Client Spotlight: Hospitality House of Charlotte

Like many nonprofits, Hospitality House of Charlotte is charged with responding to ever-growing needs with limited resources. The organization, whose mission is to provide shelter for out-of-town families in the midst of medical crisis, has only three full-time staff members. This small but dedicated team must not only manage the day-to-day operations of the house but continually strengthen and deepen their outreach into the community. Hospitality House approached Fame Foundry seeking our help in increasing awareness and cultivating a community around the organization and its mission. We responded by developing tools that support them in putting the principles of trustcasting to work efficiently and effectively to promote sustainable long-term growth.

Establishing a legacy

The organization’s new identity lays the groundwork for building trust with the community by incorporating its longevity as an integral part of its brand and putting its 25-year history of service at the forefront of all communication with the public.

Empowering outreach

The new HHoC website establishes a firm foundation upon which the organization can build a dedicated following around its brand by engaging visitors with videos, news and articles that tell the story of Hospitality House in the greater context of the community it serves.

Turning passion into action

Throughout the site, compelling videos capture the passion at heart of the organization, with real people relating personal experiences in a genuine way that resonates with prospective donors and volunteers, creating a strong sense of urgency to act.

Making the connection

The donation module reinforces the mission of Hospitality House by associating the amount of each gift with the service it enables the organization to provide, making the impact of the contribution more tangible and meaningful for the donor.

Taking control

A critical aspect of community building is providing reasons for visitors to return to the site again and again by offering a constant stream of fresh content. Behind the scenes of the HHoC website is a powerful management system that puts the site to work for Hospitality House by allowing the organization to maximize its marketing and promotion efforts with a minimal investment of time. To learn more about Hospitality House of Charlotte, visit http://www.hospitalityhouseofcharlotte.org.

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Does Your Brand Suffer from a Split Personality?

Let's say you've been consistently active in the world of social media for many months. You update your Facebook page daily and spark good dialogue with your fans. You tweet nothing but interesting tidbits of news, information and advice that get re-tweeted through your followers' networks. You even have a thriving blog with a strong following, and you've established a voice of authority in this community. In every channel where you engage with members of your online tribe, your brand exudes a personality that is vibrant, genuine and passionate. Congratulations! You're the master of your social media domain. But now it's time for a reality check – as in the everyday reality of your business operations. When fans and followers from your social networks interact with you and your employees in the real world, does their experience live up to their expectations? When fans and followers from your social networks interact with you and your employees in the real world, does their experience live up to their expectations? When a customer calls your business, how long do they have to wait on hold and how many times must they be transferred before their needs are fulfilled? If a customer needs to return an item to your store, is their request handled graciously and expeditiously or begrudgingly with hassles over receipts and return policies? Do the salespeople on your front lines engage your customers with the same attentiveness and enthusiasm as you do online, or do they look and act like disenchanted worker drones just wasting away the hours until the 5:00 whistle blows? It's relatively easy to maintain a sparkling brand personality when you're in front of your keyboard, but that personality doesn't exist in an online vacuum. Each time you and your employees have the opportunity to interact with your customers in person or over the phone, your brand's reputation is put to the test. If you're known to fans and followers on your social media networks for being helpful, courteous and knowledgeable, they will expect nothing less when they call your business or come into your store. Therefore, in order to protect their trust in your brand and their belief in your brand’s promise, it's critical to evaluate your day-to-day customer service policies and protocols to ensure that every exchange embodies these values. If you're exposed as a phony, your former fans and followers will be quick to turn on you. All the time, energy and resources that you've poured into cultivating authentic connections with your community in the Web marketing universe can be rendered moot in an instant if your care and conviction doesn't translate when your customers unplug and engage with you and your employees person-to-person. If you're exposed as a phony, your former fans and followers will be quick to turn on you. Once lost, their goodwill is very difficult to regain, and almost nothing can save you from the viral nature of a disgruntled customer with a megaphone on Facebook or Twitter.

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