By Anne Thomas, Pro Bono Chair
Another successful pro bono partnership has come to a close. New Endeavors by Women (NEW) was WWPR’s 2022-2023 Pro Bono client. NEW is guided by a mission to partner with homeless women to create new futures. NEW transforms lives by providing housing, fostering the development of life skills, and promoting education and employment to end the cycle of homelessness. They provide a nurturing environment so that women can recognize their worth.
Over our successful two-year partnership, WWPR provided marketing and communications expertise to support NEW’s mission and improve their overall communication strategy. As part of this partnership, we also wanted to teach NEW’s team about communications best practices and provide them with helpful “how-to” guides to ensure they’d be set up for success upon the conclusion of our partnership.
Some highlights of our partnership include media training and pitching, social media strategy and recommendations, a website audit, and event support.
Media Training and Pitching
With the support of our pro bono committee, WWPR provided Wanda Steptoe, NEW Executive Director, with media training and best practices for media pitching. Here are just a few of NEW’s earned media during our partnership:
- Axios: D.C.’s struggle to end homelessness is getting more complicated Washington D.C.
Street Sense Media: Home is where the heart is: A look at DC’s housing crisis - WJLA: Fighting Homelessness Through Women
- 97.1 WASH-FM: M&T Bank Presents CEOs You Should Know: Wanda Steptoe, Executive Director, New Endeavors by Women
- Monumental Sports: Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation Commemorates National Nonprofit Day and Announces $1M in Charitable Donations Given During the 2022-23 Fiscal Period
We also helped NEW develop a media list and walked them through best practices for sending out pitches.
Social Media Recommendations
After completing a review of NEW’s social media channels, the pro bono committee provided social media recommendations highlighting overall best practices for paid social media and strategies to increase organic followings and engagement.
Website Audit
The pro bono committee completed an audit of the NEW’s website, reviewing ease of use, design, mobile responsiveness, accessibility, SEO, and brand voice and tone. The NEW communications team was so thankful for our recommendations and they are excited to start implementing the changes on the website.
Event Support
WWPR provided event support by providing recommendations on marketing events, promoting NEW’s events on WWPR channels, and volunteering at NEW fundraising events.
Throughout the two-year partnership, WWPR raised over $3000 for NEW through ticket sales, member donations, and during our events. “It’s been a pleasure working with NEW and we can’t wait to watch them continue their success from the sidelines,” said Anne Thomas, WWPR Pro Bono Chair.
The support of the Pro Bono committee was essential to our successful partnership with NEW. We’re looking forward to our new Pro Bono client kicking off in January. If you are interested in joining the Pro Bono committee, you can sign up here: https://wwpr.org/committees/.