CreateAthon Phoenix 2017 Review
In a matter of 24 hours on Saturday, July 29th, 55 designers, developers, photographers and copywriters joined creative forces to help nine local nonprofits. AIGA Arizona’s CreateAthon is a creative marathon where professional designers and advertising pros spend an intense 24 hours to help Arizona nonprofits that are in need of marketing assistance but can’t afford it. The goal is to give these nonprofits a marketing and communications boost to extend their outreach and effectiveness. Some examples of what the nonprofits received are fundraising campaigns, websites, print materials, logos, social media campaigns, email templates, advertising strategies, and much more.
The nonprofits selected to receive the pro bono work included Positive Paths, Musculoskeletal Orthopedic Research and Education (MORE) Foundation, Swift Youth Foundation, Someone Worth Accepting Now (SWAN), St. Joseph the Worker, AZCEND, Girls Rule Foundation, Keep Phoenix Beautiful, and Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Families of Tucson. A team of creatives was matched with each nonprofit and from 9 am on Saturday until 9 am on Sunday, the teams worked with the nonprofits to understand their mission, challenges, and marketing and business objectives. They worked tirelessly to create marketing strategies as well as solve issues around branding, recruiting and fundraising.
The morning kicked off with all the teams meeting with their nonprofit representatives to go over their business and goals. This was followed by intense brainstorming sessions that included lots of mind mapping, strategizing, Post-it notes, Sharpies and more. Branding and website projects that would typically take months were coming together in a few short hours. Midday, the nonprofits had an opportunity to participate in two workshops – Mastering the Branding Conversation with Emily Soccorsy, co-founder of Root + River and Designing Branded Collateral through Canva with Jennifer Duran, AIGA Arizona Design for Good Chair. These workshops provided the organizations with hands-on training to help them understand how to use the materials and tools that were being developed for them. After the nonprofit representatives left for the day, the teams worked through the night on their projects. At 6 a.m., the following morning, the creative teams gathered to present an overview of their projects to each other. The work that was accomplished overnight was both overwhelming and inspiring. Immediately following the group presentations, the nonprofit representatives returned so the teams could present their ideas individually to each of their nonprofits.
In addition to the talented individuals who volunteered their time and skills, this event would not be possible without our sponsors. Special thanks to IBM, Co+Hoots, Extra Small Design, OH Partners, Postino, Neighborhood Initiatives, TEKsystems, Explosion Sportswear and Fairytale Brownies. With almost $200,000 in pro-bono work invested – so many people came together to create something in the interest of building a stronger and better community, making CreateAthon an amazing experience. Some people say it only takes 10 seconds to make a difference in someone’s life. Imagine what you could do in 24 hours?
