Home to the third-largest collection of fine art in the United States, The Art Institute of Chicago aims to inspire and educate people from everywhere and all walks of life.
 

THE CHALLENGE

The Art Institute’s annual fund is a vital part of its financial lifeline. In challenging economic times with shrinking government grants, individual donations have become even more critical. Our challenge was to strengthen the annual fund’s response in order to increase donations and deepen relationships with existing members.
 

The Solution

88 performed a full audit of existing communications and conducted focus groups with members to identify opportunities for strengthening communications. Then we built a new annual fund approach from the ground up, creating a traditional and digital campaign centered on member involvement.

The communications connected with members and non-members alike by revolving around one simple idea: making an impact. A graphic mark created a consistent visual reminder of this theme. The messaging hierarchy was restructured around the information that mattered most to members. Together we developed a campaign strategy-featuring actual members-that encourages respondents to choose the area of the institute that interests them most, allowing us to develop tailored and meaningful communications for future efforts.

The Result

SPRINTING OUT OF THE GATE

The first wave of the campaign has recently launched to members, and they are expressing enthusiasm around the Member Impact brand and new communications. The strategy will continue to be executed throughout the next year—through direct response campaign and several member touch-points—with the hope of increasing member involvement and gifts to the annual fund.

Case Studies