Our work

Sample projects

Johnson Consulting offers a variety of integrated marketing and communications services – marketing, fundraising, organization and structure, executive and internal communications and project management. When you contact us, we will be pleased to share more examples of our capabilities and discuss options with you.

Strategic Communications

Case studies

Consulting business: When The Napa Group expanded its business, including a greater focus on its higher education expertise, it was important to strategically focus primary business lines on a refreshed website. The Johnson Consulting team created a design that matched The Napa Group presence and brand, targeted the wide range of offerings in core areas of expertise and added features such as whitepapers that gave a voice to the intellectual property of the firm’s principals and affiliates. As a result, the website serves as The Napa Group’s ongoing collateral with downloadable materials that can be easily used by clients. Visit napagroup.com.

Community nonprofit: The first-ever fundraising campaign of Marin Community Clinics, a leading non-profit in Marin County, California, grew out of a refreshed brand, new leadership and a strategic plan to expand services. The fundraising campaign became the communications opportunity to integrate all these efforts in printed materials and a redesigned website. Johnson Consulting advised on strategic messaging to incorporate the new brand identity and developed the content for print and web materials, including a revised website architecture, annual report and campaign packet. Visit marinclinic.org.

Fundraising Campaign Marketing

Case studies

A fundraising campaign is often an organization’s best marketing tool. Why? Because it is high-touch. And in today’s media, it can also be distributed “high-tech.”

The “case for support,” or “case statement,” is the messaging playbook. It builds from an initial prospectus that is vetted by donors and potential donors, followed by an overall campaign communications strategy and implementation plan that we create with you for all media. We work with you to develop an integrated approach so that all campaign collateral materials apply unified message points that feature your people and programs — and the outcomes that philanthropic support of your organization will yield.

The Communications Audit

Case studies

Public university: Johnson Consulting was asked to assess the program and structure of a public university marketing and communications office to evaluate its effectiveness in advancing institutional priorities and achieving successful internal relationships. Our interviews with university leadership and staff, coupled with best practices research of other public universities and major private institutions, resulted in a staff restructuring and, immediately, rapid traction on a stalled comprehensive website redesign. We also worked with staff to develop a new strategic communications plan, integrated work plans and skills to become a higher-performing team.

Alumni Association. As part of their strategic planning projects in which we participated, several alumni associations have engaged us to conduct a communications audit to assist them in aligning and maximizing their communications activities with their new strategic direction. Because alumni association communications teams are often small, the challenge is to cover a great deal of territory – websites, magazines, newsletter, marketing materials and social media — with few people. By setting priorities, refocusing some staff responsibilities, developing new internal partnerships and creating new expectations among senior management, these teams expanded their communications bandwidth and became important frontline players in the success of their organizations.

Health care fundraising office: Our short-term program review followed a staff reorganization in the fundraising arm of a major medical center. After exploring individual capabilities, we recommended realigned staff functions, reporting relationships and integrated workflow processes that best leveraged talent and streamlined operations.

Executive Communications

Case study

Whitepapers: The organizational equivalent of a newspaper editorial or column, the business-style whitepaper projects the voice and ideas of a president, CEO or other institutional leader. Johnson Consulting’s journalism background is a direct fit with whitepaper development – we observe, listen, and, importantly, hear. We do our “reporting” to provide critical details that support arguments and provoke ideas. Then we wrap all this up in a persuasive document under the signature of the leader.

Our various whitepapers range from higher education topics to business strategies, private philanthropy, alumni advocacy and other themes that add value to the positioning of particular university, foundation or for-profit business. It’s all about telling the distinctive story — and one that often supports the case for investment.

Need a project in a pinch?

Recently we were hired to step in and manage a short-term communications project of critical importance -- but one that the nonprofit's own communications staff could not fully take on. The reason? They had too much work on their desks, faced other deadlines and needed the particular fundraising marketing expertise that Johnson Consulting brought. By overseeing the project to completion, while managing internal staff and adding our own resources to supplement them, we freed up senior leadership to focus on other activities and be relieved of project management details.