Creatives For Community Grant Winners 2019
Third annual grant program empowers community through design.
By Madison FisherThe Creatives for Community grant program, also known as C4C, is one way we contribute to our local communities by doing what we do best – design. Brainchild of Kathy Schipper, the program stemmed from years of collaboration with nonprofits and her firm belief that nonprofits are an essential part of a healthy community and should have marketing materials that equal their for-profit counterparts.
In 2019, three nonprofits were selected from eight applications received from organizations in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties. BenitoLink, Sun Street Centers and Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association were this year’s grant recipients. Each organization had a different goal: to support an event, create a new logo and design a newsletter to communicate with the community. We were thrilled to work with these important community organizations and are proud of the results!
In this yearly grant program, each nonprofit received 30 hours of graphic design time and personalized attention from the design and account management teams at Schipper. Kathy takes the lead in creative direction, but then steps aside, thus promoting leadership-building among the account managers and facilitating unique relationships between designers and clients.
Benito Link
San Benito County grant recipient, BenitoLink, applied for the C4C grant in order to develop a new logo. The SD team understood the importance of this community information source and wanted to provide an identity that communicated its vitality.
We worked with the BenitoLink team and board of directors to come up with a logo that demonstrated their community activism, their serious journalism and their dominance online. The BenitoLink team was excited with the results of the project. “It was a pleasure to work with you and your team. We all appreciate Schipper Design’s generosity and the spirit behind Creatives for Community,” said Executive Director Leslie David.
For the Schipper team, the collaboration was an opportunity to contribute to an important local resource. Account Manager Heidi Connor said, “BenitoLink serves the county as the only local news source, which is important to both visitors and residents of San Benito County. As a long-time resident, I was excited to work with the BenitoLink team on their brand and contribute to its future success.”
Sun Street Centers
In Monterey County, Sun Street Centers is dedicated to helping community members beat addiction and improve their quality of life. For over 50 years, their presence has helped countless families. In 2019, Sun Street Centers expanded their program and opened a new facility. Schipper Design created posters and signage to commemorate this opening and followed up with a brochure targeting Legacy supporters.
The work was impactful and an example of how valuable community support is for nonprofits. Anna Foglia, Sun Street CEO, said, “We are grateful for your ongoing support of our Legacy brochure and marketing for Sun Street Centers. The importance of your support cannot be understated. We need you and people like you to support our efforts if we are to afford people the freedom from addiction that they strive for. Please appreciate that you are making a difference in the lives of people who are touched by addiction.”
Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association
2019’s final grant recipient was Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice. CCVNA provides a wide range of home health, palliative and hospice care services in Monterey, San Benito and parts of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. The organization continually assesses local needs and develops new programs to meet them. The Schipper team designed a flyer, newsletter and sign-up sheet to assist in the organization's outreach efforts.
Mark Maltun, CFO, said, “VNA & Hospice is expanding our outreach to the large and growing Latino community by directly addressing the social, cultural and language barriers that keep them from choosing palliative/hospice end-of-life care. You have assisted in creating a coordinated, consistent design language used across all media platforms that identified the VNA & Hospice as the place the Central Coast Latino community can go to learn about end-of-life care. We are proud to have worked with such a professional and philanthropic agency.”
For the Schipper team, this project was made even more meaningful because of personal experience. “It was great working with Central Coast VNA & Hospice on their marketing materials to expand outreach to the Latino community. My family has used their services in the past. Personally knowing the wonderful work they do made this project very fulfilling for me,” said Account Manager Tina Benich.
Creatives for Community is a chance for Schipper Design team members to use their skills and experience to serve our local communities and connect with clients in a different way. The 2020 application process will open in January and we look forward to the opportunity to work side-by-side with grant recipients on new projects in the coming year.
Look for C4C updates on social media and in local news outlets throughout the year. We hope to expand the program to include other agencies and businesses in the future.
For more information about the 2020 grant process and applications, email info@schipperdesign.com or visit our website for more information.