How can we help college donors connect to their creative inspiration?

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Background

Portland State University’s College of the Arts is made up of four schools: Architecture, Art + Design, Film, and Music + Theater. 

Historically, the schools’ outreach and development operations were quite siloed. Despite the fact that marketing and fundraising were managed at the college level, many high-level donors only knew about the program they supported, and were unaware of large initiatives happening in other areas of the college.

The college decided to hold an event for high-level donors and community partners that would showcase the college as a whole. The event, which we called Flourish, would invite high-level donors and important community partners to learn about all the college’s programs, laying the groundwork for more expansive collaborations and fundraising efforts. 

Challenge

Each school took charge of a space in PSU’s Lincoln Hall, where they would have 15 minutes to showcase student work from their program. Architecture offered a dramatic display of building models, Music & Theater students performed a selection of works, Art & Design displayed a wealth of ephemera from their many programs, and Film shared a highlight reel of student work. All four schools offered chances for guests to connect with students. 

Staff guides would lead groups of about 20 guests, rotating through the four rooms, with a joint reception before and after. 

The schools designed excellent programs for the event. But what was the glue to tie it all together? Without some sort of organizing theme, the event risked missing the point, which was to capture the creative energy of the college as a whole. 

What I Did

I used the tools of experience design to develop a meaningful structure for the event. I started, as always, with empathy for the user. Our guests attend a lot of fancy events. What would make this one special? How could we help them connect with programs that they weren’t necessarily interested in? And what unites these different programs, anyway? 

The basic elements of art

I determined that the thing that unites the disciplines of architecture, art, graphic design, film, music, and theater is the creative process itself. All makers ideate, collaborate, revise, and present their work. They employ basic ingredients like narrative, theme, imagery, duration, and scale to develop meaning.

Using these common elements, I was able to identify the commonalities among the four disciplines. For example, architecture and music both rely heavily on structure, repetition, and surprise. 

This pointed to a flow between the four disciplines that I could use to organize the flow of the event. But this framework was pretty abstract and theoretical. What would it mean for our guests? 

Our wish for our guests

In our planning discussions, I encouraged the organizers to focus on what we wish for our guests–how we hoped they would feel and grow through this event– instead of focusing on what we want from them. This empathetic position is key to creating an experience that really resonates with the end user. 

We realized that each guest has a particular area of creative expertise or passion. For example, they might love the opera or make documentary films. When they left Flourish, we wanted them to understand the breadth and quality of creative work in the College, feel more connected to their own creative inspiration, and have deeper connections to the other guests. 

So, our wish for our guests was: To use the prism of their own creative expertise to connect meaningfully with other modes of creative expression in the College of the Arts.

This became the guiding principle for the event. 

Making it happen

Opening reception

At check-in, guests received a name tag, which they were invited to embellish with stickers to indicate their creative expertise or passion. 

Not only was this fun–everyone likes stickers!—it allowed guests to relate to one another as art lovers first. The stickers gave guests an opening for conversations with strangers during the opening reception. Plus they subtly reminded guests of their connection to the College of the Arts. 

The tour

After a brief welcome from the dean of the college, guests divided into groups, each led by a staff guide. The guide’s role was not only to help the group navigate between stations, but also to facilitate conversation about each creative discipline and how it might relate to the guests’ own area of expertise.  

Guides were prepped in advance with discussion questions such as, What was the first  [film, opera, book etc.] that you fell in love with? What is the space where you feel most like yourself, and what are the physical aspects of that space? If you could go back to college and study any form of creative expression, what would it be? Why?

Closing reception

After cycling through the four school presentations, the groups reunited in the main space for dessert. Post-its, sharpies, and prompts were scattered on the tables, and guests were invited to capture what surprised them or moved them and add it to a large poster. 

“I attend many such events for patrons … this one was OVER THE TOP! …Thank you for a beautifully planned, very enlightening evening.”

— Flourish attendee

Result

The event was a rousing success. The energy in the room was palpable. Guests loved the flow of the program and the opportunities to connect with students and to relate to each other in new ways. Our development staff loved the insights into guests’ true passions. In the weeks following, they reported that almost every donor who attended had moved significantly closer to making a major gift as a direct result of the event. And guests were left with a clearer sense of the college’s brand and values.