The Izaak Walton League is known for its environmental mission. However, it has been difficult to expand their audience among members of Generation Z (born between 1996 and 2010). For a capstone project at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia, we created and began a public relations campaign in the fall of 2024 that serves as a blueprint to help the League grow and continue its endeavors by gaining followers, volunteers and interest among college-aged students in this cohort.

The League wanted to focus on students’ knowledge of and interest in water pollution, and specifically, chloride pollution caused by excessive use of road salt to treat icy pavement and nitrate pollution, which contaminates water through runoff from agricultural lands and leaking septic systems.

Based on our research and the client’s goals, our campaign aimed to expand the League’s audience to Gen Z college students 18-to-25 years old because of the generation’s strong pro-environmental attitude and draw towards political advocacy. George Mason University was a good test base to understand how this audience prefers to engage, what messages resonate best and their understanding of water pollution.

Over the last five years, evidence has mounted to show that this demographic is highly involved in multiple forms of activism, especially political activism among as many as 70 percent of this group, which represents approximately 14 percent of the national population. They are consistent users of social media such as Twitter/X, TikTok and Instagram.

Reaching this target audience can be challenging. They are not as in tune with traditional media as other audiences. They opt for online resources instead of traditional sources such as print and are difficult to pin down in terms of their interest and attention.

Starting with research

Our 10-person team interviewed League staff and conducted secondary research to understand the organization’s goals. We also fielded a survey on campus to understand students’ attitudes on water pollution. When asked what type of action they would be most likely to take to tackle pollution, the top choice was changing their own behavior. That ranked higher than monitoring water or taking policy action. The most common motivation cited by respondents was achieving better health. The main obstacle to taking action was lack of time.

The overwhelming response from participants was that they were hindered from participating in water testing due to an uncertainty in how to get involved. A lack of knowledge about relevant water testing organizations was the second most common response. Most students reported that they would be best motivated by personal and community health concerns. Half of the respondents said that they would be extremely willing to change their personal behavior (e.g., using less road salt or lawn fertilizers) in order to help reduce water pollution. Four out of five students reported that they had no knowledge of any practices on the GMU campus to prevent water pollution, which is an opportunity to fill that gap.

Also the survey revealed that most participants believe the main cause of water pollution is point-source water pollution, in other words, pollution from a specific point, like a pipe, with visible discharges. Only 14 percent could identify the source for their tap water.

We used all of this data to draft measurable objectives, strategies and tactics for our campaign.

Goals for the campaign

Our campaign features four main goals with supporting objectives:

Increase awareness about water pollution and contaminants

• Educate college students (18-25 years old) about potential water contaminants, using George Mason University as a model.
• Increase awareness of the water pollution issue by approximately 20 percent among the target audience over the course of the next year.

Inform the audience about how they can help protect clean water

• Host an educational event within the year to facilitate sharing information among the target audience (GMU students).

Influence the audience

• Influence 20 percent of the target audience that interacted with our campaign to change personal behavior that can help reduce water pollution by this year’s end.

Motivate the audience to participate in water conservation

• Motivate 10 percent of the target audience to personally participate in water conservation efforts over the course of this year.

An on-campus campaign

Our awareness campaign employed a variety of media to reach students. We conducted a social media campaign on Instagram where we presented authentic, visual content made in vlog style (video blog) that generated positive responses and engagement.

We successfully pitched a story to campus media and had an article published in the George Mason student newspaper, the Fourth Estate, with over 300 views, and had an interview with Jared Mott, the League’s conservation director, on the Mason Cable Network. The article and interview covered basic information about the sources of water pollution and steps that volunteer scientists can take to reduce salt and nitrate pollution in their waterways, including the League’s hallmark programs Save Our Streams, Salt Watch and Nitrate Watch.

Another tactic was direct student outreach where we held an in-person event at the GMU Johnson Center in November with participation by Maggie Dombroski, the League’s Mid-Atlantic Save Our Streams Coordinator. Thanks to the high level of foot traffic, we reached about 100 students in a three-hour time span, gave out 70 Salt Watch kits and signed up 24 students to the League’s e-newsletter.

Emotionally compelling, visually engaging

By combining emotionally compelling language with visually engaging content, this campaign aimed to inspire action, raise awareness and foster a deeper connection between the audience and our campaign’s mission. Our approach emphasizes clarity, relatability and action steps ensuring that every message, whether in person or online, motivates our target audience to participate in water conservation efforts.

In our flyer advertising our GMU kiosk to discuss the Izaak Walton League, we decided to use a more exciting verbal message of, “come find out what is in your water,” because we found it to be more appealing than saying “come to our table.” The team explored ideas that would get students’ attention and draw them to the kiosk.

Results and recommendations

Through outreach at our event, university news and social media, our team observed a high level of interest in taking action against the harms of water pollution. These results show a promising starting point for the future of clean water programming on the George Mason campus and suggest that more outreach with other universities will help to benefit the League’s future advocacy partnerships with younger generations.

Young people are the backbone and future of environmental action and, therefore, a valuable target audience for the League. Our team strongly recommends that the formula of research, conducting events and providing informative content be repeated for other universities to increase water pollution awareness among college students. We also recommend that the League continue its presence at George Mason University, based on the high level of student interest. Altogether, this PR campaign points to a blossoming interest among students in the fight for clean water.

Top photo: The authors conducted research and crafted a comprehensive communications plan working with GMU professor Barbara Burfeind and League staff who posed with the students. Credit: GMU.