Keep Arkansas Seniors Home

Campaign strategy brief for the iProv team. Read before client calls this week.

Deadline: July 1, 2026 3 Active Clients $3K/mo Revenue Opportunity ARA · CRL · EAA Internal Use Only
⚠ The Arkansas Times broke this story on June 2. The cuts take effect July 1. We have less than 30 days. The window is open now and it will not stay open.
1

The Crisis

What's happening, the numbers, the opportunity
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Arkansas DHS is cutting $612,000 from aging services programs statewide, effective July 1, 2026. This is not a distant policy story. These cuts hit our clients directly, and they hit seniors who depend on these programs to eat, stay home, and stay independent.

The Arkansas Times broke the story on June 2, 2026: "State cuts taxes for wealthy while starving program that feeds the elderly." Our job is simpler: three of our clients are in the blast zone, and they need our help right now.

The Numbers

$612K
Total cut to statewide aging services
$120K
CareLink's direct funding reduction
12
Workers CareLink will lose
12,600
Employee hours lost per year at CareLink
1,000
Meals delivered daily by CareLink in Pulaski County
8
Area Agencies on Aging affected statewide

Federal Cuts Compound the Problem

  • SNAP cuts affecting 25,000 Arkansans
  • Medicaid cuts projected to remove 131,000 from coverage
  • SCSEP threatened at the national level (already cut from $1,052,665 to $897,053 in Arkansas)

This isn't one cut. It's a wave.

The Precedent That Should Excite You

In 2017, when similar Meals on Wheels cuts were proposed federally, donations to Meals on Wheels programs surged 50x and volunteer signups spiked 500%. The national conversation did what years of quiet fundraising couldn't: it made the need visible and urgent.

We have the same setup here. A news article, a named client, real people losing real services, and a July 1 deadline that creates natural urgency. This is the window. It doesn't stay open long.

2

Our Clients

ARA, CRL, and EAA profiles and opportunities
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ARA
Arkansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging
agingarkansas.org
Statewide parent organization over all 8 AAAs. Coordinating body with legislative credibility and media relationships.
CRL
CareLink
carelink.org
6-county Central Arkansas AAA. Already named in the article. CEO Luke Mattingly and VP Michelle Gilbert are quoted.
EAA
East Area Agency on Aging
e4aonline.com
12-county NE Arkansas AAA (Jonesboro, West Memphis, Paragould). Serves rural areas. Has no donation page yet.

ARA: The Campaign Hub

ARA is the coordinating body. They have the statewide view, the relationships with every AAA director, and the credibility to lead a unified campaign. They should be the hub, not just a participant.

Our opportunity: Build them a campaign landing page that becomes the statewide clearinghouse. Stats, stories, a map of affected counties, advocacy tools. Every other AAA links to it. Media references it.

CRL: The Face of the Crisis

CareLink is already in the news. They have real faces, real names, and a real story. They also have a functioning donation page at /give/ with solid framing: $45 pays for one week of meals.

Our opportunity: They have the infrastructure. We need to layer crisis framing onto their existing /give/ page and drive traffic to it. 100 monthly donors at $45 = $54,000/year in recurring revenue. That replaces nearly half of their $120,000 cut.

EAA: The Underserved Story

EAA has no donation page. That is the number one emergency on this project. They face the same cuts as CareLink, they serve 12 rural counties, and they have no way to accept online donations right now. The rural Northeast Arkansas story is distinct and there are local media outlets (Jonesboro Sun, KAIT, West Memphis, Paragould daily) who will run it.

Our opportunity: Build the donation page first, then build the campaign around it. They are the underdog in this story, and that narrative works.

3

The Game Plan

Three-tier structure, full deliverable list, timeline
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Campaign name: "Keep Arkansas Seniors Home." Three-tier structure: ARA leads the statewide narrative, CRL is the human face of the crisis, EAA is the underserved rural story.

Tier 1 ARA: Statewide Narrative Hub

ARA owns the big picture. Their role is to be the credible, data-driven voice that frames the full scope of the cuts and coordinates messaging across all 8 AAAs.

  • Campaign landing page at /save-senior-services/
  • Statewide impact stats and county-by-county breakdown
  • Legislative advocacy tools (contact your rep, share the story)
  • Coordinating hub for all 8 AAAs to link back to
  • Blog post: "What $612,000 in Cuts Means for Arkansas Seniors"
  • 3-email crisis fundraising sequence
  • Facebook ad creative (2-3 variations)
Tier 2 CRL: Human Face of the Crisis

CareLink is already named in the article. We drive traffic to their existing /give/ page with crisis framing. Push monthly giving hard: $45/month = 1 week of meals.

