Case Study: Black CAP
When everyone at the table looks
the same, voices get left out.
ROI: Tripled Corporate Donations
The Challenge
The Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP) serves Toronto’s African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities. The Executive Director was concerned that the organization’s Funding Development Committee lacked diversity — all eight members identified as Black Gay Men. As a result, most outreach focused narrowly on 2SLGBTQ+ communities, leaving Black Straight Women, who face the highest HIV infection rates in Toronto, unrepresented.
Compounding this issue, internal audiences understood Black CAP as a Black organization first and Queer organization second, but many external donors perceived it solely as “a Queer organization.” This misalignment limited donor engagement and potential revenue streams. With limited resources, Black CAP needed a clear, authentic communications strategy and more inclusive governance.
The Solution
Breakfast Culture conducted an Inclusive Communications Audit across all audiences — board, staff, volunteers, clients, donors, and suppliers. The audit revealed the perception gap between internal and external audiences, creating an opportunity to reposition Black CAP’s message and expand fundraising.
Key actions included:
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Redesigning communications to highlight programming for Black Straight Women alongside 2SLGBTQ+ initiatives.
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Diversifying the Funding Development Committee to include Black Straight Men, Black Straight Women, Black Trans Peoples, Black Lesbians, as well as Black peoples living with disabilities, and more...
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Streamlining marketing communications – the right message for the right channel – to ensure limited resources delivered maximum impact.
The Results
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The Funding Development Committee became more diverse, with new voices and perspectives shaping outreach.
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Conversations within the committee shifted to centre Blackness as the unifying identity.
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External donor engagement expanded into Black-focused and women-focused philanthropy, opening
new revenue streams – we tripled corporate donations.
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Black CAP gained a clear, unified marketing communications strategy grounded in stakeholder feedback.
As Executive Director Shannon Ryan put it: “Our committee finally reflects the full spectrum
of our community. And for the first time, donors understand who we really are.”
