Become an Ad Council Campaign

The Ad Council creates public service advertising campaigns with the help of the nation’s leading advertising agencies (who donate their creative talents and energy) and the media (who donate valuable ad space and time).

Each Ad Council campaign is sponsored by a national non-profit organization or a federal government department/agency, which funds the production and distribution costs and serves as the "issue expert." 

The Ad Council works closely with the advertising agency and sponsoring organization throughout the process to develop a fully integrated PSA campaign.  This three-year effort can include consumer research, production, media outreach, public relations, social media, mobile programs, website development and in-school programs.   On average, an Ad Council campaign receives $30 million in donated media per year.  In 2009, the Ad Council garnered an estimated $1.5 billion in donated media on behalf of its entire docket of campaigns.

The Ad Council does not:

• Distribute PSAs that are already produced (or we do so under very special circumstances);
• Accept campaigns that raise unrestricted funds for an organization;
• Accept campaigns that are intended to solely brand an organization.
  

Here’s the basic criteria for official Ad Council consideration:

• The sponsor organization must be a private non-profit 501(c)3 organization, private foundation, government department or agency (or coalition of such groups).
• The issue must be non-commercial, non-denominational, non-partisan, and not be designed to influence legislation.
• The effort must be national in scope.
• The issue should be such that advertising can make a difference and offer a solution through individual action(s).
• The issue should be of sufficient seriousness to warrant donations of space and time by the media. 
• Applicants must have three years of full funding identified, and one year (minimum) in hand, in order for the application to be considered.

While we do not pay for media time or space, nor the creative resources of the ad agency, there are certain hard costs associated with creating a multimedia, national campaign.  We ask for a minimum of a three-year commitment to cover these costs which include research, production, distribution, media monitoring and fulfillment (website, toll-free number, etc).  Both the Ad Council and our industry partners leverage our relationships to deliver our campaigns at a significant discount.  

Depending on the issue and target audience, we will consider smaller, more targeted efforts on a case-by-case basis. 

Please see our Complete Selection Criteria. You can also visit our FAQs section to learn more.

Finally, please review the Ad Council’s Information Kit, which provides a greater understanding of our model and application process and these FAQs.   In addition, before beginning the application process, please contact Danna Kulzer, the Ad Council’s Director of Nonprofit and Government Affairs, at 212-984-1905 or dkulzer@adcouncil.org.