Opportunity

The City of Indianapolis’ Office of Education Innovation (OEI) had been successfully operating Circle City Readers, a highly effective, high-dosage literacy program in selected schools for two years, This initiative had been funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act and a City allocation, but needed to make the case for ongoing donor support for the program. The City enlisted Pen+Principle to develop a visual identity, messaging, and collateral to highlight its impact and build additional fundraising momentum.

Approach

To kickoff, P+P led the client team through a Discovery Session and did a deep-dive on past coverage and positioning. Based on the findings of that session, P+P developed a logo, color palette, fonts, and brand guide to help anchor the program’s visual identity. We also developed core messaging to help frame the program’s approach, impact, and value proposition for funders. To disseminate the story, we wrote an impact report and drove media coverage around that report. We also produced a three-minute video with social media cut-downs, created a presentation deck, and translated the impact report into a case statement for funders.

Results

P+P provided Indy OEI with the assets, language, and brand to capture the impact of their program and build a convincing case to funders. Conversations with funders are ongoing as the City seeks local funding to continue the program.