It has been just over a year since the Council for Older Adults re-branded itself as “SourcePoint,” and leaders there say that the re-branding has been a success for the organization.
Stephanie Steinbeck, director of communications for SourcePoint, said the April 27, 2015, name change has had a positive effect on a variety of areas and services at SourcePoint.
“The re-branding was more than a name change,” Steinbeck said. “It was about thinking about who we serve and how we serve them. We asked ourselves ‘what do they need?” and tried to fill service gaps.”
Steinbeck said the organization wanted to reach adults over 55 who were put off by the word “older” in the Council for Older Adults name. Steinbeck said SourcePoint brought in new programs and classes designed to reach that group.
Steinbeck said one metric used to determine how successful the name change has been web traffic.
Steinbeck said web traffic has increased by 207 percent in the year since the name was changed. Steinbeck said SourcePoint officials expected and got a huge rise in web traffic right after the change because people would be researching the new name but, instead of dropping off after a few months, Steinbeck said the web traffic continued to increase.
In April 2015 there were 2,112 total memberships to SourcePoint and in April 2016 there were 2,329 total memberships, Steinbeck reported.
There were 44 new memberships in April 2015 and 99 new memberships in April 2016.
Steinbeck also said the number of annual total visits to the Enrichment Center has increased from 66,000 in 2015 to a projected total of 77,000 in 2016.
The increases have to do with more than just the name, Steinbeck said. The organization has added or improved many programs, including a new Medicare classes and improving the one-on-one insurance counseling the organization offers. Steinbeck said the number of insurance counseling appointments has increased from 720 to 1,032.
Finally, Steinbeck said “care-giver contacts” — which includes anytime someone contacts SourcePoint with a question or attends classes at the Enrichment Center — have drastically increased from 530 contacts in the calendar year between April 2014 and April 2015 to 1,410 in the calendar year between April 2015 to April 2016, a 166 percent increase.
Steinbeck said SourcePoint will continue to evaluate and add new programs as it moves to its 25th anniversary next April.