JDRF Communications Study

JDRF: A Communications Case Study Timothy Blotz
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JDRF: A Communications Case Study

How to effectively move a $1.9 million dollar
fundraiser and build a better branding
message

By Timothy Blotz

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JDRF: A Communications Case Study
How to effectively move a $1.9 million fund raiser and build
a better branding message

By Timothy Blotz

Hopes and dreams dont just live in our minds, they sometimes
hang in picture frames. At the Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter of the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation the hopes and dreams of a
cure for diabetes spill out dozens of frames sitting on desks and
hanging on walls. Almost all of them are of children. Walking past the
pictures is like walking through a crowd at the ballgame, each one
shouting a story, each one begging for someone to listen. But the
picture that doesnt yet exit is for the empty frame still boxed in the
corner. Thats the frame waiting to hold the picture of a cure. Kim
Bailey, a corporate fundraiser living with diabetes for more than 30
years envisions the frame as a picture of nothing. Lets get rid of it.
It exists no longer. Lets get it done and put ourselves out of a job.

The job at hand is to raise money to pay for research to find a
cure for type-1 diabetes, also referred to as juvenile diabetes. For
nearly forty years, the search for a cure has been supported with a lot
of dollars and a lot of prayers. The dollars buy research, the research
buys hope. In 1970, a small group of parents pinned their own hopes
on a cure and formed the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Today JDRF is the worlds leading funder of diabetes research having
spent more than $1.3 billion in the search for a cure.
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In 2008, JDRF
funded $158 million in research projects including the groundbreaking
Spring Point Project at the University of Minnesota headed by world
renowned diabetes researcher Dr. Bernhard Hering. Finding a cure or
several cures for diabetes has never been more critical.

Situation: Raising Money for Diabetes Research

Diabetes in American today is a tragic and ever changing
landscape in terms of people, costs, and healthcare. Here is the scope
of diabetes in America:

A new case is diagnosed every 30 seconds
15,000 children are diagnosed with type-1 diabetes each
yearnearly 40 each day (CDC)

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Diabetes is the single most costly chronic disease
$174 billion in health care costs in 2007 (CDC)
Kills one American every 3 minutes
Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure and new cases
of blindness (CDC)

Diabetes today is the single most costly chronic medical
disease.
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At more than $174 billion, the medical and life threatening
costs of both type-1 and type-2 diabetes are staggering. According to
the Centers for Disease Control, diabetes accounts for nearly half of all
new cases of kidney disease in the United States.
3
In 2005 alone,
more than 178,000 Americans were living with end stage kidney
disease brought on by diabetes. The disease is also the leading cause
of non-traumatic limb amputations. The CDC reports that in 2004
alone there were 71,000 lower limb amputations brought on by
diabetes. People with diabetes are also more susceptible to many
other illnesses including the current Novel-H1N1 Influenza pandemic.
4

Additionally, new research from the University of Chicago
indicates the number of Americans with diabetes will nearly double to
44 million by 2034.
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Health care costs are expected to soar.
Spending on diabetes care will swell to more than $336 billion (2007
dollars). Lead researcher, Dr. Elbert Huang says that if nothing is
done about the growth of diabetes, particularly type-2 or whats called
adult-onset diabetes, it will have profound impacts on our society.
Without significant changes in public or private strategies, this
population and cost growth are expected to add significant strain to an
overburdened health care system.

At JDRF, finding the cure for diabetes is a multi-million dollar
enterprise. Minnesotans can take a certain amount of pride that they
make a significant contribution toward the funding stream. The
Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter is charged with raising roughly $2.5
million. By far the largest fund raiser for the Chapter is the annual
Walk for Diabetes held each winter at the Mall of America in
Bloomington. It is without question the largest single day fundraising
walk in the Twin Cities. In recent years the Walk has consistently
involved roughly 500 family teams and packs the Mall of America with
15,000 people. In 2009 the Walk for Diabetes raised $1.6 million.
Only the Susan G. Komen 3-Day event for cancer raises more money
at $3.6 million.
6

4

Over the years the Minnesota JDRF chapter has seen steady
growth in revenues from the Walk for Diabetes.
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The chapter achieved
an impressive 100 percent growth rate in its second and third years,
and continued strong growth through 2001. However, for much of the
past decade revenue has flattened. In fact, revenues in 2008 were
slightly behind as the economy entered the recession.

Objective: Raise More Money

For 2010 the chapter has an ambitious goal of raising $1.9
milliona 13 percent increase from the previous year. Its a high
challenge for an organization which hasnt seen that kind of growth in
seven years, especially with an economy that is still stagnant. One
possible way of achieving this years goal is to give families and
sponsors more time to fundraise.

