University of Florida

Northern Arizona University

Murdoch University

University of Arizona

Nonprofit marketer, #founder, and public speaker.

The Media Information, Data, and Society (MIDaS) Lab
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

The MIDaS Lab is a team of researchers studying today’s world of media. We focus on how people use and understand news and information, especially when it comes to big topics like politics and world events, in a world full of misinformation.

Research & Analysis
• Conducted comprehensive, data-intensive studies to analyze public behavior and sentiment in relation to contemporary media.
• Employed advanced data analytics tools and methodologies to dissect complex datasets, yielding actionable insights for media strategies.

Social Impact Initiative
• Engaged in theory-driven research projects aimed at producing socially impactful studies that inform public policy and media practices.
• Collaborated with a diverse team of researchers, contributing to projects that have been recognized and cited by industry professionals.

Arizona State University - Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Graduate Research Fellow

Flagship journal for the field of public interest communications. 
• Publishes peer-reviewed research in the field from both academics and practitioners.					
• Develop a practitioner editorial board to evaluate the journal’s practitioner content. 
• Source and edit content from practitioners across the globe.

Journal of Public Interest Communications

Executive Editor

Digital marketing firm that helps nonprofit organizations use marketing tools and resources to advance progressive social change. 
• Partner with clients through custom marketing plans, marketing bootcamps, and digital resources to achieve impact.
• Secure repeat business through high client ROI, referral, and satisfaction rates.
						
CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT & LAUNCH

Children of Armenia Fund: Ideated and executed strategy to migrate in-person fundraising events to virtual events due to COVID-19. Client’s first two virtual events raised $5.1M—10x the amount raised in previous in-person events.

Legal Foundation of Washington: Created a social media and email campaign to generate increased revenue through monthly gifts; resulted in attracting 20 new monthly donors and generating $1000 per month in recurring donations.

Miami Waterkeeper: Raised 260% more dollars from individual one-time gifts compared to the previous year due to a new campaign strategy.

Kirkland Performance Center: Crafted a new event brand identity, naming conventions, email copy and graphics, and website landing page. Event was held virtually; generated $135K in funds and an increase in attendees from previous years.
						
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
						
"Marketing Mission went above and beyond to support Reading Partners in developing a video that captured the heart of our mission. Their marketing expertise is invaluable, and I’m so grateful that we had the opportunity to work with them!"
						
–Cassy McKee (Executive Director, Reading Partners Seattle)
						
"Like many nonprofits, our website was over 10 years old and we didn’t have the ability to easily update it. Marketing Mission helped us develop an easy-to-edit site that showcases our impact through compelling photos, video, and storytelling. Now our site brings our mission to life and celebrates our students, teachers, and families.”
						
–Jamie Koppel (Founder, BECA Schools)

Marketing Mission

CEO & Founder

Once upon a time, a fundraising expert, an award-winning TV producer, a talented auctioneer, a digital strategist (that’s me), and a master AV engineer collaborated on some of the first million-dollar virtual events in the nonprofit sector during the pandemic. 

While we're all experts in our own right, we realized we could become a Voltron of virtual events - a "stronger together" comprehensive and custom virtual event solution for nonprofits that don’t want to leave money on the table. 

VGC brings all the strategy and technical skills required for successful virtual events to your nonprofit: 
- Fundraising strategy 
- Giving technology
- Storytelling and content development
- Marketing and social media (from yours truly!)
- AV and broadcast production
- Auctioneering, emceeing, and performance 

VGC gets to know your audience so we can help get your donors primed and ready to give. We'll take the guesswork and stress out of turning an in-person fundraising event into a polished, revenue-generating virtual experience that helps build and celebrate your community and your impact.

Virtual Gala Collaborative

Director of Digital Strategy

Selected by university leadership to teach Social Media Advertising for Conversions course; hired due to strong track record of success in the marketing & branding space and recommendations from industry executives.
						
Achieved high praise from students in course evaluations, particularly in subject matter expertise and applicability of coursework to the workforce.
						
Instructed 150 students across 6 course sections and three semesters. Created and assigned coursework (ie., partnering with a business on social media strategy) to foster real-world, long-term learning. Served as a resource to students for interviews, networking contacts, and career guidance.
Crafted curriculum for 16-week Quality Metrics-approved course; course framework is now leveraged by other university instructors. 
							
TEACHING EVALUATIONS						
“Professor Hays is excellent at creating a sense of community while encouraging students to push themselves. I attribute my learning in this class to his teaching style and kindness. He is very supportive and available when needed.” —Student, Spring 2021
						
“Professor Hays has been one of my favorite instructors of my degree program! He is knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and clear. I felt like the class engagement in discussions was the highest of any class I've taken – the discussion prompts were so involved and relevant that I often looked forward to seeing my peers' feedback.” —Student, Spring 2020
						
“Prof. Hays is so clearly enthusiastic and knows the exact skills we will need in the field. His experience as a professional is very helpful and insightful.” —Student, Fall 2020

Graduate Instructor

Digital marketing firm. Drove results for 30+ clients through campaign optimization, fundraising & content strategy, website design, and more. Flagship clients included the Alabama Department of Education, Future Business Leaders of America chapters in six states, Health Occupations Students of America in four states.
						
CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT & LAUNCH 
• Generated $24,000 for grassroots nonprofits on #GivingTuesday through new paid, social, and email marketing campaigns						
• Created a community outreach strategy for the Alabama Governor’s Office and Department of Education; enabled clients to collect community opinion on how to distribute Perkins V funding. Campaign resulted in a $21,696,979 grant.
						
TRAINING DESIGN
Lead training workshops for 1000+ marketing students and professionals in areas including leadership development, public speaking, and social media marketing.

TEAMTRI

Senior Digital Strategist

Cody Hays Multimedia Management

President

Public research university based in Flagstaff, AZ. Led cross-functional marketing team in building community, engagement, and growth. Throughout two-year tenure, university scaled to become the #1 university for social media engagement and accrued an online fanbase of 120,000.

CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT & LAUNCH 					
Managed and allocated $25,000 paid media budget to recruit future students; distributed funds across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Efforts resulted in a 5.5% increase in student enrollment.
Ideated and launched organic & paid campaigns that led to a 22% growth in social following across channels.
						
CONTENT STRATEGY
• Optimized video content strategy on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube; resulted in an increased follower reach of 1M+.
• Instituted new growth strategies to maximize post effectiveness; shifted existing strategies for post length, optimal posting time, post frequency, and more.
• Identified best-in-class university content strategies; leveraged learnings in creation of new content strategy.