When business dropped off at the advertising firm Jerri Hemsworth operates with husband Brian it gave the chance to assess the direction of her career.

When Hemsworth gave it some thought the clients she liked working with the most, the ones that made her “spirit soar,” as she puts it, were charities and other not-for-profit organizations.

This was in early 2009. For the next nine months, the Hemsworths discussed expanding the work they were already doing with non profits by creating a new division of their firm, newmangrace advertising & design. They discussed what to call it, what the branding message would be and with the help of graphic artist Rebekah Albrecht came up with a logo.

In those discussions, the one idea the couple kept returning to was to have the new division serve a higher purpose.

Grace Non-Profit Communications is unique in the marketing and advertising industry in that it only serves charities and organizations not trying to make money. Jerri Hemsworth said she was not aware of any other firm in Southern California doing similar work.

Marketing is one area that gets little attention in the non-profit world. When extra money comes to these groups, spending it on self-promotion doesn’t come to mind.

Executives with these groups, however, learned differently.

“They taught us the great value in investing in (marketing) and how that will turn around tenfold for you,” said Tiffany Harris, co-founder and chief executive of Shane’s Inspiration, a Sherman Oaks charity that consults on accessible playgrounds nationally and internationally.

A bridge

Jerri Hemsworth describes Grace as the bridge between the clients and the donor base needed to continue the work those clients do. Her number one mission as the principal of the division is reaching those donors and getting the word out about local charities.

Donor research is a passion of Hemsworth’s – figuring out who they are, what organizations they donate to and what kind of messages they will respond to.

In meeting with executive directors, the couple was shocked to find out that these heads of the charities knew little to nothing about the research Jerri Hemsworth had uncovered online.

The “bread and butter donors,” for instance, are not high net worth individuals but instead have annual incomes ranging from $50,000 to $250,000. Charities doing work in education and health care were the top two recipients of their money, Hemsworth said.

She also found that while these donors gave on a consistent basis it was more likely nationally known groups receiving the money rather than local ones.

That is a gap that Grace wants to fill.

Doing research

In taking on a new client, Hemsworth begins by looking at the marketing already done and analyzing what worked and what didn’t; identifying target donors; and working with the client’s staff to rework their mission statement.

In the case of Shane’s Inspiration, the group replaced a borrowed logo and came up with a central message that spoke to both families with children with disabilities and potential municipal clients.

What the charity particularly liked was that Hemsworth didn’t try to present the Shane’s Inspiration brand too corporate. Non-profit marketing needs to keep the mission and heart of the charity’s work front and center, Harris said.

“It reflected the level of professionalism our team was providing,” Harris said.

The new division started during a very challenging period for non profits as the recession resulted in a drop in donations and elimination of government contracts for the services they offered.

Charities and other groups began to panic, Hemsworth said, and with stale donor lists began to reach in all directions for money.

To overcome that challenge, the charities needed to work smarter and come up with new ways of thinking and communicating with organizations traditionally seen as competition, Hemsworth said.

“It’s about how can charities and non-profits work together to form alliances and build fundraising efforts so they can all benefit,” Hemsworth said.