Branding. Marketing. Impact.
What are those words doing in a non-profit conversation? Who‘s got time for them, never mind money? Isn‘t a simple statement of purpose enough to melt hearts and unleash a rush of support?
Truth is, they are just as important in the world of charitable community service as they are in business. Organizations that choose to ignore self-promotion – or worse, regard it as tasteless and embarrassing – risk being elbowed into obscurity by a more colourful, prouder, crowd.
This is where CreateAthon jumps in. A U.S.-based program, it offers free marketing oomph to non-profits with tired websites, worn-out brochures and logos that have wilted with age.
Applications are now open to fill the cohort of local agencies for CreateAthon Waterloo Region 2014. The deadline is Aug. 11; the event, Oct. 24.
« This is about making a difference through design, » says Jolene MacDonald, co-founder of Two Blonde Chicks Inc., the Kitchener design-and-marketing firm that sponsors CreateAthon Waterloo Region. « All these organizations are so purposeful, but they aren‘t going to be successful if they don‘t have good marketing tools. »
CreateAthon started in South Carolina in the mid 1990s. Now it has events across North America, and beyond. It estimates the value of all that work amounts to more than $11 million.
Capacity Waterloo Region and Conestoga College are partners in the local event. The head-scratching and pencil-chewing falls to Conestoga’s second- and third-year graphic-design students.
As the partners pare applications down to several agencies, the students sort themselves into teams. Each team – guided by a professional designer – takes an agency under its wing.
The teams do some background work, then park themselves in a computer lab for 24 hours – the « athon » in CreateAthon. At the end, they present their proposals to the organizations.
« It was probably one of the best experiences that I‘ve had, » says Edward Faruzel, executive director of Kitchener Waterloo Access Ability. « Everybody was so willing to help out. Everybody was easy to talk to. We could come in and discuss our ideas. »
KW Access Ability and seven other organizations took part in CreateAthonWaterloo Region 2013. Faruzel‘s agency got some ideas for a new brochure, plus a website makeover with colours and fonts that work well with text-to-speech screen-readers used by people with vision loss.
The website launched June 13.
Students also designed a new logo, an update of KW Access Ability’s lily symbol. Each of the five petals in the new design represents a key service the organization provides: advocacy, information and referral, Phirst Link Computing, recreation and health and wellness.
« The students get some real-world experience, » says John Baljkas, a graphic-design professor at Conestoga College. « They have deadlines to meet. It‘s a truly collaborative experience, and they learn about giving back to the community.
Last year‘s group of eight organizations came in with a wish list of 40 items. They received about $100,000 worth of work, MacDonald says.
« It is a rare opportunity that a charitable organization in Waterloo Region can get its advertising campaign produced, its brochures designed, its brand rebranded or its website designed for – free, » says Matt Miller, an executive-in-residence at Capacity. « We have several teams of students, backed by seasoned professional art directors, who will put together lively communications packages. »
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