The California Wellness Foundation (CWF) centers health and wellness through the lens of racial  justice, and it is admired within and without the philanthropic community as a prescient investor and leader on social issues. Nonetheless, the foundation determined it needed to better match its communications output with its outstanding work. To do this, it needed to understand the perspective of its audiences, sharpen its messaging and prioritize its storytelling.

When new leadership took the helm, the foundation hired Rise Communications to lay the groundwork for a total communications reset. We began with digital strategy and stakeholder audits. First, we assessed the metrics and effectiveness of CWF’s social media work across multiple channels. Next, we conducted multiple interviews with key partners, staff and grantees; then, we condensed the data, information and feedback into actionable reports with clear recommendations.  This work formed the foundation of a three-day, cross-discipline messaging workshop with foundation staff and leadership to build consensus for how to better tell their stories.

Taken together, the digital, stakeholder and messaging work and reports have been used by the foundation in multiple ways, including to shape the internal comms team, restart digital communications and inform the foundation’s broader, long-term strategic planning process.