Robert Ashley Collins
I find the story underneath the complexity. Then build the system that tells it.
Most marketing problems aren't actually marketing problems. They're structure problems.
That's what I do. I find it, then build the architecture around it: the brand strategy, the campaign, the ghostwritten speech, the donor appeal that uses real life instead of polished language, the workbook your team can use after I'm gone. Whatever form the problem needs.
I've done this across communications, creative direction, paid media, CRM strategy, and product development, including building five web applications from scratch. The range isn't a resume quirk. It's what happens when you apply the same operating system to every medium.
Fifteen years. Real results: 38.85% email open rates against a 21% industry average. Organic social engagement running 5–11x industry benchmarks. A year-end campaign with 367,000 paid impressions and 179% year-over-year growth in traffic. The numbers are nonprofit. The skills aren't.
Fifteen years building brands that move people.
Brand, marketing, development, and communications leadership across philanthropy and mission-driven organizations.
- Lead integrated brand, marketing, and communications strategy for regional philanthropic institution
- Strategic advisor to executive leadership on brand positioning, audience development, and stakeholder engagement
- Leverage CRM and digital analytics (Google Analytics, social media insights) to drive measurable stakeholder engagement growth
- Create targeted audience segmentation strategies that deepen engagement with diverse stakeholder groups
- Orchestrate cross-functional initiatives spanning programs, development, and operations
Education
Southern Catholic College
BA in Philosophy · 2005 — 2010
Foundation in critical analysis, systems thinking, and philosophical reasoning applied to strategic communications and complex problem-solving.
Strategy that ships.
Beyond strategy and content — I design, build, and launch full-stack web applications.
Functional AF
functional-af.app
The AI life coach for people who are done with toxic positivity, hustle culture, and apps that treat them like idiots. Real talk. Real progress. Zero fluff.
Fam Hub
fam-hub.app
One app for family profiles, documents, renewals, and Alfred — an AI that knows your household, not just your prompts.
CarePass
carepassapp.com
A caregiving coordination app that helps families and care teams manage schedules, notes, and communications for individuals in need of ongoing support.
Brand Strong, Market Smart
palmerpointecreative.com/#brand-strong
A self-led marketing intensive app built for Palmer Pointe Creative Solutions — guiding small business owners through brand positioning, audience strategy, core narrative, content planning, and a downloadable 90-day marketing plan, with an AI coach at every step.
Brand and Creative Tarot
brand-tarot.palmerpointecreative.com
A 46-card tarot deck designed to spark strategic breakthroughs for brand designers and creative professionals.
The words, the look, the plan.
A curated selection of work spanning copywriting, creative direction, and strategic planning.
Copywriting & EditingBefore and Beyond Pride 2021
A personal essay published on cfsem.org celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride while highlighting the Community Foundation's HOPE Endowment Fund and its lasting impact on the southeast Michigan LGBTQ+ community.
Copywriting & EditingFrom Homeless Queer Teen to Philanthropy Pro
A donor appeal piece weaving personal narrative with organizational mission — using lived experience as a formerly homeless queer teen to inspire giving to the Community Foundation's Now and Forever Fund.
Copywriting & EditingPresident's Remarks — Detroit Athletic Club
Ghostwritten executive speech for CFSEM President Ric DeVore delivered at the Detroit Athletic Club's Executive Club — covering the Foundation's history, fund types, and a live philanthropic giving exercise.
Copywriting & EditingTake a Breather: Post-Midterm Op-Ed
An op-ed ghostwritten for LGBT Detroit's Executive Director and published in PrideSource — addressing post-election despair and complacency while launching the #SafeBraveSpace community campaign.
Copywriting & EditingA Journey of a Thriving Community
A ghostwritten staff story for cfsem.org — told through the voice of a long-tenured CFSEM employee — that builds emotional connection to the Foundation's endowment mission and the Now and Forever Fund.
Copywriting & EditingWomen's History Month 2024
A thought leadership piece ghostwritten for CFSEM's Chief Operating Officer for Women's History Month — spotlighting data-backed insights on women in philanthropy and celebrating regional women-led initiatives.
Creative DirectionCCHD Archdiocese Annual Report 2014
Art directed the 2014 CCHD Archdiocese of Chicago annual report — a visually striking publication with geometric mosaic cover design, full-spread photography, color-blocked quote pages, and a cohesive multi-section layout showcasing national and local grantees.
Creative DirectionProfessional Advisors One-Pager
Designed a clean, modern two-page print collateral piece for CFSEM's Professional Advisors program — balancing editorial photography, structured typography, and concise copy to position the Foundation as the go-to partner for charitable planning.
Creative DirectionOn the Table: Southeast Michigan
Produced video content for On the Table Southeast Michigan — a community-wide conversation initiative — directing storytelling, pacing, and visual framing to bring the campaign's mission to life across digital and social platforms.
Creative DirectionThe HOPE Fund Video
Directed and produced a video spotlight for CFSEM's HOPE Fund — crafting a narrative that humanizes LGBTQ+ philanthropy in southeast Michigan through personal testimony, community footage, and purposeful visual storytelling.
Creative DirectionYouth Advisory Committee Video
Produced a video profile of CFSEM's Youth Advisory Committee — capturing authentic student voices and the program's impact through a documentary-style approach that balances energy, purpose, and emotional resonance.
