How can you stay relevant during and beyond awareness months?

Farra Trompeter: Welcome to the Smart Communications Podcast. This is Farra Trompeter, co-director and worker-owner at Big Duck. In today’s episode, we’re going to ask the question: How can you stay relevant during and beyond awareness months? And I am delighted to be joined by Elana Silber, who I first met back in, gosh, I think 2010 or 2011, when we were doing branding work and an awareness campaign for Sharsheret. We’ll talk a little bit about Sharsheret in a minute. And it is so exciting to still get to know you and see how much the organization has grown in the past 16 years. I’m really looking forward to this conversation. Let me tell you a little bit about Elana. Elana Silber uses she/her pronouns and is the CEO of Sharsheret, the national Jewish breast and ovarian cancer organization. For over 20 years, she has developed programs that offer life-saving support and education to women, men, and families facing cancer. Elana brings a rare combination of professional expertise, lived experience, and deep community trust. She often speaks about women’s health, Jewish leadership, nonprofit growth, grief, legacy, and facing cancer with dignity and strength. Elana, welcome to the show.

Elana Silber: Farra, thank you. It really is an honor to be here. We go way back, like you said, and Big Duck really helped launch our whole new look and feel that, honestly, we’ve been building on for the last 15 years. So thank you for that. And we’re probably due for something new, so we’ll talk about that after.

Farra Trompeter: Yeah, exactly.

Elana Silber: You know, we might as well look towards the future. But really, thank you for having me and for all the good work that you’ve done for Sharsheret to get us where we are today.

Farra Trompeter: Of course, truly our pleasure. So we are recording this in September, and we’ll be releasing this episode in the month of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Of course, it’s also National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, and many more. Let’s just talk about awareness months. These awareness months are great for bringing attention and resources to an issue, but they can also lead to performative or one-off engagement. What do you think is the role of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Sharsheret’s broader communications strategy?

Elana Silber: So, I appreciate the question because very often we’re challenged with, “Wait, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month…” And just for the audience to know, September is actually Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. The two are back-to-back because ovarian cancer and breast cancer are primarily female cancers, and many people who have genetic mutations have increased risk for both of these cancers. So September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So we get challenged with: “Okay, cancer is something that could hit any month of the year. So, you know, is it just about making money in October? What is it about October?” So we like to put a positive spin on it. For us, conversation, information, that lead to awareness. If you look back in time, maybe when our parents were young, cancer was a word that was whispered. There was no awareness month. There was a stigma; there was a fear. You know, the research and the awareness have improved so much in the last two generations, let’s say 40 years, that it actually changes the face of breast cancer and ovarian cancer, by having the ability, the permission, to talk about it. So for us, we see these as an opportunity for those who are not necessarily directly affected, maybe someone who’s not going through an illness today, it highlights the issue and brings it to the forefront.

Elana Silber: And especially, I think, what I’ve seen over the last few years with social media gaining such traction, it’s a wonderful opportunity to capitalize on what’s trending. So, a lot of times you can put out content and people aren’t paying attention. But during these months, it goes hand in hand. It’s kind of like a good cycle. People are talking about it, people are adding content, and it raises a lot of awareness, and it raises questions. And when you have an organization like Sharsheret that’s specifically dedicated to breast cancer or ovarian cancer, there is a place to turn to. Because I think a lot of it is: You can raise a lot of awareness during this month, but where do you go with those questions? Where do you go with those ideas? Where do you go with your fears? And now you think, “Wait, that could be me.” So we use those months kind of like a springboard for conversation and trending, because otherwise, someone like person A may not be looking at that topic and then, unfortunately, all of a sudden get diagnosed or know someone that is.

Elana Silber: So here, while everyone’s looking at it and it’s trending and it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, you start to build this relationship with the general community about it, so that two months and three months from now, attached to not only the awareness, the statistics, and the emotional impact, you also have a go-to attached to it. So we use those months, and we capitalize on them. We invest a lot of time and resources into those months. But again, not, like you said, as a one-and-done. It’s really the beginning, or maybe the end of it from last year, so that when somebody was affected, and they’re a couple of months through, and all of a sudden they see, “Wow, there’s so much trending and Sharsheret is there,” they feel less alone. So we capitalize on it, and we make sure that we are very vocal and very out there, so that whatever’s trending builds on what we’re putting out there. In other months, you won’t have that strong trending–I don’t know what the word is, you probably know better–that can really broaden the reach and get the word out there.

