Strategic Marketing & Communications for the William Penn Foundation

It can be difficult for nonprofits, and even for-profits, to find and effectively use the time and resources to develop a strategic communications and marketing plan. For some, creating such a plan and document presents a daunting challenge.

Now imagine having to devise a plan that not only works for you and your member agencies, but also for counterpart organizations with which you share a larger common goal.

Three area youth collaboratives-the Chester Youth Collaborative, Eastern North Philadelphia Youth Services Coalition (ENPYSC) and SouthEast Philadelphia Collaborative (SEPC)-all part of the neighborhood-based Philadelphia Youth Network's Youth Development Initiative funded by the William Penn Foundation, face this challenge right now. They found that their coalition of collaboratives share some unique features-their geographic focus, broad spectrum of constituents and diversity of offerings-which often made it difficult for leadership and staff to convey the depth and breadth of who they are.

"It was a natural match linking the agencies to an organization that had the reputation and expertise for working with nonprofits.”

To help ENPYSC, SEPC and the Chester Youth Collaborative more effectively communicate their brand and message to key stakeholders, PHMC's Targeted Solutions is working closely with their leadership to develop a combined marketing and communications strategy.

"It was a natural match linking the agencies to an organization that had the reputation and expertise for working with nonprofits to improve their capacity to serve," Randall B. Sims, project manager for the Youth Development Initiative, says of PHMC. In addition to introducing the collaboratives to PHMC's Targeted Solutions, the William Penn Foundation Matching Fund provides the collaboratives and other eligible nonprofit organizations with a subsidy to help cover the cost of Targeted Solutions' services.

"Helping the collaboratives develop a strategy for making themselves and the services they provide known to a broader spectrum of the overall community will enhance their strategic efforts around sustainability and program development," says Sims.