case study
Nonprofit Communications Strategy
The challenge:
Conceive and direct creative campaigns and brand marketing strategies for nonprofit Every Mother Counts.
The result:
A strategy that tripled audience size and engagement, while also doubling online revenue year-over-year–for three years straight.
the challenge
Growing a dedicated audience that takes action consistently
With well-known founder Christy Turlington Burns and a record of strong policy advocacy under its belt, Every Mother Counts had the foundation for widespread community engagement in 2019, but lacked a strategy for mass engagement and online fundraising.
At its core, the nonprofit needed a unified brand voice across digital channels, full revamp of social media and website strategies, new online engagement opportunities, and fresh storytelling that would resonate with everyday people who were ready to become advocates.
step 1
Analyzing the landscape to craft strategy
To ensure strategy aligns with results, the first step was conducting an audit of all digital channels and audiences. This involved the nonprofit’s website, social media, email marketing, and all internal high-touch contact pathways.
This discovery period yielded a strong set of recommendations that contributed to full communications and digital fundraising strategies, which were implemented gradually over several seasons.
Step 2
Transforming a crisis into impact
The strategy was initially planned around a 10-year anniversary milestone, with content set to premiere at a donor gala in May 2020.
Then, COVID-19 hit. The maternal health landscape changed drastically overnight, impacting every factor of work.
Suddenly new mothers in the U.S. were afraid to go to the store to buy diapers. Pregnant people were forced to give birth alone in hospitals. Maternal healthcare workers faced uncertainty every day.
Despite the unknowns, we saw this as an opportunity for impact. By listening to the nonprofit’s community-based partners’, we leveraged our new communications framework to respond to community need by fostering a platform for digital connection among mothers, and leverage this new position for ongoing and deepening engagement.
Step 3
Implementing a content strategy that met the moment
Drawing on the data from discovery and best practices, we immediately positioned the nonprofit’s communications channels to act as a trusted platform of information and connection.
Society was learning new things daily about how COVID-19 affected pregnant and postpartum people everyday, contributing to a atmosphere of fear. To combat this and scale impact, we built a ‘COVID-19 Maternal Health Resource Hub’ on our website, which was promptly shared by major news sources and generated new leads. This remained a top referral page on the entire website for more than a year.
We then transformed Instagram and Facebook into platforms of storytelling and connection. Mothers felt alone, and we made sure they knew that they weren’t with rich storytelling, user-generated content, and a variety of opportunities to take action and support maternal health and mothers.
Spotlight: Social Campaigns
The user generated content (UGC) campaign #MaternalHealthHeroes gave struggling parents a chance to share their stories, and to connect with others’ while living in isolation. This campaign kicked off the organization’s largest audience growth in history, nearly tripling in reach and followers over 5 months.
Step 4
Making emails and website work together.
Knowing email was still a cornerstone of digital fundraising, we revamped the website and email marketing strategies to flow together.
These marketing tactics increased email open rate by 154%, and grew email donations exponentially.
results
performance indicators
Key results for Every Mother Counts
We added nearly 50K more IG followers in the first 3 months.
Revenue from new first-time donors tripled in our first campaign season.
After 3 years on strategy, revenue from a single campaign grew from $100K to $1.6M.
A lasting legacy
The strategy implemented in 2020 kicked off three steady years of growth for the nonprofit.
Staying on as director of all communications and storytelling, additional strategies, campaigns, films, and messaging enabled healthy and steady growth.
In 2019, EMC’s total revenue for the Mother’s Day campaign season was $112,509.
By 2022, at the end of our third year leading Communications and Marketing efforts, that number was $1.6 million
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