CASE STUDY
Catherine Violet Hubbard
The Challenge
The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary is a Connecticut- based nonprofit organization working to promote compassion and healing through human-animal connection. The foundation was started in 2013 to commemorate and honor the life of Catherine Violet Hubbard, a six-year-old victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy and passionate animal lover who dreamt of someday working with and caring for animals. CVH approached The TASC Group to promote the sanctuary’s work and elevate the thought leadership of Jennifer Hubbard, Catherine’s mother and the president of the sanctuary. The ultimate goals were to establish the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary’s national presence and elevate Jennifer as a thought leader in advance of the 10-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2022. The animal sanctuary hoped to kick off a capital campaign and break ground on its permanent facilities at the time of the anniversary.
Our Strategy
TASC focused on promoting CVH’s signature program to enable seniors to keep and care for their pets and larger community events throughout the year to gain media traction ahead of the anniversary and establish CVH as a leading nonprofit in Connecticut, in the animal-care space and originating from the aftermath of Sandy Hook. TASC worked to place op-eds by Jennifer in national publications and worked with her to craft the messaging around her unique perspective on compassion. TASC conducted media outreach to ensure that the sanctuary, and Jennifer’s perspective on healing and grief, would be a leading story around the anniversary and the unveiling of the Sandy Hook memorial. Additionally, TASC worked to promote the sanctuary’s groundbreaking event through national and local media.
Results
TASC secured over 760 media placements that garnered over 1.8 billion media impressions in one year, including hits in Associated Press, TODAY.COM, NPR, BBC, The Boston Globe and more. The Senior Paw Project received media coverage from both local and national news outlets focused on pets, mental health and wellness such as the The Dogist Podcast, Generation Bold and Daily Paws. The sanctuary’s Butterfly Party, Monarch’s Meadows and More and The Race for Catherine received local media coverage and helped build rapport with local reporters, landing them hits in News 12 Connecticut, WSHU, The Newtown Bee and other outlets. Jennifer’s thought leadership was sought for commentary on tragedies like the Uvalde school shooting and the lawsuits against Alex Jones in notable news outlets including multiple BBC programs and FOX 5 New York, and her letter to the editor about Alex Jones was featured in The New York Times.
To highlight the sanctuary during the 10-year anniversary of Sandy Hook, TASC secured appearances for Jennifer on NBC New Now and ABC News Live and feature stories in local and national outlets, like Yahoo! News. TASC also placed an op-ed written by Jennifer about compassion in CNN. The sanctuary hosted a groundbreaking event on the anniversary to mark a new chapter in the sanctuary’s story, for which TASC secured coverage in The Washington Post, NPR’s Connecticut Public Radio and across local Connecticut and New York City broadcast stations. The coverage that TASC secured around the 10-year anniversary led to an outpouring of support from the community and local leaders and ultimately a Connecticut state bill to fund the construction of the sanctuary’s permanent facilities.
1.8 BILLION
MEDIA IMPRESSIONS
760
MEDIA PLACEMENTS
MEDIA COVERAGE
