Grand Rapids Community Foundation – 2020 Annual Report

Grand Rapids Community Foundation 2020-2019 Annual Report

Something wonderful happens when an organization — especially one as consequential as the Grand Rapids Community Foundation — makes a conscious effort to step back and give the mic to new storytellers. A community and its champions get more than funding, they get a platform and agency. And as a result, the storytelling becomes that much more alive and relevant.
 
That’s exactly what happened in 2020, when the Grand Rapids Community Foundation partnered with Well for the third year, to create their annual report. GRCF had an idea that they wanted to step back in the role of storyteller, and to build a multi-channel, highly immersive report that amplified the voices of not just staff and donors, but particularly community members and champions. We worked closely with their team and the stars of the report to plan, theme, write, design, and produce an incredible physical artifact. In addition, we’ve created a themed digital component on the GRCF website, and managed a video team to create outstanding video featuring our report stars. The result is more than just the average annual report — it’s a channel-crossing experience that brings the work and intention of the Community Foundation to life, and underscores their impact in ways that a simple booklet never could.

A Lasting Impact

A Community of Experts

Our design and strategy for the report elevates the voices of experts in our community on equity, business and lending practises, education, and others. Because the publication and website are finite designs, there were many quotes from partners that did not make it into either piece.

We determined that a social toolkit would allowed them to use social media as a true extension of the campaign. We designed templates that could be reworked to support any content that Community Foundation chose to feature; from audio (podcast) style posts to static imagery.

"We have to find ways to keep on doing he works and not give up because we will actually encourage other people to think differently. We continue to fight for equality and equity and creating opportunity."

CQ HUYNH

A Digital Focus

A large part of our strategy for the report was considering how donors would be receiving information during COVID-19. Rather than go with the Community Foundation’s traditional print report exclusively, we placed heavy focus on making the video and web components of the campaign fully comprehensive. Every deliverable for this campaign was designed to stand alone as well as be a part of a more cohesive campaign.