Scholars’ Impact May Be Measured Now; What They’ve Learned Promises More

Charitable Words has connected more than 30 nonprofits with 70 students and recent graduates and hundreds of hours of pro bono engagement by our network of volunteer advisors. Their impact has been evident. Yet to be measured: The lifelong impact of purposeful scholarship, internship and special assignment experiences on their personal growth, and how much they will give back to their communities over time.

Here are some representative outcomes and testimonials from our nonprofit partners:

STARFIRE COUNCIL

“A team of Charitable Words Scholars summer interns assisted Starfire in all marketing, media, and assistant video production needs for their Annual Celebration event June 2015. Starfire’s message was broadcasted on local television, radio, and print due to Charitable Words in the days leading up to the event. Through this work, Starfire was able to bring an additional 250 people in audience members (audience participation increase of 63% from last year).

Social media expert Krista Neher of Bootcamp Digital is in Charitable Words’ network of volunteer advisors. She provided the Starfire team with an invaluable pro-bono consultation of our social media channels. After this meeting, Starfire’s reach on Facebook went from an average of 150 followers reached, to over 1,000 followers reached.

“On social media, Starfire saw a 23% increase in our reach over the span of three weeks, leading to a reach of 4,478 people the day of the event. This spike in attention on our social media has meant greater outreach and messaging, which leads to more donations and support from the community. We are grateful for what Charitable Words can do for non-profit organizations to extend our capacity for impact by networking us with our city’s finest media talent and resources.

“The summer campaign enabled Starfire to raise $40,000 in sponsorships and $23,500 the day of the event, also gaining a new audience of volunteers and donors to reach out to through their registration for the event on Eventbrite. This was the first year Starfire’s Annual Celebration was considered a major organization fundraiser and raised $58,500 more than last year’s event.”

— Rachel Almendinger, Director of Donor Relations.

KICKS FOR KIDS

A team of Charitable Words Scholars worked on an awareness campaign for Kicks for Kids, a Northern Kentucky nonprofit that provides enrichment to children in need. It was a unique cross-river collaboration that engaged students from The University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati State and Northern Kentucky University. They provided photo coverage of events, improved navigation, design and content for our web site and photo coverage of events. The team worked on search engine optimization (SEO) strategies and building Kicks For Kids’ social media presence. NKU graduate students in its nonprofit management studies program produced a crowdfunding campaign and “dodge ball” fundraising event to raise funds for the project and awareness for the nonprofit.

“Charitable Words Scholars designed and built us a new website and helped us refresh our brand. Thanks to our updated image, new marketing materials, and fresh website, we will attract more donors, sponsors and volunteers. Additionally, partnering with Charitable Words has allowed us to tap into their network of scholars and professional supporters. Doing so has more than doubled the awareness of our charity, increased our volunteer base by 10%, and has brought in additional funding prior to the website launch. We are so grateful to them for giving us the fresh update we needed.” – Christine Sebastian, Program Director, Kicks For Kids

PEOPLE WORKING COOPERATIVELY

A University of Cincinnati student and Marine vet of Iraq produced a video about 98-year-old World War II combat nurse Anna Fields.

“A video produced by University of Cincinnati student and Marine veteran of Iraq, Tyler Bell, was instrumental in helping our ‘Ramp It Up For Veterans’ campaign achieve $190,000. Tyler’s video told the story about how our volunteers helped a 98-year-old World War II combat nurse stay in her home. The video was shown on the big screen overlooking Fountain Square at the kickoff and used on our web site, media outreach and social media. Media Library, Inc. a media monitoring and measurement service, tracked audience reach and “ad equivalency values” in tens of thousands of viewers and dollars.” – Ron Henlein, Director of Corporate and Community Partnerships.

MELODIC CONNECTIONS

“For the past three summers Charitable Words Scholars have worked with Melodic Connections, which provides music therapy to special needs students. A redesign of our web site and rich media content have quadrupled our digital and social media visits, resulting in more donations and volunteers. The Scholars produced great videos, including a thank youto one of our major funders that was an important retention factor and resulted in increased annual support.” – Executive Director Betsey Zenk Nuseibeth

WORDPLAY

“Without Charitable Words, our year-long partnership with the Department of Informatics at NKU to create a documentary of our ‘Louder Than a Bomb’ youth poetry slam would have never been possible. We were very impressed with the skilled team of NKU videographers and writers and the level of faculty involvement. They followed a group of our WordPlay teen poets from the beginning of the school year through the poetry finals this spring, capturing the stories that need to be heard but didn’t always make it to the stage, instilling pride and confidence in these incredible young adults who have seen so much hardship. The inaugural year of Louder Than a Bomb was a huge success, bringing teens together from vastly different backgrounds, neighborhoods and schools.

“Our teens were very clear in telling us that the most important part of Louder Than a Bomb for them was getting to know the other poets; building a community around their shared experience. We are deeply grateful to Charitable Words for giving us the means to capture and tell their story to new audiences, an essential part of securing the support necessary to ensure WordPlay can continue to offer this level of impact to the children who need it most.” – Libby Hunter, Executive Director

ADOPT A BOOK

“Charitable Words Scholars worked with us on our communications and grant writing approaches. When the Cincinnati Reds generously offered our nonprofit tickets to a game, Charitable Words leveraged them by coupling “perks” and awareness in a crowdfunding campaign that raised nearly $5,000 over the summer.” – Angela Laman, President

A STUDENT’S VIEW OF HER EXPERIENCE

University of Cincinnati communications junior Sarah Jernigan’s internship at Cincinnati’s East End Adult Education Center was intended to focus on media and marketing, but she took the opportunity to work with the students as a tutor as well.

“The students had a strong willingness for me to teach them. One of the students I worked with Amanda, improved three grade levels in one month. Ten of them passed their GED’s shortly after my internship. The East End led me to reevaluate my plans after I graduate and motivates me to continue to teach others.”

Additional outcomes and testimonials on file.

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