Objectives


 * Objectives**

The Foundation has set clear objectives for the Friending the Finish Line project. For the Foundation to consider the project a success, grantees and the technical assistance team will deliver the following concrete outcomes.

**A Peer-to-Peer Learning Community** Finish Line grantee organizations will engage in peer discussions about integrating social media effectively into their advocacy work. As with the Finish Line, the Foundation is committed to the idea that grantee organizations can learn from each other – from challenges and missteps as much as from accomplishments and wins – so success means organizations sharing both.

**Social Media Integrated Into Organizational Communications** Grantee organizations will have institutionalized social media skills and strategies and integrated them into their broader strategy for communications on children’s health. Social media practices are just that – they get strong and stay strong with practice – so success means consistent application. But smart is as important as strong, so success also means deliberate integration of social media strategies with the organization’s broader children’s health communications plan.

**Grantees Use Facebook to Accelerate Advocacy** Grantee organizations will have strategically used Facebook to advance their children’s health communications and policy objectives. If grantees reach the policy and communications objectives they have set for their Facebook efforts and want to explore a second social media channel, the project will support efforts to integrate other channels into the organization’s children’s health communications strategy.

**Purposeful Measurement to Inform Practice and Impact** Grantee organizations will measure what matters. Social media are loaded with metrics to track changes in users’ online networks and communications. But not all metrics are equally valuable, and choosing the measurements that matter can be complicated. The Foundation sees this initiative as a social media pilot that includes measurement to help organizations improve practice and results, and document value. Success means using metrics effectively, both to identify obstacles and track progress.