Farra Trompeter: Great. I love how you see it as the beginning of the relationship, or perhaps another touchpoint for someone you haven’t talked to in a while, and then you think about building that relationship with them year-round. And one of the things I really love about Sharsheret’s approach to communications and its programs is that you’re driven by the philosophy of meeting people where they are. As that relates to raising awareness, you shared some fun examples with me when we were preparing for this, you talked about the Mah Jongg card sale. You talked about pickleball events, which I have yet to play, but one of these days I know I’ll get there. I did play Mah Jongg once, though, not pickleball.

Elana Silber: Oh, okay. Well, then you have to buy your Mah Jongg cards from Sharsheret.

Farra Trompeter: There you go. There you go. So what have these kinds of fun examples for engaging people and raising awareness–you know, these unexpected community touchpoints–what have they taught you about where awareness actually happens?

Elana Silber: Okay, so what I’ve learned is people don’t want to hear about cancer. This is not the kind of thing you want to go out to hear, right? Think about people who go for their annual mammogram, which I’m sure everyone listening who’s female by birth is going for her annual exam starting at age 40, along with other modalities of screening if you have family history. And you can always call me if you have more questions about that. But there’s a fear, because that’s the one place you go to find out if you have cancer. So nobody wants to hear about cancer, but everybody knows somebody who’s been touched by breast cancer or ovarian cancer. And every woman will have to go for these screenings and mammograms, and some men too, and we could talk about that too. So you have to figure out how you are going to get people to listen, how you are going to get them to pay attention. If you put it out there, “Oh, we’re going to be talking about mammograms. Oh, come and bring a friend.” Like, “No, I don’t want to come to that. You know, I’m busy. I have a job. I have a family. I have a spouse. I have a partner. I want to go out for dinner. I want to have a good time.”

Elana Silber: So we found that when you incorporate educational content into an entertainment opportunity, and not to make it silly and not to minimize its importance, but once you’re getting people in the room for something that they actually find is life-enhancing, it’s a good opportunity to bring in this piece. So, for example, Mah Jongg is the craze. I have no idea why, in the last few years. I’m going to age myself right now, but I have a 10-year-old grandson who, on visiting day at camp this summer, asked his mother to bring him a Mah Jongg set. I was like, “Really, Max? You want a Mah Jongg set?” But what I know is that you can get 150 to 200 people into a game night, Canasta, Mah Jongg, poker, whatever it is. And then you bring a speaker to talk about their personal experience. You give out a few resources and materials. You talk a little bit about people’s risk for cancer, not in a scary way, but in a powerful way and in an information-gathering way. And you know what? Then people start to call. People have told me that we saved their lives through Mah Jongg. And I’m like, that’s a little extreme, but it’s not. Because after the Mah Jongg event, they had our brochure, they heard the person speak, and they said, “That could be me,” or “I have a question,” or “I haven’t gone for my test.” And they call. And they have now taken their lives into their own hands, whatever they can.

Elana Silber: So Mah Jongg is one. Pickleball. What we actually probably learned about this was on college campuses. Sharsheret is the national philanthropy for AEPhi, which is a very large sorority. And what we learned is that kids on campus would be doing fundraisers, like silly fundraisers, for Sharsheret. And we had a captive audience, and we decided: what if we infuse just a little bit of educational material? Let these young college students learn their family history of cancer, learn about healthy living that reduces the risk for cancer, learn about their genetics and when it’s appropriate for them to go for genetic testing. And the truth is that, especially at that age, their minds are so open to learning and figuring out their adulthood that they have taken what they’ve learned from Sharsheret, from their silly fundraisers, because we infused this little bit of educational content throughout their lives. And they have become medical professionals, community leaders, and, unfortunately, diagnosed. And they knew some of the basic information, and they also knew about Sharsheret as a resource.

