Touchstone Mental Health’s leadership team brought me on board as the Manager of Development and Communications to help make some significant changes in the way they communicated internally and externally about their programs, services, and needs.

My projects included:

  • Provide strategic multi-channel marketing plan
  • Create and implement internal communications plan
  • Mange  2017 website redesign
  • Direct an 18-location photo shoot
  • Develop the employee intranet
  • Provide monthly event promotion
  • Create original internal and external blog content
  • Write and send monthly email newsletter
  • Reinvigorate social media accounts
  • Provide event outreach and support
  • Design fliers, brochures, postcards
  • Provide custom graphics
  • Coordinate video shoot with strategic partners
  • Manage VIP events, for example a visit by Senator Franken, state leaders, and members of the press

Building Connections With Storytelling

The overall focus of the new communications strategy was to help donors and supporters connect with the people helped by their donations to Touchstone. I pulled this strategy through each project with the goal of reducing and eventually eliminating the stigma and isolation people with mental illness face.

Website redesign

My team worked with St. Paul Media and Tim and Madie Photography in 2017 to rebuild our website in WordPress, integrate online donations, and a more affordable donor management system. Their designer helped us move away from a dark, nature-focused design to a more open, human-focused design that better reflected the brightness and innovation of the organization.

I was the internal project manager and content strategist and worked closely with the development and communications team to develop personas, map user pathways, distill key messages, and create content to connect with our audience and drive them towards our goals. Our clear calls to action (donate, stay in touch) were reflective of the overall strategic website goals.

Before (left) and after (right):

Fundraising and Donor Strategy

By showcasing real clients and celebrating their accomplishments we were able to clearly show donors how their donations helped our clients succeed.

Our goal was to increase the number of people who gave monthly, so we clearly communicated what their monthly donation would support.

Blog Posts and Email Newsletters

My digital and content strategy included creating unique content every week (stories, recipes, fitness tips, wellness tips), share through an email newsletter, and social media to bring our supporters back to the website where they would be encouraged to support our work.

Our data showed our supporters were interested in reading stories and wellness content, so this strategy would drive traffic to the site and encourage those visitors to donate or get involved.

Our email newsletter opens, click-through rates, and website traffic skyrocketed after implementation and were double the industry average for opens and click through rates.

Social Media Management

Previous to my starting at Touchstone, the social media activity on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook were inconsistent and ineffective in engaging supporters and potential donors. I created a social media calendar and used social media management software to coordinate and schedule posts for a consistent presence..

I curated content from sources matching our audience interests on Facebook, and used Twitter to engage in national conversations on Mental Health and Wellness. I also shared day-to-day photos of our staff, the facility, events, and information about Touchstone services. Blog posts were shared throughout the month so that the email newsletter would be a round up of our best stories for those that followed us on social media and subscribed to the newsletter.

Future plans included featured content on each platform and offering extra-special incentives in our email newsletter to reward our biggest fans and help them feel like valued members of our community.

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Touchstone Twitter posts, and posts amplified by @mplsshlee to share with a larger audience:

Graphic Design and Copywriting

I wrote the copy and provided layout/design based on the brand elements and colors provided by St. Paul Media. I also designed large format banners, print materials, and digital graphics for use on television screens in our buildings and social media.

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