In analyzing the external factors affecting the Walk, one of the
glaring issues that stands out is the positioning of the Walk date at the
end of January. Since its inception in 1994, the Walk has always been
held during the last Saturday in January. There were several
important reasons for the timing. First and foremost, there is little
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competition from other events in the Twin Cities and from the many
commitments facing families. Positioned just after the start of the
New Year, families can still participate and not have to worry about
juggling schedules between sport leagues and family vacations. And,
since its held inside the Mall of America, the weather is rarely a factor.

However, many families over the years have reported that the
Walk is scheduled too close to the holidays. Many walk team captains
have found it difficult to recruit members during the weeks leading up
to the Walk and even participants have found it hard to solicit
donations during the Christmas and Hanukkah season. Likewise, even
donors have sometimes found it challenging to write another check
during the holidays, and even after the New Year when all the bills
from the holidays come due.

The Chapter staff typically rolls out the recruitment process for
the Walk eight weeks before the event. The rollout includes mailings,
and a family team event to help walkers and team captains recruit
colleagues and friends. The eight week schedule puts the rollout
during the first week in December. The staff has increasingly found
the messaging and communications campaign was getting lost in the
competition for time during the month of December. Additionally, the
Chapters corporate sponsors have found it hard to schedule
promotional time to recruit team members when employees were
taking off for the holidays and using up end of the year vacation time.
A final factor is the reality that the kick off for the Walk was very close
to the end of the annual United Way campaign.

Strategy: Moving the Walk

There comes a point in every organization where it has the
opportunity to take a step back and look at possible barriers to
success. The Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter has clearly reached
that point and has concluded that the January walk date has become a
significant barrier. Therefore it has formed a new strategy by moving
the Walk to the end of February. For 2010 the Walk is set for
February 27. This new strategy will allow the Chapter to avoid the
holidays altogether and begin its rollout during the first week in
January. In theory, team captains and families can have a more
realistic time frame in which to recruit and raise donations.

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Issues: External Factors

While the new strategy helps create a number of fundraising
opportunities, it also faces a number of clear threats. Foremost is the
state of the economy. Wall Street may have seen a bit of rebound,
but it has yet to translate into jobs and wages. While Minnesotas
unemployment rate is dropping, its still at level not seen since the
early 1980s. Fortunately, the state unemployment rate of 7.6 percent
is below the national average. In the Twin Cities where the
Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter JDRF chapter draws its most support,
the unemployment rate is 7.1 percent.
8
In terms of real people,
thats 131,149 unemployed workers. If even one in four of those are a
potential donor, theyre highly unlikely to be in a position to make a
substantial financial donation to JDRF.

Equally as challenging is the drop in charitable donations across
the country brought on by the recession. Philanthropy as measured by
the Giving USA Foundation has measured a substantial drop in both
personal and corporate giving in terms of year-to-year dollars, even
more when inflation is taken into account.
9

7

People arent just giving less to others, theyre spending
less on themselves, too, and theyve been doing it for more than a
year. Daily consumer spending as tracked by the Gallup organization
is down more than 20 percent from a year ago.
10
Historical tracking
polls show that while spending tends to increase during the holidays, it
quickly falls after the first of the year, the very time in which JDRF
walk teams will be soliciting their contacts for donations.

These economic factors are clearly well outside of the control of
the Minnesota/North Dakota JDRF Chapter, but as a whole they clearly
represent a set of challenges they would have had to met whether it
had moved the event date or not.

As this study has already outlined, the Minnesota/North Dakota
Chapter also has a unique set of opportunities. As a means of
measuring how the chapter is meeting both its opportunities and
challenges it can be useful to align them in a matrix called an External
Factors Analysis Survey. In an EFAS the opportunities and challenges
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are weighted according to their significance and then rated by how the
organization is dealing with them. The two factors are then multiplied
to end up with a weighted score that measures how well the
organization is performing.

EFAS Analysis

Opportunities Weight Rank WS Comments

Out of Holiday .3 5 1.5 Better revenue growth
Season

Little Competition .10 4.5 .45 No other major events

Mall of America .10 5 .5 Weather-proof, parking

Clear Channel .025 2 .05 Promotional advantage
Sponsorship

Advanced Auto .025 4 .1 New audience, new revenue
Parts

Drop in Charitable .2 2 .04 Cant control economy
Donations

Drop in Spending .1 2 .2 Consumer spending may drop more

Flu Outbreak .025 4.5 .1125 3rd H1N1 outbreak expected

Snow Storm .025 4 .1 Most money raised before walk

Unemployment .1 2 .2 May lead to fewer donations

1.0 3.25

Given all the external factors and weighting, the Minnesota JDRF
Chapter achieves a score of 3.25 on a scale of 5 which indicates it is
slightly above average in taking advantage of its opportunities and
meeting its threats. While such an analysis by no means guarantees a
successful walk event, it does suggest that it perhaps has the
foundation to achieve success and meet its goals.
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Tactics: New Year, New Date, New Fundraising
Opportunities.

