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PLAN BOOK Suggestion* for the Or ga n iz a tio n and Operation of Liberty Loan committees. Issued by the U B E R T Y LOAN COMM ITTEE Com m ittee on Distribution Second Federa! Reserve District 120 Broadway, New York Organization of Second Federal Reserve District FART I. Distribution experiences of the Rrst Liberty Loan indicate that the communities which most carefully organized their forces showed the best results in distribution. The ex perience of the committees in the last campaign has been digested, and as a result of this digest, suggestions are oSered here which may assist the local committees. These suggestions are put down for whatever application they may have to any given community. It is obviously im possible to devise a uniform plan of activity to suit the widely different conditions in the various parts of this district. The suggestions submitted will, if adopted, require modiRcation in many cases. ! Primary Committee Some of the most effective committees were composed of a representative from the following: Local banks and trust companies; Principal civic and commercial organizations; Local manufacturer's association; The Grange; Local newspaper (proprietor or editor); Local Home Defense Organization. An important member of these committees was the PUB LICITY man. The selection usually made was that of a newspaper man who could devote his full time to the publicity features of the campaign. - It is suggested that if your local committee does not con tain representatives of such of these organizations as exist in your community, it might be well for you to add such repre sentatives, advising the Distribution Committee to that effect. Supplemental Committees In addition to the general lines of activity mentioned above, it would be possible, in many instances, to extend the organization along more intensive lines and to form sub P committees to cover specific lines of effort, such us the follow ing: Board of Trade; Military Organizations; Churches and religious organizations (Y. M. C. A., Epworth League, Christian Endeavor Society, Catholic so cieties, etc.); Fraternal organizations. Women's Committee The Chairman of each Local Committee has been requested to appoint a Local Women's Committee to act in harmony with the Committee appointed by the Federal Reserve Bank. Representatives from the following organizations can be se lected to form sub-committees, working under the direction of the Women's Committee: Young Women's Christian Association; Women's Clubs; Daughters of the Revolution; Kings Daughters, etc. Boy Scouts The Boy Scouts Organization, which has representatives in most of the communities throughout this District, is being asked directly from Washington to distribute literature and secure subscriptions. It is suggested that the chairman of the Local Liberty Loan Committee should harmonize the work of the Boy Scouts Organization with that of his own committee. Campaign Material and Publicity A full list of material prepared by the Treasury Depart ment or the Central Committee in New York, will be furnished to the Chairman of each Local Committee. Full details of the publicity work proposed will be found in part II of this booklet. ^ Securing Every Subscriber to the Last Loan as a Salesman for This Loan It was found in many instances in the previous campaign that once an individual had subscribed for bonds, he uncon sciously became an active solicitor of subscriptions among his friends. I n , order to utilize this potential volunteer selling force, it is suggested that all subscribers to the last Loan be reached through the banks which handled their subscriptions, and that each subscriber be requested to obtain Sve (5) new 4 subscribers for ibis Loan. The necessary printed material for this purpose will be furnished to the requisite amount upon request. Possibly a sub-committee of the bank representatives could handle this situation most effectively. Bank Employees The experiences of the last Loan show that it is highly desirable that each worker, particularly each bank employee, be provided with a standardized description of the Govern ment Bonds, their character and value. A breast-pocket card, therefore, has been prepared and will, upon request, be pro vided each Committee in the amounts required. It is highly desirable that these cards be carried constantly so that they may be available for reference during any discussion regard ing the Bonds and methods of subscription, and so that there will be avoided the undesirable experiences of the last cam paign of many conflicting statements. Personal Canvass of Bank Depositors It was found in the last campaign that the banking in stitutions could secure a materially larger volume of sub scriptions by making a personal canvass of their depositors. It is therefore suggested that in each bank a sufficient number of the officers should give the time to follow up the institution's depositors and secure subscriptions in this way, rather than by correspondence. In order to prevent unnecessary shifting of deposits it is urged that so far as possible subscriptions should be paid on the instalment dates to be set forth by the Government, or such other plan as may be agreed upon between the institution and its depositors. Standard Partial Payment Plan In order to simplify the work of the banks, it is suggested that the use of the so-called Christmas Club cards be adopted to take care of small subscriptions. Samples of this card have already been sent to all of the banks in the District, and these cards will be furnished to them by the Committee on Distri bution gratuitously. It is felt that the