"Choose Your Southwestern"
The Story
Directors for the Southwestern annual fund came to us with the challenge to help close the fundraising year with an awareness campaign. The goal was to put a spotlight on the breadth & variety of causes that each donor is empowered to donate towards. A have-it-your-way approach to donation.
The pitch
The solution developed by our team was to highlight not only the variety of donation options, but to showcase its diversity by highlighting the breadth of interests each student has at Southwestern.
Students were photographed in a variety of poses that quickly show various causes/activities. Each composite was created to show the multidisciplinary nature of our students while highlighting the variety of ways to support them.
Angles and bold cuts were used in both the direct mail & online advertising. A conservative palette of gray and navy was used to give the student/activity all the visual attention.
Inspiration from a previous campaign
Original ads created by team in Texas Monthly using the same spliced together student idea that we decided to expand upon for this fundraising effort. To accomplish this next round, we brainstormed strategic areas, recruited students and visualized those activities.
The Results
The direct mail piece, social media ads resulted in an increased donations to specific causes and overall uptick in end-or-year donations. Directors also worked with individual groups to help them lead grassroots mini-campaigns to help very specific goals, very effective.
The custom envelope was a fun touch. And hopefully got a few more folks to open it up.