Moving an event that 15,000 people are used to attending at the
end of the January is no easy task. It presents a unique
communication strategy and tactics in order to target and notify all the
stakeholders involved. The most important of them are the Walk
families and teams. A simple stakeholder analysis places the families
and teams in the High Power and High Influence quadrant of the
matrix, essentially meaning they are the primary audience for any
communication strategy. Of course the Mall of America is also a
primary stake holder since it hosts the event and many of its stores
open early to accommodate the thousands of potential shoppers that
appear at their doors at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The event
also relies on hundreds of volunteers to staff the check-in tables and
handle the donations, but they play a secondary role to the walkers
who are actually soliciting the donations and making an active
commitment to the event.

Stakeholder Analysis

Low Power Med Power High
Power

High Media Sponsors Families
Influence Corp Sponsors Walk Teams
MOA

Medium Vendors Volunteers
Influence

Low
Influence

To notify and involve the stakeholders, the Minnesota Chapter
began a proactive campaign in early July. Once securing the date with
the Mall of America, the staff launched a smart messaging campaign
that that included a number of elements:

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Save the date cards sent to walk team families and
stake holders in mid-summer
Front page banner on quarterly newsletter: New Year,
New Date, New Fundraising Opportunities
New date on bottom signature of all emails
January 23rd Family Kick-Off scheduled for Monster Truck
Rally at the Metrodome

The Family Kick-Off at the Metrodome is particularly unique. The
Monster Truck Rally is sponsored by Advanced Auto Parts which is the
title corporate sponsor for the 2010 Walk. Walk team families will get
admission to the truck rally in addition to instructions and materials to
help them raise money for the Walk. To avoid the holidays, mailings
on the kick-off will not go out until after the first of the year.

Evaluation

Perhaps the ultimate test of whether a new strategy and its
tactics are working is in the numbers. So far more than 100 families
have already registered for the Walk on its new date. Thats an
amazing one-fifth of its family total signing up months before the
official kick-off and registration. Granted, none of those families have
yet to raise a nickel, but the early commitment is a significant sign
that the early messaging is working to build support around the new
strategy.

Recommendations

This study has two major recommendations for JDRF on its
communications strategy and its messaging. The first revolves around
the need to build a social media presence for the Walk, and the second
involves a new kind of messaging that both the Chapter and the
national organization would be prudent to follow.

Recommendation 1.0
Social Media

First and foremost, the Minnesota Chapter needs to establish a
social media presence and that begins with opening a Facebook page.
Facebook is one of the fastest growing social media sites in the world.
It is increasingly where people want to be and its where they want
their friends and favorite brands to be, too. A recent analysis by
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Compete shows that Facebook is now reaching 60 percent of all adults
who have internet connections.
An Internet analysis for the month of October shows that JDRFs
website, www.jdrf.org had 260,112 unique visitors.
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Its reach is
dwarfed in comparison to the 123 million unique visits to Facebook and
the 23 million unique visits to Twitter. The following chart shows in
graphic terms the opportunities the Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter is
missing by not having a presence on Facebook.

Another compelling reason for the Chapter to be on Facebook is
that its free. Part of the simplicity and efficacy of social media is
letting an organizations followers and brand zealots do the messaging
for them. By having a having a Facebook presence, the
Minnesota/North Dakota chapter can involve its walkers by sharing
information with them on a medium that they are most likely already
using. In fact, at a recent JDRF research event, several families were
already asking about the Chapter creating a Facebook page that they
could share with their families and friends. If the organizations base
wants such a resource, and it costs nothing to establish, then its a
prudent measure to take.

There are several specific recommendations on Facebook:

Establish a JDRF Minnesota/North Dakota fan page
Use Facebooks non profits page as a best practices template:
www.facebook.com/nonprofits
Use the site as a platform for updated information on the
Walk, links to the JDRF Walk Central registration site
Post pictures from last years walk
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Encourage family walk teams to become a fan of the chapter

Part of the magic of Facebook as a communications tool is that
once the staff updates the site, the new information will show up on
the pages of those that have become a fan of the chapter.

An additional strategy to building traffic and brand awareness is
for the Chapter to establish a Twitter account as well. By tweeting
updates on research, Walk news, and events, the staff can add links to
drive viewers directly to either the Facebook fan page, or the JDRF
website.

