Social Impact Communications & Strategic Content Planning for a Housing Sector Nonprofit

How can a mission-driven lender effectively convey its story and engage stakeholders through social impact communications?

A nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting affordable home retention financing that helped low-wealth families stay in their homes recognized the need to strengthen its messaging and deepen relationships with key stakeholders. The organization sought to amplify its mission, establish thought leadership, strengthen its reputation, and drive positive change through purpose-driven communications.

To address the nonprofit's communications challenges, their communications team partnered with me to develop narratives and content that resonated with their core stakeholders and create a content strategy to distribute these cornerstone blog posts.

I took an adaptable and revelatory approach, deeply engaging with the organization to understand their singular challenges and opportunities. Through this process, I:

1. Conducted a thorough stakeholder analysis to identify the nonprofit's core audiences and their unique needs.
2. Developed a comprehensive impact communications content strategy aligned with the organization's overall strategic communications plan, content vision, and objectives.
3. Developed authoritative, deeply researched, data-backed stories that conveyed the nonprofit's impact, enhanced their reputation, and elevated their thought leadership.
4. Leveraged my social web expertise by providing effective monthly social media prompt calendars designed to engage community members and partners through targeted digital channels.

Throughout the yearlong engagement, I served as a dedicated thought partner, consistently providing comprehensive strategic communications guidance, including issue management. As part of that strategy, I routinely delivered high-quality, insightful long-form content that strongly aligned with the nonprofit's mission and goals.

My strategic communications expertise and deep understanding of the nonprofit's mission and audience helped to amplify their message and engage stakeholders. According to the client, the impact of my work included:

1. Heightened visibility and understanding of the nonprofit's mission and impact among key stakeholders.
2. Facilitated engagement and deeper relationships with community members and partners through targeted digital communications, which brought two specific results:
   • Under my content strategy and structure, several editions of the nonprofit's monthly newsletter saw significant improvements in open rates, surpassing industry benchmarks. These newsletters provided valuable information on topics relevant to the organization's mission and target audience.
   • The B2B partner newsletters also achieved open rates that exceeded industry averages, demonstrating the effectiveness of my strategic approach.
3. Enhanced thought leadership positioning for the nonprofit in the affordable housing sector and the larger financial industry.
4. Significant value added to the organization's overall communications efforts, contributing to their ability to drive positive change and enhance their reputation.
5. Throughout the engagement, the nonprofit's team repeatedly expressed their approval and gratification for my work, recognizing the significant impact it had on their communications and stakeholder engagement efforts.

During our social impact communications collaboration, the nonprofit reshaped its messaging, engaged core audiences, and advanced itself as a thought leader and champion in the affordable home retention financing sector. 

My expertise, responsiveness, and clear communication were key factors in the effectiveness of this engagement, demonstrating the power of strategic communications in advancing mission-driven organizations.

If your established CDFI or its nonprofit partner serves financially under-resourced communities with access to capital, perhaps my strategic impact communications thought partnership can help. 

I offer a complimentary 30-minute introductory call where I learn your strategic impact communications needs and assess whether I can elevate your messaging strategy.

This initial discussion will also enable us to determine the potential for a successful social impact communications partnership like this one. Please contact me to discuss potential collaboration.

Dahna M. Chandler is a doctoral researcher at the University of Southern California, studying the history of racialized discrimination in the U.S. finance industry, and an award-winning finance journalist. She holds a master's in corporate communications from Georgetown University. She works with opportunity finance sector organizations and related mission-driven nonprofits as a social impact communications consultant, drawing from her own lived experiences that align with those organizations' core constituents. 

(c) 2024. Dahna M. Chandler for UpThink Strategic Communications, a division of Thrive Media Collaborative, Inc. All rights reserved. This case story may not be reproduced or reposted in whole or in part without express written permission of the author.