overview
Giving education a new paddle.
Environmental education is essential at Grand Rapids Public School's Blandford Environmental Education Program (BEEP) 6th grade program at Blandford School. However, the students had outgrown the dated, dilapidated, portable school structure. So GRPS sought out to create a campaign to help fund a new facility.
We knew the wilderness would be a crucial player. We also knew that if its students didn’t get funding for a new, state-of-the-art facility, they’d be up a creek without a paddle.
The Forest was asked by the Wege Foundation, a flagship donor, to direct creative throughout the fundraising portion of the project; including naming, branding, printed materials, and blog design.
research
Reimagine education.
At the onset, The Forest got down and dirty, walking every trail - both proverbially and literally - to study the environment and its role in education. We seemed to streamline the importance of this means of education that we dearly believed in, by pulling in the facts and harnessing pure emotion.
strategy
It's not about a place. It's about an idea.
After all things were considered (and all parties were met with, complete with public charrettes) a name was discovered using a double entendre combining the obvious need for the renewal of the school's facility, along with the importance of the subject regarding, or in-response-to (re:) fundraising.
The brand language was designed to sound fun, youthful, innocent, but smart - like that of an excelled 6th grade program. With imagery that followed suit; earthy, but light, blues and greens. Hand type. Organic. The identity system and verbiage were applied to all marketing materials, but most importantly, the campaign's blog.
The Forest reached out to school faculty, parents, alumni, and supporters of the BEEP program to help contribute to blog posts, help with photography, events, etc. and oversaw content in the CMS to make sure everything was on brand, and uniquely Blandford School. This included illustration, design, copywriting, editing, photography, info graphics, and more.
challenges
Creating legs to run with.
The first challenge was to create a system with legs enough to run throughout the fundraising process. Furthermore, the Forest was responsible for creating something ownable by all parties involved (Blandford School, GRPS, Wege Foundation, Blandford Nature Center), as they all played a role in the efforts.
Another challenge was working directly with the client, while keeping the other parties involved, on board, happy, included, educated, and promoted throughout the campaign.
It was also challenging reaching out to the parents and alumni for support with blog content, stories, and other ideas.
Another challenge was working directly with the client, while keeping the other parties involved, on board, happy, included, educated, and promoted throughout the campaign.
It was also challenging reaching out to the parents and alumni for support with blog content, stories, and other ideas.
effectiveness
Ground-breaking ground.
Public awareness and support at launch generated attention to the campaign and the blog, which garnered enough support to help meet the fundraising goal. The school is currently under construction. The new facility is scheduled to open during the spring semester of 2013.
