The Evening Reception is Special Olympics Chicago/Special Children's Charities annual fundraising gala. Between 2019 and 2022 it grew from a small event to a major gala with tickets sales increasing 41% and fundraising increasing 238% to more than $250,000.
Two key marketing themes I used to help drive increased attendance and giving were highlighting the venue and the opportunity to spend time with our athletes.
The event is held at the Old Post Office, which is an exciting historic space. In 2022 I created a new invitation with a vintage postage stamp feel to showcase this. I used stock photography of the city at sunset and edited it to look like a printed version of a painting. I framed it with a scalloped stamp element, and chose new type to further the look (including placing the date to look like a stamp's price). This imagery was used in social media, email, print, and web campaigns. The Board of Directors and Committee also utilized the invitation to directly approach their contacts.
The event is also an opportunity for supporters to spend time with the athletes they are supporting. Helping people see our mission as less abstract can create long term connections to the mission. I highlighted this aspect of the event with videos of athletes talking about themselves and asking guests to join them at the event. I put together the script and managed collection of the videos by our team. I then edited them into two separate pieces which were used in a social media campaign.