Seton Shrine

Content Campaign

Media Relations

The Challenge

The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton sought to use the 200th anniversary of the passing of the first native-born American saint to re-introduce her to Catholics and lay people, help boost its first-ever capital campaign and drive visitors to its sprawling campus in Emmitsburg, Md.

The Approach

D+P organized an intensive 10-month campaign using traditional media, social media, influencers and content in unique ways. This campaign had several components that complemented each other. One was a steady stream of journalistic-quality stories about aspects of Mother Seton’s life and the spiritual and historical programs at the Shrine. These stories appeared on the Shrine’s website, in fundraising emails, and were used directly by Catholic media outlets. As part of a five-part video series on Mother Seton’s life and spirituality, we enlisted prominent Catholics to write companion pieces with each video and print package distributed worldwide by Catholic News Service in an agreement we originated. We also proposed, negotiated and helped produce a 30-minute documentary about Mother Seton that appeared on Salt + Light TV, a national cable TV network in Canada. In addition, we organized two media events related to a special exhibit at the Shrine’s museum that resulted in extensive local and national Catholic media attention and a Facebook Live event with a prominent historian and Seton biographer.

The Results

The media campaign resulted in dozens of stories on EWTN TV, EWTN Radio, Sirius/XM, Salt+Light TV, Catholic News Service, Catholic News Agency, National Catholic Register, The Catholic Pillar, Aleteia and other Catholic outlets around the country. D+P’s efforts also resulted in several features in the Frederick News-Post and on Baltimore TV stations. Attendance at the Shrine increased, and the capital campaign surpassed its goals.

Coverage