Our goal for 2008 was to enhance our organization beyond the grassroots level. We want to be an organization that can help families outside the Twin Cities, first regionally and then nationally. Every day, the Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation receives emails from hospital and clinic social workers, oncology nurses, and families asking for help from us. We regularly hear that we are unique and that there are no other foundations of this kind nationwide. That gives us hope and motivation to work hard to give many more families the Gift of Time.
To fund our nationwide expansion, we need to increase fundraising and awareness, as well as plan for the future financially. In order to accomplish this, we must raise more capital from corporate sponsors and private donors and learn more about investment strategies to create an endowment.
New Branding to Support Nationwide Expansion through Brand Equity
In order to propel the Foundation towards nationwide expansion, we recognized a need to develop professional, cohesive communications. To develop these communication tools the Szott Foundation turned to a group of students from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management. These students helped us to develop a well-defined brand and integrated communications approach.
Video Promotion
Another tool the Foundation created to facilitate our expansion was a promotional video for outreach and fundraising. We were blessed by the generosity of my brother, John, who is a television producer in Jacksonville, FL. He is producing the video pro bono. To help him is KARE 11 photographer, Ron Stover. He gave us a significant discount for his photography and editing expertise. We are so grateful to have people in our lives to help us realize our goals.
