Case Studies

Here are just a few detailed case studies that describe our work.

Capital Hospice: How One Nonprofit Got
More than a New Name

Challenge. When The Hospices of the National Capital Region came to Promoting Public Causes, Inc.™ with a need to launch their new name, Capital Hospice, it was clear that the task at hand required careful planning and the engagement of all of the organization’s key audiences. With seven office locations across the Washington DC area region and hundreds of staff and volunteers, getting the word out to internal and external audiences in an effective and timely fashion was top priority.

What we did. PPC organized an internal group of stakeholders to help lead the project. Next, we drew upon the goals for the new brand identity and name to develop core messages to describe the organization’s new identity. Messages were audience-focused and helped to explain the purpose and value of the new name. Throughout the process, engagement of staff and leadership was paramount to the success of the effort. We created a launch plan that detailed ways the organization was going to introduce its new brand image to staff and volunteers across the region as well as external audiences such as media, funders, and constituents. Finally, we held an internal launch event for staff to celebrate the change in the organization, and we assisted with getting the word out to external stakeholders through mailings and media outreach.

Results. Capital Hospice proved to be more than just a new name for the organization. With involvement of internal and external stakeholders, creation of new materials that supported the graphic identity, and a tagline that encompassed the true meaning of the organization, the launch of Capital Hospice gave the organization an opportunity to reinforce its presence in the marketplace and empower staff and volunteers.

The Osteoporosis Business Coalition: A winner for a national nonprofit, 13 companies, and one important cause top

The Draw. For any cause, receiving the support of one corporate partner is nothing to sneeze at. Having 13 corporations carry your flag? That's what dreams are made of... How do you draw a coalition of companies to your cause? Does expertise and credibility in the marketplace carry enough weight? For one nonprofit, the answer was a resounding “yes!” It started with a vision from both the nonprofit and private sector camps. From that vision, a national health campaign was born, bringing attention and funds to the issue of osteoporosis. The National Osteoporosis Foundation, the nation's leader in osteoporosis education, and Fannie Mae, the nation's largest source of home mortgage funds, together formed The Osteoporosis Business Coalition. Promoting Public Causes, Inc.™ (PPC) was asked to help conceive and implement a national communications and outreach initiative around this important health topic.

The association between a nonprofit organization dedicated to osteoporosis, a disease that makes the skeleton so fragile that even sneezing can cause a bone to break, and a corporate giant that helps finance housing structures initially was not obvious. However, it soon became increasingly clear. With today's workforce 60 million women strong and Fannie Mae's workforce 56 percent women, safeguarding the well-being of working women was a priority. Fannie Mae expanded its commitment by placing a special emphasis on osteoporosis and launching a national program in collaboration with its nonprofit partner, the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF).

The Backbone of the Issue. Osteoporosis is a national issue. The disease threatens the health of 28 million Americans, 80 percent of whom are women, and costs the US health care system $14 billion annually.

Putting a Structure in Place. PPC was charged with bringing to life the interests of the NOF and Fannie Mae. PPC's first step was to help outline the goals of a new initiative: increase awareness of the disease, identify new sources of funding, compliment advocacy efforts, broaden education and research efforts, and galvanize private sector leadership to commit to a health care issue affecting our nation.

The Osteoporosis Business Coalition was the largest business initiative dedicated to mobilizing the private sector to support osteoporosis education and research and increase awareness of the disease. The Coalition's aim was to recruit corporations to support communications activities and to raise funds to support NOF's activities through:

Building the Communications Plan. Once the overall goals of the campaign were in place, PPC worked in collaboration with NOF and Fannie Mae to create a communications plan. PPC needed to create a thoughtful communications action plan that balanced the needs of all of the stakeholders involved with the initiative. A critical first step in the planning process was to analyze carefully the audiences we were trying to reach and explore the obstacles to launching an effective effort with those audiences. Obstacles included the negative image and public perception of the disease, a lack of interest from the corporate sector, and a lack of perceived susceptibility among women who were at risk. Once the obstacles were identified, we set out to minimize them by developing an audience-centered plan. Our first step was to create an identity for the initiative that included a logo, tag line, letterhead, brochure, and communication rules and guidelines for how all identity elements could be applied. A strong identity system with a logo that conveyed a strong woman, and print and broadcast advertisements that depicted both older and younger women resulted. We counseled NOF and Fannie Mae to utilize a standard set of strategic messages that addressed obstacles among the target audiences in order to influence attitudes and behaviors relative to the disease.

We utilized strong communication vehicles relevant to NOF and Fannie Mae's target audiences that included women, corporate funders, and policymakers. We reached into the community and developed partnerships with experts at the local level, creating many diverse communication opportunities that would better reach women and potential partners in the effort. We participated in women's conferences to educate them about the disease, and partnered with retail and media companies to help disseminate health information to our target audiences.

Results of the Communications Plan. In one year, the Coalition secured over one million dollars in cash and in-kind support and built a critical mass of organizations to help with the initiative. PPC facilitated a unique Training Session with leaders involved with the campaign from both the nonprofit community and the private sector in order to establish outreach and communications activities for the year. The trick? Making sure the communications vehicles were relevant to target audiences and met the needs of stakeholders. What resulted was numerous cross promotions that included reaching hundreds of thousands of people through public service announcements on several national cable channels, reaching more than 3 million people with print advertisements, educating 20,000 women at national conferences and community based events, providing free screening to over 2,000 women, and the development of a worksite health promotion program about osteoporosis.

Building Advocacy Efforts. A campaign of this kind required additional support and expertise from key stakeholder groups. To help administer the grants process, PPC recruited and assembled a review committee of prominent health leaders nationwide to administer the program. We also formed a bipartisan Honorary Committee of congressional leadership to lend support to the Coalition and participate in select events.

Developing Assessment Tools. PPC put in place evaluation measures to assess the Coalition's success. We tracked the accomplishments of the education and research grants, calculated the number of women reached with educational messages, and evaluated the outcome of corporate cross-promotional activities.

Strengthening Business and Society. By the end of the first year of this two-year initiative, business leaders took notice. Thirteen companies joined the NOF with this national communications effort, ranging from Working Woman magazine and the Dress Barn, Inc., to TCI (the largest cable operator in the country) and Wyeth, each of whom utilized their communication vehicles to promote the campaign and the cause.

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