As it prepared for significant growth in assets and national grantmaking, the Heising-Simons Foundation needed to create a communication operation from scratch. ACS facilitated several conversations with staff and family members; helped the foundation determine the best strategies for staffing its communication function; and served as interim communication staff during the foundation’s transition, delivering multiple communication tools to jump start the foundation’s communication efforts.

Outcomes to date: 

• ACS developed an internal communication protocol document to help guide procedures; and an external document that describes the foundation, what they do and why the work matters to stakeholders.
• Conducted a comprehensive review of the current website and comparison websites, and developed recommendations for the foundation’s website improvements.
• Supported hiring the communication director, including writing the job description, and recommending salary range, search firms, and dissemination strategies, and met with the new communication director to provide onboarding guidance.