit.ly/qKhT6e.
2. Hootsuite is another “dashboard” to use to schedule your posts and check in on all of your social media
platforms at once http://bit.ly/n1kh6R.
3. URL Shorteners help you get statistics about what links people are clicking on and sharing. Ow.ly, Goo.gl
and bit.ly. To learn more about URL shorteners, click here
4. Social Mention will help us monitor the strength and impact of our social media campaign. Type CACFP
into the box and see what our social media reach is for CACFP! As of today it is higher than normal
because of the recent CACFP Leadership conference: 1%strength; 42:1sentiment; 43%passion; 12%
reach as of February 28, 2012.
5.

HELPFUL SOCIAL MEDIA BLOGS AND WEBSITES

1. Idealware.org: A non-profit helping non-profits make software, website and social media decisions!
Target audience Is non-profit but information is good and relevant for all beginner/average technology
know-how people.
2. Mashable.com: Mashable is technically a blog that is thoroughly edited and has many contributors. It’s
entire focus is social media in the world and its effects on different segments. The posts are great and
easy to understand. A great way to get your social media footing and then keep up with it!
3. Social Media Today: A blog with several different contributors and editors. Has good information about
social media strategies, tools and techniques to get you started and keep you going. Reader friendly and
topics are diverse.
4. Tom Copeland’s posts regarding Facebook, especially his parent consent form for photos.
5. ChildCareInfo.com’s Social Media Blog and Social Media Page has social media help and information
written with the child care community in mind.


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