The reason you write the first cheque to a charitable organization is always personal. That’s great if you’re a charity that meets the needs of prospective donors who feel so inclined to ‘give back’ or even ‘pay it forward.’ But how do you connect with those who are otherwise unconnected with your charity and, more to the point, how do you create communications materials which will be used by different people with different needs and in different cities across the country?

The answer to the first question for the Leukemia Research Fund of Canada was to create a ‘Celebrity Waiters Luncheon’ where local celebrities would invite their friends to a lunch and then wait on them. Inspired by their host’s generosity and commitment to the organization, his or her guests were all too happy to contribute to the auctions and even to leave a healthy tip. Enough about that.

It’s the second question: what do you create and how do you create it that’s of interest here. For wishart, we quickly came to the realization that illustrations were the way to go. It enabled us to make the materials work regardless of the city or venue or time of year. Celebrities come and go (Britney and Lindsay, please go already!) so not getting their photos didn’t matter. Our materials enabled fundraisers to tailor them to their own needs and templates were made freely available in case they didn’t have a creative bone in their body. The client and her colleagues ate it up!

AGENCY: wishart
WEBSITE: www.wishart.net
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: John VanDuzer
ILLUSTRATIONS: Grant Miehm
CLIENT: Leukemia Research Fund of Canada