Digital marketing agency Informatics Inc. has launched a new program aimed at providing free and reduced-cost digital services to nonprofit organizations in Eastern Iowa.
The Starfish Initiative, now in its pilot phase, allows Informatics employees to nominate nonprofits for assistance with services such as marketing, website strategy, training, and other digital needs. The program is focused on organizations in sectors including health and human services, education, arts, and the environment—particularly those that are new or growing and lack the resources to hire professional digital support.
Informatics plans to donate more than $25,000 in in-kind services in 2025 across eight organizations. The company has contributed more than $80,000 in services since 2022, when it began testing the program model. By 2026, the agency hopes to open the nomination process to the public and reach a cumulative total of $250,000 in donated services by 2030, according to a news release.
“We want to help make a long-term impact for these organizations,” said Informatics President Stacie Osako in a statement. “A one-off project is great, but we’re more interested in things like auditing the health of your website, your social media operations. How can we set up these not-for-profits, all of which serve essential needs in our community, to be more efficient and sustainable, so they can serve our region for years to come?”
The Starfish Initiative was based on a story Informatics CEO John Osako first heard while working in Haiti with CHI Haiti, a not-for-profit that sets up temporary medical clinics in remote villages:
One day a man was walking along the beach, when he noticed a boy hurriedly picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?” The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
The man laughed to himself and said, “Don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “I made a difference to that one.”
“The story reminded me that we each have the capacity to make a difference, we just need to act,” Mr. Osako said, in a statement. “We’re not typically given the opportunity to change the world, but this is a chance for us to absolutely change our community.”
Early versions of the Starfish Initiative were piloted with Cedar Rapids-based organizations Mirrorbox Theatre and the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy.
“Having the expertise of Informatics to really make sure that things are being done thoughtfully and in a way that sets up a foundation for continued growth was greatly appreciated,” said Cavan Hallman, founder of Mirrorbox Theatre.
“We love them—they’re people that I feel like we can come to and say, ‘We don’t really know how to do this,’ and they have made it so easy for us,” said Heather Wagner, executive director of the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy.
Informatics has served clients for more than 25 years, offering web design, marketing strategy, video production, app development, SEO, cloud hosting and other digital services. The company has received several Corridor Business Journal Best of the Corridor awards and is Iowa’s first Workhuman Certified Enterprise.
More information about the Starfish Initiative is available at informaticsinc.com/introducing-starfish-initiative.
