Whole life leadership of yourself, your business, your big ideas & your future
Helping nonprofits share their mission & story
so we can grow their impact...
for more than 15 years.
We're here to help the "helpers"... At Truu North We are your strategy advisors, your planning consultants, your implementation guides, and your talent developers.
"We are a small, start-up nonprofit organization who, like most early stage businesses, were narrowly focused on our business plan and painfully unfocused on creating brand and brand awareness. Shari opened our eyes to the type of message we wanted to deliver, and broadened the horizon of those who need to hear it. She helped us start our "movement". She is patient, creative, intuitive, nurturing - and best of all, Shari knows her business. I cannot recommend Shari Kingston Adams highly enough." Mike Hales Executive Director
Services:
Strategic Planning--Vision, Positioning, Identity
Strategic Planning:
When the founder, executive director, staff and the board knows exactly who they are as an organization, who they help, what they value, why their solution works, where they're going and how they're getting there....they create their goals faster. Confusion, unfocused actions and unclear direction sabotages growth. Strategic planning helps founders "clarify" their mission and vision, set strategic goals, define their strategic niche & positioning, solidify their identity, evaluate opportunities, development organization model, board development and create action plans. Strategic planning helps founders see the BIG picture AND see the small details of how to create it. Founders typically go through the strategic planning process upon start up, after a few years of passionately providing services, at a transition point, or as a result of significant changes. If you feel stuck, unfocused or overwhelmed with what to do next then it's time to get experienced and fresh eyes to help you with your strategic plans. This experience gives you the spark to start moving forward in a big way.
Marketing, Communications & Fundraising
Brand Power, Messaging and Storytelling:
We are committed to telling our clients’ stories to the right people and in the right way so we can build your Brand Power. Whether your organization is a traditional business selling a product or service, a social enterprise or a nonprofit focused on charitable services, telling your story is integral to raising awareness of what you do every day. Truu North will help clarify, develop and communicate compelling messaging and storytelling for your organization. By knowing your audiences and how to reach them, Truu North will assist with achieving organizational objectives through strategic communications. It is also important to develop consistent messaging, which is why training your people on the effective use of organizational messaging is also a key component of Truu North's services.
Digital Marketing:
We help you create a strategic digital marketing plan and we can help you implement it. This could include a regular newsletter, email marketing, digital fundraising campaigns, social media, content creation plan for all digital marketing, digital public relations, connecting with influencers, virtual events, blogging or even a podcast. We help you understand what's "right" for your organization because successful digital marketing shouldn't be a one size fits all approach.
Social Media:
Social media has become an increasingly more effective tool to supplement a company or organization’s brand awareness efforts. While the results can be impressive, it is often a daunting task developing and implementing a plan for how all the different social media platforms. Truu North has the expertise to assist you in creatively leveraging social media and online community development to tell your story to the right people in the right way. We help with Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube, Tik Tok and Medium. We help you understand which platforms are right for your organization because a successful social media plan shouldn't be a one size fits all approach.
Grow Your Membership or Donor Base:
We can help you strategically plan how to grow your base of members or donors so your non-profit can expand its reach. We will work on messaging, marketing and program development to elevate how your members and donors engage with your organization. The purpose is to increase the volume of people in your base but more importantly bring in the "right" people and keep them engaging long-term. We will also do research to understand how you can serve your base more effective and meet their needs. It's about attracting them to your cause and then turning them into advocates for your organization and then ambassadors. This builds long-term engagement and growth. We can do staff, volunteer and board training as a part of helping in this area.
Fundraising & Sponsorship Campaigns:
It doesn't matter if you're launching your end of the year fundraising campaign or embarking on a special project, event fundraising campaign or need a whole fundraising system, we can help you with messaging, strategy, planning, marketing and donor & corporate sponsorship research. We can help you create your campaign while also working with your staff and board to get them more involved. We can also help you with strategic planning for your entire year, helping you develop new ways to raise funds and create specific action plans to accomplish your fundraising goals.
Cause Campaigns:
What truly sets us apart from our competitors is our ability to connect the for-profit and nonprofit sectors and develop partnerships that realize benefits on both sides of the fence. Depending on who initiates the effort (for-profit or nonprofit), cause campaigns typically come in two forms – Cause Marketing (product or service-driven and linking sales to a cause) and Cause Awareness (issue based and linking brands to a cause). Truu North has the expertise and knowledge to build cause campaigns from the initial concept all the way through implementation, delivering results for the client and the partner(s).
Strategic Community Investment:
We work with businesses of all sizes and shapes helping to integrate the benefits of community investment into the culture of an organization. Depending on the business’ current state of involvement, Truu North develops strategic plans for community investment that typically include mutually beneficial community partnerships, corporate giving budgets, employee volunteerism, executive involvement (i.e. nonprofit board/committee placement and training on effective board service), and signature initiative development. Truu North also serves as the translator between businesses and nonprofits – ensuring partnerships are mutually beneficial and return on investment is understood on both sides of the fence. Whether it is a long-term partnership, or a more focused, short-term effort, Truu North will work with both sides to ensure reciprocity is realized and maintained. Also see Cause Campaigns for more for-profit and nonprofit collaborations.
Organization Effectiveness:
Organizational Model:
Align your fundraising goals with your capacity to execute. This involves long-term staffing, board, programs, fundraising, revenue streams and marketing. Creating deliberate choices regarding how your organization can achieve it's goals, sustain and grow over time.
Board Development:
If your board needs new members to bring fresh ideas, or you're trying to add new areas of expertise to your board, Truu North can help you assess your board and find new members to give your organization's leadership the skills it needs to thrive.
Board and Staff Training: leadership, roles, skills training
Truu North wants to ensure your organization or company has the ability to stand on its own when it comes to telling your story in the right way and to the right people. Customized trainings and workshops are available on a variety of topics including, but not limited to: Public Relations, Messaging, Media Training, Fundraising, Productivity, Building a Strong Personal Brand, Board Training, Maximizing your Board and Corporate-Nonprofit Partnerships, and Social Media.
Contact Shari directly to explore how she can help you nonprofit. shari@truunorth.com
Your Truu North is Calling!
