People of Pro Bono: Barbara Bella, Golden Gate Philharmonic

Barbara Bella and the Golden Gate Philharmonic youth orchestra are using the power of music to strengthen their community. And when they faced tough communications challenges, they turned to Taproot skilled volunteers to help tell their story to new audiences.

Uplifting a community through music

Aristotle said “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” and we are guided by these powerful words at Golden Gate Philharmonic. Our mission is to uplift and empower children through our esteemed music programs. And our educational programs echo our stance on humanistic change and an overarching concern for creating a better, stronger community. I know that Golden Gate Philharmonic’s hard work is all worth it when we see students improve and learn to take pride in their accomplishments.

A time of rejuvenation

Golden Gate Philharmonic was founded by Jefferson Award-winner Joan Murray in 1995, and has since become a nationally-recognized music program that’s changed the lives of over 2,000 students. After years of serving the San Francisco community, we were confronted with an unexpected decline in student enrollment.

Despite this challenge, we remained excited about the future. We recognized our need to create a strong, dynamic communications strategy to reach new audiences—all within a tight budget—so we turned to Taproot Foundation for support.

A communications success story

Taproot connected us with a brilliant and committed marketing strategist who was able to develop exactly what we were looking for: a compelling messaging strategy. In the time since our pro bono project, we have effectively reached and engaged even more students in our programs.

Connect with us today to tackle your nonprofit’s communication challenges, just like Barbara!