Therefore, by having a chapter presence in social media it can
leverage the links to drive users to the information that they are
seeking. In the process, the JDRF Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter
has the opportunity to build a new community of followers and
fundraisers.
Want to meet other type 1 advocates in
your community? Check out our
Conversations for a Cure at Facebook
http://bit.ly/4ZmO1L about 2 hours ago
from TweetDeck

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Recommendation 2.0
New Messaging Strategy

As the Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter thinks about how to
reach its audience, this is also a fundamental time to re-evaluate how
it talks to them. At its core, JDRF exists to find a cure for diabetes.
But what does that mean to the people its trying to have a dialog
with, and how do they think about the disease and its cure?

To get a deeper understanding of diabetes and how people think
about it, this study conducted an elicitation sample of a number of
people who were directly and indirectly affected by type-1 diabetes.
The study showed not just what they think about diabetes, but how it
relates to their lives on a daily basis and how they connect themselves
to JDRF and the Walk for Diabetes.

The methodology was fairly simple. Each of the studys
participants was asked to supply a number of images that represents
how they live with diabetes and their connections to JDRF and the
Walk. The images could be photographs, magazine pictures, or
drawings. The gathered collections ranged from simple to prolific.

Madison
12 years old, diagnosed with type-1 diabetes at the age of
three.
33 images
Most notable were the seven pictures of people with sad,
expressionless faces.
Sometimes it sucks for the people who are not smiling,
because we have to test our blood sugar a lot and we have to
take medicine every time we eat,
12

Kim
Professional, mother and wife
Diabetic for 30 years
Most prominent image is of her family
If I didnt have the support of my family, I dont think I
would be able to make sure that Im eating right, exercising
and monitoring my medications so that Im still here,
13

14
Kara
16 year old son diagnosed with type-1 in early childhood
Prominent picture is of Ben taken a year before he was
diagnosed
It represents his freedom, his life before all of this started,
14

Troy
Daughter Cameron diagnosed at the age of two
Prominent picture is of a clock
From the day she was diagnosed, we lived around the clock.
We had to eat her meals at certain time, the shot regimen,
too. At 5 oclock we ate dinner. At 6 we had a shot.
Everything is calculated around the clock, and the clock never
stops.
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Toccara
Professional
Father, boyfriend, and best friend all have diabetes
Prominent picture is of a pregnant Halle Berry who reminds
her of her best friend who is diabetic and pregnant
I think it means to me that nothing is impossible, but when
you have diabetes there are a few more mountains to climb
and more challenges in doing what other people can do.
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Building a Mental Model

In relating the images to JDRF and especially the Walk, there is
a significant mental model that constructs around the concepts of
family, support, freedom, and happiness. Madison, the diabetic 12
year old said her mental image of the Walk is the support created by
the thousands of shoes at the event. She simply said, It makes me
feel like Im not alone. Similar themes came from the elicitation of
Troy who displayed a picture of her daughter surrounded by her
kindergarten class at the Walk. To me, its the epitome of support
and coming together, said Troy. Kims picture of the Walk is one of
children. They are the ones that embody the hope and spirit of
JDRF.

Ironically its one of those children, Madison, who laid out a
narrative construct with her pictures to tell the story of living with
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diabetes both before and after a cure. Neatly arranged on a piece of
paper (see appendix p34), Madison described how she would keep the
pictures of all the sad faces on the upper left side of the page and
move all the happy faces down to the lower right. In her mind, she
sees the images as telling as story as though she were reading from
the pages of a book. Her story begins with sad people affected by
diabetes at the beginning of the book and concludes with the fairy tale
ending of happy faces after the discovery of the cure.

Each of the elicitations as documented in the appendix of this
study presents their own unique perspectives on diabetes, JDRF and
the Walk. Combined, they write their own narrative for which we can
construct a model of consumer insights.

Consumer Insights into Diabetes
Diabetes is hard on families
Exceptionally hard on parents
Physical and emotional struggle for patients with type-1
diabetes
Lives are rigidly rules by medicines and machines

Consumer Insights into JDRF
Represents a means to a cure
Finding a cure means a return to innocence for our children

Consumer Insights into the Walk for Diabetes
Family
Coming together
Support
Reinforces a sense of not being alone

Additionally, the mental model map and ladder would resemble
the structure on the next page.

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Happiness Innocence Freedom

Cure

Children
Families
Not Alone Empathy
School Teams
Corp. Teams

Togetherness Support

WALK

Research Hope

JDRF

Death Complications

Lost innocence

Meters
Health
Emotional Other Medicines Pump
Ball & Chain

Burdensome Insulin Equipment

Diabetes

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From its inception, JDRF has been about research. But based
upon this new mental model, it has a unique opportunity to rework its
brand by emphasizing the social role it plays in peoples lives by
connecting diabetics and their families to a broader sense of
community. This study does not by any means advocate diminishing
the research role of JDRF. It does however see a strategic opportunity
in specifically crafting a communications campaign that attracts people
to JDRF for the very role they see it playing in their lives.

