Elevating Students with SMART

In a world where everything seems to be changing daily, one might say WE’s Bellevue office and the Boys & Girls Club of Bellevue (BGCB) has bucked the trend, maintaining a strong five-year history of partnership. WE has helped the BGCB serve over 10,000 children at 11 clubhouse locations through a variety of activities, from donation drive coordination to after-school playtime. At times, it’s tough to tell who’s having more fun – the kids or WE employees!

WE has also worked with BGCB on multiple pro bono projects connected to WE’s practice areas. One standout examples was the development of a communications campaign for BGCB’s SMART Girls program. SMART Girls focuses on enhancing the health, fitness, education and self-esteem of young women between the ages of 8-17 through workplace field trips, dynamic workshops, and mentoring from positive female role models. 

Like many nonprofits, BGCB does incredible work with limited resources. 86 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to programs for the kids. And because staff members spend the bulk of their energy on program development for the children’s immediate needs, it leaves little time to invest in strategic communications to support fundraising goals or lead community recruitment projects. As a result, BGCB had no consistent messaging, communication framework, or brand identity for the SMART Girls program. Relying solely on corporate contributions and women volunteers from local businesses, they had difficulty getting consistent sponsorships and support to sustain the program.

Enter, the power of WE.

During WE’s participation in CreateAthon event, a team of employees spent 24 hours creating a communications and branding strategy for SMART Girls, which included target market and demographic research and a new visual identity. Following BGCB’s approval of the overall approach, WE later produced other materials, including templates to leverage during donor and sponsor engagement and impact profiles to help the broader community understand how SMART Girls can positively change a girl’s life.

“Once I learned more about the impact that girls education can have on so many other areas of their lives, it became a real passion point for me and being able to volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club helps put that passion into action.” – Account Director, Bellevue

SMART Girls currently serves over 100 girls each year spanning across Bellevue’s 10 after school sites. WE is thrilled to support and help the next generation of young women  explore their full potential, because changing the world starts with one – one employee, one project and one SMART girl.