The Florida Outdoor Advertising Association (FOAA) public service program provides advertising that supports civic, charitable and government public service messages that make our communities better places. Every year, FOAA members donate hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of advertising space through the FOAA public service program to organizations throughout the state. At minimum, our clients get a minimum 3-to-1 documented dollar value match for their investment when comparing the average retail value of the donated advertising space to the cost of the program. Following is the qualifying criteria for organizations to be eligible to utilize the FOAA public service program:

• Be a non-profit organization
• Be a charitable, civic or governmental entity
• Provide service or outreach statewide
• Use the public service campaign materials developed for the outdoor advertising campaign exclusively through this program

FOAA offers several products in conjunction with this program: flex-face vinyl bulletins (various sizes), poster panels, and digital billboards. Our goal is to display each public service poster/bulletin for as long as possible, but we may shorten or extend display time without notice.  Space is provided in multiple markets statewide where locations are available. 

As part of the program, FOAA can also assist with coordinating press conference unveilings announcing a public service program, as well as provide creative assistance for billboard designs (conditions apply). From start to finish, we keep in contact with our clients by providing a monthly location report detailing the name and market area of the company posting the billboard and a description of the billboard’s physical location. Photographs are also provided as received by member companies. At the end of a campaign, the program participant receives a final completion report. This includes all the posted billboard locations, photographs provided and a summary report documenting the dollar value match of the donated advertising space for the campaign.  To learn more about the effectiveness of your billboard public service program and to help us improve, we ask for a letter acknowledging the advertising space donation and for feedback on our service and products.

If you are interested in a statewide public service campaign utilizing outdoor advertising, please submit a request in writing to foaa@foaa.org.  We ask that you include the following:  the objective of the campaign, a description of the products you would like to use and the amount budgeted for the campaign. FOAA and its members look forward to helping you reach Floridians across the state with your public service message!

For more information about this program, please contact us today.

PUBLIC SERVICE PARTNERSHIPS

The Florida Outdoor Advertising Association (FOAA) and its members have partnered with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse (MEPIC) to provide donated space on traditional billboards for “Missing Children” campaigns since 1998.

In 2007, FDLE partnered with the FOAA and its member outdoor advertising companies to expand the Florida AMBER Plan. This partnership provided for donated space on digital billboards to post both AMBER and Missing Child Alerts. This unique partnership served as a valuable model for other states around the nation. FDLE recognized the FOAA and its members for being the pioneers in their response to abducted children and setting the benchmark for the rest of the country.

In June 2008, the program was expanded nationwide with the “AMBER Alert Digital Billboard Program” established through a partnership between the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

The outreach provided by the donation of space on digital billboards is a crucial component of the AMBER Alert program. It extends the outreach for alert activations and helps to raise community awareness in the search for missing and abducted children.  

FOAA-FL DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ALERT PARTNERSHIP

In 2008, the Florida Outdoor Advertising Association and the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) announced a statewide partnership for displaying alerts on digital billboards to keep Floridians informed during an emergency. The partnership allows FDEM to issue emergency alerts via participating outdoor advertisers' billboards. Digital billboards are used to alert drivers of inclement weather or direct them to the nearest shelter and even provide detours and evacuation routes from dangerous weather conditions or other disasters during an emergency. Digital billboards expand outreach capabilities and allow FDEM to reach thousands of motorists traveling on Florida’s primary roads and highways.

The FOAA-FDEM Partnership was the first of its kind in the nation. In 2011 the partnership between FOAA and FDEM received national recognition from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a best practices model and was recognized in the Congressional Record by Congressman Dave Mica.

FBI-OAAA National Partnership

In 2010, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and the FBI formed a public service program partnership designed to help keep communities safe by alerting the public about certain vitally important FBI cases.

Hot pursuit alerts are issued when a fugitive is on the loose and believed to be crossing state lines. The system will also be activated when a threat to the security of the United States is imminent or has already occurred. In addition, the FBI also makes standardized creative available that features the Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives who are believed to be in the United States.

FOAA members helped the program get off to a successful start through their participation in the first activation of the FBI's Digital Billboard Alert Network (DBAN) in July of 2010 that resulted in the successful apprehension of a suspect, who was subsequently convicted, in the shooting of two Tampa police officers.