Nonprofit Case Studies
"Working with nonprofits is something that every communications professional should consider, whether they donate their time or receive compensation. There are dedicated, change-making organizations in the world who need skilled communications people to help them accomplish their goals."
- Jennifer L. Jacobson
​Strategic communications is the invisible work of nonprofits and it often determines the difference between achieving success or fading into obscurity. While well-known, global nonprofits frequently have exceptional communications campaigns, there are many worthwhile smaller nonprofits who need the same attention, but simply lack the resources, staff, and or budget to achieve the press traction they require.

Jennifer loves working with nonprofits, especially smaller, and niche nonprofits, representing marginalized communities. Jennifer helps these nonprofits develop and run communications campaigns that make an impact and get them closer to where they want to be. Jennifer actively looks for nonprofits that are close to her heart, that champion underserved people and places. 

Jennifer is also the founder of Nimbus Haus, a volunteer organization that helps youth express themselves through art. The organization especially advocates for kids in the foster care system and LGBTQ+ youth. For more, visit www.nimbushaus.com

Nonprofits & Causes Jennifer Has Worked With

Lakota People's Law Project is a nonprofit advocating for Indiginous justice. Jacobson Communication volunteers its ongoing expertise, outreach services, strategy, and advisement to help raise awareness of LPLP's stories and causes serving Indigenous communities and causes.
Key Activities & Accomplishments:
​• Consultation and advising on outreach and story strategy
​• Reaching thousands of leading reporters with story pitches
​• Taking complicated concepts and multi-thread stories and condensing them into headline-friendly, engaging content designed to draw in readers and compel them to learn more and take action
Seattle Counseling Service is the oldest LGBTQ-focused community mental health agency in the world, and an important provider of mental health services and addiction recovery for the Seattle LGBTQ+ community.

​I had the privilege of working with Seattle Counseling Service on their 50th anniversary year communications planning and community engagement, which included high-concept strategy, campaign development, press relations, and script writing for the end of year Gala.
Key Accomplishments:
​• Co-crafted high-concept messaging around 50th anniversary
• Created and launched 50th anniversary press release
• Thought up and co-created the "50th Anniversary Alumni Homecoming Stories" campaign
Happy Hollow Park and Zoo is a thriving amusement park and AZA accredited zoo in San Jose California. The facility is owned and run by the city of San Jose, and the Happy Hollow Foundation is the nonprofit that supports it.

As a lifelong amusement park enthusiast I served on the foundation’s Board of Directors and offered my enthusiasm, communications skills, and time to helping the foundation grow and continue to support the park.​
​Key Accomplishments:
​• Helped with strategic communications planning
​• Drove community engagement and interest
​• ​Developed infrastructure and strategy around donor outreach strategy
Directed PR for Worldreader; a global nonprofit dedicated to providing free digital libraries with quality content to people in the developing world. Created promotional campaigns around new operating system launch, as well as our work with The Clinton Global Initiative, Chelsea Clinton's new book for children, and novelist Paulo Coelho. Key stories include AdWeek, PBS Frontline, Voice of America, and more.
​Key Accomplishments:
​• 650+ Stories in the media
• Over 1 Billion impressions
• Key promotional campaigns for new OS, CGI, and Paulo Coelho
Served on the Board of Directors for the Umunhum Conservancy, a San Jose nonprofit, dedicated to preserving the history of the historic radar station from the Cold War. The tower is the last remaining structure from a defensive Air Force station that protected what was to become Silicon Valley, with one of the world’s most powerful computers and a dedicated team and community living atop Mt. Umunhum in the clouds. Today, the tower remains as part of a public exhibit and park atop the mountain, sharing the history of the mountain, the tower, and the city.​
​Key Accomplishments:
​• Drove press attention that helped Tower earn U.S. Historic Status
• Raised significant public attention via press outreach
• Created highly compelling visual print materials for public events
Worked with Wolfe Video, Sweet Travel, and One Good Love to raise money for the nonprofit, Freedom to Marry, a nonprofit working toward marriage equality in the U.S.
​Key Accomplishments:
​• High-level planning and crowdfunding campaign creation
​• Wrote all customer-facing campaign communications
​• Produced promotional donation “ask” video featuring Wolfe Video’s founder

Storytelling & Video Production for Nonprofits


​​Wrote and produced in-depth video interview a key member of the Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit led by Lady Gaga and her mother, focused on supporting the mental and emotional wellness of young people.

​​Wrote and produced an in-depth sit-down interview with Tippi Hedren, film star and president of the Shambala Preserve & The Roar Foundation: A nonprofit dedicated to supporting exotic felines and advocating for legislation to protect them.

​​Advised on early development for the annual fundraiser video about people supported by Hopelink, a Seattle nonprofit dedicated to helping those in poverty find sustainability. Co-Directed welcome video for live event featuring Dr. Jill Biden.

Additional Work in the Nonprofit Space

Branding Resource Center

Get Jennifer's Upcoming Book

Snow Tires for Startups: How to Get PR Traction, is a practical guide for startups and growing brands who want to get the most out of their PR. Learn to think like a storyteller and weave your brand into a larger narrative that puts you in the history books. Snow Tires for Startups will help you navigate the world for PR and get the positive attention you need to move your brand forward.
“Is my startup ready for PR?" The answer has a lot to do with what your startup is already doing.​ Find out if you're ready now, if you should wait, or if you should have started PR months ago with this simple quiz. 
​Read more.

​3 Ways Big PR Firms Slow Down Startups

Do big global PR firms work for startups? The siren song of larger, global PR firms are tempting to many, but there are good reasons many startups should avoid them. You can do better than a big firm. Here’s why. 
​Read more.
Jacobson Communication specializes in public relations, brand development, and creative services for startups, theme parks, musicians, authors, nonprofits, and more. From audience awareness to brand development, and positive social change, you'll be surprised what better communications can do for your brand.
​Copyright 2024 Jacobson Communication

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

​Acknowledgement to the southern Lushootseed-speaking Coast Salish Indigenous Peoples whose land I live and work on.

The Duwamish People
This land also includes the traditional land and waterways of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People of past and present. It is with honor and gratitude to the land itself, the plants, animals, and the Duwamish Tribe that I practice my work.

The Puyallup Tribe​
This land is also on and adjacent to the traditional homelands and waterways of the Puyallup Tribe. The Puyallup people have lived on and stewarded these lands since the beginning of time and continue to do so today. I recognize that this land acknowledgement is one small step toward true allyship, and I commit to uplifting the voices, experiences, and histories of the Indigenous people of this land and beyond.
To learn more about the Puyallup Tribal Language program, visit:
https://www.puyalluptriballanguage.org
 
The Awaswas People
I would not be the person I am today without growing up in what is now called the Bay Area. For the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, current and future generations of Indigenous Peoples across the Bay Area. I acknowledge and honor the eight tribes known as the Awaswas People, who were the original people and caretakers of much of what is now known as the South Bay Area. The Awaswas had, since the dawn of time, worked with and cultivated the area so it had a variety and abundance of animals and plants. Their ways and practices maintained balance and biodiversity that the area has not known since colonization. The Spanish displaced, enacted violence against, enslaved, and forced the Awaswas People and other Indigenous Peoples of the Bay Area into the mission system, taking the Awaswas people to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista. Some Indigenous peoples of the area were able to escape to the south and into what is now Mexico. Some of those who escaped had to deny their identity and say they were Mexican in order to survive. Much of this history is still being discovered. Today, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, composed of the descendants of Indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista during Spanish the Spanish Colonization of the Central Coast is working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from historical trauma.
To learn more about the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, click here.