Working with Nonprofits

If you work with a nonprofit organization you know that your communications efforts come with unique challenges. Budgets are often small and depend on fundraising and philanthropic giving rather than business sales. Messaging is typically more about appealing to donor’s and supporter’s philanthropic inclinations, or their personal causes, rather than their consumer impulses.

I appreciate the opportunity to use graphic design towards making a difference in the world, and to the careful consideration that goes into this type of communications. I’ve worked with numerous not-for-profits designing annual reports, promotional print material, calendars, and newspapers. Before initiating the design part of a project I work closely with my clients to help clarify goals and messaging and eliminate vagueness, inconsistency, and confusion. In the end the communications needs to be clear, engaging, and meaningful.

I’ve designed multiple annual reports for both the Cancer Research Institute in New York City and Child Aid, a Portland, OR organization that helps children in Central America improve their lives through literacy. In support of the 2019 Walt Whitman Bicentennial I designed a publication for the Walt Whitman Initiative, a nonprofit that I’m on the board of that celebrates Whitman and New York City’s literary legacy. For a number of years I designed a monthly calendar for Bargemusic, a chamber music venue at Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn, and most recently I worked with Bread for the World, a non-partisan, Christian advocacy organization based in the United States that advocates for policy changes to end hunger. Other nonprofits I’ve worked with include the American Council on Africa, the American Mental Health Foundation, the Dreyfus Charitable Foundation, El Guapo, the Ford Foundation, Vashon Household, Veteran Farms, and the YMCA.

If you work with a nonprofit and need support with your communication, don’t hesitate to reach out.