Case Study: Dell & the Williamson County Literacy Council
A Dell marketing team partnered with the nonprofit Literacy Council of Williamson County to provide marketing communications improvement and strategic support.
The Opportunity
According to a 2000 census, 85,900 adults in Williamson County need to improve their literacy skills. The Literacy Council was serving 2000 adults with their literacy programs, but felt that they would need to improve their marketing materials in order to reach their targeted audience.
Dell’s Pro Bono Investment
As part of the company’s global community involvement program, One Dell: One Community Dell provides employees with information about volunteer and financial giving opportunities in area communities so that they can make a connection that aligns with their passion and provides them a choice to also share their professional expertise with a local nonprofit. In 2005, a marketing team connected with the Literacy Council to enhance their website and their communications materials. In under a year, 21 Dell volunteers, in three dedicated teams, were able to improve the Council’s messaging significantly. A strategy and project management team helped the Council strategically think about their mission and marketing plan while an online team and a marketing communications team developed the website, database and updated the Council’s branding materials to more effectively retain and recruit donors and volunteers.
The Impact
The Literacy Council knew that conveying their mission strategically was key to their success. “This project has afforded us the opportunity to begin the process towards marketing ourselves, so that we can both retain and attract stakeholders who will ensure we remain a viable agency,” says Gloria Cueva, Executive Director of the Literacy Council. The newly improved website not only generates more interest from potential volunteers, donors and clients, but also serves as a means for recognizing dedicated volunteers and donors. “We have never had our own logo, which I feel has kept us from having our own identity,” says Cueva. “The logo your team created is unique and captures the essence of who we are.”
In turn, the Dell volunteers gained valuable professional experience in a business environment unlike their own. Jack Seaquist, the project lead on the Strategy and Project management team says, “With the Literacy Council of Williamson County only able to support approximately 2% of the citizens in the county needing literacy support, I felt very gratified knowing that I helped increase the ‘return on investment’ for the community with this project’s completion.”
About the Literacy Council of Williamson County
The Literacy Council of Williamson County was incorporated and began operations in 1985, after Round Rock Public Library volunteers became aware of the need to provide English literacy instruction to adults in Round Rock, and later, Williamson County. A handful of volunteer tutors served 19 adults the first year. Today, the Literacy Council serves more than 2,000 adults with the assistance of 75 to 100 volunteers with the mission to seek and provide the resources and programs necessary for individuals to achieve literacy.
About Dell Inc.
Dell Inc. listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell is a leading global systems and services company and No. 34 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit www.dell.com.
