We have some exciting news to share! In the fall of 2007 the Board formed a Marketing Committee to work with the staff to identify if we can better educate the community on who we are, what we do, where we are, when we work, and how we serve the community. The Committee is comprised of two Board members, Jenny Stefani and Ralph Blust, and three Staff members, Ann Wohlberg, Anjali Alva, and Ryan Varju.

During the fourth quarter of 2007 two events occurred that prompted the Marketing Committee into action. First, the economy took a downturn that increased the need for our services in the community, and decreased the amount of donated items and monetary donations. Second, King’s Court Builders in Naperville, a very good friend to Sharing Connections, approached the Board to gauge our interest in a major fund- and friend-raising opportunity during 2008. The event is the King Court builders Showcase Homes event in July and August. The first event identified a need to attract more community members to become involved in Sharing Connections. The second presented an opportunity to facilitate massive exposure of Sharing Connections to potential new donors and volunteers.

In January 2008, the Committee hosted a workshop where our founder Leeanne McGrath, other Board members, Staff, and Volunteers reviewed every form of communication we have and the messages we use to educate the community. The workshop served as a starting point where we identified when our message was effective and when it could be improved.

It is very important to state the intent of this is not to change the scope, mission, or activities of Sharing Connections. The focus is solely to develop the best means to educate and communicate to the community the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of Sharing Connections.

As a result of the workshop and numerous meetings and conversations with Volunteers, Staff members and the Board, several things have been modified in order to improve our communications. All of these changes were made under Leeanne’s guidance and the Board’s approval.

First, we reworded the mission statement to clarify our purpose in four sentences. We have also expanded our name to include the words “Furniture Bank,” and added a tag line to our logo to further clarify our service to the community. Finally, we updated our logo to reflect these changes. Below are our new Mission Statement, Name, Tagline and Logo.

Mission Statement:

Sharing Connections encourages self-sufficiency for our clients while preserving their dignity and providing them hope. Our primary business is to collect and distribute furniture and other basic necessities to make a home for families and individuals in need. Sharing Connections further provides community education and networking opportunities in the support of our primary business. Through respectful interaction with partners in the community and our belief in the goodness of people, we help others.

Name, Logo, Tagline: