By Rachel Bevel | Writer
The picture above was taken on January 16, 2015.
One year earlier, a man walked into the Cleveland Public Auditorium during the annual Homeless Stand Down event hosted by HandsOn Northeast Ohio. The auditorium, which can hold up to 10,000 people, was filled that day, buzzing with activity from those in need and volunteers offering their services. Individuals facing homelessness could come and enjoy a day of pampering, self-care, community, and support through free haircuts, medical screenings, breakfast, lunch, professional photographers, and personal shopping.
After waiting in line for hours, the man walked up to Pam Turos, a volunteer, and expressed his need for winter boots. She looked down at his water-stained pants and soaking-wet canvas shoes, and her heart sank. Turos already knew that the men’s boots table was empty, but she searched anyway, praying that a size 11 had somehow been overlooked. Unfortunately, the man left without warm boots, but Turos went home that day resolved to “bring more boots” the following year.
That evening, she shared her experience with friends and family on her personal Facebook page. To her surprise, donations from the post raised almost $2000. True to her word, Turos and her children delivered a van full of cold-weather boots to the following year’s event, knowing it was the power of storytelling that had enabled them to make a difference. It took only a moment to write a paragraph that inspired people to give, supporting an urgent cause. That domino effect of kindness would later become the founding principle of Good Cause Creative and WISH Cleveland — together we can do more than any of us can do alone.
“So, the challenge was how to get large numbers of caring people connected with the organizations who need their support,” Turos presented this dilemma to her audience at the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Accelerate: Citizen’s Make Change pitch competition in February, 2016.
She was one of five finalists awarded a $2000 Economic Development start-up grant, which allowed her to develop a plan to solve the dilemma she had presented.
A former social worker, Turos understands the administrative obstacles that small organizations must overcome to pursue their philanthropic missions, and her team at Good Cause Creative is eager to help nonprofits do the creative work they don’t always have the time or expertise to handle.
In the world of web development and social media, the notion that “if you build it, they will come” is simply not true. Organizations have to communicate consistently and clearly to be recognized as relevant online. “It’s not enough to have a nice-looking website or a Facebook page if your content is out of date or your messaging is confusing,” Turos is known for saying.
Good Cause Creative is the solution.
While our nonprofit clients spend their time on program development and implementation or event planning and fundraising, Good Cause Creative supports these efforts through a simple service model designed with nonprofits in mind.
The two things needed most often are high-quality, consistent content (storytelling) and website housekeeping (content and coding) to ensure that blog posts, event calendars, imagery and security are up to date on websites. “Our goal is to be flexible and affordable for small to mid-sized organizations so we can support their team. Some of our most popular services include e-newsletter planning, editing and design, content marketing, blog writing, and social media support. We also provide site security, updates and maintenance, Google Ad management, and SEO analytics and reporting.”
In the midst of tightening budgets and tiresome board meetings, Good Cause Creative is a warm reminder that your hard work is worth celebrating. “Sometimes, reading their story through our writers’ lens can even help our clients see the impact of their work more clearly.”
Good Cause Creative’s business began with writing and editing. We still offer this service to a select group of clients, and we also connect them to a talented pool of independent contractors who are experts in content creation, SEO, digital marketing, Google Ad grants and communication strategy through the Trialogue program. If you need help in any of these areas, click here to schedule a call about your nonprofit’s communication needs.
