Equipping The United Way Social Purpose Institute for Growth and Success

The United Way Social Purpose Institute (SPI) was launched in 2016 with the purpose of nurturing business for good.

A growing number of businesses across British Columbia—from SMEs to large corporations—have drawn on the SPI’s innovative approach to articulate their purpose and guide them through the first steps on their journey to social purpose. 

The SPI recognized that it needed to grow in order to maintain its market advantage in an increasingly competitive space. The Institute seeks to distinguish itself through its distinct, cohort-based approach, thought leadership, and publishing. 

The Challenge 

The Social Purpose Institute’s success is built on its ability to balance its proprietary offering with an ethos of collaboration. The Institute had ambitious plans for recruitment and expansion, and was keen to become more self-sustaining by increasing its earned revenue in proportion to donations, government funding and grants. Leadership wanted to extend the Institute’s reach and increase its impact, building and deepening connections across their team and with diverse stakeholders.

They engaged Junxion to develop a marketing strategy to ensure the continued success of their programming in a difficult environment and crowded social purpose space. 

How We Helped

Junxion developed an agile, achievable marketing strategy and plan to support the Institute’s growth. Our approach engaged stakeholders to assess the SPI’s strengths, opportunities and aspirations. We refined the collective insights into a marketing strategy to raise the SPI’s profile with their target audiences.

We put a particular focus on the Innovators Program, a unique, cohort-based approach to help businesses uncover or refine their core, societal reason for being.

We followed this with an action plan that sets out practical steps to implement the strategy on their website and social media channels. The plan includes both outreach and engagement activities, and quick wins and longer-term improvements to the website. 

Measuring Success

The marketing plan sets out three-year priorities to be reviewed annually, as well as a 12-month calendar of activities to review quarterly. By maintaining an agile approach to marketing planning, the Institute can continue to embrace and embed new learning as its market reach and presence grow.