Communications Strategy
Leveragable Insight: Its about connecting children,
families, and friends

Strategy: Connection Empathy

Desired Involve diabetics Recruit new walkers
Response

Competitive All diabetics People who never walked
Frame

Customer Diabetics & Families Non diabetics who know one
Profile

Main Connect to those Support someone you love
Message who care

Rationale Speaks to diabetics Empowers people to show
who feel alone they care

Branding Messages
The elicitation study not only leads to two specific strategic
communications strategies, it also leads to a specific mental image as
to not what JDRF is all about, but rather who. Its about children.
This finding leads to an interesting paradox, since the vast majority of
people with diabetes are adults. The CDC reports that there are 23
million Americans over the age of twenty living with diabetes.
17
But
for unknown medical reasons, each year more children are diagnosed
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with type-1 diabetes than ever before. Eventually, they mature to
become part of the larger pool of adult diabetics.

For years, the public face of JDRF has been former 1960s
television star Mary Tyler Moore. Moore has battled type-1 diabetes
nearly all of her life and is loyal advocate on the need for a cure. Yet,
despite her long time association with JDRF, not a single respondent in
this study produced a picture of Moore, or for that matter even
mentioned her name. Every subject interviewed for this study instead
had in part a mental construct involving children. Holding up a picture
of her young daughter, Troy said, This is the one that brings it
home.
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In talking specifically about the Walk, Toccara produced a picture
of some children playing and commented, Its about helping children
lead normal lives.
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The images of the children are not just symbols; in almost every
respect they are tangible connections to the raw emotions that become
an important link between a familys struggles with diabetes and the
promise of help. Kara, looking at the picture of her son in the baseball
uniform needed only a simple reflection to underscore the importance
of the connection. To me, hell always be this little boy,
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said Kara.
Understanding this strong connection is one reason why JDRF needs to
critically consider making children the face of JDRF and its activities,
and not Moore.

Finally, this study also points to a strategic opportunity for JDRF
to rethink how it brands itself. Since JDRF is fundamentally an
organization that raises money to support research, its official brand
message says it is dedicated to finding a cure. While it is certainly a
true statement about the organization, this study shows it is clearly
not the core value that our respondents see in JDRF. To them, the
cure is only means to an endthat end is a return to innocence,
freedom, and happiness. Along the way, what they are really looking
for is connectiveness, empathy, and support. Therefore, the brand
needs to reflect that. Instead of a brand that revolves solely around
finding a cure, this study suggests two alternatives. The first
possible branding message responds to JDRFs core mission and what
the respondents see as its core value: JDRF: Embracing each
other by funding the cure. The second suggestion is both simple,
symbolic, and value driven: JDRF: The Cure Community. Central
in this branding message is the cure. But equally powerful, is the
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sense that JDRF if the place for people to feel connected and not
alone. Communities provide support. They also provide hope. The
JDRF community is clearly searching for a cure to return their lives to
a place of innocence.

Conclusions
In conclusion, this case study finds that the JDRF
Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter has reached a plateau in its most
successful fundraiser, the Walk for Diabetes. Its positioning close to
the holidays has proved to be a challenging time frame to generate
both corporate walk team commitments and family team solicitations
when so many people are focused on Christmas, Hanukkah and New
Years. The Chapter staff has therefore taken an appropriate strategy
change and moved the Walk to February 27th instead of the end of
January. While the change in strategy presents risks, the Chapter has
many external factors working its favor and has already proceeded
with a proactive communications campaign to notify stake holders of
the move.
To better communicate with its families, walk teams, and stake
holders, this study has two primary recommendations. The first is
establishing a Facebook Fan page and Twitter account for the
Chapter. By entering the social media world, the Chapter will have
another tool to engage and recruit families through the very media
platforms many of them are already using.
The final recommendation is for the Chapter and JDRF as a
whole to broadly change how it is branding itself. This study finds a
disconnection between the core mission of JDRF and what many of its
stakeholders see as its core value. The elicitation study finds that
people affected by type-1 diabetes want more than a cure. In the
case of JDRFs main fundraiser, the Walk for Diabetes, they clearly see
it as a means of support and empathy. Their strongest mental
metaphors of diabetes are children and the innocence thats
represented in their faces, a mental picture thats clearly the opposite
of the real life struggles they face in managing type-1 diabetes.
These revelations therefore create an opportunity to build a
communications strategy to more effectively recruit both diabetic and
non-diabetics to the Walk to raise money for a cure. Finally, its also
reveals the need to re-brand the organization to better reflect not just
what JDRF does, but how it relates to peoples lives. In holding the
picture of her son, Kara said, This is our hope and our hard work that
together we will find a cure.

