For nearly 50 years, the Foundation had been doing remarkable work. Most of Washington County just didn't know it. Everything I did there connected back to one goal: more of Washington County knowing the Foundation existed, what it offered, and who it served.

For the first two years, I worked within the existing identity while building a deep understanding of the audiences we were trying to reach. That groundwork shaped everything that followed. When year three arrived, so did the opportunity to make the brand match the organization's actual impact. I led the refresh from brief to final delivery, starting with the Foundation's mission, vision, promise, and core values, then moving into the visual identity with a local designer and the Marketing Committee. The goal was a system that worked across generations, channels, and the next half-century of the Foundation's work. The result included an expanded color palette, wordmark, primary logo with tagline, standalone icon, 50th anniversary marks, and a secondary typeface for anniversary use. Every touchpoint followed: business cards, letterhead, email signatures, signage, and promotional materials.

Each Annual Report was built around a distinct theme, and in 2024, "United Community, Unlimited Potential" became more than a report theme. It became the Foundation's 50th anniversary brand platform, threading through championship recognition, community initiatives, and nearly every outward-facing communication that year. Alongside it, I spearheaded a two-story exterior mural on the Foundation's downtown Marietta building, selecting the artist and guiding the project until my departure. It was completed after I left. It became the cover of the 2024 Annual Report. That was always the plan.

The website needed the same attention. I rebuilt it from scratch in Squarespace over three to four months, replacing a dated legacy template with a mobile-first experience designed around the people actually using it. Grants, scholarships, and giving options became easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to act on. Online giving was integrated directly into the site for the first time, replacing a PayPal redirect that had been the only option for years.

Social media, the monthly email newsletter, and media relationships rounded out the communications work. Earned coverage on WTAP grew to roughly once a month. A recurring segment on WMOA radio kept the Foundation visible and top of mind throughout the year. By the end of my tenure, media outlets were reaching out to us rather than waiting for a press release.

My original title was Communications and Program Services Director, reflecting a scope that extended well beyond communications. I oversaw both the grant and scholarship programs from day one and led the charge on restructuring both.

For grants, I replaced a confusing, multi-step, paper-based process with a streamlined digital experience and gave distinct identities to each funding type: Community Impact, Simple Solution, Hardship and Disaster Relief, and Capacity Building and Emergency grants. I also promoted transparency in grant cycles by publicly sharing awarded amounts and descriptions of funded work.

For scholarships, I made award amounts and eligibility publicly visible for the first time, reduced redundancy through a master application, actively promoted opportunities on social media, and initiated the Foundation's first centralized scholarship ceremony, which drew roughly 95% of recipients and became a signature annual event.

Scholarship applications more than doubled, from 60 to 70 annually to more than 120, with the majority of students applying to multiple scholarships.

Annual grants awarded grew from 742 totaling $2.1M in 2021 to 1,005 totaling $3.7M in 2024.

I produced quarterly marketing analytics reports for the Foundation's board throughout my tenure, translating performance data across web, social media, and email into plain-language insights and strategic recommendations. These reports tracked website traffic, channel performance, content reach, and audience growth, and informed how we allocated time and budget each quarter.

Notable results across 2023 and 2024:

• Email open rates consistently ranged from 38% to 60%, against a nonprofit industry standard of 25%

• Website traffic grew more than 80% year over year in 2023

• Facebook reach peaked at 65,800 in Q2 2024, up 34.5% from the prior quarter

• LinkedIn impressions grew 964% in Q4 2023, driven by anniversary and commercial content

• Launching the TV commercial as a paid Facebook and Google ad produced a 19,600% increase in organic video users and meaningful lifts in organic social and search traffic

• Online donations increased 150% in Q4 2023

• The flood response "Needed Items" graphic was shared more than 100 times and reached nearly 12,000 people on Facebook, with the dedicated relief page averaging 1.4 views per user as community members returned for updates

See Sample Report Here

Good donor communications make giving feel meaningful, accessible, and worth repeating.

The Foundation had a faithful donor base that had been giving steady support for decades, but after taking a closer look at their operations, they realized they'd been running on autopilot for too long. Their loyal donors were aging rapidly, and they didn't have a plan or the tools needed to bring in the next generation. Drawing on my experience from Marietta College's Advancement office, my work went beyond writing appeal letters. It meant helping rebuild the infrastructure around how donors found, engaged with, and gave to the Foundation.

The basics remained the same: annual reports, legacy postcards, and solicitation pieces were sent throughout the year, all designed, written, and coordinated in-house. However, annual reporting got a structural overhaul. A two-phase system replaced the old single-report process, pairing an early digital financial report with a condensed print version for key stakeholders. This shift reduced production costs by more than 60%, and the reporting reached people while it was still relevant.

I made creating a fund available online for the first time, removing a meaningful barrier for one of the Foundation's most significant donor relationships. Professional advisors got dedicated web pages and print resources built around how they work with clients. A corporate giving program followed with materials designed to speak to business leaders directly.

The Community Impact Fund got sharper, too. Introducing “Community Impact Categories” gave donors a way to direct unrestricted gifts toward areas that mattered most to them: arts and culture, health and human services, natural resources, and more. It made their gift feel purposeful without removing its flexibility.

The Friend of the Year campaign rounded out my contributions. Tied to the calendar year, it invited community members to become Friends of the Foundation by giving at one of three levels: $20.24, $202.40, or $2,024.00. This simple framework kept annual giving top of mind and was built to increase financial support year after year.