Elana Silber: So we took that concept and we took it to community. So for the Mah Jongg events, for the pickleball events, we like to promote healthy-living types of activities. And Mah Jongg, okay, uses your brain a little bit. It’s also very social. We know that people who are facing illness, or people who are not social, could face worse outcomes when it comes to illness. So we try to take in these healthy lifestyle behaviors and infuse some education, some opportunity for people to learn and to also take action to improve their quality of life, or to prevent cancer, or to lead to healthier living, or to reduce their risk. And it’s tremendously successful because they’re not coming for Sharsheret, and they’re not coming for the cancer. They’re coming for the event, but they know it’s there. And then they absorb it, and then they take action. And you have to know in your communications to give people a call to action at these events. It’s not only about awareness, but X, Y, and Z. And now call the genetic counselor or make your appointment. So we always make sure that the communication is informative, with a call to action that’s very attainable, not unrealistic.

Farra Trompeter: Yeah, I love that because that gets into the heart of good communications, which is tapping into what motivates people, what people value. And they value fun. They value community. They value being with others and having a good time. And then once they’re there, you’re bringing the education in. You’re bringing in the heavier topics, but even making sure they’re not so heavy that people will, in fact, follow up and come to the next event and see you as a resource as well as someone who can bring them together. I love that. Well, on that topic, still meeting people where they are, I know that you do a lot of work with different communities. And I’m curious, how do you decide when to adapt your message or materials for a particular community versus when you keep that messaging consistent? So, for example, how does that thinking of being both adaptive and consistent show up in your work with everything from the ultra-Orthodox community to the LGBTQIA+ community?

Elana Silber: So I think the first thing you do is you look at the facts. Sharsheret has an esteemed medical advisory board. And so there’s certain information that’s related to science and medicine that we make sure is consistent across the board. That doesn’t change. Statistics don’t change; the medical information doesn’t change. What we can do is adapt the material so that people see themselves in it. So, for example, if you’re talking about an ultra-Orthodox community, what we do is we have volunteers in all different parts of the community who represent the community themselves. We learn from them. So we understand what language do they want to read it in. Is this for an ultra-Orthodox community? There was a time that we created brochures in the Yiddish language because maybe people weren’t reading in English. The feedback we got from certain communities was, “No, we read in English.” You know, we knew that for one community that was good, but for another ultra-Orthodox community, that wasn’t good. They don’t necessarily appreciate pictures in their brochures. So while in a certain community you might want to show them what a healthy breast could look like versus one that might be affected by cancer, we leave those out. And that’s okay because, at the end of the day, that’s not a fact that necessarily has to be communicated. But they have to know that there’s a risk, and they have to understand that knowing if their mothers or grandmothers or aunts had cancer is important.

Elana Silber: So, we write it in a language that feels comfortable. We make sure that the imagery reflects what they’re going through. We make sure that we have the right committee who knows other people, because if it’s a very insular community, you may not be able to scream it from the rooftops. You might have to go slowly. Sometimes we’ll only speak to 10 people at a time. I remember during COVID, we had a family conference call with an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic family that would never talk about cancer, but they came onto a Zoom call with no screens showing. And on the call, there were nine siblings. And then all of a sudden, in the conversation, someone said, “Well, you know, I actually had an incident with breast cancer,” and then someone else did, because no one could tell who was talking. And we’re not looking to change any communities. We create brochures for each community so that they’re comfortable. So we create a brochure that’s comfortable in those homes.

Elana Silber: We know that the LGBTQ community faces other challenges when it comes to healthcare. And we took a training on it. We taught our staff. And we have social workers, we have genetic counselors, and we have board members who have family members who have had cancer and have faced health challenges going to doctors and having deep conversations, so that we could communicate this. And we create webinars specifically for that population. And you go on to Sharsheret’s resource page, with all different kinds of resources. And yes, if you’re an ultra-Orthodox person, you click on the brochure that speaks to you. And if you’re part of the LGBTQ community, you look at that. And if you identify as a male, there’s one specifically for men. We create many, many different versions of the same facts. We will not alter the facts, but we will adjust the communication style so that ultimately people can get the best healthcare that they need to, again, prevent a cancer diagnosis, catch it in its earliest stages when it can be cured, or improve quality of life as they go through a diagnosis into survivorship.