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1
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fact sheet, www.jdrf.org
2
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fact sheet, www.jdrf.org
3
Centers for Disease Control, National Diabetes Fact Sheet, p10
4
Centers for Disease Control, Diabetes and Flu Information, www.cdc.gov/diabetes/news.doc.flu
5
Journal of Diabetes Research, December 2009, p2225
6
Susan G Komen financial audit, 2008, p33
7
JDRF-MN/ND Chapter
8
Minnesota Dept of Employment and Economic Development, October 2009
9
Giving USA Foundation, 2009 report, p3
10
Gallup, Inc. Weekly Economic Report, Nov. 24, 2009
11
Compete.com
12
Appendix, p22
13
Appendix, p25
14
Appendix, p27
15
Appendix, p28
16
Appendix, p30
17
CDC, National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2007, www.cdc.gov
18
Appendix, p28
19
Appendix, p31
20
Appendix, p27

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Appendix

Diabetes Elicitation: Madison
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Madison is a 12 year old girl who was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes at the age of 3.
She is insulin dependent and wears an insulin pump 24 hours a day.

33 Pictures

7 images of people with sad, expressionless, or scowling faces

Sometimes it sucks for the people who are not smiling, because we have to
test our blood sugar a lot and we have to take medicine every time we eat.

Some people are staring, like, Youre kidding? But all of them dont seem very
happy.

More images of Sad people
I dont think many people like having it.
Its not like taking a walk in the park. Its like being the care taker the dinosaur
museum, you have to make sure you dont want to bump into statues and ruin them.
You dont want to have a high blood sugar and become sick, which can make you
throw up that way.

4 images of people with happy, smiling expressions

We can still be happy we can still do fun things like go to camp.

2 pictures of insulin pumps and a dinosaur. The dinosaur represents the old
pumps and how big and clunky they were.
o The pumps represent one of the three options you have to insulin:
pump, shot, pen
o Madison calls her pump a Pixie. (small fairy) Its small, light, and
can do lots of stuff.

6 pictures of food
o All high card foods: rice, honey, beans, lasagna, sugar, cookies, pop
tarts.

The pop tarts are like 80 carbs.

I put them down because we have to bolus, or give shots for it. Either way we have
to take insulin.

I have animal crackers and blueberries, because thats what we want to eat when
were low. And sugar because thats basically what we want to stay away from all
the time.

1 picture of Blood

Because we have to see blood every day.

4 pictures of glucose meters and insulin pumps
o Represent the machines it takes to keep her alive.

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2 images of New Mexico, state flag and Lovelace Hospital where Madison was
diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 3.

2 pictures of shoes.
o Represent the JDRF Walk

Because thats when we raise money to find a cure, and lots of people come.

1 image of the Target logo
They support the Walk. They usually have a lot of walkers, like all in red.
Everywhere we go when we walk around the Mall of America, you see people in red
from Target.

Most important picture
Picture of the JDRF Walk T-Shirt

Because that was part of the T-shirt we got when we walked for diabetes
and there were many, many, many people there and raised a lot of money
for research, and it makes me feel like Im not alone.

What picture best represents the walk?
She chooses the T-shirt picture again.
Because it has the JDRF logo even though, you need a magnifying glass to
see it.
Image has many shoes which in her mind signifies lots of people

Because it means there are going to be many people coming out to support
us.

Are there any pictures that represent JDRF?
Profile picture of woman with kind of a blank expression in the lower right
central portion of the collage

Shes kind of in between.
Because shes like sad and happy at the same time, and theyre trying to
make it better by raising money to find a cure, so we can be happier
knowing that we are like five million dollars, or even one cent closer to a
cure.

Shes happy because were trying to get there and sad because its kind of
annoying to have to watch out for yourself all the time.

How does participation in the Walk change any of these images?
It makes people happier

Is there a picture that youd like to the Walk to become?
Madison points to picture of smiling woman

Because shes really happy knowing that were closer than we were at he
beginning when we started.

24
I think were close because were tried to transfer eyelet cells from pigs into people.
That might work and it might not.

Regrouping pictures
Madison would have groups all the sad people on the left and all the happy
people on the right. And may the pumps and meters in the middle.

Like when you start a book thats the beginning and that the end.

She clearly sees this as a story, a story that begins with sad people affected by
diabetes and one that ends with happy people are living free of diabetes.

JDRF: Our Story of Happiness (Happiness through research) (Research building
stories of happiness) (The Science To A Cure) (The Cure Community) (Driven to
Cure) (Funding the Cure, Finding the happiness)
Diabetes Elicitation: Kim

25
Kim is a professional woman who is an insulin dependent type-1 diabetic and has
lived with the disease for more than 30 years. Her brother is also type-1 and has
suffered serious health complications including kidney failure and vision loss.

