CHALLENGE: The Census Bureau conducts dress rehearsals leading up to each Decennial Census. In 2008, the two communities selected were San Joaquin County, CA and Fayetteville, NC. Both represent a cross section of the nation with Hispanic and Asian residents, military bases and hard-to-reach low-income communities. The Census uses the dress rehearsal to test plans and processes for communications activities in the field. Participation is the biggest challenge Census enumerators face within these communities.

SOLUTION: The objective was to encourage Census participation by pointing out the advantages to the community of a full count. Without proper counts, the Census reports show that the community requires less government support than what is actually needed and as a result, it loses its voice. The "Leave Your Mark" campaign vividly demonstrated this reduced funding through the truncated images of school buses and fire trucks.