Transcription
Hey everyone, Peter Bowerman here, um, and welcome to the sample module for Wellfed Craft. Um, as you can see in the notes here on the cover page, this sample will give you a taste of what you can expect to see and learn, uh, in Wellfed Craft and how the whole process will unfold. So, also as noted, this short module is not part of the main program, so call it a bonus.
This was a brochure that I recently did for a nonprofit who was thrilled at the result. Um, I'm going to show you the uh front cover here, and um, there we go. Um, the organization really didn't have a whole lot in the way of marketing materials, which they really needed. They had a website, but um, that needed to be overhauled as well, and they certainly didn't have a brochure like this. But in the circles that they traveled in and to get in front of the people they needed to get in front of—I, the serious funders—they needed a professional piece, um, a leave-behind as they call it, that demonstrated that they were serious about their mission and willing to invest some money in it.
This piece was designed to give potential corporate donors, um, sort of the case for why it made sense to invest their charitable dollars with this particular organization. So, by definition, it had to spell out not only why this particular cause was so worthwhile, but how it—it would benefit them to be involved. And here's the premise of this organization: they—they serve foster care youth, and primarily those who have aged out of the foster care system, and they serve them with college preparatory programs and direct educational scholarships.
Aged out simply means that you're too old for the foster care system, and at that point, the payments to foster care parents will end. So the kids generally don't have a place to live, and they're certainly not prepared to live on their own, uh, so it's a very risky, uh, precarious point for them, and many can go off the wrong—in the wrong direction. So, um, so this is where this organization steps in with their educational program. So, you know, let's take a look.
The format of the piece was a simple four-page brochure, which when folded up was 8 and 1/2 by 11. So, when you open it up to the main spread, um, that's an 11 by 17. So, you know, this first image, of course, uh, very simple, um, on the front cover, uh, just a tagline, uh, the name of the organization, uh, and a great picture, of course. Um, and then you get into the uh the main spread. Now notice up here you have a very simple declarative statement, so that there's no question about what this organization does, and this is very important. This is kind of the antidote to the what's known as the curse of knowledge, which I actually discussed in the first—not module—um, where because you marinate in something all the time, you assume everybody else does as well. And so, you know, the key is to step back and realize that people don't know what you know, and so to really spell out clearly, so people read this: offering college preparation and scholarship programs for foster care youth, current, aged out, and emancipated, along with WS of the state. Got it. Okay. So, so the person reading it understands.
And then you get into sort of the case building. I'm going to bump this down just a hair so it'll all fit. You get into sort of the case building of this, um, youth and foster care. By every statistical measure, they begin life at a disadvantage, out and out of no fault of their own, and that's a really key issue to drive home to people. These kids are innocent; they—they don't uh have any say in—in what they were born into. Um, but plant the proverbial mustard seed of hope, and it can blossom into a life beyond their fondest imaginings. This is the work of Enoro. And then down here, uh, as a sidebar, uh, literally and figuratively, um, is the actual definition: what does Enoro mean? Because people are curious about that, and they—and it doesn't necessarily, you know, it isn't obvious. So we explain that. So, um, and then you get into, um, kind of the main crux of the issue right here in this yellow bar with a strong, hard-hitting headline: Educate or Incarcerate. Because that's often what happens, uh, given this very sobering statistic here: about 78% of the current death row population has spent time in the foster care system. So I had come across this statistic in my background reading for the project, and it had stayed with me, and I filed it away as a possible compelling piece of verbiage, uh, to be used in the brochure, and it was—it was perfect, really, here. So, and then you explain why—clearly the worst-case scenario. This one, at the very least, foster care kids are more likely to be—to—and then you explain all of the challenges that they generally have in life. Um, and then, in a sense, you rescue the reader, uh, by assuring them that this organization is doing all in their power to reverse this tragic trend, and—and of course, followed by a quote from one of their um scholarship recipients.
And then you get into the actual meat of the uh offering, which is just two programs, and um, you know, the first one is direct academic scholarships; the second one is called College Bound. Uh, College Bound actually basically allows these students to—they have to be high school grads—to test drive the um the college experience in week-long summer immersion programs on eight college campuses, and they're adding more all the time, covering these kind of subjects. Um, and then after that, uh, they can apply for a scholarship, and—and it goes from there. Now, just—just for um FYI, I was actually lobbying to put College Bound first and then direct academic scholarships because I was, in essence, building a case here, and I was establishing the uh the premise, you know, moving through some statistics, and then in my mind there was a sequence, and the first step in the sequence, of course, was College Bound because that's going to happen first, and then after they go through that and they go, wow, yeah, this is great, I really want to go to college, then the direct academic scholarships piece comes in. Um, but because they felt like the direct academic scholarships was—was the key offering that they had, they wanted to put this first. Um, and putting College Bound up here would also have made uh this call out by here make a little more sense because this actually goes with College Bound. But again, you have a—you know—attention corporate donors: charity with healthy ongoing ROI. Our current corporate donors have sensible bottom-line reasons for supporting our College Bound program. It provides a potential pipeline of future interns and work-study program candidates while giving companies access to a far broader pool of talent. So you're telling these corporate donors what's in it for them. Okay.
Um, and then notice throughout this whole page you—you've got small blocks of copy; you've got call-outs in terms of—of um stats right here in a different color. So, you know, the eye catches it; it's not just one big massive copy. You got a call-out here; you got bullets here; you got bullets here; you got bullets here; all of these things improve readability, uh, for something. And then you've got bullets down here, and this is—this is kind of the, you know, the—the last big point you're making. This is strategic philanthropy. Our two-pronged approach—active shepherding of youth through every step of their college journey along with direct funding—yields alumni—alumni with outcomes like these. And then you—you talk about what really comes out of this. So this whole thing is kind of known as what—is—is what is known as a logic model, where you sort of go through the system and you build your case for something, um, and tell people: this is why, you know, this is why you should do this; this is why this makes sense.
And then finally, the last page, um, you've got another declarative statement where you sort of summarize everything: We want to reach—and Enoro Foundation wants to reach every youth in foster care in this country, open their minds to the difference that higher education can make, and put those educational opportunities within financial reach. And then you've got a few um uh quotes from students, and then finally, of course, a um a call to action down here, which you always need to have uh in something like this: you know what you—what you—what steps you take to—to—to go to the next level and—and help out. So, um, so anyway, hopefully that uh that helps out. Again, the client loved this, and after it was shared with a board member, they shared it with someone who shared it with someone else who happened to be the head of a clearinghouse of sorts that connects nonprofits with serious funders, uh, which in their world is huge. So this piece really made a big difference uh in moving this organization forward. So, okay, that's about it for this sample. Um, while this video is a fairly short one, know that the 11 program modules—other main program modules—average about 25 minutes each and have some really cool music on the front and the back end, uh, and combined with the bonus materials that come along, it ends up being about roughly 7 hours worth of training. So anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.