How Audience Insight & Storytelling Recruited 122 Foster Families

Foster parent recruitment is one of the hardest asks in nonprofit marketing. You're not selling a product. You're asking someone to change their life.

Alabama has 6,000 children in foster care and only 2,000 licensed homes to care for them. More children across the state needed a place to call home.

I helped develop the campaign strategy, wrote the core content, and led a cross-functional team through full-funnel execution from concept to optimization, reaching the right people with messaging that met them where they were.

480 forms submitted

122 families became active foster parents

25% conversion rate

3 Advertising Awards

Results  

Strategy

  • Working alongside social workers and the marketing team, we identified three target personas most likely to become foster parents: empty nesters, single women, and families with children 8 and older. All three were rooted in the agency's core audience of active, faith-driven churchgoers.

    Messaging was built around what motivated each audience and what was holding them back, ensuring every touchpoint spoke directly to where they were in their decision.

  • I partnered with Cedar Creative and the marketing team to conceptualize a short film designed to resonate with each persona, contributing to the central messaging, concept development, and script.

    I identified real foster parents from each persona group, interviewed them, and created their stories, then repurposed that content across social media, email, paid and organic social, and the website to put authentic voices at the center of the campaign at every touchpoint.

  • The film was adapted into channel-specific assets and distributed across organic social, paid social, and church resources, driving audiences to a focused landing page built to capture interest without friction.

    Paid and organic efforts were concentrated on Facebook and Instagram where target personas were most active, maximizing reach and efficiency across every touchpoint.

  • Persona-based nurture streams were triggered by form responses, guiding each audience through content relevant to their life stage: foster parent testimonials, process walkthroughs, and FAQs.

    Each stream also highlighted what sets ABCH apart, including 1:1 social workers, additional financial support, free counseling through Pathways, and a community network of foster parents.

  • A/B testing was run on ads and landing pages throughout the campaign to continuously optimize performance.

    Nurture stream engagement and drop-off points were monitored and adjusted, with content, timing, and calls to action refined to maintain momentum and improve conversion at every stage.

Email Sample

Organic & Paid Social Media Samples

Award-Winning Short Film “Open Door”

Previous
Previous

Learn How

Next
Next

Learn How