(
How do I start an Awareness Badge and cause program?
Learn how to initiate a campaign, choose a cause, and design awareness badges.
Have you seen pink or blue badges in neighboring communities, or on social media, and it got you thinking about starting an awareness campaign in your department? Awareness badges are unique to public safety and using that platform to support a cause is a morale booster for your department. Awareness badges are also a visible signal to your community of your care and understanding of a cause.
The decision to wear an awareness badge starts with you and your department identifying a cause to rally around. We will outline some tips to get started at your department level and then discuss awareness badge design and ordering decisions as well as important timelines. An important consideration for cause campaigns and the wearing of an awareness badge is how these programs are typically funded. If you and your department are ready to start, the first step is figuring out the cause that brings all of you together.
Choose Your Cause
Is there something that impacts you or your department personally? Was there something that happened in your community? A cause is a show of support either for a set of social beliefs, philanthropy for a cure for a disease, or something directly linked to what you experience at work, like interaction with a person on the autism spectrum. A cause campaign in law enforcement is often sparked by one officer asking if he or she can wear a special badge to support a fellow officer, or family member, or to bring awareness to departmental training to support a cause, like autism awareness. Your department will typically also fundraise for a charitable donation to an organization that matches your cause.
Choose Your Charity
This is an optional step but choosing a charitable organization to support through personal fundraising can be a part of your decision-making process. Typically, there are large national organizations and mid to small-sized organizations doing great work for a cause. Sometimes there are even very local, community organizations where you could offer fundraising support, which builds further ties to your community.
By purchasing a pink or blue Awareness Badge from Smith & Warren, a percent of those proceeds will be donated to a charitable organization. We donate 10% of Awareness Badge proceeds to causes. Our pink badge breast cancer donations go to National Breast Cancer Foundation and our blue badge donations go to ASGO Autism Awareness First Responder Training Program.
The Department Chief will Authorize the Wearing of an Awareness Badge
The decision to align with a cause and wear an awareness badge is a departmental decision. The idea might start with you or one of your fellow officers, but your Department Chief will authorize the wearing of an awareness badge. Your Department Chief will also set the dates to wear an awareness badge, which typically coincides with the dates of the awareness month. If you choose an awareness campaign to support someone in your department, the wearing of the badge can be a morale booster for your entire department. Coming together to support a cause is an example of “doing well by doing good,” which is the definition of an awareness campaign.
How Do I Design and Order Awareness Badges?
Similar to designing a personalized badge, awareness badges are fully customizable for you to design in your cause color in VisualBadge. Wearing pink in October to support breast cancer fundraising and awareness is the most well-known “color + cause” campaign. Using a pink badge as an example, an entirely bright pink powder-coated badge makes a very visible statement. This full-color badge style will stand out on your uniform and people will take notice. You can also take your current badge style and “pink” the elements if a powder-coated badge isn’t right for you. This means pink enamel in the lettering and perhaps a pink ribbon center seal.
Custom badges typically take 4-6 weeks to make and your awareness badge is custom! You want to start wearing your awareness badge at the start of the cause month, so start the design process well before the start date. At Smith & Warren, we want you to take note of two deadlines for future planning. For pink badges, the ordering deadline is the end of July to ensure delivery by October. For blue badges, which are for Autism Awareness, the ordering deadline is the middle of February to ensure the badges are ready for April.
Funding an Awareness Badge and Cause Campaign
Purchasing an awareness badge is optional for you and your department’s officers. These programs are typically personally funded, not department-funded. The individual purchase of badges can include an additional donation to a charity, should your department opt to do so. You will want your community to see your brightly colored awareness badge. This allows you to answer questions about their meaning and talk about the charity your department is supporting through personal fundraising.
Rallying together around a cause brings your department together and provides an opportunity to bond with your community
Review Your Awareness Badge Options
At Smith & Warren, we have many options available to customize and design in both pink and blue finishes. Take a look at our gallery for design ideas. We can also design badges for other cause campaigns, like purple for domestic violence, or show you examples of police departments that sponsor multiple causes. Our ordering process is quick and easy, but don’t forget to put our deadlines into your plans! Our sales team is available to answer any of your getting started questions.
Recommended Topics in our Learning Center
Why do departments wear Awareness badges?
Why wear blue badges for autism awareness?