A Noble Goal

The New York Veterinary Foundation is a non profit organization dedicated to funding critical veterinary research and clinical studies to advance the sharing of information between the veterinary and human medical communities. With our new understanding of the key issues and a more focused mission, we went on to develop a fully integrated program to get the word out about the important work of the foundation. We developed and managed numerous fundraisers among influencers and exhibitions at events such as The Hampton Classic, developed TV ads, and a short form documentary for the purpose of fundraising and outreach and set them up with their Facebook and Twitter pages. 

The Challenge

In 2008 NYVF was a fledgling organization with only a very basic understanding of what it stood for and without very specific plans to implement its vision. They were experiencing a few challenges with regards to the lens with which they chose projects, as well as identifying which activities were mission centered and which were outside of their mission. Further the organization suffered from having extremely limited resources.

The Reality Check

We immediately implemented our brand development methodology which we call the Reality CheckTM. During our Reality Check, we performed a series of activities designed to clarify and reveal the Foundation's position in the veterinary community, their core activities, their short and long term goals and any public perception issues.  During the Reality Check, we performed a series of activities designed to clarify and reveal their position in the marketplace, their full product and service offering, their business goals and clarify their various target’s mindset. We interacted with key members of the board to help codify its mission. Based on these exercises, we began to develop a better-articulated, more targeted, high-touch communication strategy.  We created a new positioning firmly rooted in the vision of the organization.

Our Solution

The Reality Check revealed a few interesting things, first and foremost was that the board really didn't know how to talk about the Foundation.  Because of all the great things that they were doing, there was a lot of disparity and confusion as to how to articulate the connective tissue that drove their mission.  We developed a new Mission Statement for them, which helped greatly.  We also held sessions with the board to train them on the ways in which the Foundation needed to be spoken about. 

Other realities that we uncovered related to the the fact that this was a "working board" - meaning that there was minimal paid staff and many of the board members executed the day to day activities.  As such events and activities were not always planned or carried out in a strategic way.  They might decide to attend or exhibit at a guide dog or red cross event,  but there was no strategic thought to branding, fundraising, or follow through. The board had a lot of great ideas about projects and initiatives, but no "filter" with which to identify what was mission centered and what was not worth the effort.

Our prescription included

With our new understanding of the key issues and a more focused mission, we went on to develop a fully integrated program to get the word out about the important work of the foundation.

We worked with the board to identify exhibit opportunities that met their key goals and have developed and managed numerous fundraisers among influencers and exhibit opportunities at events such as The Hampton Classic. We developed TV ads and a short form documentary for the purpose of fundraising and outreach.

We set them up with their Facebook and Twitter pages and trained their staff to use them to promote their cause. 

We developed a series of fundraising and outreach pieces as well as ongoing development of print advertising. 

We handle their PR, writing releases and liasing with the media on the foundation's behalf and we continue to help the foundation realize their goals and expand their member base.