Over three years, I supervised four communications interns and trained my successor, approaching each relationship with the same investment I brought to everything else at the Foundation.

Katen Petty was already in place when I joined, making her my supervisory responsibility from day one. She contributed primarily to feature writing. Morgan Stanley assisted with social media and communications support. Sam Gottfried focused his internship entirely on producing the Foundation's first television commercial, a project I guided from storyboard development through final edit. Sophie Evans was an exceptional talent across the board, producing beautiful feature stories, polished press releases, and anything else we could teach her.

When Laney Hitchens joined in June 2024 as Communications and Marketing Associate, I spent the final three months of my tenure transferring three years of institutional knowledge. The handoff covered every channel, every program, every vendor relationship, and every process I had built or rebuilt during my time there. By the time I left in September, the Foundation's communications were in capable hands.

Leaning on how books molded my childhood, I made growing Dolly Parton's Imagination Library a personal mission. As such, enrollment more than doubled, growing from 805 to 1,704 active children. When I started in 2021, the program had existed for about five years and had mailed approximately 20,000 books. When I left three years later, our cumulative books mailed exceeded 65,000.

As we chased a goal of 50% enrollment, funding was a battle that we constantly fought. Relying on endowment revenue and sporadic individual donations wasn't enough. In March 2022, I launched the Foundation's first crowdfunding campaign, Match the Imagination. With MCF's $30k match, the campaign raised $60,344 in under 30 days, effectively clearing the waitlist and allowing for a meaningful boost in enrollment. In addition to applying for a handful of grants annually, I also created a formal sponsorship program that gave local businesses and service organizations a structured, visible way to invest in early childhood literacy. There were four distinct giving levels, and each featured a distinct package of recognition benefits: book label placement, social media features, WMOA radio shout-outs, direct mail and email to enrolled families, and press release distribution. Within a couple of months, we received more than $10,000 in sponsorship funds from local Kiwanis and Rotary clubs. 

In 2022, I suggested the Foundation take an unusual approach to growing program awareness and promoting literacy by piloting "Laundromat Libraries." The program was a success, helping get more books into the hands of school-aged children county-wide by establishing small, free libraries inside 2 laundromats in Washington County. 

By 2024, efforts to fundraise and promote the Imagination Library were consuming too much time and effort to be sustainable for our staff. We looked to the community for extra hands, creating a dedicated Imagination Library committee. The volunteer group came together quickly and was able to support our execution of Dine for Dolly, a statewide fundraising event with TOMTREYCO-owned McDonalds locations. The closer the end of my time at MCF came, the more independent the group grew. In August, we hosted the "Where's Dolly?" Scavenger Hunt, a book-themed fundraising event involving downtown businesses and landmarks. The committee managed the bulk of the execution, while I assisted with the design elements. 

Throughout my time, I ensured the Foundation had a presence at statewide Imagination Library events hosted by Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine, soaking in program updates and sourcing new ideas from fellow affiliates to implement. The most notable event was the Inaugural First Lady’s Luncheon in 2022, a major fundraising event that featured a very special guest: Dolly Parton.

The InfluencHer Leadership Summit began as an idea brought to the Foundation by an anonymous fundholder who had seen a similar program elsewhere. Years later, when the right partner emerged in Building Bridges to Careers, we made it happen. Together, we built the program from scratch.

My role centered on brand and marketing. I developed the name, logo, visual identity, website, and all promotional materials, and supported mentor recruitment. Each annual summit welcomed 25 middle school girls from Washington County, each paired with a dedicated mentor for the day. The program is now in its third year and continues to run annually.

The Foundation's 50th anniversary in 2023 was the culmination of years of groundwork. The anniversary became the platform to launch the brand refresh, debut the new website, introduce new community-facing initiatives, and celebrate the people who built the organization.

As a team, we developed and executed three brand-new initiatives for the occasion: #MCFinAction, a community service campaign through which our team completed 50 acts of community engagement across Washington County; Champions of Philanthropy, a recognition program honoring well-rounded philanthropists giving their time, talent, and treasure, which continues to run today; and 25 Under 25, a campaign celebrating young people making an impact in the county through philanthropy and service.

We also produced a 50th Anniversary scrapbook documenting the Foundation's history and the people behind it, deployed at the 50th Anniversary Celebration alongside the program launches.

I served as the lead planner for all Foundation events, from concept through execution, including the Annual Dinner, Nonprofit Challenge, Business After Hours, open houses, and scholarship ceremony.

I restructured the Philanthropy Awards into its own dedicated dinner, moving recognition from November to July so awardees received more timely acknowledgment and the Annual Dinner could focus on its core audience of fundholders, board members, and key stakeholders.

The Nonprofit Challenge was a consistent annual highlight. The 2023 Penny War engaged 31 organizations, distributed $36,500 in grant funding, and generated enough community buzz to cause a local coin shortage.

My most significant event achievement was the 50th Anniversary Celebration, planned separately from the Annual Dinner to bring in a broader audience of neighboring businesses, nonprofits, and general community members. The venue was packed, the program was seamless, and the event served as the launch platform for Champions of Philanthropy and 25 Under 25. We also debuted a 50th Anniversary scrapbook where attendees were photographed with an Instax camera and left notes in a keepsake book documenting the people who shaped the Foundation's story.