HELPING A SMALL AGENCY FIND A BIG VOICE

The Challenge: A non-profit agency in North St. Louis sought to build awareness among potential donors and strengthen its bond with volunteers and board members.

Gift income had been sliding for years. The agency had limited resources to appeal to potential and existing donors. Operating out of a desperate need for income, little attention was paid to communicating with those who could help.

Board member participation was limited. Meeting attendance had been falling sharply for a long period of time. Each board member had their own understanding of agency goals and objectives. The agency drifted in search of leadership and a unified approach.

The Solution: We drafted a plan to communicate more effectively with potential donors and to increase volunteer and board member participation.

- To communicate more effectively with potential and existing donors,we worked with agency leaders to devise a number of key messages and to maintain consistent messaging across each of the agency’s communications vehicles.

- We created an electronic newsletter that includes links to additional information on the agency’s website. The electronic format is efficient because it saves the agency postage expense and because original recipients can forward it to their friends and colleagues.

- To increase volunteer and board member participation, we recommended a board retreat where board members worked together to develop goals and objectives.

- To strengthen the bond between the agency and the board, we sent a weekly email to board members, highlighting agency activities and successes and inviting them to participate in programs.