Youth Shooting Sports National Promotional Campaign

Youth Shooting Sports National Promotional Campaign This project, led by the MidwayUSA Foundation with DJ Case & Associates as a subrecipient, is designed to increase participation in youth shooting sports in all 50 states by creating and implementing a nationwide promotional campaign that raises awareness among students and families who may not currently be engaged. The campaign will address a critical gap in outreach capacity: while thousands of youth shooting teams exist across multiple disciplines and leagues, most coaches lack the time, training, and resources to effectively promote their programs. This initiative will provide centralized, professionally developed messaging and media outreach to support recruitment efforts at the local level. The project will begin with a comprehensive literature review of existing research on youth shooting sports participation, motivations, and barriers. Drawing on insights from recent studies and practitioner experience, the team will develop five parent-targeted messages designed to complement existing youth-oriented materials. These messages will be tailored to address parental concerns and highlight the benefits of participation, including confidence-building, leadership development, self-discipline, and teamwork. The campaign will then launch across social media platforms and paid media outlets, using a $200,000 media budget to reach new audiences not currently connected with shooting sports. Messaging will be strategically placed to engage teens and parents, driving traffic to a new “Give it a Shot” page on the MidwayUSA Foundation’s website which educates visitors about shooting sports, shares links to information and opportunities as well as matching prospective participants with local teams based on location and interest. Throughout the campaign, metrics such as exposures, click-through rates, landing page traffic, and user engagement will be monitored and used to optimize media placement. In month seven, the research team will evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness, analyzing performance across geographies, media types, and target audiences. By the end of the grant period, project results will be compiled into a final report summarizing strategies, outcomes, and lessons learned. These findings will be shared with the R3 and conservation community through presentations at major conferences, including the AFWA Annual Meeting, the National R3 Symposium, and the Youth Shooting Sports Conference. Additionally, newly developed parent messages will be added to the existing Youth Shooting Sports Toolkit and disseminated through online platforms such as the CAHSS R3 Clearinghouse. Subrecipient, DJ Case & Associates, will manage campaign development, media strategy, message creation, and evaluation. Their team of engagement strategists, marketers, and designers will ensure that all deliverables are grounded in research, creatively executed, and effectively communicated. The expected outcomes of this project include increased awareness and participation in youth shooting sports, a proven model for coordinated national outreach, and a set of tested messages and strategies that can be replicated by teams, leagues, and agencies in future efforts.