Bridging Strategy & Capacity at UrbanPromise Charlotte

UrbanPromise Charlotte takes students on a 20-year leadership journey that aims to reach a child, raise a leader, and to restore community. Today, over 600 children, youth, and young adults between the age of 5-25 participate in UrbanPromise Charlotte’s continuum of Out-of-School-Time, StreetLeader, and Alumni Support Programs at 4 neighborhood sites across Charlotte. Many of the program’s original graduates are now in the workforce, with several on staff at UrbanPromise Charlotte. 

Challenge

After years of steady growth, UrbanPromise Charlotte adopted a strategic plan that would deepen services and support at its four neighborhood sites, while building the infrastructure that would keep it sustainable for the long haul. They had a robust development program and highly engaged constituents – but lacked a full-time marketing director to support the work. The team had all the right ingredients, but needed extra capacity and a clear plan to bridge the gap until a full-time director could be hired.

“Communications was an area of opportunity for us, but these projects always got pushed to the last minute. We needed someone who could help us outline a strategy for the year, then be the implementer of that plan,” said Brittany Jenkins Shell, Development Director at UrbanPromise Charlotte. 

Solution

UrbanPromise Charlotte partnered with Porch Light Creative to provide practical support and a strategic lens. Our efforts focused on two areas:

A Marketing Blueprint: Our partnership began with an annual Marketing Blueprint – a tool that helped outline clear priorities for the year. In addition to outlining key audiences, it helped ensure messaging and marketing efforts were aligned and supportive of their overall strategic and development plans.

Practical Implementation Support: Once priorities were outlined, Porch Light Creative helped implement the work that would move the team ahead. This included content development, the execution of email campaigns, updating website copy to ensure messaging was consistent, and more. 

For fifteen months, Porch Light Creative met monthly with UrbanPromise to advise on marketing strategy, identify monthly implementation priorities, and execute those priorities.

Results

The partnership provided steady marketing support during a season of growth and change for UrbanPromise Charlotte. “It really helped our team strengthen our storytelling. We learned that our community really enjoyed reading stories about our students, and it gave us the opportunity to share more of those stories, looking beyond fundraising asks,” said Jenkins Shell.

“Janet is a deeply relational person. If she is working with you, she cares about your organization and the goals you want to achieve from this partnership,” she continued. “She is extremely efficient which was deeply valued by our organization. When she is working on a project for you, she manages it from start to finish. I did not have to check in with her or ask where this piece or that piece was. She was the one constantly checking in with me and always made it clear what she needed in order to accomplish the project in our outlined timeline.”