04 / Work
They Knew They Were Building Rome
Case study: From order takers to strategic partners
Co-Designed Change / Case study
The challenge
At a top-ranked private university, an eight-person communications team supported fundraising for nine schools and six other units. They said yes to everything, customized every piece, and got caught in rounds of subjective edits. Morale was low. Some units stopped asking for help, assuming the team was too busy. No one could see the team's link to dollars raised.
The approach
Kern Table co-founder Carol Meyer didn't hand the team a new plan. She built it with them. Through regular working sessions, the team defined its purpose and its place in the fundraising value chain. Team members led a survey of internal clients, shaped a new service offering and a new way of working, and designed and presented the relaunch to schools and units. New intake, reporting, and project management tools gave everyone line of sight.
The results
- Team's work tied to $250M+ raised
- Writers and designers could see their individual contributions, which became a major motivator
- Internal clients shifted requests from fact sheets to proposal writing
- Leadership brought the team into campaign planning early
- The change held for the rest of Carol's three-year tenure
“From Day 1, Carol empowered me to be a strategist. She gave me the space and support to design better processes, which led to stronger client relationships and higher-performing products. Carol repeatedly demonstrated how much she valued each person's expertise and perspective, and she's exceptional at setting people up for success. Knowing Carol trusted me made all the difference in what I was able to achieve.”
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