Farra Trompeter: That’s great. And I heard you also mention earlier, when you’re talking about communities, folks who are assigned female at birth, also acknowledging that things may impact people hormonally or chemically in ways that are different than how perhaps they identify, and you sort of weave that into your communications as well.

Elana Silber: And we also create questions and answers. And this is a very simple thing, right? If you are going to a specific doctor, I mean, this is all new when you’re going through cancer. I don’t know, a plastic surgeon, a physical therapist. I know now menopause is all the rage: a menopause specialist. And, you know, menopause caused by a cancer treatment or a surgery. You don’t even know where to start, what to ask. We can arm people so they can communicate with their healthcare teams. And specifically in the LGBTQ community, when those who go to a doctor and again are not presenting as the gender that they were assigned at birth, those are very complicated conversations. And we’re training medical professionals on what we’ve heard from this community so that they can better care for these patients. So I think that’s been really helpful to not only communicate Sharsheret’s message to the patient, but also empower the patient to be able to approach their medical professional and communicate effectively so that they can access the care that they need to ensure a healthier outcome.

Farra Trompeter: Thank you for that. We talked about branding when we first started this. And one of the strongest symbols of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the overall movement is the pink ribbon. The pink ribbon is also part of Sharsheret’s logo and visual identity. We talked a lot about it 15 years ago, whether we should lean into it or move away from it. Despite concerns around pinkwashing, we decided to keep it in the logo. What does the pink ribbon still do for you as an organization? And how do you make sure it’s actually a doorway into something deeper, rather than take over the message? Because I know that pink ribbons are everywhere when it comes to breast cancer.

Elana Silber: Right. So I think it would not do us justice to move away from an icon that has really become synonymous with the disease states that we are focusing on. I know that when people go to an NFL game in October, I get calls from people who say, “Oh my gosh, I saw Sharsheret at the NFL.” I was like, “You saw Sharsheret at the NFL?” “You know, all the players were wearing pink sneakers and pink, and I thought immediately of Sharsheret.” So to me, that’s a validation that if they’re associating the pink ribbon with Sharsheret, then it’s good. Again, it’s about this reminder, this connection. But we are also very careful to not just associate with the pink to make money. Look, there are people out there who are saying, you know, “I have a business and breast cancer sells, and breast cancer is sexy. I’m just going to put the ribbon on it.” For us, that’s not where our focus is.

Elana Silber: So we are selective with the companies that we work with, who are mission-aligned. And we don’t promote the ribbon as, I guess, the paragon of virtue. We really focus on the stories of the women and the men and the families that we serve. And yes, they will have the pink ribbon in the corner, but you will never see Sharsheret flowing about ribbons. It’s really about talking about people’s experiences, and people themselves become the center of the picture, for example, and the pink is in the background. So the constant reminder is there, but the focus is really on the person and their experience. And we won’t just do it to raise money. There are companies out there, and you have to be careful, because there are those that will just leverage the pink ribbon and not have any content.

Elana Silber: For us, it’s always about, again, back to the college campuses, to the Mah Jongg, to the community events: we always have this educational piece, even if it’s small. I probably told you when we prepared that I was doing a podcast, maybe for a fashion blogger, really not my focus. It was post-COVID, and we were having a conversation, and I couldn’t really contribute anything about clothing. That wasn’t my thing. But a couple of months later, there was a woman who met a colleague of mine and said, “Oh, you work at Sharsheret? Elana Silber saved my life.” She’s like, “Oh, you know Elana Silber?” She said, “No, I actually don’t know Elana Silber, but I was listening to this fashion blogger, and it was October; it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month.” And it was like a year after COVID, when people had pushed off their doctor’s appointments, not through their own fault, but because offices were closed and backed up. And she said, “Elana Silber said, ‘If you don’t remember anything I said,’” because, you know me, I could be spewing statistics. And I said, “If you remember one thing, if you are due for some kind of screener, like a mammogram or an MRI or a sonogram or whatever it is, don’t delay it. After you listen to this, just make a call.” And the woman called her radiologist, made an appointment, and found out she had early-stage breast cancer. She had already pushed off her mammogram like two years. She was busy. She was a mom, just coming out of COVID. And she said the doctor told her, “It’s good that you did that. You know, there’s a lot that we can do. You’re going to be okay.” And the outcome could have looked very different, because she probably would have pushed it off another year and been like, “Okay, it’s not a priority for me right now.” So that’s where I think we can help people, through adding some kind of educational piece into whatever we’re doing and not just representing the pretty ribbon. Like, pink’s a nice color, but we are so much deeper than just the color.