  • /give/ page crisis overlay with updated copy and urgency framing
  • Blog post: "CareLink Is Facing a $120,000 Cut. Here's What That Means."
  • 3-email crisis fundraising sequence
  • Facebook ad creative (2-3 variations)
  • Social content calendar (4 weeks)
  • Video testimonial guidance (driver, recipient, or staff member)
Tier 3 EAA: The Underserved Rural Story

Rural NE Arkansas is not getting the same attention as Little Rock. That's the angle. Build infrastructure first, then build the campaign around the rural narrative.

  • Donation page (week 1, before everything else)
  • Blog post: "Rural Arkansas Seniors Are Being Left Behind"
  • 3-email crisis fundraising sequence
  • Facebook ad creative (2-3 variations)
  • Local media pitch (Jonesboro Sun, KAIT, West Memphis, Paragould daily)

Full Deliverable List

  1. EAA donation page (emergency, week 1)
  2. CRL /give/ page crisis overlay
  3. ARA campaign landing page (/save-senior-services/)
  4. Blog posts for all three organizations
  5. 3-email crisis fundraising sequences (9 emails total)
  6. Facebook ad creative (up to 9 ad sets)
  7. Social media content calendar (4 weeks, all three orgs)
  8. Impact infographic (statewide cuts visualized)
  9. Video testimonial guidance document
  10. Local media pitches for EAA coverage in NE Arkansas

Timeline

Week 1 (Now, before July 1)
  • EAA donation page live
  • CRL /give/ page crisis overlay live
  • ARA campaign landing page live
  • First email in each sequence deployed
  • Facebook ads submitted for review
  • Local media pitches sent for EAA
Weeks 2-4 (Deepen)
  • Emails 2 and 3 in each sequence
  • Blog posts published and promoted
  • Social calendar running
  • Ad performance review and optimization
  • Video testimonials collected
Months 2-3 (Sustain)
  • Monthly giving push (CRL focus)
  • Legislative session monitoring (ARA)
  • Case study documentation begins
  • Ad Grants campaigns live (if sold)
  • Impact reporting for clients
4

How We Pay For This

Retainers, Ad Grants, in-kind work and case study
▼
Stream 1: Existing Retainers
$0 new cost
Strategy, content, and campaign management come from existing retainer hours. We are their marketing agency. This is marketing. No new cost to the client, no new cost to us.
Stream 2: Google Ad Grants
Up to $3K/mo
Google Ad Grants gives qualifying nonprofits $10,000/month in free Google ads. Our management product is $1,000/month. All three orgs qualify. If all three say yes: $3,000/month in new recurring revenue.
Stream 3: In-Kind + Case Study
Long-term ROI
Everything beyond retainer and Ad Grants is done in-kind. In exchange, we document everything. The case study becomes our pitch to every nonprofit in Arkansas. One great case study opens more doors than any amount of cold outreach.

The Case Study

Title: "How Three Arkansas Nonprofits Used Digital Marketing to Replace $X in Lost State Funding."

A documented, successful nonprofit campaign with real dollar figures and named clients is our best nonprofit sales tool. Every church, every food bank, every foundation in Arkansas is a potential client. We are investing a small number of hours now for a document that will generate leads for years.

5

How to Sell This

Call scripts, Ad Grants pitch, objections, urgency
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Opening Calls

For CRL (CareLink) — Luke Mattingly / Michelle Gilbert
"Hey Luke / Hey Michelle, did you see the Arkansas Times article? You're quoted in it, and I want to make sure we're moving fast on the digital side. Here's what we're thinking..."

They are already in the news. They know this is urgent. Your job is to show up with a plan, not a question.
For ARA
"Did you see the Arkansas Times piece? Every AAA in the state is going to be looking to you for direction on this. We have a campaign structure that makes ARA the hub. Let me walk you through it."

ARA wants to lead. Give them the vehicle to do it.
For EAA
"The same cuts hitting CareLink are hitting you. You're serving 12 counties and right now you don't have a way to accept online donations. We want to fix that this week and build a campaign around your story. The rural angle is distinct and it's yours."

EAA may not know the article is out yet. Brief them. Then solve their most urgent problem: the missing donation page.

