Junior Achievement

Communications and Fundraising Strategy,
Impact Report, Newsletters

The new CEO of Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South had a vision back in 2019: That all JA programs be available to every child, regardless of their school’s ability to pay. That meant she needed to raise millions of new dollars to fund access for ALL children. My job: Help develop fundraising strategy and tell the organization’s stories of impact so that educators, donors and the community wanted to be part of the success.

Just as we began, the pandemic hit, so we switched fundraising and storytelling gears, making sure that JA’s excellent programs in entrepreneurship, work-readiness and financial literacy were still working for the children they were meant to serve AND that our messages of hope were reaching donors who could support the work. A brief, quarterly Impact Report spoke powerfully to donors and investors and continues to help build fundraising (read an example here).

By January 2023 part of the CEO’s vision was fulfilled: JA opened the Wang Experiential Learning Center in a historic Black neighborhood in the geographic center of their 27-county service area. Program days are now filled as soon as they open, volunteers numbers are increasing, staff continues to grow and the future is bright.