JRP is currently assisting Families Forward with a refreshed strategic plan. JRP is proud to have assisted this great organization since this article was published in Nov. 2012, when it was still called Mothers’ Club:
Flashback Friday: The Power of Two
The unassuming façade of Mothers’ Club in Pasadena doesn’t give a clue to the magic going on inside. For 50 years, Mothers’ Club has been a family learning center for at-risk children aged 0 to 5 and their moms. Their two-generation learning program prepares low-income families to succeed in school and in life. While moms are in class learning English, reading and parenting skills, their children are stimulated and engaged by certified childhood education specialists in beautiful, age-appropriate rooms filled with light and love. The building on Fair Oaks was purchased and renovated just 5 years ago through a capital campaign. One of the early buildings to receive the prestigious Gold Level LEED certification, it not only has state-of-the-art learning facilities but also state-of-the-art sustainability features.
Mara Leong-Nichols, the Development Assistant, loves to give tours of the Mother’s Club, and it’s obvious she loves her work. Articulate and engaging, she beams as she describes the programs and talks about the community of mothers. She knows every fact and detail about the organization, the clients and the building. In typical nonprofit fashion, Mara’s duties are not limited to development. She also handles social media, public relations, communications, grant writing and the web site.
But she is getting help with the web site. “We obtained a Google Grant to explore advertising on Google,” Mara explains, “and Jericho Road matched us with Martin, who is helping develop our web site to optimize it for advertising.”
The challenge for every business, and especially every nonprofit, is to get to the top of a Google search. You have to know how to be a Google detective and use the right keywords in your web site copy, in your photo descriptions and your page tags. How do people find you? What words do they type into Google? When they do find your website, what’s going to keep them there?
It’s all part of SEO – or search engine optimization. Martin knows all about this, having worked at Yahoo Search Marketing. And now he’s helping Mothers’ Club optimize their web site. He reviewed and analyzed their web site, developed some very strong key words and then developed ad copy. “Once the ads start running, I’ll work with Mara to read the information generated by Google Analytics,” Martin explains. “This information will serve as a roadmap for future advertising campaigns and budgets.”
“This is a wonderful match – good for both of us!” Mara exclaimed. “Martin was looking for a way to expand his skills and experience, and his skills are a tremendous help to us. We didn’t have the budget or staff to accomplish this.”
The Power of Two: a slogan the Mother’s Club uses to describe their two generation learning program seems to be a fitting way to describe this Jericho Road match as well!