Rhode Island School of Design
RISD is among the Top 5 art and design schools in the nation, including the #1 Fine Arts program, according to U.S. News and World Report, and #3 in the world according to QS World University Rankings. Stinghouse Creative’s work supporting the ongoing campaign for the RISD Fund Annual Giving Program reflects a national footprint, targeting a diverse audience, connected by insightful messaging.
PROGRAM
Annual Giving
SERVICES PROVIDED
Research
Strategy Development
Creative Content Development
Print Production Management
SEGMENTATION
Alumni, Families, Giving Society Prospects
CHANNELS
Direct Mail, Print, Video
Creative
Digital | Video
Digital campaign highlighting student acceptance stories and donor gratitude.
Print | Direct Mail
Direct mail appeal campaign highlighting the case for the RISD Fund.
RESULTS
New Donors Acquired
Fundraising efforts yielded the highest number of new donors and alumni donors in the last five years.
A Record-Breaking Year
The 2021 fiscal year marked the second-best fundraising year in institutional history, facilitating a 23% increase over two years in available financial aid for students.
WHY IT WORKED
The strategic and creative messaging benefited from agency moderated focus groups with the target audience that yielded an ownable and powerful insight only the RISD community would respond to.
This insight was then brought to life by our creative team using intentional language and visual queues across appeal communication efforts that included direct mail, email, phone, and development officer support materials.
“Over our more than three-year agency partnership with Stinghouse, they demonstrated a strong command of effective creative communication on the arts side of the equation, and operationally-driven fundraising demands on the science side of the equation. They understand how to effectively manage the multiple streams of internal teams up and down the organizational chart, the political dimensions of campus partnerships, and inter-organizational across campus departments and divisions.”
— O’Neil Outar
Vice President Institutional Advancement, RISD