Work Samples
(click on images to download documents)
Soup Stone
Electronic Communications Suite
Using a whole suite of free online tools, I've put together a fully-functional website and email suite for a new group that I founded called Soup Stone. The group meets regularly for networking and project presentations/brainstorms in an informal potluck-style setting. The website features photo slide shows, video, forms, blogs, social networking tags, and more. The mailing list for the group is currently over 85 and growing steadily.
Independent Arts & Media
Expo for Independent Arts Flier
The Expo for Independent Arts is a day-long extravaganza of music and dance performances, table exhibits, workshops and networking for the grassroots arts community in San Francisco. This flier is designed to recruit potential exhibitors. The two-pager gives an overview of the event and host organization, gives the pitch, and tells them how much it will cost. But the real communication is in the fresh, colorful images of performers and tablers, and the quotes from past satisfied "customers". In addition to this flier, I also put together a sponsorship package using the same dynamic design, with different colorful images in the header of each page showcasing both colorful performers and exhibitors. Both pieces communicate the quirky, fun nature of the event, but the text and clean design also project confidence and value for participants.
GirlSource, Inc.
Annual WAVE Awards Luncheon Sponsorship Package
GirlSource hosts a stellar annual awards luncheon that serves as their annual fundraising event. To boost sponsor interest in the event, I took their sponsorship letter and turned it into a graphic sponsorship package that features beautiful images the organization already had, but were under-utilizing as marketing assets. The effect is bold and eye-catching and helps focus sponsors' attention on the young women benefiting from their contribution. I added other enchancements, such as program information, an easy-to-understand sponsorship grid, logos of past sponsors, and an improved lay-out. By presenting a polished, professional image with the sponsorship package, the organization is more likely to communicate how it will promote the sponsors' business.
Annual Appeal
This end-of-the-year appeal features one of GirlSource's most inspiring success stories- a young woman who graduated from the program and went on to graduate at the top of her department at UC Berkeley. During her valedictorian speech, the young woman credited the organization with teaching her the importance of building supportive communities of mentors and peers- a skill which helped her succeed in college. The appeal starts with her touching story of success and giving back, and then paints the daunting picture of what young, low-income women of color face in these tough economic times using data. While studies show that donors respond to stories of individuals rather than statistics, I feel that it is still important to help people understand the context of the problems we ask them to help us solve. This letter combines a personal story with facts and figures to reach donors' hearts and heads simultaneously.
Girl Talk Monthly Newsletter
GirlSource needed to revive its year-round donor cultivation, so I took a previous html design and translated it into their Constant Contact account so they could easily send out future newsletters using an under-utilized tool. We highlighted the fact that they were one of the few non-profits recognized by the Bay Gaurdian's Best of the Bay issue, plus reprinted a segment from a radio interview that the Executive Director gave. The overall effect was eye-catching, interesting to read, and conversational in tone. I also created a sidebar to emphasize ways people could get more involved, including attending an event, viewing the digital stories made by youth on the org's YouTube Channel, joining the Facebook page, and donating.
San Francisco International Arts Festival
Media Sponsorship Package
As a pro-bono project, I designed SFIAF's annual media sponsorship package to help them secure media sponsors for their 2008 Festival. I also did the leg work to sign up sponsors such as the San Francisco Examiner, the San Francisco Guardian, Yelp, SF Station, Dance Magazine, KQED Public Television and a number of others. The grand total of donated or matched media sponsorships totaled over $50,000!
Asian Community Development Corporation
Press Release
PR is a major source of almost-free publicity that is open to just about any non-profit. With some creativity and media savvy, even seemingly routine or mundane occurrences can help raise awareness about your work, build your brand, and help establish you as a leader in your field. Or, as in this example, you can build relationships with corporate supporters. A grant proposal I wrote to the TD Banknorth Foundation garnered a $15,000 award. We invited TD's Vice President of Community Relations to our office to present the check, which offered us a photo opportunity as well as a chance to further cultivate our relationship with her. She really appreciated the effort we put into publicizing the grant, as it served as free publicity for the Bank, as well as for our project.
Organizational Overview
I put together this publication for the Asian CDC as a part of our overall promotional package. The publication gives an in-depth picture of the history, assets and prospects for the organization were at the important 20 year milestone. The publication and the rest of our communication plan re-cast the Asian CDC as a regional, pan-Asian community building organization in order to combat the long-held perception of the organization as a Chinese and Chinatown-bound group. The graphic use of vibrant color and photos' emphasis on the people the Asian CDC serves help create the sense of an energized organization rooted in the community.
Berwick Research Institute, Inc.
Grant
The Berwick is a tiny artist-led organization where I volunteered for three years. I helped them receive their first grants from private foundations as well as state and local government art agencies. This particular document is the narrative from a grant I submitted to the LEF Foundation's New England Office. The Berwick had a well-established relationship with the LEF Foundation, so this was a proposal for continued funding. To date, I have probably surpassed the $500,000 mark in successful grants written over the past four to five years.