In early 2021, Prism called Mission Partners with a situation:  they were one year in to a groundbreaking new independent, nonprofit newsroom, developed by and for people of color, but they had a problem. Their actual engaged audience was not aligned with their envisioned audience. They needed a pivot: how to promote and tell their story that could more authentically engage the folks for whom they primarily exist.  ​​

Mission Partners and Smoketown facilitated a full day leadership team retreat and design thinking day that engaged the team in seeing their work and impact in new ways. In that session, we uncovered and then explored at depth that an early partnership with a news distributor was driving a misaligned audience. And while the numbers of readers were impressive, Prism’s content just wasn’t getting in front of the right folks. We uncovered other things too: that there was a lack of shared understanding for Prism’s goals, and that there were opportunities to strengthen internal communications that could in turn strengthen their public voice.  ​

Following that session, Mission Partners and Smoketown supported Prism in building a completely refreshed brand house, as well as a year-long communications strategy, which included a refresh of all Prism messaging, research with the target audience set, and engagement of those readers through surveys and group conversations. In the first 6 months following the brand rollout, the returns were strong: engaged subscribers dramatically increased, unique visitors to the site doubled, and Prism met its year end fundraising goals. The clarity that was gained by the brand process allowed the rest of Prism’s marketing and fundraising efforts to fall into place and position the nonprofit for transformational growth ahead. The updated brand elements were incorporated into a yearly impact report.

“Working alongside Mission Partners has been transformative for Prism. With their support and expertise, we were able to refine and focus our brand and strategy at a critical moment of our early development as a newsroom, and Prism has continued to thrive thanks in large part to this partnership.”

ASHTON LATTIMORE
Editor-In-Chief, Prism