2023 Arbor Day Campaign

Every year, the last Friday in April marks Arbor Day — the namesake holiday of the Arbor Day Foundation and one of the organization’s most visible moments of the year.

Throughout the entire month of April, the marketing team leads a large-scale, multi-channel campaign designed to celebrate Arbor Day, increase national awareness, grow social audiences, and drive engagement around the Foundation’s mission: planting trees where they are needed most.

As Lead Social Media Manager, I directed all organic social strategy and execution across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, TikTok, and LinkedIn. I also led coordination with corporate partners and a newly developed network of vetted influencers to expand campaign reach beyond our owned channels.

*This campaign later received the PRSA 2023 Paper Anvil Award of Excellence.

The Ask

The Arbor Day Foundation wanted to:

Increase national awareness of the organization as the largest and most trusted nonprofit dedicated to planting trees
Drive meaningful engagement across all social platforms
Expand reach to new, younger audiences
Activate corporate partnerships in a visible and measurable way
Make Arbor Day feel participatory, not passive

In short: turn a holiday into a viral, mission-driven movement.

The Idea

We built the campaign around a simple, scalable mechanic:

For every #ArborDay used on social media during Arbor Day week, a tree would be planted through a corporate match partnership.

This did three things strategically:

Gave everyday users an easy, zero-barrier way to participate
Increased organic reach and relevance through user-generated content
Connected awareness directly to tangible environmental impact

To expand reach beyond our existing audience, I activated a newly established network of vetted influencers and strategic partners to amplify the hashtag campaign and introduce the Foundation’s mission to new communities.

The campaign goal: 100,000 uses of #ArborDay in one week.

Execution

Influencer Activation

Developed and distributed campaign kits featuring branded merchandise and a clear call-to-action card explaining the hashtag match.
Partnered with vetted creators aligned with sustainability, lifestyle, and education audiences.
Provided campaign guidance while allowing authentic creator voice.

Partner Amplification

Mobilized our network of planting and corporate partners to co-promote the campaign.
Supplied shareable assets and messaging prompts.
Created collaborative content opportunities across platforms.

Owned Channel Strategy

Delivered a mix of engaging, educational, celebratory, and data-driven content throughout April.
Built momentum leading into Arbor Day week.
Inserted the brand into relevant Earth Day and environmental conversations in real time.
Actively engaged with trending topics and other brand accounts to increase visibility and discoverability.