East Fork Professional Firefighters Association
East Fork Professional Firefighters Association represents the professional firefighters of the East Fork Fire and Paramedic Districts. They currently protect more than 750 square miles and 54,000 residents in Douglas County Nevada.
In 2016, EFPF hired IPSM to assist with community and district relations during a time when the organization was struggling to retain quality members due to the district’s uncompetitive wage structure and benefits. The district was losing quality firefighters and paramedics to other regional agencies that had significantly better wages and benefits. After a successful contract negotiation to become a competitive agency within the region in early 2017, the association was thrown into another situation in which they did not have enough personnel active in the district – causing many of the members to be “forced” into extra shifts to make sure the daily needs of the community were met.
After a series of public information requests, social and public relations campaigns, the negotiations team was able to negotiate more personnel to be hired to help ease the strain on the members.
Today, Douglas County community perception of the EFPF members is extremely positive. At the end of 2019 and into early 2020, the members had increased their outreach into the community through end of year food donation events, donating coats to children in need, as well as raising over $32,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by hosting a series of “stair climb” events around the county.
In challenging economic times and a politically unfriendly climate, EFPF is fighting for safety standards equal to National Fire Protection Standards including adequate personnel coverage for emergency response, pay commensurate with regional fire districts and the training required to encourage firefighter/paramedics to live and work in Douglas County, updated equipment and apparatus, and upgrading fire stations from their decades-old original carpets, kitchens and bunkhouses.
SERVICES: Public Awareness and Media Relations, Social Media, Website Management, Public, Community and Government Relations, Event Planning
WHAT WE DO
IPSM has assisted with two wage/benefit negotiation cycles that have resulted in a more competitive wage structure, increased benefits, and an increase in personnel that has significantly increased satisfaction among members and helped with retention. Currently, IPSM manages all the EFPF social channels, public relations, political campaigns, internal communications, and surveying of membership, as well as community events and fundraisers.
Social media: Since taking over the association’s Facebook page, they have enjoyed a 379% increase in page fans, and in just the last year have had 72,544 post engagements (195.23% engagement rate), and 651,389-page impressions. We run seasonal PSA campaigns on their social channels to ensure the community is up to date on ways to stay safe, as well as important updates on local incidents happening in the area.
Community Outreach and Fundraising: IPSM manages all marketing and public relations for EFPF’s community outreach and fundraising efforts. Annual events include “Stuff the Boot” events to raise funds for Operation Warm to provide warm winter coats for local children in need, raising money for the local community food closet to make sure those needing food in the community can be fed, as well as participating in the annual Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Firefighter Stair Climb, an event held at the Columbia Center in Seattle, WA.
EFPF has participated in the LLS event for the past 8 years, raising over $80,000. In 2019, they raised over $12,000, which had been their best record. For 2020, they were determined to double their previous year’s amount and set their goal at $25,000. IPSM planned multiple community events, including a 12 hour party at a local business where EFPF Stair Climb team members took turns climbing on Stairmasters. The marketing plan for the event included multiple press releases, social media, fliers in the community, videos showcasing the team training, local partnerships with businesses and organizations, and multiple live video streams the day of the event – which resulted in a reporter reaching out to us during the event to do a live interview for the evening news. The EFPF team exceeded their original goal for the 2020 LLS Climb and raised over $32,000.
