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Venture 2 Impact, in partnership with Sage, supported Care for Friends in developing a comprehensive marketing and engagement strategy. Previously lacking a dedicated Marketing and Communications department, Care for Friends relied on their Executive Director to manage these tasks. Volunteers conducted a discovery analysis, developed a content strategy, and presented recommendations to improve their marketing efforts. The project aimed to increase visibility, donor engagement, and volunteer participation. As a result, Care for Friends reported saving significant staff time and costs, with an expected benefit to over 15,000 people within three years.
Venture 2 Impact partnered with Sage– a dedicated community partner with an established foundation, clear & strategic impact focus areas (Fuel for Business, Tech 4 Good, Protect the Planet) and ongoing volunteer programming– to support the Care For Friends Program in developing a marketing and engagement strategy.
Care for Friends (formerly the 530 Fullerton Foundation) provides easy access to community, food and overall wellness for Chicago’s most vulnerable and under-served people, in an atmosphere of dignity and respect. Through its programs, the Foundation successfully connects people with community resources to enable them to achieve a better quality of life. These include a hot lunch program, foot clinic and health screenings, toiletries and hygiene program, grocery delivery program, as well as a clothing program.
The Foundation upholds a vision of shaping a future where access to food, housing, and healthcare is the reality for all. As a community hub, the Foundation’s mission is to tackle Chicago’s food, housing and healthcare crises through an all-inclusive, no questions asked approach to providing easy access to critical resources. They aim to earn the trust of our guests and break down the barriers preventing them from connecting to the services they need.
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Prior to the skills-based volunteering project, Care For Friends did not have a dedicated Marketing and Communications department or staff person, nor did they have an established Marketing and Communications plan. This role is largely filled by the Executive Director in addition to the many other tasks that the ED is required to undertake in their day to day. Without the staff capacity to dedicate the adequate time and resources to their online presence, including their website, Care for Friends staff feel that they have not been able to scale their organization to the extent that they would like or meet the standard of organizational professionalism that is expected of a growing organization.
In the past, their website has been used to attract interested individuals, including volunteers, donors and beneficiaries as well as provide them information about their organization. However, the current sign-up process for volunteers is very “clunky” and requires multiple steps to complete. For example:
Care for Friends has also made connections and eventually received larger donations from corporate partners after their corporations have engaged in an employee volunteer initiative. Because many of their donations from corporations are given as a result of a corporate volunteer program, Care for Friends relies heavily on the ability to spread awareness of volunteering opportunities in order to receive larger donations which support overall operations of the organization. Furthermore, Care for Friends aims to see an increase in the number of individuals who not only open the emails but also proceed to actively engage and take further actions, such as purchasing tickets.
The volunteers began by conducting a discovery analysis of the organization’s existing marketing and communications strategy, if any, to understand the current framework and identify areas for improvement. Concurrently, they engaged with Care for Friends staff to gain deeper insights into the organization and its target audience.
With this foundational knowledge, the volunteers developed a content strategy aimed at educating new donors about Care for Friends’ mission and impact. This strategy also focused on engaging current donors and volunteers by sharing success stories and updates on the organization’s achievements.
The team then presented their recommendations and a journey map to improve Care for Friends’ marketing and communications strategy. Based on the decisions of Care for Friends staff, the volunteers also supported the implementation of these recommendations, ensuring that the organization could effectively communicate its mission and engage its audience.
Immediate outcomes (1-2 weeks post-project)
Intermediate outcomes (6 months post-project)
Care For Friends staff reported that they have “already shared (the deliverables) with (their) Programs Manager and Development Committee so that (they) can leverage what was produced”.