Fourth Sector Consulting works with organizations engaged in social change. We don’t work with our clients in isolation. We build bridges among these sectors where none exist and connect big ideas and the many partners whose collaboration is necessary to make real change happen. Curious? Check out some examples of our work.
Bike Walk Twin Cities: Cross-Sectoral Convening to Share Best Practices
Bike Walk Twin Cities has an ambitious goal: reduce driving by increasing bicycling and walking in the Minneapolis area. The federally funded initiative successfully provided money for on-street infrastructure and outreach initiatives, but its organizers wanted to learn more about best practices around educational efforts aimed at behavior change. Fourth Sector convened and facilitated a meeting of nonprofit, government, and for-profit communications professionals with deep experience in behavior-change initiatives. The meeting spurred new thinking among initiative staff members; they are using the results to develop new outreach efforts aimed at helping residents find new ways to get around town.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota—Center for Prevention: Connecting Low Income Residents to Farmers Markets
A unique community partnership was initiated in spring 2010 among three Minneapolis farmers markets, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Statewide Health Improvement Program of the Minnesota Department of Health, and the Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Their goal? To enable recipients of food assistance to use their EBT cards to purchase tasty and affordable food at three Minneapolis farmers markets. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota also offered an incentive—Market Bucks coupons, which matched the first $5 an EBT user spend on produce with an additional $5 in Market Bucks. Fourth Sector Consulting led a promotional campaign aimed at welcoming EBT users to the farmers markets. The campaign featured multi-lingual outreach at the markets and in the community, advertising on the radio, buses, and at transit stops, and signage at markets. The results? Increased EBT usage at all three farmers markets.
Clean Energy Resource Teams: Communications Audit
The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) connect Minnesota residents with resources to identify and implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Fourth Sector Consulting led an online survey process to better understand what existing stakeholders thought about the organization. The results of the survey, combined with stakeholder interviews led by another project partner, helped the organization develop its first communications plan.
First Peoples Fund: Event Planning
First Peoples Fund decided to bring its highly successful Community Spirit Awards to the Twin Cities for the first time in September 2010. The Community Spirit Awards recognize individuals using the arts to sustain the values of Native people. Fourth Sector Consulting worked closely with First Peoples Fund to help the organization build and sustain new relationships in the Twin Cities, and managed a promotional effort focused on relationship development, literature placement, and media relations. More than 300 people, including representatives from the St. Paul City Council and Mayor’s office, attended the ceremony held at the SteppingStone Theatre.
Food, Family, Farming Foundation: Network Building Through Developing Strong Online Presences
Founded by Chef Ann Cooper, the Food Family Farming Foundation aims to shift the U.S. food system toward an ecologically sound, sustainable model. Fourth Sector Consulting worked with the Foundation to develop The Lunch Box, an online toolkit packed with recipes and other tools-for-change that have helped school districts across the country create healthier school meals. The result is a website that connects anyone with a stake in better school food to ways to share resources in transitioning school meals from highly processed, unhealthy food to fresh, scratch-baked food. Fourth Sector Consulting also developed and managed the social media presences for The Lunch Box, growing a network of thousands who support better school meals.
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy: Website Development
The Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy was initiating a new effort to increase farm-to-school efforts in Minnesota. To keep key audiences informed on a regular basis, IATP wanted a dynamic website that could be easily updated to keep up with emerging news and priorities. Fourth Sector Consulting led a development process that ultimately resulted in a new website featuring opportunities to keep multiple constituencies engaged with farm-to-school efforts across Minnesota. Check it out at www.farm2schoolmn.org!
Sierra Club North Star Chapter: Communications Planning in a Volunteer-Driven Organization
The Sierra Club North Star Chapter is the leading grassroots voice to preserve and protect Minnesota’s environment. As part of its strategic planning process, the organization decided in late 2009 to invest in its first communications plan. Fourth Sector Consulting designed a custom communications planning process that empowered volunteers to step up and take an active role in both planning and execution. The resulting communications plan balances volunteer and staff capacity with impact.
Transit for Livable Communities: Institutional Support During Transitions
Transit for Livable Communities (TLC) was undergoing rapid transitions: new leadership, major policy victories, and growing national recognition for administering a $21.5 million pilot program aiming to increase bicycling and walking in the Minneapolis area. Fourth Sector worked with TLC to restructure its communications department, manage the hiring process for a new communications team, and ensure the organization’s strategic communications efforts went smoothly during staffing and leadership transitions. The organization is now well-positioned to capitalize on its strengths as it addresses major transportation challenges in Minnesota.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Food & Community Program: Strategic Communications Adapting to Changing Situations
In 2008, the Foundation—and the Food & Society initiative—underwent a major transformation. Working closely with the Food and Society team, Fourth Sector Consulting helped to ensure that the story of Food and Society was delivered clearly and consistently as the work transitioned into the new initiative, Food & Community. The message showed how the initiative’s future had been paved by the hard work of the preceding eight years, making clear the continuity between past and present.