We took some time this week to sit down with one of The Cause Agency’s founders, Jennifer Henderson, to discuss her process of creating the organization and the work she and her colleagues do today.
When it comes to how The Cause Agency was born, Jennifer told the story of her and her team attending the HOW Conference, 2009 in Austin, Texas. There, they heard Michael Osborne of Michael Osborne Design speak about his own nonprofit, Joey’s Corner. His nonprofit was created to raise funds through his design studio to provide pro-bono, strategic creative services to non-profit groups focusing on health care, children’s well-being, and social well-being issues. This got everyone thinking: why couldn’t they do the same? What was stopping them from creating a full-service agency doing good marketing and creative work for nonprofits? Thus, The Cause Agency was born—formed in 2010, and a fully functioning 501(c)3 nonprofit by 2013.
The Cause Agency’s mission of providing nonprofits with discounted design, marketing, and public relations services is a testimony to their goal: to help nonprofits spread their messages and good work to the rest of the world. Personally, Jennifer spends a lot of time seeking out new team members, also known as “Cause Agents,” and guiding the existing team in their projects. She also acts as an account executive to some projects, which she says can be time-consuming, yet extremely rewarding.
When asked what results The Cause Agency achieves, Jennifer answered that every client has different levels of success because of their varied “business” goals. Despite this, the organization strives to do whatever it takes to meet these goals. Whether it’s achieving a fundraising goal, building awareness, or increasing social media presence, the Cause Agents don’t stop until those metrics are achieved, all while bringing a level of expertise to each task.
The Cause Agency team is still in the process of perfecting its business model, as well as how they collaborate and organize their staff in order to do the best work possible. Jennifer says that it’s a never-ending learning process, expanding and providing client services that produce impactful results.