Case StudiesCase Study #1:Company Builds Dormitory for Children in Orphanage With ZERO Cost to the Ministry and Exceeds Their Fundraising Goals by 21% in the Process. Mamma Jeanne’s hands are never empty. She lugs heavy water jugs from the pump to bathe dusty, hot children. She stirs the steaming pot of thin corn porridge over the smoky fire. She bends to hug a smiling child clinging to her brightly colored cotton skirt. Mamma Jeanne’s hands are never empty. But her bank account is never full. And her orphanage is over flowing with more children than can adequately be housed. Yet, Mamma Jeanne never says no to an orphan needing a place to stay. All are welcome and she loves and provides for each the best she can. When Hubbard Copywriting and Design found out about Mamma Jeanne’s desperate need for additional shelter, they decided to put their marketing skills to work. Who could look at pictures of these raggedy, hungry children, owning nothing in the world, and not be moved? Many of the children lost their parents and other family members to AIDS or the civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo where they live. Mamma Jeanne is their last hope. The overcrowded orphanage, the only place they have to call home. The goal for this project was to raise $15,000, to build a dormitory for eighty children. The first step in the plan involved writing letters and designing a website, poster and other graphics to educate people about the plight of these children. A youth group pledged to take up weekly offerings on behalf of the project. Several anonymous benefactors gave sizable donations. A group of women dedicated a week of their lives to bike down the Oregon Coast, collecting pledges from their friends. The second stage of this fundraising venture required more copywriting, postcard and poster designing, a press release and other advertising. A local church donated their facility, a local band donated their talent, and a benefit concert and dessert was staged to raise both awareness and funds. At the end of the project, nearly $20,000 was raised—almost $5,000 more than the projected goal. This money was raised without any cost to the ministry caring for the children. With the surplus money, the needed bedding was purchased for the dormitory with enough funds leftover to pay the wages of the staff that had gone without pay for 6 months.
Case Study #2Thanksgiving Dinner for the Homeless Carries on Tradition for a Local Ministry. For the homeless and low-income people helped by The Father’s Heart Street Ministry, a big highlight of the cold, rainy fall is the annual Thanksgiving Dinner. For one night, they get to forget their plight and enjoy the comforts of a home cooked meal with all the rich foods they don’t otherwise get to eat. Nobody leaves hungry! In the fall of 2006, The Father’s Heart needed to find a bigger facility to house their overflowing stash of clothing, sleeping bags and household goods. A warehouse was found that would allow expansion for the ministry, and the moving date set for November. Moving the mid-sized warehouse to a much larger one would tax the scant holiday crew to the max, leaving no time for holiday preparation. There was no way the ministry could plan for and carry out the annual Thanksgiving dinner with the move happening at the same time. Yet, pushing the move to a later date was impossible. After much brainstorming, it was decided the holiday meal would need to be cancelled. The air was thick with disappointment as volunteers broke the news to the homeless men and woman who’d been waiting for the long anticipated event. Once Kerrie Hubbard found out about the cancelled meal, she went to the director of the ministry with a plan to offer a Thanksgiving meal to the hungriest homeless clients. Getting the go-ahead, she organized a crew of financers, cooks, bakers, and van drivers to re-create a lavish Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings and hand deliver them to the homeless on the streets. Kerrie assembled the crew with their prepared dishes, set up an assembly line to package the meals in Styrofoam to-go boxes and stacked them in ice chests to keep them warm. The ice chests were loaded into vans and more volunteers went out to the streets to deliver the home cooked, hot meals to happy recipients. The modified Thanksgiving dinner was a huge success and saved The Father’s Heart hundreds of dollars by having all the food purchased, cooked and donated by outside help. Not only were the homeless treated to a home cooked holiday meal, but also the ministry was able to focus on the task of moving to their new facility right on schedule.
Case Study #3:Music Company Learns How to Toot Their Own Horn A young, vibrant and up-and-coming music company attained some local success, but was frustrated that they were going in so many directions. They were having a hard time deciding the scope of their business, what they did, and what they offered. As a result, they were scattered and stretched thin. Even though they had incredible talent and enthusiasm, they hadn’t achieved the success that should have been theirs. When Hubbard Copywriting and Design began working with them on a marketing campaign, it became evident that this group, although highly talented and motivated, was trying to accomplish too many DIFFERENT things with their company and was unsure of what their true vision really was. Over the course of several meetings with the music company’s owner, Hubbard Copywriting and Design helped hone the company’s brand, the scope of their services and their goals. They immerged stronger, more focused and excited about their new brand and vision. With this narrowed focus, Hubbard Copywriting and Design crafted a direct mail campaign directed at a very specific market and walked them through some essential marketing steps. As their notoriety increased, new opportunities began flowing. Soon they were doing the things they REALLY wanted to do and were able to pick and choose the jobs they wanted to be involved in.
Case Study #4:Steppin’ Out For Youth Brings Both Short and Long Term Financial Gain Youth Outreach had been in business for over twenty years, helping troubled youth. They ran thirty-two group homes and crisis residential centers all over Washington State. Over the years, however, with the loss of government contracts and the tightening of surplus monies YO dwindled down to only 3 homes in one city. The days of glory were over and they struggled to keep their head above water. Although the youth were fed and sheltered, funds for recreational outings and supplies were very limited. The office also struggled to pay their staff and keep the administration running smoothly. Kerrie Hubbard met with the Director of Youth Outreach and presented a plan to help bring money into the organization. One part of the plan involved securing long-term donors by resurrecting the long abandoned quarterly newsletter and campaigning to get the word out about who Youth Outreach was and what they were doing. The second part of the plan involved more instant gratification for the staff and youth by planning a walk-a-thon to raise money for extra curricular events and expenditures the the ministry’s tight budget wouldn’t allow. In order to excite the staff about the event, it was decided that each home would be allowed to keep 100% of the money they raised to use at their specific location. Also, the home raising the most money would be treated to a pizza party for staff and residents, to celebrate the accomplishment. With homes pitted against each other in friendly competition, thousands of dollars were raised. Each home spent the money in ways that would most benefit their particular program, buying basketball hoops and other sports equipment, taking the youth on special outings, and buying need-specific items for each home and it’s residents. In the end, revenue was brought in quickly for the staff to use on a practical ground floor level in the program. Money was also brought and sustained through the newsletters that re-established Youth Outreach’s donors with what the organization was doing and why.
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