Gateway to 2020

The Challenge

Gateway Domestic Violence Center is a Gainesville, Ga.-based nonprofit that operates an emergency shelter and transitional housing for women and children escaping abusive relationships. Since 1983 when the emergency shelter was built, the community’s population has more than doubled, causing a significant increase in demand for a shelter that regularly operates at or above its intended capacity. Additionally, Gateway doesn’t own the building where the shelter is located and must find a new home. To continue effectively meeting the safety and support needs of women and children fleeing domestic violence, Gateway launched a capital campaign with goals of raising $2.5 million dollars and securing a new shelter before its current lease expires on Dec. 31, 2020.

How We Helped

Gateway Domestic Violence Center is a well-established nonprofit with strong name recognition in the community. The campaign needed a name to distinguish itself from the normal operations and fundraising of the organization while still connecting to the organization’s mission. “Gateway to 2020” communicates both the timeline of the campaign and a clear vision for the future. We created a tagline that was straightforward and reflective of the campaign’s underlying goal: “Building Foundations. Securing Hope.” Working with Gateway’s leadership, we gathered information, stories and statistics to illustrate the need for a new shelter and used them in a campaign booklet and pledge card for use in fundraising pitches. Our team also implemented a communications strategy to unveil the campaign to the organization’s supporters and community at large.

"Having professionally designed campaign materials has been key to the success of the campaign. Using materials that concisely defined the need for a new shelter in an easily read format helped board members make successful asks for pledges and donations. Forum understands a nonprofit’s need for professional assistance while keeping costs for reproducing brochures and campaign materials at a minimum. The video created for the public announcement helped Gateway share a survivor's story and explain the impact of our services. After the public announcement of the campaign, 10 months after the silent phase of the campaign, Gateway has raised almost $1 million in pledges and donations."

Cheryl Christian

– Development Specialist, Gateway Domestic Violence Center

All in the Details

Drawing on aspects of Gateway’s main logo, we designed a brand mark that illustrated the path to a new home, then applied it to print collateral including a campaign booklet, pledge card and PowerPoint template for fundraising during the campaign’s silent phase. Those materials not only conveyed the need, but contained stories of those who help and are helped by Gateway every day. Our team also implemented a communications strategy to unveil the campaign to the organization’s supporters. We helped produce a video that first aired at Gateway’s largest annual fundraiser. Via media relations, we secured news coverage and radio interviews to reveal the campaign to the community at large. Our team also developed a Gateway to 2020 landing page on the nonprofit’s existing responsive website that included an easy-to-use tool for donations. Less than a year after the campaign began, Gateway to 2020 had raised almost $1 million toward its stated goal.

What We Accomplished

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