From “desperately door knocking” to “join our waitlist”

When you’re in the business of helping others succeed, who helps you succeed? For Mission Edge, a San Diego nonprofit dedicated to empowering other nonprofits and entrepreneurs, this question became crucial as they set out to grow their Impact Lab program.

In 2021, Mission Edge reached out to us, facing the challenge of promoting a free yet highly valuable program to an audience that didn’t fully understand its worth. They needed a way to communicate their program’s value, gain credibility, and build a solid waitlist of eager participants.

Here’s how we helped them go from “we-need-butts-in-seats” to “join our waitlist.”

About the Client

The Impact Lab is completely free and funded by grant dollars, and it helps budding entrepreneurs build a repeatable, predictable business model that sustains their lifestyle.

The Challenges

First and foremost, Mission Edge had a vision to help as many local small business owners as possible. At a minimum, they at least needed to comply with the grant requirements to assist 10 participants per cohort. Sounds simple, right?

But this mission was not without its obstacles:

1. Many entrepreneurs were skeptical about a free coaching program because it seemed too good to be true. Mission Edge needed to establish trust.
2. New business owners are incredibly busy. Mission Edge needed to prove that the Impact Lab program was worth their time.
3. The program had limited staff. Mission Edge needed to maximize their outreach without burning out their team.

The Solution

A program as helpful and generous as the Impact Lab should not need to bend over backward to find people to help. We collaborated with Mission Edge to help them create a content strategy that inspired others and established trust.

Here’s exactly what we did.

1. Identified key problems and solutions: Through several strategy sessions, we worked with Mission Edge to pinpoint the exact challenges that the Impact Lab was solving for small business owners, from financial stability to creating sustainable growth. Instead of saying “here we are,” our content aimed to tell potential participants, “we see you”—a subtle but powerful shift that built trust and engagement.
2. Created ongoing content that established trust: We wrote more than 60 case studies highlighting the Impact Lab participants’ transformations. These stories gave new business owners a sense of security, knowing that others in similar positions had found success with the program. We also re-wrote the Impact Lab’s landing page, wrote an email welcome sequence, sent regular case study emails, and posted case studies to LinkedIn.
3. The cherry on top was a content workflow tool: To support the limited staff and avoid burnout, we implemented a custom content workflow using Monday.com. This allowed Mission Edge to track progress, manage approvals, and schedule posts without time-consuming meetings or endless email threads.

The Results

• 4X their LinkedIn following: Within two years, Mission Edge’s LinkedIn following surged from 1,000 to more than 4,000 and now serves as an engagement platform that brings people to their website.
• From “please apply” to “join our waitlist”: The Impact Lab now has undeniable proof of its effectiveness. This meant staff could stop going door-to-door to fill seats – and instead enjoy sifting through a waitlist full of eager participants.
• 52% email open rate: The Impact Lab was able to start building its own email list, which now has 455 subscribers and an average open rate of 52%. (The industry average for nonprofits is 28.59%.)

And to top it all off, Mission Edge has since applied this storytelling-driven content strategy to other programs.

Here’s what Charlotte Vitak with Mission Edge had to say about working with us:

“Lemay Story Studio is a joy to work with. Maddie does an amazing job of transforming our rough ideas into beautiful, clear, presentable copy. She brings a valuable and informed point of view to the table that helps steer your vision towards something others can understand and digest while still retaining your voice. Lastly, working with Maddie is a breeze; she is efficient, organized, and friendly. Thank you Maddie, for all of your help - can't wait for our next project together!”

We can take you from “ignored” to “adored,” too. Ready to transform your content strategy and experience the joy of selling with a waiting list?

Book a call! And, in the meantime, take our free marketing assessment. You’ll receive a detailed report that will help you identify where you can improve.