The Challenge
Thanks to good management and sound governance, Cunningham Children’s Home had successfully built two brand new buildings for children and youth with severe emotional and behavioral disabilities in Urbana, Illinois. Both had been made possible through generous support from United Methodist Women across the state, whose faith inspired them to heed the words of John Wesley, “Do all the good you can… In all the ways you can… As long as ever you can.”
A new school and recreation complex offered an opportunity to tap into another kind of fervor – the passion of University of Illinois sports fans, whose fondness for Illini and NBA player Kendall Gill and his record-breaking coach, Lou Henson, had made the agency’s golf outing an annual success.
Having recently led a mission-driven branding process, my role in the Capital Campaign kick-off was to deliver materials that would be flexible enough to break into pieces for individual visits with donors, but would produce a visual impact that captured the excitement of two very different donor constituencies. We also needed to convey the special connection that Cunningham offers for children and teens in need of intensive support – without patronizing the young people, insulting their families or over-simplifying the complicated range of reasons that support might be needed.
The tagline we came up with, “Win One for the Kids” conveyed the spirit of victory we wanted to capture. There was also something touching about dwelling on the relationship between lead donors, the Hensons and Gills. And old photo of Lou and Kendall together was a reminder of the impact that caring adults can have in a young person’s life.
Cover of the custom-designed folder containing the campaign materials 
Materials were sized to allow the title of each piece to show. This image shows the edges of a newsletter, IRA information, brochure on planned giving and the right pocket of the custom-designed folder. 
Campaign brochure 
Classic photo of Henson and Gill from their time with the Fighting Illini 
The booklet included testimonials from Cunningham alumni, with photos of current clients receiving unconditional regard from staff members (in this case school Principal Sandy Cooper) 
y Excerpt – reminding audiences of successful capital projects to date 
Cunningham was founded as an orphanage, and many donors wonder who Cunningham kids are and where they came from. Simple infographics give a sense of the population served. 
Themes of legacy and generosity are important when raising major gifts for capital projects that have the capacity to touch lives for generations 
When the tri-fold Creative Ways to Give brochure is opened part way, a photo of a child experiencing joy in a therapeutic recreation program accompanies information about planned giving opportunities 
Including a newsletter in the packet allowed us to remind people of a wider array of programs while maintaining the focus on the building project 
This newsletter page highlights the legacy and historic impact of The United Methodist Women, Cunningham’s faithful stewards