5 pictures

Picture of strawberries
o Needs to be fresh; stays away from as much processed food as
possible
o Helps with management of her diabetes

Picture people exercising
o Critical to her management of the diabetes

Walking, running, biking, every single day is an absolute necessity.

Picture of an insulin pump
o The tools that help her manage the disease

Picture of pills
o The additional medications Kim now has to take as she gets
older

Ive never been one to get upset over being called a diabetic or having that
label because it doesnt define who I am, so this is just a tool to help me
manage it so I dont have to really think about it.

Picture of Mike and Madison (Husband & daughter)
o To represent family and the support she gets from them for
fundraising and disease management
o It becomes a family issue

Most important Picture?
Family

If I didnt have the support of my family, I dont think I would be able to
make sure that Im eating right, exercising and monitoring my medications
so that I am here.

It really didnt occur to me until about seven years ago that I would even
be around to see Madison married. You know, because Ive had it for over
30 years. And there are certain complications that come out after a certain
amount of time. So, as I was growing up and there were no glucometers
and there were certainly no insulin pumps and there were none of the tools
to help me best manage my disease, I didnt think I was going to be around
that long.

Pictures are represents something of a fear component knowing that she
may not be in the picture some day

Kims brother who also has type-1 has already had a kidney transplant and
eye surgery
Diabetes Elicitation: Kim

26

Its the choices that you make and I choose to eat healthy and exercise
and take my drugs so that I can erase that fear.

Picture that represents JDRF?

The picture that would represent JDRF is a cure, and I dont have a picture
because there is no cure right now. But I believe a secondary picture would be
one of hope because I believe that JDRF is going to be the one that finds a cure.

Picture of the WALk
Pictures of the kids

They are the ones that embody the hope and the spirit of JDRF.

Picture of what you want JDRF to become?
How about a picture of nothing? Lets get rid of it. It exists no longer. Lets get it
done and put ourselves out of a job.

In terms of the walk, a picture of an empty Mall

Diabetes Elicitation: Kara

27
Kara is a professional woman whose teenaged son is an insulin dependent type-1
diabetic.

3 pictures

Picture of Karas son Ben taken the summer before he was diagnosed at 7
years old.
o Picture is of Ben in his baseball uniform, bending over and hold tying
his shoe
o Ben is 16 now

To me its innocence and youth, and carefree.

It represents the days before the constant struggles and battles. Its emotional to
me.

It represents his freedom, his life before all of this started.

You dont know how precious this is until something happens in life.

And I wish for him to have that innocence back and not feel the burden of
having diabetes.

To me hell always be this little boy.

2
nd
picture of an insulin pump
o Ben went on a pump on January and its been a life changing
experience for him
o It represents the freedom from shots

3
rd
picture of the JDRF logo of tennis shoes
o this represents the Walk
o This is HOPE
This is our hope and our hard work that together we will find a cure.

Which Picture is most important?
The hope for a cure

Picture she could not find?
Looked for a picture of a ball and chain
o Represents what diabetes must feel like to a person who has it.

I Hate that he doesnt feel as good as he should feel and I dont know if he even
knows what normal feels like because hes always high or low, or cranky.

Picture or image that best represents JDRF?
The sneakers

The cure ties in with the hope of the return to innocence and freedom, so in
a way maybe all three of these pictures represent that.

Diabetes Elicitation: Troy

28
Troy is a professional woman whose teenaged daughter is an insulin dependent type-
1 diabetic. She feels incredible weight and responsibility for her care and health and
struggles to manage the constant attention the disease requires.

4 pictures

Picture of Daughter, Cameron
o Diagnosed with diabetes at 2 years old
o This picture was taken when she was 8 years oldshes now 15.

It was that promise that I made to myself when she was diagnosed that I
would do everything I could to be able to look at her in the eye one day and
say I did everything I could to take care of you.

Second picture of Cameron with her first grade classmates and their walk
team-Camerons Coalition
o Her friends gathered around her to recognize her

Its just how having he diabetes has made her special among her peers and her
peers have supported her. How her school has supported her and the journey that
shes gone through.

Picture of a Clock
o The clock has been significant in so many ways

From the day she was diagnosed, we lived around the clock. We had to eat
her meals at certain times. The shot regimen. At 5 oclock we ate dinner. At
6 we had a shot. Everything is calculated around the clock, and the clock
never stops.

I can never look at the clock and not think about how it pertains to her diabetes.

Camerons volleyball picture
o Picture is both a triumph and a struggle. Its a triumph because she is
able to play sports; but a struggle because of all the extra work that is
involved.

