Responding to Crisis and Need: How Our Marketing Agency Helped an Organization Secure $71M+ for Its Clinic, Schools and Community Outreach Programs

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Children’s Health Council (CHC) experienced a significant increase in clients seeking mental health services due to heightened levels of depression and anxiety.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Children’s Health Council (CHC) experienced a significant increase in clients seeking mental health services due to heightened levels of depression and anxiety. Additionally, as children attended school remotely, CHC uncovered new challenges and learning differences in students previously undetected in traditional classroom settings.

Additional challenges included:

• How to expand mental health services more broadly to address the heightened needs of local communities and communities throughout California and beyond
• How to achieve a higher workload with minimal staff; The nonprofit had a small fundraising team and a small marketing team
• They had long clinical wait times to see doctors and specialists
• How to shift outreach programs and events from an in-person model to online resources: ultimately creating a podcast and hosting virtual webinars
• How to transition the organization’s clinic from a primary in-person clinical model to a tele-health model

To address these evolving needs and crises, CHC partnered with Dooley Design Group (DDG) to implement strategic marketing solutions and initiatives. Our primary goals included:

1. Accommodate Increased Client Demand: Address the influx of clients with mental health and learning challenges during the pandemic by marketing CHC’s new online mental health programs, education and other growth areas.
2. Enhance Outreach and Engagement: Increase CHC’s outreach, engagement and overall brand awareness through digital media and enhanced branding efforts.
3. Develop Sustainable Funding: Secure long-term funding streams to support CHC’s goals and initiatives.

1. We branded CHC’s 70th Anniversary Capital Campaign, a nonprofit fundraising campaign with a met goal of $70M.

In 2019, DDG collaborated with Sterrin Bird at Children’s Health Council to design collateral for and execute a strategic plan, case statement and a 70th anniversary capital campaign, successfully raising the ambitious goal of $70 million. This funding provided CHC with critical resources to enhance its services, programs, and outreach initiatives, ensuring uninterrupted access to mental health care and resources for learning differences, like dyslexia and ADHD, during the pandemic.

We used the following approach to achieve this with the direction and collaboration from Sterrin and the CHC Advancement team:

• A refresh of the current organization style guide, adding modern fonts, colors that trend for the target audiences, along with a direct approach with content and layout for ease of use.
• Retained consistency in typography and style with other CHC department branding to establish authority and trust with donors.
• Designed fundraising campaign branding that was classic, timeless and easy to use.
• Organized collateral and timely communication on a rapid timeline

2. We created inclusive branding for a popular mental health podcast to increase awareness and engagement in an expanded community.

Recognizing the power of digital media in reaching a wider audience, Dooley Design Group supported Children’s Health Council in creating the podcast, CHC Voices of Compassion. The nonprofit’s Podcast raises awareness about mental health challenges and learning differences, like dyslexia, provides educational resources, and shares inspirational success stories of resilience and hope.

Dooley Design Group was responsible for designing the podcast branding and identity; podcast channel branding; podcast website development, as well as the production of the first 4 seasons of engaging episode art designs. Dooley Design Group’s designs were instrumental in the podcast branding, growth and expansion of CHC’s Podcast. The Voices of Compassion podcast initiative added thousands of listeners and significantly expanded CHC’s reach. Learn more about the podcast branding project or visit the podcast website.

3. We designed and developed an Online Mental Health and Neurodiversity Resource Library that secured $1M in funding.

In 2015, Dooley Design Group developed the CHC Resource Library, a comprehensive digital resource hub including curated articles, videos, and guides on mental health and neurodiversity. During the pandemic, CHC secured $1 million for further resource library development. Our team also was responsible for designing and publishing comprehensive mental health guides and worksheets for learning differences, autism, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and young adult college / career transition.

4. Scaled up our team to meet the client’s fast-growing demand for mental health services and education for learning differences.

Under the leadership of Keira Dooley, Dooley Design Group scaled the team’s capabilities to accommodate CHC’s rapid expansion. We created new mental health resources and optimized external and internal communications with clear, direct language to effectively support the increased number of clients seeking mental health assistance and learning services.

5. We rebranded CHC’s “newly” acquired program, Schwab Learning Center, to help college and high school students with diverse learning challenges.

The Schwab Learning Center (SLC), formerly located on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California, was acquired by neighboring Children’s Health Council in 2022. The Schwab Learning Center is known for its specialized support for neurodiverse high school and college students with learning challenges. SLC at CHC has learning specialists that work with students to create personalized toolkits for maximizing their learning potential, collaborating with institutions like Stanford University, other colleges and universities, and serving high schools across the Bay Area Peninsula.

Our rebranding project included updating the Schwab Learning Center logo, visual identity and messaging to reflect its new home at Children’s Health Council. This involved redesigning marketing materials to attract a teen and young adult audience to the program with accompanying digital assets, and webpages highlighting SLC’s expertise with helping these students succeed in school and life. The rebranding successfully unified SLC’s identity with CHC’s broader mission, strengthening community engagement and directly communicating its integrated wellness services.

6. Dooley led the campaign to rebrand CHC’s Clinical Services division, which encompasses a psychology / psychiatric clinic and other crucial mental wellness programs.