Farra Trompeter: It’s not as nice as purple, but I’ll give it second favorite. Second favorite.

Elana Silber: Okay, okay.

Farra Trompeter: I mean, I appreciate that story, and I hope we save someone’s life today as they listen to this podcast. So, I want to talk a little bit about the second part of this podcast, which is staying relevant beyond awareness months. Many folks listening may work for an organization whose issue has an awareness day or an awareness month, too. So I specifically would love to hear you talk about this, which is: What do you do to make sure someone who encounters Sharsheret during October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or even now in September during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, how do you make sure they don’t just disappear when the new month arrives? How do you make sure they don’t just forget about you the rest of the year? How do you keep engaged with someone?

Elana Silber: So what we do, which a lot of people probably do, is we have a database, right? And what we do is, we really get to know the people who reach out to us, even if it’s on a very small level. Maybe someone reached out to us during Breast Cancer Awareness Month because they came to an event. So now we then reach out to these people. There’s always a follow-up after the event. You know, “Thank you for coming. These are the photos from the event,” or whatever. Now they’re in the database, and they’re categorized as someone who came. And then we ask people after events for evaluations. What did you think about it? We try to communicate in different ways. We definitely get people’s contact information and try to engage them on social media. We try to get people in every way we can. So we still have people’s mailing addresses and email addresses and cell phones. And we have many, many different events, and we segment them out. So if somebody, for example, told us at a breast cancer event that they were from a family that had cancer, so maybe when we’re doing a genetics webinar a month from now, we make sure that this person is invited. We make sure that they stay connected. And we still do paper mailings, and we do a lot of email. And our social media, I don’t think, is as effective as email and mailings, but we are definitely staying in touch.

Elana Silber: I’ll give you an example of something which happens in October. The Mah Jongg cards go on sale, for example. So we sell Mah Jongg cards to about 2,500 to 3,000 people. Then August 1st is National Mah Jongg Day. On that day, we reach out to the people who bought Mah Jongg cards and say, “You know, thank you so much.” This is six months later. “Thank you for buying a Mah Jongg card at Sharsheret, the Jewish breast and ovarian cancer organization. Now it’s National Mah Jongg Day! Would you like to bring awareness to your community and host an event, or bring us to a tournament?” or whatever. And that’s August 1st. And then maybe there’s another thing: we find out that they live on Long Island. So we’ll say to them, “Oh, by the way, on Long Island, we’re going to have a barbecue at the end of the month, and we’ll be recognizing this cancer survivor. Is this something you’d like to come to?” So we try to personalize the communications so they’re not getting everything, but they’re getting things that are relevant to them. And we try to maintain really good records.

Elana Silber: Sharsheret is turning 25 years. So now we’re seeing, and I think this is something special, that there are many, many different ways to engage with Sharsheret. So we have someone who may have called us in 2005 because they were affected by cancer. Now they have children who are going to college or even starting their own families, with questions. So we engage the next generation. We’ve seen people who will come to an event, and they’ll buy a pie around Thanksgiving, because we raise awareness about ovarian cancer during Thanksgiving, because we talk about family history and genetics, at that time, people are gathering around the table. It’s a good opportunity to learn about your family history. So we see people engaging with Sharsheret in many, many different ways. There are people running races. And so we try to tap into whatever is of interest to them, using the typical tools, but really segmenting them and evaluating what makes sense for each person to get.

Farra Trompeter: I love that because, in that, I’m hearing we’ve got a database that we are keeping up to date, and then we’re connecting that to other opportunities. And it’s sort of like that example everyone always uses: because you watched this movie, you might like this. Because you read this book, you might like this. Because you bought this cake, you might be interested in this.

Elana Silber: The algorithm!

Farra Trompeter: Right, exactly. Use that algorithm for good.

Elana Silber: I wish we were that automated, but it’s a little manual. But we’re seeing people have certain interests repeat year after year, and people, while they’re very different, are also very much the same. And we’ve seen people over a generation, like I said: these college kids are now in the medical community. And we really do try. We have a staff of over 50 people, and we really do try to personally touch base with anyone who shows an interest. When you call Sharsheret, within 24 hours you are getting a call back, and we really try to do that. And we also communicate with people; we ask them, “What’s the best way to reach you? Is it email or text?” We’ve direct messaged people on Facebook and Instagram if that’s what they want. So we try to do that. And we do probably 900 events a year, in person and online. And we are collecting people’s names, information, and what they really want to know. And we save that so we understand.

Farra Trompeter: Yeah, that’s so smart. Well, sadly, it’s time to wrap this up, but I want to leave room for a few more things. First of all, if you’d like to learn more about Sharsheret and all the work they do, be sure to visit their website. It’s sharsheret.org. I’m going to spell that. That’s S-H-A-R-S-H-E-R-E-T.org. You can also call their helpline. Elana’s mentioned calling a few times. You don’t have to be Jewish to call. Just call them if you have any questions. They are an incredible resource. Their number is (866) 474-2774. You can also connect with Sharsheret and Elana on LinkedIn. We’ll link to all of this in the show notes at bigduck.com/insights. Before we go, though, Elana, I do want to ask you one more thing. Is there anything else you’d like to share with our listeners related to turning an awareness month into year-round relevance, trust, and action, as you have so well done?

Elana Silber: I think it’s about understanding who you’re targeting and what they’re most responsive to. And don’t just keep it to that one month. We’ve never had anyone complain to us that we checked in on them too much. It’s not about asking for money. The truth is, people really like to be asked to do something for your organization. They like to volunteer. Whether they can do it or not is another story. So if they came to something in October, or whatever your awareness month is, and then a month or two later you touch base and say, “You know, hey, I want to know if you’d be interested in serving on this committee or going to this,” they might say, “No, I’m too busy.” But they very much appreciate it, and they start paying attention. So that’s one thing.

Elana Silber: And I think it’s important to know what their interests are from the get-go. Take that month, when they’re reaching out to you, and even though you’re busy, make sure to ask them what their connection is, what their interest is. You have to lead the witness. Come with the three things. Are you a person affected by the cause? Do you have a family member? Or do you just care? Do you like to run in a race? Do you like to bake? Throw these questions out there so that when you look at the people who’ve touched base with you, the thousands, hopefully, of people who are paying attention during that month, your team is ready to respond to what their interests are. And don’t keep them waiting. And you can never touch base too often. I think for fundraising, people tell you that you can’t ask too many times, but I don’t know. You can always have the opportunity in the background. Always keep it there. It’s always at the bottom. It’s always on the page. But you don’t have to ask them for money. Ask them to do some kind of volunteer opportunity. And it doesn’t have to be the most dramatic thing. It could literally be, “Can you make a phone call?” And they might say no, but they will appreciate it. And I think they will pay attention continuously throughout the year.

Farra Trompeter: Thank you for all the information. Congratulations on all the growth. It is amazing to see. I love still being in your orbit. And good luck with this awareness month and the whole ongoing year of work that you do.

Elana Silber: Well, thank you, because you’re leading the way with awareness month. This podcast alone is raising awareness among hundreds, if not thousands. So thank you for being part of our effort. It is a thankless effort, but it is definitely worth the time, and we’re so appreciative of the opportunity.

Farra Trompeter: Of course. All right, everyone, please take care of yourselves in all the ways, and thank you for listening.