Laura McCamy
Fractional comms
Cost-effective communications for small to medium sized nonprofits.
Your new comms team
If you’re not communicating about the work your team is doing, you’re missing out on a key opportunity to expand your influence. Compelling, well-researched, accessible blog posts, newsletters, and press releases tell decision-makers, reporters, and supporters the what and why of your organization’s mission.
Small and mid-sized nonprofits are experts at accomplishing a lot with a small staff. Bringing in a consultant as a fractional comms department gives you access to expert, experienced comms support that fits your budget.
Telling your story can change your story. I’ve seen it happen. I’d like to make it happen for your nonprofit.
Communications Services
Tell the world about the good your organization is accomplishing.
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Blog Posts
Ghostwriting and editing for blog posts that help your policy staff convey your organization’s message. Whether you need thought leadership content or posts announcing a policy or programmatic victory, sparkling prose that clearly and accurately communicates will drive views, SEO, and lead media to seek out your team’s expertise.
Newsletters
Staying in touch with your members and supporters is crucial to mobilizing them to action and supporting fundraising. Regular newsletters and email blasts push your content to subscribers, spur them to action, and show your audience the amazing work your organization is doing.
Additional Services
In addition to content, Laura McCamy provides wraparound services for full comms support, including:
- Messaging, including brainstorming sessions with your team
- Press releases
- Op eds
- Interview prep and media talking points
- Website support, including publishing blog posts and creating campaign webpages
- Print production, including art direction and print supervision
- Research and analysis
- Speechwriting
- Presentations
- Video
About Laura
For the past 12 years, I’ve been helping nonprofits and businesses tell their stories.
I’m passionate about biking, walking, urban planning, transportation, and climate solutions. I’ve worked on reporting projects about aging, police violence and incarceration, and local history, and I’m well-versed in the cycles of politics in Sacramento. I love delving into the inner workings of my clients’ campaigns and discovering the hidden gems: the fascinating stories that make your audiences want to know more and get involved.
When I’m not in my Oakland office, I might be swimming, riding my bike, reading a book, or bird watching.
Client Testimonials
Laura is an incredibly dependable writer who provides on-point copy every time. I especially appreciate her ability to bring humor to blog posts–even (or especially) those on very mundane topics such as sales tax. Her writing is always snappy and enjoyable to read. I would work with Laura again in an instant.
Featured Projects
Campaign Video
In brainstorming with Transform, we came up with the concept that by widening a section of State Route 37 predicted to be underwater within a few decades due to sea level rise, Caltrans was effectively throwing money into the San Francisco Bay. We ran with this concept, using it as a slogan for Transform’s campaign to stop this climate-killing highway expansion. We made a cartoon to illustrate the concept, and it was widely picked up by the media. What would normally be a niche, hard-to-communicate campaign with little mainstream traction became a rallying cry to stop Caltrans from throwing taxpayer dollars into the bay.
Working with Transform Policy Director (now Executive Director) Zack Deutsch-Gross and consultant Jeanie Ward-Waller, I developed a short video from our policy points for use on social media. The whole process was completed with a small budget and turned around within a couple of days (I even did the narration).
Data-Driven Report
In 2023, CalBike Policy Director Jared Sanchez made a public records request for project documents from Caltrans. He wanted to see how well the agency was applying its internal Complete Streets policies and including facilities to make California’s state-controlled roadways safer for people biking and walking. Many state routes run through towns and cities and are often among the most dangerous streets, with fast-moving traffic and insufficient bike lanes and crossings, and CalBike was sponsoring a bill to require Caltrans to include biking and walking facilities, where applicable.
Several months later, CalBike got a huge dump of documents. We collaborated, with support from the team, to review and analyze the data to determine trends and find compelling narratives to illustrate Caltrans’ lack of care for people who get around by bike or on foot. We previewed the resulting report in the summer and fall of 2024 with three articles co-published on the CalBike blog and in Streetsblog California, highlighting aspects of the research. These articles were aimed at influencing both Caltrans, whose opposition can often kill a transportation bill, and Governor Gavin Newsom, who vetoed similar legislation the last time it was on his desk.
This communications strategy worked. The governor signed the Complete Streets Bill into law and we released the full report soon after. The report now serves as a reference document and blueprint for Caltrans as it works to put stronger policies into practice and for CalBike’s continued oversight of the agency.