Sample Script Narrative/Letter – Easterseals New Brand

Approximately 3-5 minutes

May 19, 2016

Hi, I’m Randy Rutta, president and CEO of Easterseals. <Insert local site/program/affiliate leadership>

You may notice some fresh and exciting changes happening at Easterseals. A new name, logo and tagline are some of the many features of our refreshed and invigorated brand.Together, these changes represent a banner to lead us forward in changing the way the world views and defines disability.

Our organization exists to providepeople with disabilities the best services, the best opportunities they could possibly capture in life. Every day, through the power of communities nationwide, like ours, we support 1.4 million individuals and their families. Here in <xx location> we’re focused on<Insert local services>, supporting more than <XX figure> individuals and families each year. We dispel stereotypes, overcome obstacles and challenge perceptions about people with disabilities and their potential.

Our cause began as a bold vision nearly a century ago. It’s a vision that evolvedfrom bringing children with disabilities out of the shadows to serving as the framework for the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. It’s a vision that never settles, but rather propels us to“what’s next,” challengingus to do more for the families we serve.

Disabilities have become increasingly complex in the 21st century. The definition of disability itself is broader, going beyond the physical to include emotional, intellectual, social and educational issues.

With this mindset, we are focused on how best to take our next step forward, making sure Easterseals is robust, modern, relevant and essential for the next 100 years.

If you’re over age 50, it is likely you’ve heard of Easterseals. In fact, we havean 88% name recognition, when the public is offered a little prompting. That’s certainly something! But when asked to name a charity you feel good about or that rises to top of mind, Easterseals doesn’t fare nearly as well, only bubbling to the surface for 1% of the population. And if you probe a little deeper, too few know the full role we play day-in and day-out via hundreds of home and community-based service offerings across the country.

If you’re younger than age 50, Easterseals ranks abysmallylow in awareness. We are not on young people oreven young families’ radar. And we should be!

How can we take what we do and amplify in a way that a younger generation can hear about us, be inspired and engage with us differently? There are millions of Gen X’ers and Millennials who we know care about our cause, but don't yet know us. We need them to know we’re a worthy charity making a major difference in people’s lives everyday and that we can do so much more for our communities, given the chance, given the resources, given the awareness.

This is the time to be bold…not for us, but for the people we could better serve, the communities we could better serve. We can’t settle with being the best-kept secret any longer.We’ve evolved as disability -- and the needs of an evolving disability community -- has, too.

In May 2016, Easter Seals National launched a new, revitalized brand. It’s a re-introduction and introduction overdue. It’s something our entire organization has been focused on for almost two years, teaming with a strategic branding partner,Siegelvision, to lead us inclarifying, simplifying and strengthening our brand and overall experience with our various publics. It’s been an utterly engaging and galvanizing opportunity for our staff and clients, closest partners and volunteers.

Achieving clarity isn’t easy, but it is essential in today’s disrupted, complex media landscape. A lack of clarity, visibility and differentiation impedes growth and the ability to achieve our organizational objectives to support more individuals with disabilities.

One thing we aren’t changing is who we support … or how we make a difference. We remain the vital resource for people living with disabilities, veterans, caregivers and families.

You will see our fresh new brand take hold over the next year on our website, social media, through a variety of communications and across our local centers. By 2018, our system-wide transformation will be intact and the organization will be ready to take the next step toward a broad, multi-channel awareness campaign. Come 2019, it will be hard to miss Easterseals on the eve of our 100thNational Anniversary!insert local examples/details here>

First up, we will look different. We’ve undergone a much needed, modern and inspirational face-lift. The new look is in the form of a brighter logo, a new spin on our established name, now combined into only one word: Easterseals, and a refined brand voice that will further energize our long-time supporters and inspire a new generation of friends.

We also have a new tagline, “Taking on disability together,” which speaks to our collaborative work across our affiliates, within our communities, alongside the people we serve and with you, our partners, donors, volunteers and advocates.modify audiences as needed> Taking on disability together, is a brief distillation of our purpose statement. Its significant presence within the logo works to answer the million dollar question, what does Easterseals do anyway? The tagline links Easterseals quickly to our cause, to disability, and establishes an active call-to-action for others to join with us, be a part of an important movement.

The reality is, this new brand you’re seeing today is more than just a logo and flashy new color. It’s a banner to lead us forward, address the changing environment and marketplace, and translatedisruption into opportunities for phenomenal growth. This is our moment to re-present ourselves to the American public as the indispensable resource for people and families living with disabilities.

Our purpose, and Easterseals current “brand renaissance” journey, aims to change the way the world views and defines disability … to impact the way people engage around disability, not as a condition that labels people, but as a barrier, to transcenda part of the human condition that affects all of us. It’s not a matter of if Easterseals will someday be relevant to a new generation, but when.

And we’ll be there. That’s our job, our passion, our cause, our rally cry. Because as we know, society’s not perfect, our community’s not perfect, there’s more work for us to do. And it starts with all of you, here, where the mission happens every day. This new Easterseals brand is powered by amazing people like you. Individually and collectively, your support is making a profound, positive difference in people’s lives every day.

Easterseals is you, me, all of us. Taking on disability together. Thank you.

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