Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado

Wish 25 was developed to capitalize on the Colorado chapter’s 25th anniversary.

The Challenge

For their 25th anniversary year, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado retained us to help them capitalize on that unique opportunity to simultaneously leverage the goodwill of past stakeholders and introduce new stakeholders to the organization.

One key challenge was to dispel the myth that the Colorado chapter is funded by a large national organization, and communicate instead that Colorado companies and individuals were responsible for the first quarter century of success, and were essential to the chapter’s next 25 years of meeting the needs of children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

The overarching task was to simultaneously increase visibility and revenue, knowing that while immediate financial goals must be achieved, the long-term financial success of the organization depends on increased, more accurate and more compelling visibility statewide.

PR Strategy

We focused on five important strategies in integrated public relations and marketing to drive the Foundation toward its ambitious goals.

  1. Create media partnerships in key media markets.
  2. Create business partnerships with select companies in key categories.
  3. Centralize PR and marketing activity in a special-purpose 25th anniversary website.
  4. Plan and promote a quarterly 25th anniversary fundraising event in each media market.
  5. Develop and launch a Challenge 25 giving program.

Creating new partnerships with individuals, media outlets and businesses of all sizes was crucial to generating the financial and volunteer support necessary for the chapter’s success in the decades ahead. And because the Foundation’s financial support base comes from Colorado, it was important to give the Make-A-Wish brand a “Colorado” feel, visually and in key messages.

The resulting Wish 25 brand was at the center of a suite of activities, ranging from media relations to the development of television and radio commercials, from the creation of a music CD called Wish Come True (a fundraising tool with proceeds going to support the Foundation) to fundraising event planning and promotions.

Results

The Foundation achieved significant short-term goals, and is better positioned than ever to meet its long-term goals. Specifically, we helped the Foundation:

  • Meet its increased budget needs
  • Restore the endowment to previous levels, positioning it for growth moving forward
  • Achieve its desired level of major donor income for the year
  • Inspire involvement in addition to contributions
  • Correct public misconceptions about the Colorado chapter and its funding
  • Increase the perceived value of association with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado among companies big and small