Let's continue to use the October Baby film as our example on building your platform through affinity groups.  Here is the synopsis of the film: 

"You saw me before I was born.  Psalm 139:16 (NLT)

As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in     college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah—unscripted—collapses in front of the stunned audience.

After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah's difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to what she then learns from her parents: she was actually adopted … after a failed abortion attempt.

Bewildered, angered, and confused, Hannah turns for support to Jason, her oldest friend. Encouraged by his adventurous spirit, Hannah joins his group of friends on a Spring Break road trip, embarking on a journey to discover her hidden past … and find hope for her unknown future.

In the midst of her incredible journey, Hannah finds that life can be so much more than what you have planned."

So the film deals with family issues, adoption, a failed abortion attempt, coming of age, grappling with a context for your life, etc…  The producers engaged eleven National Partners and a number of "Helping Partners."  Let's look at them all, starting with the National Partners.

1)  American Family Association (http://www.afa.net)…  Here is what the AFA says about themselves on their website.  

"American Family Association (AFA) a non-profit 501(c3) organization was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was pastoring First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time.  Since 1977, AFA has been on the front lines of America’s culture war. The original name of the ministry was National Federation for Decency but was changed to American Family Association (AFA) in 1988.

Today, AFA is led by AFA President Tim Wildmon and one of the largest and most effective pro-family organizations in the country with hundreds of thousands of online supporters."

The AFA has nine divisions within their organization.  One of the divisions is American Family Radio (nearly 200 stations)... http://www.afa.net/uploadedFiles/Radio/Station%20Listing.pdf

I'll assume that since the AFA is listed first in the film's credits, they are their primary national partner.  It makes great sense.  The AFA is out front on social and family issues from a Christian perspective and the film's subject matter and theme are a great fit.  AFA is a substantial nonprofit organization with a radio footprint in numerous, smaller markets.  Not only can you engage multiple divisions of the organization, but the radio stations provide a great promotional platform.

The producers were most likely thinking about the largest platform they could secure based on the film's theme.  AFA is a great choice.

Next time we'll get into the second national partner, Lifeway.