use of this plan will simplify and standardize the work in connection with the forth coming Loan. It has the further advantage of stimulating regular habits of saving. General Canvassing Work It is suggested that the Local Committees should make a general financial survey of the community and the principal business 6rms and corporations, and that wealthy individuals 5 should be reached by members of the Local Committee, with a view to securing subscriptions. As to the general' canvassing work, it has been found most effective in the majority of cases to divide the community into districts, and to make house-tohouse canvass through the medium of such local organizations as may be available, including the Women's Liberty Loan Com mittee and sub committees. In this connection it may b& pointed out that the co-operation of the following organiza tions has been promised: Boy Scouts; Teachers in the public schools in the State of New York; Members of the American Institute of Banking; Council of National Defense. A considerable amount of educational material for the use of canvassers has been prepared and will be furnished wherever desired. Educational Work It is felt that the necessity of supporting the Loan might be more generally understood if there could be distributed through the Home Defense Organizations, Boy Scouts or other bodies, an educational booklet to each household in the com munity, this booklet to indicate the need for subscribing to the Loan and its advantages to the individual and to the com munity. It should be distributed in the early part of the campaign and will be furnished in quantities upon request. Sermons Plans are under way to furnish the pastors of all de nominations, a sermon, which it is suggested that the Local Committee urge the pastors of their community to deliver along the lines suggested upon whatever date is set by the authorities in Washington for such an appeal. . Speakers' Bureau One of the most effective methods of arousing interest in the last campaign was through the medium of public meet ings. This feature should be given careful attention by local committees and arrangements should be made for holding local meetings, cumulative in size and importance. In the majority of cases, speakers will be available locally, but in order to supply speakers for every requirement, a well or ganized Speakers' Bureau has been established at the head quarters of the Distribution Committee, Room 542, No. 120 Broadway, New York City, which will provide men to supple 6 ment the speakers available locally. All Committee Chairmen are urged to communicate with the Director of this Bureau whenever speakers other than local talent are desired. Through an arrangement made with the Four Minute Men, the excellent volunteer speakers of this Federal institution have been placed at the command of the local chairmen. These men can be assigned to speak at all sorts of gatherings; par ticularly, however, moving picture houses and theatres. If the Four Minute Men organization does not extend into your community, you are urged to communicate this fact to the Speakers' Bureau in New York City and arrangements will be made for the immediate organization of a local branch. Beaching the Farmer A booklet specifically written for the education of the farmer, making clear his motives for bond subscription and the necessity for the farmer's participation in this Loan, with subscription blanks included placed in a sealed envelope, will be supplied to the Local Committee with suggestions for a method of supplying them to the local postmaster for distri bution over every rural free delivery route. No addressing will be necessary. Spirit of Emulation It is suggested that a sub-committee be formed to work with the local Publicity Man to arouse a spirit of emulation among teams of canvassers and organizations, by publishing in the local newspapers the result of subscriptions obtained each day by these teams and organizations, and by publishing as well a daily list of individual bond subscribers without giving the amounts of the subscriptions; also by having them displayed in prominent localities such as show windows of de partment stores and other commanding situations on busy corners. It is suggested that each bank display in its window the total subscriptions received by that bank and the total of the campaign from day to day. 7 PART II. Publicity It is suggested that one man on each Committee be desig nated to have active charge of publicity. In view of the fact that this work involves some technical knowledge and a con siderable amount of constant detail work, it is suggested that, where possible, a man be obtained with previous newspaper training or at least one who has had some direct experience with publicity matters. Such a man should give his full time wherever possible. In some cases the publicity man may be employed under the direction of a member of the Committee, who may very properly be the editor of a local paper. Division of Work. The Publicity Department of the central committee is divided into four bureaus, the News Bureau, the Advertising Bureau, the Feature Bureau and the Service Bureau. These will be described in order. (1) News Bureau. This bureau is under the direction of a trained newspaper man who has a competent staff of news paper people under his direction. News is collected from all parts of the City and is given out to the evening papers at 11 a. m. and to the morning papers at 5 p. m. The stories cover every detail of the organization of com mittees, the actual subscriptions made to the Loan, interviews with prominent people who have subscribed or who have defin ite views on various phases