Community Outreach / Event Promotion / Board Leadership / Non-Profit PR
DOWNTOWN BUSINESS ALLIANCE CASE STUDY
From Volunteer to Marketing Committee: Building a Non-Profit's Public Voice from the Inside
Michelle's relationship with the Downtown Business Alliance (DBA) began in 2020 as a volunteer member, drafting early marketing campaigns and joining the organization's marketing committee.
In 2023, she was elected Community Liaison on the DBA's board, a role she held for two years, while continuing to lead marketing committee efforts promoting the DBA's two signature community events: Trunk or Treat on Main Street and the Downtown Parker Christmas Parade — Parker's flagship holiday tradition.
In the final six months of 2024, that relationship grew into a paid retainer through Paper PR, sharpening the DBA's public messaging as the organization prepared for one of its biggest community moments.
THE RELATIONSHIP
What That Looked Like
Over four years of board and committee involvement, the work included social media strategy, sponsorships, and event promotion — always grounded in Michelle's firsthand knowledge of the organization's mission and its member businesses, rather than an outside perspective starting from zero.
The clearest proof point of that work was the Downtown Parker Christmas Parade. In its final year in 2024, the parade drew more than 7,500 attendees — its highest turnout yet, pulling visitors from across the Denver metro area into Parker's downtown business district.
In 2025, the DBA transitioned the event into a new format: the Holiday Market.
Michelle's six years with the DBA — first as a volunteer, then a board member, then a strategic communications partner — reflect the kind of sustained, relationship-driven community work that doesn't always come with a media placement attached.
The Christmas Parade's final, largest year became a fitting capstone to that work: a downtown business district's signature event, at its peak reach, supported by someone who understood the community from the inside.
the outcome
She came up with new and exciting ways to promote our nonprofit and its mission, and was such a great asset when she worked with us for six years.
“Michelle is creative, efficient, and dedicated to her clients when she is working with them.”
— Shelli Mango, Executive Director
The strongest community organizations are usually built relationship by relationship.
