esd&associates

immediate response, wider donor base

Text message donation brings two significant benefits to fund-raising: it provides an immediate, affordable opportunity for donor response (simply) and it quickly broadens the organization’s traditional donor base. The immediate benefit for SAMMinistries is especially meaningful during September as the organization qualifies for matching funds in a Deborah & Rex Amini Challenge Grant.

A broad campaign of radio, outdoor and newspaper advertising will increase awareness across the community. When people see the ad and act on it with a text message donation, they convert awareness into active affinity with the organization.

growing into leadership with 27 years of stewardship

Founded by four downtown churches confronted with a mounting population of transient homeless, SAMMinistries has been known for its men’s shelter for 27 years. Over the years, they have become the authority on homelessness, adding a host of other services for individuals and families, from job training and life skills counseling to medical and psychological assistance. SAMMinistries has also forged a proactive approach to preventing homelessness, finding people, especially families, who are struggling and intervening before they lose their homes.

many organizations under one roof obscures independent status

SAMMinistries recently moved their emergency shelter to expanded facilities on the Haven for Hope campus. The move has confused some supporters into thinking that the two organizations – Haven for Hope and SAMMinistries – merged. While SAMMinistries occupies 45 percent of the space at Haven for Hope, it is a separate entity responsible for its operational expenses and conducting its own programs. In addition to SAMMinistries, seven other organizations share the Haven for Hope campus – each organization is responsible for maintaining its own budget.

fresh branding clarifies mission and leadership

To grow its support base and retain its independence, SAMMinistries needs to reassert an independent identity and establish solid branding. Faced with that challenge, SAMMinistries asked esd to help amplify their brand.

To communicate their comprehensive role, esd changed SAMMinistries tagline from “Offering Hope to the Homeless” to “Overcoming Homelessness.” The change is subtle, but it expands the mission from overnight shelter to policy leadership. The campaign also uses children as the face of the campaign, emphasizing SAMMinistries’ role in helping families transition to economic and social stability.

esd has applied a fresh brandmark to SAMMinistries’ identity package and it will grace an aggressive outdoor campaign. Our team also crafted radio PSAs, print ads, transit shelter signs and other media to expand SAMMinistries’ outreach and encourage increased giving. With the extra energy from text message donation, we are able to bring immediate results to the overall fund-raising appeal.

esd is committed to educate, support and inspire change in our community. As we help SAMMinistries mount a comprehensive, fresh communications campaign, esd understands that we’re doing more than serving the client, we’re helping people realize positive change in their lives, we’re helping our city take care of its own.

Join us in supporting SAMMinistries – text SAMM to 50555 – a donation of $10 will be added to your phone bill or deducted from your pre-paid balance. Thank you.

• When you’re promoting an event, temporarily replace your profile picture with a small poster – keep the details spare so they’re readable. esd recently created custom Facebook pics for SeaWorld San Antonio to promote their events.
• When you’re testing a new logo or illustration, use it for your profile picture and ask people to comment.
• When you just need a lift, a new perspective on your internal image, isolate a specific element in your logo or pick a word from your mission and make it your profile picture.

As the current leading social network, Facebook is a place to be more informal, to post and maintain an open dialogue with your customer (fan) base. You want to stay true to your branding, but you can also loosen up a little bit. Social networking is, after all, social. Go ahead and have some fun.

Tim Patty

Julio Rodriguez

Erik and the Girls

David Gonzales

Judy Ping

Hector Cavazos

Allie Donatto

Doralin Flores

William Bowling's pumpkin, eaten by squirrels before it could get to esd...

Beyond the River Walk and the Alamo, what do people know about San Antonio? Do they know about Ray’s Drive In? Do they know Elemendorf Lake? The Founding Mothers Mural? Do you?

Whether you’re an overnight visitor or a life-long resident, you want to know the soul of a city. You want to see its renowned landmarks and attractions, but you want to know the real community underneath. esd&associates has just helped San Antonio’s Office of Cultural Affairs open our unique city’s heart to the world.

San Antonio Neighborhood Tours has launched with easy-to-navigate guides of the food, arts, people, landmarks and shopping in the Eastside and Westside neighborhoods (the Broadway Corridor is coming soon). Visitors to the website can take a step-by-step “tour” of each neighborhood, or go directly to one of the categories for a directory of specific sites. esd also helped the Office of Cultural Affairs produce printable Acrobat files for each neighborhood tour.

The tours show some of San Antonio’s best attributes, from the funky to the sublime. We’ve lived here for decades – many of the people on the esd team are native San Antonians, yet the site opened our eyes to many corners of our hometown’s culture we never noticed. Get to know San Antonio all over again – visit the Neighborhood Tours online.

Methodist Stone Oak ER Board

Methodist Stone Oak, Methodist Healthcare’s newest hospital, is establishing its presence in North San Antonio, and they posted an electronic billboard in front of the hospital indicating the (very brief) wait times in their Emergency Department. They also update status on their web page. Two television stations, KSAT and WOAI, took notice of the boards on their news programs. Congratulations, Methodist! You deserve the attention. See the KSAT story.

Now, we found this wonderful site through another, which we’re going to recommend in our essential website list coming here soon. Check out StumbleUpon, a catalog site of cool websites. You register and indicate what kind of sites you’re interested in, and you can upload links to your favorite sites. esd loves the global community on the World Wide Web.