Strategy · 2025
A nonprofit's first communications strategy
Turning scattered, reactive messaging into an intentional framework the whole organization could work from.
- Client
- Tempe Community Action Agency
- Services
- Communications Strategy, Annual Planning, Content Framework, Measurement
- Outcome
- First — strategic comms plan in the org's history
The challenge
TCAA was communicating consistently, but without a shared framework behind it. Messaging decisions were made channel by channel, campaign by campaign. The organization needed a way to ensure every piece of communication was intentional, consistent, and pulling in the same direction as its organizational priorities.
The approach
I developed the organization's first strategic communications plan from the ground up — identifying core priorities, mapping the audiences that mattered most, matching each to the right channels, and building an evaluation framework so the work could be measured rather than guessed at. The plan was designed to be used, not filed: an annual calendar and content planning framework turned the strategy into a week-by-week operating rhythm.
The impact
The strategy moved TCAA from reactive to proactive. With priorities written down and a calendar to work against, I was able to identify opportunities early and develop independent projects that supported organizational goals — including the food drive program and donor newsletter featured here.
Why a strategy, and why then
A communications plan is only worth writing if it changes what happens on a Tuesday. That was the test I set for this one.
Before the plan, good work was still getting done — but each decision started from scratch. Which audience is this for? Which channel? Does it connect to anything else we’re doing this quarter? Answering those questions fresh every time is expensive, and it makes it hard to build momentum across campaigns.
What the framework actually does
The plan does four things. It names the organization’s communications priorities so there’s a shared definition of what matters. It maps audiences — donors, community partners, program participants, local media — to the channels that actually reach them. It sets an annual calendar so seasonal moments are planned for rather than scrambled at. And it defines what success looks like, so the next version of the plan can be built on evidence.
The part I’m proudest of
The strategy created room to be proactive. Once the calendar existed, the gaps in it were visible — and those gaps became projects. The community food drive program and the monthly donor newsletter both started as opportunities the plan surfaced, not assignments that came down from above.
Next case study
A food drive program the community could actually run