Council for the Homeless Case Study
The Client
Council for the Homeless (CFTH), a Clark County, Wash., nonprofit, has been working with To the Point Collaborative as its design and communications strategic partner since 2021. Together, we have strengthened CFTH’s public profile and advanced its mission to end homelessness in Southwest Washington.
The Challenge
To raise awareness about CFTH’s vital role in preventing and ending homelessness, and to support fundraising for their programs.
Objective
CFTH aimed to increase its visibility, strengthen donor and community engagement, and develop sustainable communication strategies that would enhance fundraising capacity.
We advised the use of consistent and compelling storytelling to advance their mission. A secondary, but still crucial, objective: To build the foundation for adding an in-house communications team, something they had never had.
The Solution
CFTH Chief Advancement Officer, Charlene Welch, has been our point of contact throughout this highly productive relationship. A strategic thinker and get-it-done worker, Charlene depends on To the Point to support her wide-ranging initiatives designed to address homelessness.
In true collaboration with CFTH’s leadership, we have produced materials that bring attention to the experiences of unhoused community members, while promoting programs to address their needs. Our multiyear engagement as the CFTH’s marketing strategist bore many significant results.
Together, we’ve created tailored fundraising strategies for each campaign and implemented them to raise more funds than ever to support CFTH programs and staff. As a result of our efforts, they’ve been able to add more staff members and raise more funds.
Strategy
While grants fund most of its activities, CFTH relies on community donations of both dollars and supplies to cover any gaps in its funding matrix. By focusing our work on messaging designed to drive fundraising, we’ve helped CFTH achieve new levels of revenue generation from events, appeals, and related initiatives. In collaboration with leadership, To the Point has:
- Employed storytelling techniques featuring authentic clients, illustrating how CFTH helped them transition from the streets to safe housing.
- Created iconic community events that both educated attendees and asked for, and received, generous financial support.
- Brainstormed new events, wrote scripts and runs of show, and developed signage.Applied the new information we gathered to appeal campaigns and exceeded our goals.
- Attracted hundreds of new CFTH supporters with our custom social media strategy.
- Developed materials to enhance internal communications and facilitate effective public outreach.
- Created training workshops to ensure uniformity and clarity of messaging.
The Results
As a result of our CFTH partnership, the nonprofit’s capacity increased. The events we co-produced enabled the Council to tell their story in person to new live audiences — including streaming attendees, a technique we innovated during COVID. Our social media strategy greatly expanded their online community. 
Ultimately, the Council had the internal resources to create an in-house communication team to carry on our work. One of our primary goals is to help clients develop internal capacity, enabling them to bring the marketing function in-house. It was a proud moment when the new staff person joined Council for the Homeless.
Success in Numbers
In One Year:
- Privately raised funds increased by 50% to $1 million.
- National and local media contacted CFTH 51 times as subject matter experts.
- Social media followers increased across all platforms by 40%.