If people understood what she has to do to play a game of volleyball. People take it
so for granted. Shes my hero for all that she has to do, even in and out of sports.

Most important picture?
Picture of Troy and Her Daughterits the one that keeps her going.
This is the one that brings it home.

Is there a picture or image that represents JDRF?
The picture of her classmates

It serves as the mechanism to create and support the coming together for
that reason.
Diabetes Elicitation: Troy

29

Is there a picture that symbolizes the walk?
A picture of Camerons kindergarten class at the Walk. All bright, smiling,
happy faces.

To me its the epitome of a Walk team and support and coming together.

Is there a picture of what youd like JDRF to become?

Diabetes Elicitation: Toccara

30
Toccara is a professional woman who does not have diabetes, but her father is type-
2 and suffers from complications of his diabetes, her boyfriend is type-2, and her
best friend is type-1 and has struggled to maintain her health and get pregnant.

9 images

First image: picture of a pregnant Halle Berry on cover of InStyle magazine
o Represents her friend Becky (Bex) she was diagnosed with diabetes at
8 years old. Shes had many complications and take medication for
her liver. So getting pregnant was a real big deal for her. Took her a
year of regulating her blood sugars before she could get pregnant.

Diabetes is a part of her but its not who she is.

At this point and time I think a lot of people think of diabetes as if you have a cold,
They dont really think about the hard impact it has on your life and your body.

For this picture, I think it means to me that nothing is impossible, but
when you have diabetes there are a few more mountains to climb and a
more challenges in doing what other people can do.

Image of child with crank in her back
o Represents the work of parents to wind up their children

Its a lot of work to get them functioning again and wind them up. Its one thing to
figure out why their child is not feeling well, and what it is. And once you do figure it
out, then its trying to figure out what is the right amount of insulin, and is it a shot
or can your regulate it with a pill, and its a process to get them wound up and going
again, to be themselves.

Picture of pill bottles
o Represents all the medicine it takes to keep people alive

There isnt a cure right now so anyone who is type 1 or type 2, the majority
are on some sort of medication, very few can moderate it with just diet.

For diabetics its never ending. Theres not a cure right now. Its always
there in their future and in their past.

Picture of older man with cut line I never thought it could happen to me.
o Represents her dad who was diagnosed four years agohasnt taken
care of himself.

Even with Diabetes people think you need to eat different and regulate your blood
sugar. People dont really understand how your whole body functions.

Picture of smiling womanlooks completely healthy. Cut line says The
Journey to Healthy.
o She likes the cut line, because is an ongoing journey to take care of
yourselfits an ongoing battle


31
Dana Tores picture: Olympic swimmer who looks great and beat the odds by
getting on the Olympics team at 40 years old

I think diabetics are that way too. They dont let one little thing that is a
part of them hang them up. They get through it and do a lot of things.

Picture of a child off by himself in a crowd of playing children.
o It signifies being different, not part of the crowd

Picture of fat child.
o Represents how obesity leads to type 2 diabetes

Most important Picture
Picture of pregnant Halle Berry
o Reminds her of the extreme health challenges and difficulties
that face diabetics

Groupings
Group 1: Halle Berry Pix: Health Challenges
Group 2: Old man: It can happy to anyoneespecially type two if you dont
take care of yourself
Group 3: Medicine bottles: Health insurance and health care issues

Missing Picture
Could not find a picture of a family

Its not an individual disease. Whether youre a child with siblings, or youre
married, or an adult counting on your parents or siblings if you get sick, it touches
everyone.

Any images relate to JDRF?
Image of the pill bottles which signifies medicine and research

You cant go to your doctors office and expect a cure. You cant do it with cancer,
you cant do it with diabetes. If youre going to improve health care, you have to
look at these bigger reasons that are impacting a huge population. Do you just
manage it, or are you trying to find a cure? If youre into this cause, youre looking
for a cure.

Does JDRF help resolve some of these images for you?
No

As a national organization, I think that there is still too much disconnect. I dont
know that what happens at the local level always filters up. I dont think it also
works in reverse. And I think if there was a little stronger ties to that, those
stronger ties and a stronger network might accomplish a little bit more.

On the Walk
The picture of the children playingits about helping children lead normal
lives.
Would choose a picture of a family or a community, because it
symbolizes coming together

32

Picture what youd like to see JDRF Become
Picture of Dana Tores (40 year old Olympian)
Success that you can achieve

It says, heres what I am. Heres what I can become. I can still be what I want to
be. If I work hard and figure out what works for me I can do it.

This is something she knew she could do and just went for it. [JDRF is the same
waythey know they can do it and the have to keep trying to find the cure]

JDRF Communications Study

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JDRF: A Communications Case Study Timothy Blotz

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