To better align Children’s Health Council’s clinic and its other mental wellness programs with its mission, acknowledge their key donor and enhance its overall brand image, CHC requested Dooley’s leadership and healthcare design skills for the clinic’s comprehensive rebranding initiative. Our goal was to create a cohesive and visually appealing brand identity that resonated with both clients and stakeholders — all within a very fast-paced timeline to meet a fundraising event deadline for the rebrand unveiling and renaming announcement.

Our team collaborated closely with CHC leadership, health professionals, staff and community supporters to gather insights and ensure the rebranding efforts met their needs and expectations.

The rebrand for the clinic, newly named CHC’s Catherine T. Harvey Center for Clinical Services, included a new logo suite with updated typography and color to match CHC’s 2019 nonprofit style guide update – reflecting CHC’s commitment to compassionate care and innovation. To meet CHC’s demands, we ensured the design was elegant and visually pleasing yet also accessible, using high-contrast colors, legible fonts, and user-friendly placement of the logo elements. The new brand identity received positive feedback from CHC’s clients and stakeholders, and improved awareness and trust in the clinic. Additionally, CHC’s Catherine T. Harvey Center for Clinical Services also continued to maintain a full client load during and beyond the rebrand project.

In addition, DDG extended CHC’s brand design to encompass several key programs within the clinic, including the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), the Ravenswood Wellness Partnership, and the Training Consortium. The Consortium involves a collaborative effort between CHC, Stanford Medicine, the Child Mind Institute, and CASSY: Counseling and Support Services for Youth.

Great care was taken in designing the program logos to ensure they align seamlessly with the overall CHC brand. This approach not only maintains a cohesive visual identity across the organization but also supports consistency across various departments and programs within the nonprofit.

7. Designed a user-friendly Appointments page to accommodate CHC’s integrated wellness approach.

Dooley Design Group designed and developed a user-friendly Appointments page tailored to the integrated wellness model at Children’s Health Council, allowing for a calm, easy to use experience, particularly designed for those visitors that are already in a crisis when they arrive to the website. It was extremely important to make the buttons and flow very simple.

This healthcare webpage design also accommodated and streamlined CHC’s scheduling process for various services, including learning specialist consultations, educational assessments, and check-ins. Key features included an intuitive interface with easy navigation, with appointment wait times and availability updates. By integrating features to improve usability, we ensured that clients could easily access and manage their appointments, supporting CHC’s holistic approach to client care and improving overall efficiency in service delivery.

The support provided by Dooley Design Group led to:

• Successful $70M Capital Campaign: The successful $70M capital campaign strengthened CHC’s financial sustainability, enabling continued high-quality mental health and clinical services and programs – and community engagement work to meet growing need.
• Resource Library Impact and $1M Gift: The CHC Resource Library became an invaluable tool for parents, educators, health professionals, and other individuals seeking information and support for mental health and education, contributing to CHC’s mission of promoting integrated health and well-being.
• Podcast Success: CHC’s Voices of Compassion Podcast garnered over 50,000 downloads across 4 seasons, reaching a diverse audience and fostering conversations about mental health, neurodiversity, and parenting / education support.
• Corporate Sponsorships, Recurring and One-time Donations for Various Funds Secured: Dooley Design Group’s creative work directly contributed to steady annual fund gifts, along with other donations to support CHC’s programs and services.
• Increased Client Satisfaction: High percentages of families were seeing positive gains after 6-12 months of therapy, were satisfied with their first appointment, evaluations and would recommend to other parents.
• Increased Client Engagement: CHC saw a steady increase in client engagement and satisfaction during the pandemic, meeting the exponential growth in demand.
• Comprehensive Rebranding: DDG led the rebranding of CHC’s clinic and Schwab Learning Center, solidifying the organization’s mission and visibility.
• Streamlined Client Interactions: The new appointments page improved client interactions, supporting CHC’s expanded services.

Through strategic marketing, creative design, attention to client business goals and collaborative efforts, Dooley Design Group significantly enhanced CHC’s capacity to support mental health and learning needs prior to COVID-19 and throughout the pandemic – with uninterrupted high-quality care.

By implementing a multifaceted omnichannel approach — ranging from a transformative $70M capital campaign to creating impactful digital media like the CHC Voices of Compassion Podcast – Dooley Design Group was a major catalyst in helping CHC secure critical funding and expand its outreach. DDG was instrumental in the design and implementation of CHC’s rebranding efforts of its primary style guide, as well as a rebrand for programs and services, like their psychology clinic and Schwab Learning Center; implementing the user-friendly new CHC Appointments page with telehealth features; and further design and development of CHC’s comprehensive Resource Library, originally build by DDG in 2025.

The collaborative marketing work between Dooley Design Group and CHC resulted in increased client engagement and satisfaction, expanded community support, and a robust financial foundation – empowering CHC to make a lasting impact on the mental health and neurodiversity landscape and continue its vital work in a time of unprecedented demand.

The Dooley Design Group team is grateful for these opportunities to serve nonprofits and their communities. We’ve honed our processes to enable our team to efficiently deliver engaging campaigns and collateral, whether it’s a typical day in the office or among world crisis events, like the pandemic. We are proud of these accomplishments and look forward to continue making a difference with our meaningful work.

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