Harley School

Building Brand Hierarchy Through Events and Campaigns

Events & Campaigns

Theme Ideation, Digital and Print Collateral, Brand Identity, Marketing Planning

Overview

The Harley School is a college-preparatory independent school in Rochester, New York, educating students in nursery through grade 12. While the school is tuition-based, it relies on fundraising contributions to provide all the programs and amenities it offers.

From an admissions perspective, The Harley School’s enrollment was at capacity. But, from a fundraising perspective, the school’s community wasn’t fully aware of the role donations play in its ability to offer the exceptional educational experience that it does. Harley’s goal was to involve more families in giving to fill the gap that tuition doesn’t cover.

Heart of Harley

The multichannel campaign, which we named The Heart of Harley, incorporated print, email and social media components, as well as pre-event build-up and post-event follow-up. The giving day’s live portion ran from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with hourly themes mirroring the school day all the way through athletics and activities.

Following Themes

Iris designed graphics for each hour’s theme. Families responded with pictures of at-home science projects and what they were cooking and reading. These hourly posts were paired with related, authentic content solicited in advance, including heartfelt videos from alumni thanking their favorite teachers, submissions from students and staff, and specific challenge grants from familiar community members.

Getting Results

The campaign raised $250,000, far exceeding its goal of $175,000. The added bonus of a giving day lies in the engagement it generates—engagement that moves audience members into a deeper relationship with the organization.

Thankful Campaign

This annual campaign is run around Thanksgiving. Harley’s development team wanted to bring the branding for the campaign into alignment with the growing design hierarchy at the school. We considered the schools typography and color palette in conjunction with the new branding developed for the Heart of Harley campaign to come up with a unique design, consistent with their overall brand.

Blast! Gala

After the success of the Heart of Harley campaign, we were asked to provide design support for the school’s annual Blast! Gala. This event is known for having a unique and customized theme each year. We created the logo, print invitations, postcards, and save the dates. Using a muted version of the schools green and typography embellished with vines we helped bring the events storybook garden theme to life.