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Columbus Speech & Hearing

Promoting 100th Anniversary with Event Support and Communications Strategy

The Project

For 100 years, Columbus Speech & Hearing (CSH) has been the leading nonprofit serving the communication needs of central Ohio. By remaining focused on its mission to help all people improve communication and independence, CSH raises awareness of speech and hearing challenges throughout the Columbus community and surrounding areas.

In 2023, the organization celebrated its 100th anniversary and enlisted the help of Inspire to raise awareness of this momentous milestone. Specifically, the objectives for this campaign were to:

  • Position CSH as the recognized leader in providing personalized service and caring attention for speech and audiology services in the central Ohio area for 100 years

  • Raise awareness of speech and hearing challenges throughout the Columbus community to raise at least $10,000 during a commemorative event

  • Establish positive, ongoing messages and relationships with clients and providers, donors and other stakeholders.

Inspire worked with CSH to plan and execute a 100th anniversary luncheon event, which was attended by more than 200 community leaders, donors, clients and staff members.

In addition to the luncheon, Inspire promoted the anniversary throughout the year through a robust communications and PR strategy, including new 100th anniversary branding, earned media outreach on the milestone, social media and digital strategies, a video series with client and staff testimonials and stakeholder toolkits to amplify the anniversary message.

The Results

The 100th anniversary luncheon in June was a huge success, with an attendance of 211 individuals, which represented board members, staff, past and current clients, donors, elected officials and community leaders. The goal for the event was to raise $10,000 in real time during the luncheon. CSH surpassed this goal raising more than $12,000 during the event and grossing additional dollars through ticket sales and corporate sponsorships. The event also helped connect CSH to new individual and corporate donors.

As part of the anniversary, Inspire also helped CSH secure proclamations from local dignitaries, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and the local Chambers of Commerce where CSH has office locations. This engaged these key leaders to raise awareness of the work CSH is doing to support their local constituents and audiences.

CSH saw increased engagement on their social platforms in June, when the luncheon was held. The top post on LinkedIn was anniversary-focused, generating a 26% engagement rate. Inspire also filmed and produced seven video testimonials, which received hundreds of views across the campaign.

Additionally, WCMH-TV amplified the 100th anniversary through 10 on-air promotions, providing a homepage takeover where CSH received all ad placements on the NBC4i.com homepage for one day, a social media mention reaching more than 1.1 million Facebook followers and an interview segment on Daytime Columbus. Other media coverage ran on local radio stations, including Sunny 95 and What Matters with Mikaela and Mindy on WTVN-AM.

The feedback from luncheon attendees and the CSH board of directors was very positive. As a result, new relationships have been formed that will be leveraged to secure additional funding to support the nonprofit’s mission.