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In 2021, Catholic Charities, Maryland’s largest private human services provider, embarked on the biggest fundraising effort in the nonprofit’s 100-year history. The $75 million “Greater Promise” capital campaign would propel Catholic Charities for the next century and support nearly 100 programs across 200 locations. To maximize exposure, Vitamin seized upon the campaign’s public launch event at Our Daily Bread Employment Center as the ideal opportunity to initiate a robust PR effort that would attract premier local media and flood the region with the news of the landmark philanthropic effort.
Challenge
The size and scope of the Greater Promise capital campaign was unlike anything Catholic Charities had embarked on in its 100-year history. Vitamin was engaged to plan, develop, and execute the skillfully orchestrated launch strategy. In addition to outlining the details of the campaign, including who it would help and the programs that would see the greatest benefit, Vitamin was challenged with securing press coverage to holistically and impartially showcase the capital campaign in an unquestionably positive light. Such a tone could have significant benefits by appealing to and motivating prospective new donors, while also strengthening stewardship among existing contributors, and inspiring them to enroll additional supporters.
Strategy
Vitamin’s media relations strategy saturated regional press with news of Greater Promise and the importance of attending the live launch event to speak directly with key members of the campaign’s cabinet and the nonprofit’s executives. Our agency secured all press interaction and interviews with spokespersons. A designated, private media room was arranged on-site, complete with a branded interview backdrop. Vitamin also carefully and purposefully integrated the broader Greater Promise marketing campaign into our publicity plan, including a teaser ad campaign that had generated considerable buzz, and an article ghostwritten by Vitamin that ran in I-95 Business and was timed to publish the same day as the live event, sharing the improvements to Cherry Hill Town Center- one of Greater Promise’s main areas of focus.
Results
Vitamin’s targeted efforts and tactics resulted in a tremendous response from regional media, who flocked to the live event, garnering over a dozen press hits and accumulating more than 6.5 million audience impressions. Vitamin’s media list was specifically designed to target journalists from a range of industry media outlets and delivered coverage in some of the Maryland market’s most recognized media, including Baltimore’s preeminent newspaper and nationally read publication, the Baltimore Sun, the market’s #1 business outlet the Baltimore Business Journal, the Catholic Review, and multiple TV stations. By reaching such a diverse audience, the opportunities for public giving were greatly increased and within just four months of launching, the Greater Promise campaign successfully surpassed the original goal, raising more than $100 million, well in advance of expectation.
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100 M+ Capital Raised
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6.5 M Audience Impressions
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13 Regional Media Hits
A Seamless Process for Media
Working closely with Catholic Charities’ communications team, Vitamin built a comprehensive digital press kit that offered full details of the campaign, quotes from Catholic Charities leadership, advocates, and beneficiaries, and a full overview of Catholic Charities’ programs and services. Loaded to USB flash drives, the kits provided every piece of information journalists needed to quickly turn in thorough stories and articles. The press kits were also made conveniently available on the Greater Promise microsite, designed by Vitamin.
Alleviating Client Burden
In addition to handling the operational aspects of the capital campaign and coordinating the logistics of the public event, the Catholic Charities team was also still managing the organization’s day-to-day duties during one of its busiest times of the year. With this in mind, Vitamin seamlessly served as the PR and media relations arm of the Catholic Charities’ communications team, providing peace of mind that a critically important part of the Greater Promise campaign was being expertly managed, and with supreme brand integrity for both Catholic Charities and the capital campaign.
Fully Integrated Outreach
Vitamin’s media outreach was purposefully aligned with many other efforts, all in combined support of Greater Promise’s success. As Catholic Charities’ Agency of Record (AOR), PR was just one component of an integrated multi-faceted effort that included print, digital, and billboard advertising, Greater Promise microsite, and reimagined messaging that supported the charity’s devotion to the community and empowerment of the individual Diving into the content, reporters could quickly surmise the community impact of Greater Promise and its importance on Catholic Charities’ ability to provide continued services.
“The term ‘Greater Promise’ refers to our ongoing commitment to providing the assistance necessary to help individuals, families and communities, and our obligation to confront the modern challenges our neighbors are facing.”
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