Crisis Support Services of Nevada : Donating a new brand and helping hand
Challenge
As part of Noble Deeds, our philanthropic arm, dedicating around 1% of our available hours annually to a nonprofit in Nevada, we began an engagement with an incredible organization, Crisis Call Center (their name at the time). They provide support to people in times of crisis through their call center and Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS). This was timely in 2018 with the prominence of the #metoo movement and widely publicized celebrity suicides. It was extremely meaningful to us, and we knew we could profoundly help them help the people they serve. They felt their name was holding them back from helping as many people as they could. They are actually more than a call center that helps people through crisis. They also offer in-person Sexual Assault Support Services. This extremely important part of their organization was being overshadowed because of the name, making it harder to create awareness, tell the story and help all the people they wanted to. Their messaging felt convoluted. When someone landed on their website, it wasn’t immediately clear what they stood for, how exactly they helped people and who they were speaking to. If you spoke to their team, you felt the meaning of their mission and the passion to make it happen, but it took a lot to tell the story. They needed to update their out-of-date visual identity. Because they had been busy pouring energy into helping people, which is obviously what’s most important, they hadn’t had time or resources to evolve their visual identity. So their logo and overall look were actually undermining the legitimacy of this crucial organization. Their website was underperforming. Much like their visual identity, the architecture, UX and technology of their website was out of date. The organization of the information needed to be streamlined, the experience honed for specific audiences and the performance improved for speed and search. They needed more awareness, so they could find more sources of funding, sign up more volunteers and ultimately help more people in crisis.
Solution
To help Crisis Call Center evolve their name, stand out and clearly communicate what they stand for and how they truly help people, we took them through our YOU-X-POSITIONING process. This led to a new name, a brand platform, messaging and visual identity that’s more reflective of who they are. In tandem with their team, we came up with a name that would act as an umbrella brand for their current and future services and highlight the fact that they actually serve the entire state of Nevada. It was also important that the name was an evolution, not revolution. They didn’t have the resources to create awareness around a name that was a total departure. Through discovery questionnaires, interviews, workshops and research, we helped them develop a brand platform. We think of our brand strategy process as if we step up to a table full of puzzle pieces. It’s all already there–all the passion, all the brilliance. We just help organizations piece it into an image that inspires and connects with people internally and externally. We helped define their purpose, personality, pillars, promise and position. We encouraged them to establish an inspirational and aspirational vision. And we pulled a key insight from the process that what they really do is help “provide reminders” to people that they matter and “better tomorrows” are possible. Web Strategy By doing a thorough discovery of their audience needs, employing our content-first and mobile-first approaches to website development and leveraging the newest web technology, we were able to create a website that is easy for cssnv.org visitors to navigate, whether they need immediate help or just want more information. Content Strategy Content—including original video, photo and copy—was created to help two key audiences: those in need of help and those looking for ways to give help. Our designers and copywriters collaborated closely to lay out the pages in a way that ensures visitors can get the information they need quickly and the content is easy to digest especially if someone is in an emotional state. Paid and Organic Search Strategy Our content-first website strategy involved SEO guidance for every page we wrote for the new website to ensure people in crisis could find Crisis Support Services of Nevada’s services. To complement the organic approach, we worked with their team to apply for a Google Ad Grant, enabling the nonprofit to run Google Ad campaigns to reach key audiences. We also provided education on paid and organic search best practices to the in-house team, so they were empowered to continue the work we’d done. Business Collateral In order for Crisis Support Services of Nevada’s employees to spread the word about their services, they needed new business collateral including brochures, business cards and stationery. Brochures for the SASS program and Crisis Support Services of Nevada were designed for those who needed help as well as those interested in supporting the organization through donations and volunteering. Business cards were instantly impactful, helping the executive director as she met with Nevada legislators about critical bills and funding in early 2019.
Results
The new Crisis Support Services of Nevada’s brand is very new. We only launched their new website in January of 2019. However, they were able to give people an introduction to the new brand at their annual breakfast in the fall of 2018, unveiling the new name, logo, overall messaging and a brand mantra video. They were able to get a lot of engagement and interactive participation from the attendees by allowing them to craft positive messages to people in crisis. The 2018 Compassion Through the Crisis breakfast attracted 380 people, 130 more than 2017. As a result of the breakfast, Crisis Support Services of Nevada raised $32,000, an $8,300 increase over the previous year.
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