Kevin Guest House
The Guest of Honor
2017 represented a big year for the Kevin Guest House.
Their to-do list included completing the expansion – and renovation – project for the new Russell J. Salvatore Hospitality House, hosting the 2017 Junior League Decorators’ Show House, publicly launching the capital campaign, building a new website, and rolling out a public awareness campaign. All of this was to happen while keeping normal operations intact and maintaining a comforting and pleasant experience for their guests.
This long list of tasks would make some shy away, but the team at Kevin Guest House who are used to making incredible things happen, found their stride within the stretch.
The Kevin Guest House has an incredible story. As the first independent healthcare hospitality house in America, the mission of Kevin Guest House is to provide a comfortable, supportive home away from home for patients receiving medical care and their families. Since opening in July 1972, they have hosted patients and loved ones from 49 states, Canada, and 11 other countries. Their work and care move mountains for the people they impact – and it shows.
A Path With Purpose
At 19 Ideas, we work with purpose. At Kevin Guest House, they heal with purpose. It was melding these mantras together that helped create the vision for a focused approach with several key components:
- Prominent imagery. Invite the reader in with hard-working visuals to quickly make an emotional connection.
- Mobile responsiveness. Keep the experience seamless across devices, which is critical to traveling patients and families.
- Easy access to information. Ensuring no barriers between people and the ways they can donate and get involved.
- Storytelling. Honoring Kevin’s legacy through the eyes of guests, volunteers, healthcare, and community partners.
- Analytics. Ensuring the KGH team is consistently informed, tracking, and ready for ongoing optimization.
Sharing Kevin’s Story
To know Kevin is to love him – and we wanted to keep sharing his story. The 19 Ideas team, with help from KGH volunteers and patients, created a series of videos that shared Kevin’s impact, legacy, and overall mission with inspiring tales and testimonials. These videos were to be placed on their own website as well as Facebook, and they truly helped translate the power of Kevin to our community in a visual, inspiring way.
In parallel with these campaign videos, the Kevin Guest House team went on WNY Living to announce the Who is Kevin? campaign and then kick off a wave of traditional and digital media elements – creating a large ripple effect. Through our work with Facebook advertising alone, we saw In just one month:
Reach (unique users): 18, 712
Post Reactions – likes, love, etc.: 219
Post Shares: 53
Link Clicks: 474
It was through this wave of responses that we could come to know that Kevin’s story was being seen and truly heard by all. In spreading this message of kindness, we would see in real-time how Kevin’s legacy continued to grow.
Kevin Lives On
People want to know about Kevin, they want to act like Kevin, and they want to be involved in his miracle of helping to heal others. The impact of our storytelling helped us see just that. So, who is Kevin? He’s the inspirational boy everyone wants to hear about.
As 2017 rolls on, KGH has $700,000 left to raise (only 25%) from their $3 million campaign to open their doors for the next generation of guests. 19 Ideasis so proud to help keep the legacy of Kevin living on through the act of storytelling – we can’t wait to see the lives that they impact next alongside our community of helpers and healers. To donate or volunteer at Kevin Guest House, visit KevinGuestHouse.com.