TakeRoot Campaign
Challenge
Owning a home can mean hefty repair bills and other unexpected costs. The University Christian Church community had weathered plenty of those dread inducing bills to maintain the beautiful and historic building they called home. While the challenge to pay off those debts always required faith, there was one debt that seemed insurmountable. A large portion of the church’s income went towards paying off the mortgage for the building, including a high interest payment. One member saw that as a wasted opportunity and proposed a campaign to pay off the mortgage. They could see that the mortgage would not be paid off for a very long time, despite a hefty payment, because the interest sucked up most of the payment. In order to make the campaign effective, a consultant was hired and a team assembled. Communicating this idea and carrying out the campaign would require consistent messaging that was approachable and encouraged participation. After all, the church leadership was encouraging an already giving community, which includes a large portion of college students, to grow deeper in their understanding of generosity.
Response
A visioning session with the church leadership and the design team helped inform the campaign branding. Pulled from ideas discussed during that session, the name TakeRoot was coined to identify the campaign. TakeRoot serves as a call to action and an invitation toward the connectedness that comes from making a home together. Since it is built from two common words, the potentially general phrase is stylized as one word with both component words capitalized to signify the proper noun status. The use of the word mark identifies campaign collateral as distinct from other church communications. Rendered in the church’s existing brand font, it also symbolically reinforces the goal of the campaign to draw the church community closer to its core. To further unite the collection of pieces, a supporting illustration of interwoven “roots” is cropped dynamically throughout the collateral. This brings cohesion while avoiding the use of a more traditional logo, a direction that would have felt too impersonal for this campaign. Using a single paper stock unifies the pieces. Subtly implying the desire for connection of the message writer, the feel of the paper surface is invitingly tactile yet soft. Flexibility in formatting and addition of supplemental illustrations bolsters the approachable, human feel of the collateral. The fundraising goal has been met by pledges that exceeded the initial mortgage payoff proposal, creating even more opportunity to invest in other things that are important to the community.