of the Loan or reasons for sub scribing to the Loan. Special stories are worked up with regard to prominent subscribers, both men and women, and to unusual subscrip tions, such as those from baseball players, prominent actors and actresses, soldiers, sailors, children, the oldest subscriber, the youngest subscriber, etc. Wherever practicable, news stories are accompanied by photographs. A local committee will be guided in every case by local conditions. A man with news training will devise many ways in which stories of local interest can be worked up. The ma terial developed by the News Bureau in New York is 8 forwarded each night to every paper in the Second Federal Reserve District. Plate matter is sent once a week by the Western Newspaper Union to nearly 500 papers throughout the district. Special feature and Sunday articles are for warded from time to time or will be worked up specially at the request of committees or individual papers. Members of the Committee personally acquainted with the owners or publishers of the local papers should request them to give special attention to the Loan during the course of the campaign and to feature it in as many as possible of the following ways: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. News; Editorials; Cartoons; Sunday stories; Special stories in women's columns, on the baseball page and in other special feature columns; Paragraphs; Special features in boxes; Special slogans across the top or bottom of the front page. (2) Advertising Bureau. It has not been the policy of the Central Committee to ask local papers for free advertising space. The policy pursued has been to appeal to advertisers to mention the Liberty Loan in their regular advertising dur ing the period of the campaign. In many cases advertisers have desired to supplement their regular space by additional space devoted to the Loan. One good way of getting considerable display in the way of advertising is to ask groups of people such, for example, as the banks or the merchants in the community, to take a page or half page together. Advertising copy has been prepared by the Advertising Bureau in New York designated to meet requirements through out the District wherever this service is required. Some of the most expert copy writers in the country have prepared advertisements of different sizes and along different lines. The two main divisions of appeal have been patriotism and investment. These two general heads are capable of many subdivisions. 9 The following of&cial trade mark has been adopted for all advertising in the District: Electros of this design are mailable in four sizes. This was drawn by Mr. Adolph Treidler, of New York, who is one of the best known poster artists in the country. The Advertising Bureau also has a full supply of pamph lets, folders, posters, pay envelopes and inserts and other special educational and display material, a full list and descrip tion of which is contained in the catalogue of publications which will be mailed to every committee. Advertising cards for street cars are being supplied on a national basis through an agency in New York. If there are no cards in your local street cars, notify the Publicity Department immediately. Electric signs should be obtained through local efforts. The New York Committee has a supply of large posters which can be put on local bill boards if space arrangements can be made by local committees. A national moving picture committee has prepared slides and trailers for moving pictures, which are being supplied to practically all moving picture houses throughout the country. If your local moving picture houses have not received slides, please notify the Publicity Department in New York. (3) Feature Bureau. The Feature Bureau is intended to take care of all outside work not covered by News and Advertising. In the Feature Bureau in New York special men are handling moving picture display, parades, contests for school children, exhibitions and all other special publicity devices to attract public attention to the Loan other than the matter of speakers and meetings which in New York are handled by the Speakers' Bureau. (4) Service Bureau. The Service Bureau takes charge pf the internal organization, stenographers, telephone service, 10 ctc., the budget, purchasing, printing and the di#icult problem of poster distribution. Much of the poster distribution is attended to by the New York Committee which has supplied posters to many organizations with branches throughout the United States, such as cigar stores, grocery stores, dry goods stores, and others which have chains over a wide territory. It is suggested that each committee get up volunteer poster distributing committees and that wherever it is considered practical, a special committee of women don old costumes and distribute posters, having pictures taken at the same time for the local papers. This can also be done to advantage with a prominent group of bankers. It should be emphasized at all times that this is a war proposition, and that posters do not permanently deface any wall or fence to which they are at tached. Efforts should be made to get posters on public build ings and private buildings where commercial posters would under no circumstances be permitted. A complete list of all publicity material is contained in "Catalogue of Publications," to be had of Publicity Depart ment, Room 440, 120 Broadway, New York City. For quick publicity service, call Rector 4901. Indicate whether you want information or have suggestions to make to News Bureau, Advertising Bureau, Service Bureau (Posters), Director, Assistant Director.
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