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Nonprofit strategy | Communications | Digital marketing | Fundraising
We help you breathe easier.
Whether you’re local or international, grassroots or institutional, we always begin the same way: by asking the right questions, carefully listening, and building a deep understanding of who you are and what you want to achieve.
Let’s go
further, together.
We’re at our best when we’re working hand-in-hand with organizations that are open, collaborative, and want to make real change happen.
Not-for-profits
The value of consultation and communications is clear to not-for-profits and charities, but the constant demand for financial resources and diverging needs can put a strain on organizations.
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Foundations
Foundations play a critical role in supporting the hard work of the charitable and not-for-profit sector. Modern foundations are taking advantage of technology and new processes to be more effective and maximize their social impact.
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Institutions
Long-standing organizations must balance different priorities in a shifting landscape while maintaining their strong cultural heritage as pillars of society.
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Mission-driven businesses
More and more businesses are turning the classic business model on its head and thinking about sustainability and social profit first.
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Scott Mission
Case study
Scott Mission
2022 Christmas & Thanksgiving Campaign
A non-denominational Christian charity with a mission to serve the needs of the community, Scott Mission has a variety of programs that offer support and provisions for the homeless, low-income families, and children and youth. From childcare and food banks to a safe place to sleep, Scott Mission plays an integral role in supporting Toronto’s community.
The Campaign
From words to impact: How Scott Mission used communications to feed more people
Scott Mission’s year-end campaign, aimed at drumming up support for their mission, proved that effective communications can inspire action.
57% more impressions
259% surge in YouTube Ad views
416% spike in social media post impressions
These outstanding results weren’t simply a stroke of luck or the product of business as usual. This was about Scott Mission stepping outside of their comfort zone to tell their story in a way that matters, in a way that inspires action. Their campaign became a blueprint for future fundraising efforts: tell forward-moving stories that show donors exactly how their support can directly impact an entire community.
The Challenge
Scott Mission had undergone a major rebrand, and they came to Phil ready to saturate the upcoming campaign with a new look.
Their organization was also at a communications tipping point: they wanted to rewrite the narrative around poverty from pity messaging to empowered storytelling. They wanted to shout it from the rooftops: it is possible to maneuver through a difficult socio economic situation if you have the right tools and a compassionate support system, like Scott Mission, by your side.
Once they decided how to share the message—on buses, bus stops, in newspapers, and on social media—it was Phil’s turn to come up with the strategy and overall look and feel of the campaign.
We started with the most important step: identify who we want our message to speak to. In order to reach our target audience, adults aged 35 and older (with a skew towards women), we went with bold messaging and eye-catching visuals. We anticipated this audience would closely empathize with a mother and her child, so Scott Mission asked a consenting family – one who had used Scott Mission’s services in the past – to take part in a photoshoot.
Phil then crafted the bold tagline “Hunger is not a choice, giving is”. Using such frank messaging coupled with the image of a hungry mother and her child immediately caught the attention of our target audience. It made it hard for them to turn away; the campaign made them feel the need to help. Another plus of the campaign is that Scott Mission will be able to reuse or adapt the tagline “Hunger is not a choice, giving is” for upcoming year-end campaigns, building brand awareness for their mission and multiplying engagement each year.
The Nationalpost.com ad delivered over 2.8 million impressions!
The Toronto Star ad delivered 57.9 million target audience impressions not to mention they were long-lasting: 47% of Saturday Star readers recalled seeing Scott Mission’s ad.
Newspaper ads
Youtube video
To complement the static images, Phil also provided artistic direction for a YouTube video. Our overall strategy was to face the public with an undeniable, resonating fact: We all need food, and end-of-year celebrations bring that need to the forefront.
Subway & Bus posters
The results
Phil is proud to have worked alongside Scott Mission on this campaign. Together we learned to take risks and commit to producing braver, more impactful communications, and the results show it:
Donation revenue increased in December 2022
The ads we created together complemented their other typical fundraising efforts, like direct mail and e-blasts.
Starting with strategy paid off
We were so proud to see such a fruitful campaign come to life, providing an opportunity to repurpose the messaging for holiday campaigns down the line (if it’s not broken, don’t fix it!). This provides cost savings to the organization; they do not have to reinvest in new creative every year.
Experiment with creative communications and the data doesn’t lie
People are drawn to hope-infused stories above harmful pity narratives. Show people how to take action that directly, and positively affects their community, and they will do it. People hold relatable stories close to their hearts, and feelings drive action.
Scott Mission’s powerful campaign proves that when we feed hearts with hope and pointed action, we can truly feed more people in need.
Discover
Visit scottmission.com for resources, information, and more.
Donald Berman Maimonides Foundation
Case study
Donald Berman Maimonides Foundation
The Background
The Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre Foundation (DBMF) significantly contributes to the well-being of Québec’s aging population by funding improvements in the Centre’s services and facilities and advancing research in geriatric care. They believe that every resident should benefit from innovative geriatric care and live a life of dignity and well-being.
Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre is home to 387 residents, living with late-stage dementia and/or other illnesses which are primarily aging-related. The long-term care facility, affiliated with McGill University, is located in Cote St. Luc, Québec and part of the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network (CIUSSS) for West-Central Montreal.
With government funding being limited to basic health services in Quebec’s long-term care facilities, the pressure is on healthcare centre foundations to fund services that go above and beyond the minimal requirements established by political will. The pandemic only highlighted the inadequacies of systems that don’t strive for innovative gerritric care across the country. The work of foundations like DBMF became all the more important in order to quickly respond to the emergent needs of older people living in an unprecedented health crisis.
Traditional in-person fundraising became impossible given public health restrictions and the urgent transition to digital became essential in offering seniors access to programming that immediately improved their well-being.
Only 20% of nonprofits consider themselves “leaders and innovators” in adopting digital avenues for fundraising, communications, etc.
The Challenge
The Foundation’s board of directors recognized the need for modernization and improving digital communications. Unsure they would be able to take on such an all-encompassing task outside of their wheelhouse, the small team knew they would need guidance on optimal website creation, email marketing, and social media posting. Their donor relations had always been on a one-on-one basis, and the thought of doing outreach on a scale of one-to-many was a daunting transition!
The Foundation’s web presence was buried deep within an outdated government website. The content was out of date, the site was difficult to navigate, and difficult for the staff to update regularly. They were not accustomed to using an email marketing system, nor were they consistent in updating social media on a regular basis to engage with their audience and drive fundraising. In fact, they had many social media accounts that were started for different initiatives, but each were not very active and lacked strategic focus.
The branding of DBMF was relatively clean and well recognized, however their signature events had very little visual correlation to the Foundation therefore very little brand recognition.
Phil’s challenge was to make the Foundation part of the 11% of nonprofits reporting digital effectiveness, train their team to be comfortable with new tools, and increase online donations while reaching a younger, wider audience through the web.
Fundraising will become more difficult unless nonprofits change the ways they approach both donors as well as data. Recent studies have shown that donor retention has been consistently going down and a big part of that is while technology is getting better at communicating, fundraisers aren’t using the technology in ways that make a meaningful connection with their donors. The organizations that invest in smart usage of their data will buck the trend of retention and grow their missions significantly.
Tim Sarrantonio
Director of Business Development, Neon CRM
The Solution
Phil and DBMF worked together to accomplish the following projects:
- Website audit & planning
- Brand improvements & stationery updates
- Donald Berman Maimonides Foundation and Jewish Eldercare website makeovers
- Online donation forms using an automated fundraising platform
- Email marketing strategy and training
- Social media strategy and training
We started with a brand perception survey to get the lay of the land. It was wonderful to hear all the feedback from the board and staff. It gave us great insight on how to position the Foundation going forward and how to make the different brands come alive.
We didn’t need to do much with the main brand, but we did recommend DBMF start using English-only and French-only logos when appropriate instead of always using the bilingual version, which was too cumbersome. We also developed new logos for each of the three signature events, creating a unified look and feel throughout.
Event logos before
Event logos after
The website audit proved to be a worthwhile exercise as it allowed Phil’s team to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of their current site while identifying opportunities for the new one. The audit provided insights on user behaviour and a clearer picture of the new site navigation budget required for the makeover.
We worked on creating a simple-to-navigate, fully accessible, and mobile-friendly website including revised content, new brand elements, and a new online donation platform.
With email marketing, we started from scratch. We analyzed the donor database and helped DBMF create segments. We set up their Mailchimp account, imported contacts, established branded templates, and helped them launch their first campaigns. We provided training so not only could they update their website on their own, but they also were able to take care of sending their email campaigns according to their newly created marketing calendar.
For the Foundation’s social media, we consolidated their accounts and created a month-by-month calendar with overarching themes that tied back to their ongoing initiatives. With this social media calendar in place, the door opened for DBMF to proactively schedule relevant posts and deliberately time campaigns to reach their target audience.
We provided training sessions for the staff to teach best practices for community management and how to grow the online audience.
The Results
DBMF is receiving half a dozen online donations a week since launching their new website, and the numbers are growing.
The Foundation has made getting involved easier for their donors and volunteers. With their brand improvements in place, they can cohesively advertise annual events and keep stakeholders in sync under the recognizable logo. They are now leading online conversations and keeping new supporters invested in their organization and mission through posting regularly on Facebook and Instagram: their audience has grown by 45% since the beginning of 2022, and they have seen a 965% increase in reach.
DBMF is now proactive in their outreach and the communications manager is able to easily prepare the content in advance of deadlines. The Foundation’s narrative is more human through better writing on their website and in their emails, providing more compelling videos and images. In their email communications, they effectively showcase their work with other organizations and collaborations across their sector that foster a positive impact in their community and highlight their innovative solutions.
