Allies Way: Branding
By Andrew Barnes, Alyssa De Leon, Sumauri Emory, Alo Flores-Lamas, and Carley Rhoades
Allies Way is the home of several smaller programs and campaigns, such as their primary housing assistance program Haven of Hope, the recently launched Haven Scholars subprogram, etc. In addition to these, Allies Way has held several smaller fundraisers and drives over past years, but these very rarely become an annual tradition. These ventures provide valuable resources and support for families that need it most and should continue to be supported.
However, the branding of these endeavors suffers from being notably scattershot. Everything has its own name with minimal relation to the core branding of Allies Way, and this simply is not necessary. For example, United Way of Greater Atlanta provides a similar service to Haven Scholars, assisting with helping underprivileged children achieve success in school. This is all done under the main branding of United Way, and it’s very straightforward and easy to understand, which is important for those who are in need of the assistance these services provide.
Allies Way has minimal external media presence. It does not get reported on in the news, and every single article under Google’s News tab when you search for Allies Way has nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, Drawchange Atlanta, a similarly small nonprofit, has an article written about it as the very first News tab result, even though that article is 8 years old. The disparity comes down to a difference in branding—Drawchange is a unique name with a unique mission, helping underprivileged children learn and express themselves through art. Allies Way is comparatively vague and nonspecific with regard to what the organization actually does, and the splintering of their missions across various subprograms does not help this. However, with the advent of Drake’s donation to the organization, there is an opportunity to capitalize on Allies Way’s newfound relevance.
After their Instagram reel on the story was released and promptly became their most successful post, with 97 likes, 3.2k views, and 9 comments as of October 27th, 2026, several other accounts began reposting the story. A Reddit post on r/Drizzy featuring the video has gained over 200 upvotes since it was posted a mere four hours prior to this writing, and an Instagram post from the account drakeworshipper three hours prior to this writing has gained 1.1k likes, 13 comments, and 65 reposts. Thanks to their original video, Allies Way’s story and mission has spread on a larger scale than they have experienced before, and more eyes are on the organization than ever, giving them the perfect chance to restructure and focus their branding.
The organization could ride this wave with additional social media posts and website content on how Drake’s endorsement will impact and improve their services, while also putting what they actually do front and center. They could roll smaller programs like Haven of Hope, Sunshine Summer Lunch, and Monthly Meal Mission under the main Allies Way umbrella and present them as individual facets of their core mission. Additionally, Allies Way could take a page out of Hope Atlanta’s book and construct a media kit—a page on their website where those interested in writing a story on the nonprofit can easily access information about them, their staff, and content they release. This type of page makes a writer’s research much more straightforward and allows them to get out articles about the organization at a faster pace, which given the recency of the Drake video, is something important for them to jump on.
Advocacy
Another of Allies Way’s social media practices is posting about legislation or policy that could affect homeless and those in extended stay motels. The most recent of these posts was published on Instagram on March 24th, speaking out and spreading awareness of the Georgia Housing Policy HB 61.
Georgia Housing Policy HB 61:
- Easier to remove residents of extended stay motels
- Provides aid for these sensitive groups
- Acts as an advocate and spreads awareness on providing aid for these groups
The homeless population in America faces the onset of anti-homeless architecture in cities nationwide, and several Georgia counties are implementing new legislation that further disenfranchises homeless populations. Having a group like Allies Way provide information on this legislature in social media posts that make things easy to understand is a boon for the people this federal action will affect most. Additionally, the aforementioned Instagram post performed modestly relative to their other content, receiving five likes. The primary issue, however, is that there simply is not enough of this type of content being posted, and their political action is largely confined to these posts on their social media. Only about two or three of these sorts of posts were made to Allies Way’s Instagram, and following the Post-Drake content purge, only the aforementioned post on HB 61 remains up on their account.
With $20,000 of additional funds thanks to Drake’s donation, some further efforts in this regard can be made. While lobbying local and state governments may still be financially out of reach, especially long-term, leaning into direct advocacy for the unhoused community’s rights could benefit from this newfound donation. Beyond simply increasing the number of posts regarding legislation that impacts unhoused populations statewide, Allies Way could branch into new types of content which advocate for the unhoused community they help and share their inspirational stories. Hope Atlanta, another local nonprofit focused on combatting homelessness, serves as a great example of what direction Allies Way should go in. Hope Atlanta’s Instagram features videos and posts highlighting their outreach efforts and putting a spotlight on the individuals their organization helped find housing. One of these videos focuses on a man named Nathaniel and his last day in homelessness, thanks to Hope Atlanta.
Hope Atlanta amassed nearly 100,000 views and 900 likes, highlighting just how much reach telling the stories of the unhoused people can have. On top of that, they also post regular “Field Reports” to their website about the current issues the unhoused populations in Georgia face and what they’re doing to combat it. Both of these practices serve to highlight the people at the heart of the organization’s goals, and act as practical depictions of the impact Hope Atlanta has on people in Georgia; it’s both advocacy and building trustworthiness.
The idea of trustworthiness is central to building out Allies Way’s image going forward, and expanding advocacy pushes is an effective means for them to accomplish this. By showing people online the lives and struggles of the individuals who suffer most from unstable living situations, how Allies Way was able to make a positive change for them, and spreading awareness of how the government, at all levels, is actively trying to make homeless people’s lives worse, Allies Way can prop themselves up as a champion of Georgia’s homeless population—a trustworthy source who makes real change in their community and pushes actively for a change in policy.
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