Stonehill College
Raising the sights of a community built on boldness.
How does a small college with outsized aspirations inspire its community to rise to the occasion of a record-setting campaign? Sometimes it calls for a theme and collateral that strike a new note. Enter Stonehill College’s TO BE BOLD campaign.
We turned our concept into a brand that motivated generations of donors, while capturing Stonehill’s history-long devotion to an accessible, world-class liberal arts education and their Holy Cross commitment to a more just and equitable world.
what we did
Research + discovery
Campaign narrative + messaging
Campaign brand
Print + digital collateral
Campaign website
Photography
Videos
Magazine ads
Virtual launch
Resilient in pursuit of essential goals
Over the course of two years, we developed a comprehensive system of campaign communications, from the ground up—print and digital—and when COVID-19 struck, we helped them adapt to the virtual necessities of the pandemic with new tools that enabled conversations and small gatherings to switch to Zoom.
We captured a rich, immersive sense of place. When the campus was peopleless, we developed a visual language to bring alive Lux et Spes, “Light and Hope”—the College’s motto.
United in purpose, if not in person
Whenever possible, students and alumni were the ones expressing the College’s mission in impact and potential surpassed. The boldest part of our work came when the pandemic forced the launch to become virtual. A 25-minute launch show giving the event a warmth and immediacy that made pre-recorded footage feel like it was taking place in real time. We drove audiences to the event through a series of teasers that transported them back to campus. The result was Stonehill’s largest-ever online gathering.
The campaign surpassed its bottom-line goal, reaching $77.3 million, establishing, building, and naming the Leo J. Meehan School of Business, and adding 63 named scholarships, among other landmark achievements.
“This was truly a campaign that belonged to all of us.”
Rev. John Denning, C.S.C.
President, Stonehill College
TO BE BOLD inspired more than 12,000 gifts from 48 states and 15 countries—reflecting the participation of three in every five living alumni.
