Detroit Development Fund's messaging has not kept pace with the growth of our lending programs and impact over the years. As a result, our current materials undersell the scope of our work and make it harder for prospective funders, partners, and borrowers to understand who we are and what we do. This is becoming more pressing as we look to expand our funder base and pursue new funding opportunities that require us to present a clear, compelling, and up-to-date picture of the organization.

What's getting in the way is capacity: our team is small, and staff time is largely dedicated to lending, compliance, and grant management rather than marketing or communications. We don't have in-house communications expertise, so a messaging refresh has consistently been deprioritized in favor of more immediate program needs. We have written proposals and outreach language on our own as specific needs arise, but haven't been able to step back and develop consistent core messaging we can draw on across every audience and format.

By the end of this project, we want an elevator pitch and a set of key talking points, along with a light review of our existing mission statement, that together give Detroit Development Fund clear, consistent language for describing who we are, what we do, and the impact we've had. We are not looking to change our mission statement itself, though we would welcome input on how well it aligns with the rest of the messaging. This messaging is meant to serve as the foundation for our broader communications work, including our website and marketing materials, which we plan to pursue as separate, later projects once this messaging is in place.

Specific deliverables would include: 1) a review of our current mission statement to confirm it aligns with the rest of our messaging; 2) an elevator pitch we can use in funder and partner conversations; and 3) a set of key talking points covering our programs, impact, and partnerships that our team can draw on consistently across proposals, our website, and outreach.

Success would look like messaging that accurately reflects the scope and impact of our work, is easy for funders, partners, the community, and borrowers to understand, and gives our team language we can use immediately in funder outreach and grant proposals rather than drafting from scratch each time. Longer term, success means this messaging becomes the consistent foundation for the website redesign and marketing materials we plan to pursue next.

Organization Mission

Detroit Development Fund invests in the people and communities in the City of Detroit to create economic equity and a healthy environment. Our goal is to have an impact through our various programs on the revitalization of Detroit businesses and neighborhoods. Our mission is to improve the quality of life in underserved Detroit neighborhoods and for Detroit residents.