Making the investment of going digital proved to be a game changer for both the staff and the organization as a whole. Every transition is fraught with uncomfortable moments that need to occur in order to blaze new horizons. This Foundation is proof that all you need to do is take that first step in a new direction for the real journey to start.
It was our lucky day when we discovered Phil. We were looking for a digital media small shop consulting firm because our Board of Directors was very firm with me, it was time to go digital in a big way. We were mid covid-crisis and now was the time to jump.
The truth is I was dragged kicking and screaming to the cliff until I met Kim Fuller. She had me very early on in our interaction. I was impressed by her calm attitude, her creativity, her vision and most of all the team she has assembled. They have pushed hard when they had to and together we are well on the road to integrating digital strategies in all that we do. They listened intently and provided us with exactly what we asked for. That is the secret sauce that is Phil!
Karen Flam
Director, Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre Foundation
The Unscented Company
Case study
The Unscented Company
Community Engagement Program
The Unscented Company, a B Corporation (B Corp) based in Montreal, redefines the notion of clean by offering a full line of natural home and body care products that are exclusively unscented, efficient, and designed to reduce plastic and water by offering refills and solid options. Since November 2011, Anie Rouleau, Founder and CEO, has been working with her team to help people and businesses adopt a more sustainable lifestyle by changing their consumption habits and raising industry standards.
The Situation
The Unscented Company (TUC) works hard to ensure all aspects of its business are conducted in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way.
While the leadership team was being socially responsible by volunteering in their communities, this core value wasn’t evenly distributed throughout the company. As a B Corporation, companies must recertify every three years and are asked to look at what they have improved on when it comes to their environmental and social impact.
So looking to level up in the area of community engagement, TUC turned to Phil for guidance.
The Challenge
“We were giving away a lot of product donations,” says Halina Torresan, TUC Sustainable Marketing Director. “We frequently receive requests for donations and we just said ‘yes’ all the time. At one point, we felt our impact was diluted.”
The Solution
Phil offered TUC a multi-faceted, community engagement package.
First up, Phil created a workshop for TUC employees to unify them in the what, why, and how of volunteering as a team. Phil also researched possible partner charities from a variety of sectors that aligned with TUC’s values and presented the options. A Giving Tuesday brainstorm and action plan was also developed to better target their monetary donation strategy.
The Results
Phil created various materials to help these organizations implement their strategies and fundraising campaigns.
The first year, because of COVID, the team couldn’t volunteer in person, so they began the partnership with a Giving Tuesday donation. Every year since, TUC has donated 5% of its Black Friday sales to Share the Warmth, which is included in its wider yearly program of donating 0.5% of total company sales.
In the second year, TUC evolved the program to also include monthly product donations and consistent volunteer hours. Once a month, Share the Warmth picks up $1000 MSRP worth of products from the TUC warehouse, and one or two TUC employees make their way to the not-for-profit headquarters to help out during the busy opening hours of the food bank. And in 2022, TUC designated one employee to manage the entire volunteer program.
While monetary and product donations are easy to maintain and are now a natural step in TUC’s day-to-day, ensuring recurring volunteer hours over the long term for Share the Warmth is the tricky part.
“We’re still a small business, so sometimes having too many people out of the office or warehouse at once is challenging,” says Halina. “We haven’t found the perfect recipe yet, but we’re committed and we want to be the best partner we can.”
The real success of the program is in fact this true partnership.
“The fact that we’ve committed to one organization is the best thing. We put all of our energy and our donations in one place and see way more impact!”
Halina Torresan
TUC Sustainable Marketing Director
“It’s a well-rounded giving back program. We liked the idea that they wanted to be part of our team of volunteers. It means a lot to work with people who understand our reality.”
Stephanie Taillon
Share the Warmth Executive Director
Most TUC employees use their 20 hours of company-paid volunteer time for Share the Warmth, and even one TUC ambassador also chose to volunteer. Plus, throughout the partnership, Share the Warmth offered a “lunch and learn” to TUC employees, an award to the company, and included TUC in some of their marketing and communications materials.
TUC ambassador
Pier-Anne, TUC volunteer & award recipient
Share the Warmth award
“Phil helped us outline a simple, clearly outlined, and straightforward program,’’ says Halina. “The next step is maintaining our involvement and creating even more value for our community.”
The Unscented Company’s Volunteer program for Share the Warmth
Between 2021 and 2023, 357 volunteer hours were dedicated to Share the Warmth.
The Unscented Company’s monetary and product donation program for Share the Warmth
Discover
Book a call with Phil to learn more about our community engagement services.
Our vision
We believe in a world built on a foundation of social, moral, and environmental responsibility.
We all have an obligation to leave the world a better place.
We became a certified B Corp in 2017 as a way to measure, improve, and communicate our positive impact in the world.
At Phil, we have decided to adopt the goals set out by the United Nations as a way to build a better world for people and the planet by 2030.