Cuso International

Founded in Canada in 1961, Cuso International is an international humanitarian organization whose mission is to reduce poverty and inequality. They do so by collaborating with on-the-ground partners to elevate women and girls in marginalized communities around the world. Like most nonprofit organizations, Cuso International brings in a substantial portion of their annual fundraising revenue in the last weeks of the year. They came to Briteweb for assistance creating a compelling end-of-year digital fundraising campaign with three phases: Giving Tuesday, Year-End Giving, and Tax Savings.

Of course, during this peak giving period, donors’ social media feeds and inboxes are flooded with fundraising appeals. Our campaign needed to stand out, and inspire donors to support Cuso International’s important work.

To ensure we created a cohesive and compelling campaign, we needed a winning creative concept that could be adapted to each campaign phase. Our team envisioned that concept acting as a recognizable micro-brand that appealed to the hearts and minds of both Cuso International’s existing stakeholders—many of whom already felt a strong affinity with the organization—as well as prospective donors new to the organization and its work.

Our strategy, design and copywriting team put their heads together to come up with creative concepts that we believed would grab the attention of donors amidst the year-end digital deluge. One concept rose to the top: What if?

Inspired by the individual dreams of women and girls, as well as Cuso International’s bold vision for a better, brighter future, our dreamy creative concept evoked the notion of someone doodling in their notebook. A series of “What if” questions teased Cuso International’s new strategic direction, which was set to be released early in the new year.

Our blue-sky “what if” questions ultimately led back to the donor, and the notion that Global Affairs Canada’s 6x donation match meant donors’ support would have a much bigger impact than they could even imagine.

What if you could do a lot with a little? (You can.)

What if your dollar is more powerful than you could ever imagine? (It is.)

Through colourful, hand-written creative across social media, emails, video, and the campaign donation page, donors were reminded that a better world is possible—and that they could play a part in it by supporting Cuso International.