Sarah R Moore Nonprofit Communications

2012-01-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

I’m delighted to announce that as of January 2012 I have joined Mission Minded as Senior Strategist (www.mission-minded.com). This allows me to continue my work on brand strategy while stewarding clients through the entire communications process, whether it’s updating a website, creating new donor materials, or simply clarifying key messages. Please note my new contact information below.

I fell in love with the nonprofit sector while working on marketing and communications for pro bono clients as Management Director at DDB Worldwide. I began my nonprofit communications practice in 2005. Since leaving the private sector, I have helped clients apply strategic clarity to long-term planning as well as communications strategies/plans. This work is critical to effective development and fundraising. After all, how can we ask people to support our nonprofit if we don’t know how to articulate succinctly who we are, what we do and why it matters?

When not working with clients, I conduct workshops for places like CompassPoint and the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership. I also facilitate workshops within organizations to bring staff and Board in line with the organization’s goals.

Currently, I am on the Board of Children of Shelters, a nonprofit that supports children living in or being served by San Francisco’s transitional shelters. I also serve on the Marketing Committee for Mission Dolores Academy in San Francisco, and am an active volunteer/advocate locally for children’s education.

Below are some examples of my past work. Please contact me to discuss your nonprofit's particular needs.

Contact Information:

sarah.moore@mission-minded.com

415.420.2403

Building a Brand From Scratch

2011-09-10T17:14:00.001-07:00

How do you define the brand essence of an organization when the organization doesn’t exist yet? This was the challenge we tackled when the Alliance for Girls was born. A group of highly motivated Executive Directors, from a variety of disciplines, knew that a coalition was needed to support organizations supporting girls. But who were they? What did they stand for? Together, we built a coherent mission and strategy to triumphantly launch this organization, including the brand values and signals that would reinforce their strategy.

Reaching Strategic Clarity by Finding the Organization's Promise

2009-09-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Advocates for Environmental Human Rights was struggling for people to understand its mission: Was it a human rights, legal or an environmental organization? Through stakeholder interviews, workshops with their staff and a hard look at what was the driving force for this organization, we were able to pull the threads together to create an understanding of how to engage people outside the organization with a succinct and colloquial brand promise. This impacted the organization on many levels -- in making the tough programmatic calls when funding faltered, or when CNN interviewed the ED and she was able to articulate the organization’s work with renewed clarity. She states: "The clarity of the brand promise became a touchstone for our organization against which we continually check ourselves."

Giving a Stronger Sense of Purpose to Brand Identity

2009-09-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Using the Brand Promise process, I worked with several colleagues on a visual identity overhaul for United Religions Initiative, an ecumenical nonprofit that “is a collective force for understanding and positive change.” Yet, their materials did not reflect this progressive and global interfaith organization. We worked to develop new identity pieces that are now being incorporated into annual reports, e-mail blasts, newsletters and, just recently, URI’s website.

From Strategic Plan to a Thriving Communications Platform and Plan

2009-01-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

Working with Breast Cancer Action, we developed and activated the communications plan that would immediately support their recently completed strategic plan. We developed an overarching brand promise and then outlined key constituencies and developed appropriate communications strategies by program.

Communications Strategy Development

2009-01-08T16:28:00.000-08:00

Recently, I worked with the Contra Costa Child Care Council to re-shape their communications strategy - 25 years after the organization was founded. Through a series of trainings and workshops, we revised the organization's communications strategy in a way that even the most polarized members of the staff and board understood and embraced it. The Communications Director reports "My team is pleased to have a clear story that shapes everything we do." This strategy is now being rolled into fundraising and program materials.

Translating Great Strategy to Results-oriented Marketing Materials

2009-01-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

With my private sector background, I have been stewarding, creating, and editing marketing communications materials my entire career. I often work with a non-profit's existing resources or will tap into my own network of writers and art directors to develop outstanding communications. In this instance, I worked with Children of Shelters and DDB Worldwide (pro bono) to develop an outdoor campaign to raise awareness of the organization. By choosing to raise awareness of homelessness as a children's issue (most people think of the homeless population as single men and women), we knew the impact would motivate people to act- and to give. This outdoor campaign generated a significant increase in donations to COS as well as press coverage by the SF Chronicle and KTVU.

Marketing Plan Evaluation

2008-03-02T13:48:00.000-08:00

Sometimes organizations have a marketing plan in place but are not sure it is as effective as it could be. Or it's not yielding the results they need. Based on years of writing and analyzing the effectiveness of marketing plans, I will evaluate the marketing plan based on the needs of the organization. This involves working with the marketing people in the organization and sometimes the Board in a half day/ one day session. This involves identifying clear marketing objectives ("what do we want these dollars to do?"), making sure you are talking to the right target audience, and finding that target in a way that's as cost efficient as possible. If needed, I can continue working with the organization to develop and execute a revised plan.

Recently, I reviewed a plan for a non-profit that was spending $10,000 on advertising. In identifying their marketing objectives, we concluded that their target resided in a single Bay Area county. Yet they were buying media that covered the entire Bay Area. We revised the plan to reflect the proper goals and deliver the right audience- at about 1/3 the cost.

Strategic Planning

2008-02-24T16:24:00.001-08:00

Often, we get so focused on "staying afloat" that we're not looking down the road beyond the next end. For a non-profit, this kind of thinking- strategic planning - is critical to sustaining the mission of the organization. Working with the key influencers of the organization , I conduct a series of half-day meetings to help articulate the organization's goals for the next 3-5 years. We then write a plan that articulates exactly what needs to be done to achieve these goals. This helps reinforce the mission and purpose of the organization but also informs them as to what activities need to be done now to keep the organization strong and vital down the road.

My last project of this nature was working with a school that found itself at an important crossroads: they had built a small reserve of capital and were unsure for what it should be used. With so many needs clamoring for attention, we stepped way back to examine the school's strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities. This, coupled with a strong understanding of the school's mission, allowed us to decide where to focus the energy of the Board and its community to ensure the long term vital success of the school.