Strategy & PlanningAdvancing Donor Services Marketing Strategy
Developed a comprehensive multi-channel communications and paid marketing strategy for CFSEM's Donor Services team — integrating SEM, social advertising, storytelling, email automation, and cross-platform KPI tracking to deepen donor engagement.
Strategy & Planning2024 Agency Endowment Engagement Plan
Created the "Cultivating the Future" campaign strategy to grow nonprofit endowment partnerships with CFSEM — outlining audience targeting, workshop series, success story content, educational webinars, and digital collateral to drive long-term sustainability.
Strategy & Planning2024 Donor Advisors Engagement Plan
Designed the "Navigating Your Philanthropic Journey Together" engagement campaign for CFSEM Donor Advised Fund holders — developing key messaging, personalized communications, advisory services promotion, and workshop tactics to increase granting activity.
Strategy & PlanningMessaging Review: Coalition for Home Repair
Led a brand messaging audit and strategic recommendations for the Coalition for Home Repair — synthesizing member survey data, developing brand positioning, personality, promise, and voice guidelines, and delivering actionable next steps as an external consultant.
Strategy & PlanningBrand Workbook: Coalition for Home Repair
Developed an interactive brand workbook for the Coalition for Home Repair — translating the organization's brand positioning, personality, voice, and messaging into a practical training tool that empowers staff and members to craft audience-specific elevator pitches for donors, nonprofits, and civic leaders.
Strategy & PlanningL'Arche Chicago Engagement Report
Annual fundraising performance report for L'Arche Chicago documenting a 23% year-over-year increase in total funds raised — from $192K to $236K — alongside digital growth metrics including a 57% email list increase, 38.85% average open rate, and 1000% growth in email campaign referrals.
Strategy & PlanningVoices of Change: Campaign Debrief
A comprehensive post-campaign debrief presentation for the Voices of Change marketing campaign — analyzing performance, documenting results, and surfacing learnings to inform future strategic communications efforts.
Strategy & PlanningMyCF Marketing & Communications Plan
Developed the full launch marketing and communications plan for MyCF — CFSEM's new donor and grantee portal — defining audience segments, phased campaign rollout, tailored messaging, workstreams, and tactics from brand development through sustained post-launch engagement.
Numbers that speak.
Quantifiable outcomes across audience growth, content performance, and channel engagement — driven by strategic marketing and communications.
38.85%
Email Open Rate
vs. 21% industry avg
57%
Email List Growth
Audience built from scratch
154%
Website Sessions
Year-over-year increase
195%
Social Referrals
Content-driven traffic growth
Audience & Channel Growth
Year-over-year % increase across owned channels
Email Open Rate vs. Industry
Average open rate benchmark comparison
Ashley's Rate
Industry Avg
Ashley's email campaigns outperformed the industry average by 85%
Digital Growth (% Increase)
Year-over-year digital channel performance
Content & Messaging Impact
Revenue influenced by communications strategy, YoY
- Prior Year
- Ashley's Year
Data sourced from L'Arche Chicago End of Fiscal Year 2015–2016 Report
Voices of Change campaign
CFSEM's 2023 year-end giving campaign — the Foundation's first operations endowment solicitation, unifying storytelling, paid ads, and multi-channel outreach under one brand.
5,858
Campaign Page Visits
Across 8 story pages
367,983
Paid Ad Impressions
LinkedIn + Facebook/IG
+179%
Donor Services Traffic
YoY web traffic increase
4.5%
Organic Engagement Rate
+44% YoY
Campaign Story Page Views
Visits per story page across the campaign
Organic Social Engagement vs. Industry
All three platforms beat industry benchmarks
- Ashley's Rate
- Industry Avg
Donor Services Web Traffic — YoY
Top 4 pages: 2022 vs. 2023 (campaign-driven)
- 2022
- 2023
Paid Social Ad Performance
LinkedIn vs. Facebook/Instagram
270,040 impressions
97,943 impressions
Data sourced from Voices of Change 2023 Year-End Campaign Debrief · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
The toolkit.
Platforms and practices I use to plan, make, measure, and manage the work.
CRM & Audience Analytics
Digital Marketing & Engagement
Content Creation & CMS
Project Management
Design & Brand Management
Always learning.
Current credentials in inbound and content marketing, marketing software, and applied AI.
Inbound Marketing Certified
HubSpot Academy
Issued Aug 2026
AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations
Anthropic
Issued Jan 2026
AI Fluency for Nonprofits
Anthropic
Issued Jan 2026
AI Fluency for Small Businesses
Anthropic
Issued Aug 2026
Claude Code 101
Anthropic
Issued Aug 2026
Claude 101
Anthropic
Issued Aug 2026
Content Marketing Certified
HubSpot Academy
Issued Aug 2026
HubSpot Marketing Software
HubSpot
Issued Aug 2025
“Working with Ashley at Palmer Pointe Creative was easy and genuinely fun. From the initial brainstorming sessions to refining the details of each project, I always felt that my ideas were heard, valued, and thoughtfully incorporated. I never needed to have a fully developed concept before starting — Ashley had an incredible ability to see the potential in an idea and bring it to life in creative and engaging ways. He blended my vision with his own expertise to produce polished, beautiful documents that we were truly proud to share.”
Freyja Harris
Chief Executive Officer
Coalition for Home Repair
Let's connect.
Ready to bring strategic marketing leadership to your organization. Let's start a conversation.
- Phone
- 708.673.2813
- in/robashcol