The Challenge
Coronavirus temporarily shut the doors of West End House Boys and Girls Club. As many schools and agencies serving young people posted lists of at-home activities people could do at home, West End House wanted to create something more interactive for youth and more responsive to the needs of families. They had a vision for re-creating their programming in an online environment, but needed support to get staff quickly up to speed on delivering programming virtually. They also needed to market a massive new food delivery program while staying connected with young people and families via their mobile devices.
Collaborators
Visionary, agile, and outside-the-box Executive Director who was ready to nimbly respond to the crisis.
Tech-savvy leadership team who were invested in maximizing safety while building a high-quality virtual program.
Creative and committed youth program staff with great ideas for creating programs that would be interesting to children and teens.
Communications and fundraising staff who had all the right tools but were not accustomed to using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok to drive traffic to their website.
My Contributions
Partnered with Executive Director to understand her vision, identify research needs and craft a detailed action plan.
Identified audiences, messaging channels and selling-points for online clubs.
- Parents: Best reached via email and facebook – need help keeping their children engaged and learning despite school closures.
- Club members (youth): Best reached via Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok – bored at home and missing favorite staff members.
Developed an outreach and marketing plan, including website, email and social media strategy to complement hi-touch strategies such as phone calls to young people and families.
Re-purposed the previously-static, brochure-style front page of the website to introduce four “tiles” highlighting the most important announcements or information for families, students, volunteers and donors.
Adopting the in-house team’s preferred design tool (Canva) to set up a brand kit, offer branded communications coaching and develop design standards for social media posts and web graphics.