Pitching Ad Grants

Frame it exactly like this:

"The government just cut your funding by [specific dollar amount]. Google has a program that gives qualifying nonprofits $10,000 per month in free advertising. You qualify. We manage the campaigns for $1,000/month. Net, you're up $9,000/month in advertising you didn't have before. This is part of the campaign infrastructure, and we'd be setting it up as part of this push anyway."

Do not pitch Ad Grants as an add-on. Pitch it as part of the campaign. It belongs there.

Handling Objections

"We can't afford more right now."
There's no new cost for the campaign work. That comes from your existing retainer. The only new line item is Ad Grants management, and that pays for itself many times over in free advertising. We're not asking for more budget. We're asking you to let us use what we're already doing to respond to this.
"We don't have time to manage a campaign right now."
You don't have to. We do the work and bring it to you for approval. Your job is to review and say yes or no. We're asking for an hour of your time, not a week of it.
"This will blow over."
Maybe. But July 1 is four weeks away. The article is fresh. The news cycle is now. The 2017 Meals on Wheels moment showed what can happen when this kind of story gets amplified with a real campaign behind it. If we wait two weeks to decide, the window closes. We can always slow down. We can't get the momentum back.
"Can we really raise enough to replace the cuts?"
Probably not all of it in one campaign. But CareLink's /give/ page framing shows $45 = 1 week of meals. If we get 100 monthly donors at $45, that's $54,000/year in new recurring revenue. That's nearly half of their $120,000 cut from donors alone, not counting one-time gifts, grants, or legislative relief. We're not replacing government funding with a single email. We're building a base.

On the Case Study (Be Direct)

When you explain why we're doing some of this in-kind, be direct about it:

"We believe in what you're doing and we want to see this campaign work. We're also being honest with you: if this campaign succeeds, we're going to document everything and turn it into a case study. That case study helps us win more nonprofit clients, which lets us keep doing this kind of work. We both benefit."
📅 The article ran June 2. The cuts go into effect July 1. Every day we delay: the article gets older, the news cycle moves on, the emotional hook fades, our clients fall further behind. The urgency is built into the calendar.
6

Tracking and Measurement

What we track, reporting cadence, case study foundation
▼

From day one, we track everything. This is what makes the case study credible and what makes the campaigns better week over week.

Fundraising

  • Donation page visits (GA4, per client)
  • Donation page conversion rate
  • Total donations attributed to campaign
  • Monthly vs. one-time donor breakdown
  • Average donation size

Email

  • Open rate per email in each sequence
  • Click-through rate
  • Conversion rate (clicks to donations)
  • Unsubscribe rate

Social and Ads

  • Reach and impressions per post/ad
  • Engagement rate
  • Click-through rate to donation pages
  • Cost per click (paid spend)

Ad Grants

  • Impressions and clicks from Grants campaigns
  • Donations attributed to search traffic
  • Cost per conversion

Media and Coverage

  • Media mentions generated by pitches
  • Backlinks to client sites
  • Referral traffic from media coverage

Baseline Comparison

  • Before/after donation page conversion rates
  • Email list growth during campaign
  • Donor retention rate at month 3

Reporting Cadence

  • Weekly update to each client during month 1
  • Monthly wrap report with key metrics and next steps
  • End-of-campaign summary used as foundation for the case study
☰

Quick Reference

Roles, urgent actions, and revenue paths at a glance
Client Primary Contact Urgent Action Revenue Path
ARA TBD Campaign landing page at /save-senior-services/ Ad Grants pitch ($1K/mo)
CRL Luke Mattingly / Michelle Gilbert /give/ page crisis overlay (copy + urgency framing) Ad Grants pitch ($1K/mo)
EAA TBD Donation page — must be live in week 1 Ad Grants pitch ($1K/mo)

This Week's Must-Dos

  • 1 Account managers make opening calls to all three clients
  • 2 Get client approval to run the campaign
  • 3 EAA donation page scoped and started immediately
  • 4 CRL /give/ overlay copy written and submitted
  • 5 ARA landing page brief drafted
  • 6 Ad Grants pitch prepared for all three clients
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The window is open. Let's move.

Article: June 2  ·  Cuts take effect: July 1  ·  Days remaining: ~28  ·  Internal document only — not for client distribution.

iProv | Internal Use Only | June 2026 Campaign: Keep Arkansas Seniors Home