When a women veterans nonprofit reached an inflection point—ready to grow, but unwilling to scale without evidence—Wills & Martin delivered a comprehensive consumer-centric study to anchor the next phase of strategy. By combining rigorous stakeholder research with program design and pilot architecture, the firm helped the organization translate lived experience into a strategic growth blueprint and a contained pilot plan to de-risk expansion while protecting mission integrity and trust.
The challenge
The organization was preparing to expand programming and infrastructure to support women veterans—an underserved population with distinct trust conditions, whole-health needs, and barriers to engagement. While momentum was strong, the leadership team faced critical questions:
- How do we scale without becoming “just another service provider”?
- How do we avoid building programming based on assumptions rather than reality?
- How do we protect trust while designing new services and systems?
- How do we generate evidence before committing to national expansion?
The nonprofit needed a strategic plan rooted in the voices of women veterans and the realities of donor decision-making, while also building an operational pathway to test, refine, and validate core components through a pilot.
Strategic approach: From assumptions to evidence-based growth
Wills & Martin designed a consumer-centric research and strategy engagement that treated the pilot not as a “program launch,” but as a learning engine—a structured opportunity to test hypotheses, strengthen stakeholder resonance, and gather evidence before scale.
The work integrated ethnographic listening, quantitative validation, strategic prioritization, and implementation design so the organization could grow with clarity and credibility.
Key moves included:
- Stakeholder interviews: One-on-one interviews captured lived experience, barriers, and trust drivers among women veterans—creating a richer view of motivations, emotional realities, and real-life friction points.
- Survey research: A 29-question survey of 157 women veterans provided quantitative confirmation of patterns emerging in interviews—strengthening confidence in prioritization and program direction.
- Donor insight development: Donor interviews clarified decision drivers, beliefs about impact, and how trust and measurability shape giving behavior—supporting a more mature, segment-informed fundraising posture.
- Persona and segmentation frameworks: Findings were translated into clear veteran and donor personas to guide program design, communication, and channel strategy.
- Pilot blueprint architecture: Strategic recommendations were translated into modular components that could be tested in a contained pilot environment—time-bound, place-based, reversible, and designed for evidence over perfection.
Capabilities applied
This engagement brought Wills & Martin’s core capabilities into a cohesive offering tailored to mission-driven growth and stakeholder trust.
- Strategic consulting & growth blueprint design: The work connected consumer insights to strategic choices—what to build first, what to test, and what to delay—so leadership could move from ambition to an executable plan.
- Consumer-centric research & data synthesis: Qualitative themes and quantitative results were integrated to surface high-confidence patterns, not anecdotal narratives—ensuring stakeholder voice translated into decision-grade insight.
- Program and service model design: Wills & Martin translated needs into design implications for programming, navigation, access to resources, and whole-health support—built around dignity, agency, and real engagement behaviors.
- Pilot architecture & risk reduction: Instead of scaling immediately, Wills & Martin designed an evidence-first pilot approach—supporting a disciplined learning cycle that protects resources, reputation, and mission integrity.
- Messaging + communication strategy: Findings informed positioning and tone guidance that centered women veterans with credibility—moving away from “nonprofit speak” and toward language that builds trust and belonging.
What we did with the leadership team
Working through a focused research-to-strategy cycle, Wills & Martin:
- Conducted stakeholder interviews with women veterans to surface needs, frustrations, and the emotional conditions required for trust and ongoing engagement.
- Surveyed 157 women veterans using a 29-question instrument to validate themes and prioritize strategic direction with confidence.
- Conducted donor interviews to capture the decision logic behind giving—what donors need to see, feel, and understand in order to invest.
- Built a persona framework for both women veterans and donors to guide program design, experience architecture, and communication decisions.
- Delivered a prioritized strategic roadmap with recommendations that could be translated directly into pilot components, including:
- digital community hub concept
- whole-health resource standardization approach
- women-led support model emphasis
- peer connection strategy as core infrastructure
- storytelling archive concept filtered by identity/life stage
- stakeholder testing loop for messaging and design decisions
- Designed a pilot blueprint that reduced fear of overcommitment by making the pilot time-bound, reversible, and learning-centered.
Results: From uncertain scale to confident, evidence-backed growth
Within a relatively short period, the organization moved from high-stakes uncertainty—“Are we building the right thing?”—to a clear, validated growth posture supported by both veteran voice and donor insight.
Emerging outcomes included:
- Clear strategic direction grounded in real stakeholder needs, not assumptions—reducing the risk of misaligned programming.
- A pilot plan designed to de-risk scaling, allowing the organization to test key components before committing to national expansion.
- Stronger alignment between mission integrity and operational design, reinforcing the organization’s role as a trusted connector—not a duplicator.
- Improved fundraising confidence and clarity, with donor insights shaping a more measurable and credible impact narrative.
This work now serves as a model for Wills & Martin’s consumer-centric growth strategy engagements—integrating Listen. Data. Empathy. Vision. Action. into a disciplined approach to building scalable programs that communities actually trust and use.