Winners by Design

Eye-catching marketing campaigns earn awards, as well as publicity and dollars, for nonprofit groups

The National Sports Center for the Disabled, in Denver, was known for its winter sports, but

it wanted to spread the word that it also had summer programs.

A local design company came up with a variety of ads and posters, including one that shows a guide dog waiting for its owner at the bottom of a cliff: “What kind of people take blind kids mountain climbing?” says the caption. “The same ones who take paraplegics sailing and amputees horseback riding.”

Such marketing materials were among the thousands of advertisements, posters, billboards, logos, annual reports, and other publications that were honored by Print magazine for their eye-catching designs. Many of the entries that won in the most recent competition were materials designed for nonprofit groups.

Some of the winning materials were produced free by design companies. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Oregon, in Bend, for instance, spent $4,000 on a series of ads that ran in newspapers and on TV, radio, and billboards. If not for pro bono work, the design, production, and ad space would have cost $75,000 or $80,000, says Joe Loe, marketing director. The ads, which reminded people that youngsters often get into trouble when they don’t have access to after-school activities, were part of a campaign that brought in $350,000 for the organization.

Other materials were designed more to raise visibility than to raise money. The Children’s Medical Center of Dallas created six billboard ads using designs that look like pictures from children’s books. Its goal was to send the message that the hospital doesn’t handle only serious diseases and emergencies but also minor problems such as ear infections, broken arms, and chicken pox. After several months, a study showed that among advertisements for five area hospitals, those for Children’s were the most widely recognized, says Betsy MacKay, director of public relations and marketing.