How do we determine if it’s been a successful year? One word: progress.
It’s not surprising that a company called Blue State Digital is obsessed with making progress: for our craft, for our organization, for each of us individually, and for the things we care about.
These are the words we live by. And judging by the incredible work our clients accomplished last year, and all the hard work of BSDers around the world, it’s been a great year.
Here’s our look back at 2014: our 10th anniversary and best year yet! #Progress.
Banner Year for BSD Tools
Clients crossed the 30 billion email mark and mobilized millions around the biggest moments of 2014—#TackleEbola to Climate Week, the Scottish referendum to the midterms, Ferguson to the #JourneyforJustice.
Journey for Justice
Millions joined NAACP to demand justice after the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Join them in the fight to end racial profiling and police brutality.
Bringing Gigabit to More People
We were thrilled to support Google Fiber’s rollout of blazing-faster internet access across Austin—working with local artists to design t-shirts, build buzz, and reach new markets. Next up: 34 cities announced for potential future Fiber expansion.
We Could Be The Match
More than 11 million volunteers are standing by to be life-saving bone marrow donors with Be The Match. In 2014, we helped grow this incredible community, focusing on hard-to-reach niche audiences like the 6,774 donors that joined to #Rally4Bay.
Freedom to Marry for All
We marked five years together with Freedom to Marry, and dozens of state and federal courts wins later, we’re focusing on the final frontier: 15 remaining states including the South. Meet Chi, Jessica, and their 7-year-old daughter Nailah—and stand with this family to help bring the freedom to marry to every American.
Campaign of the Year
Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care clinches Digital Campaign of the Year and Social Campaign of the Year in the Healthcare Marketing IMPACT Awards.
Happy 50th, Mustang!
To celebrate 50 years of an American icon, we helped set a Guinness World Record for the most signatures on an e-card. More than 55K fans penned messages to a car that’s been revving people’s engines for half a century.
Are You a Happy Heifer?
It was the year of the goat (and the cow and honeybees and just about any other farm animal you can imagine), as we helped Heifer International bring in over 31% more contributions from email—their best year yet, ensuring that they’ll continue their critical work of lifting families out of hunger and poverty around the world.
#BSDGives
BSDers pitched in to help nine charities this year: serving 1,250 meals at the Xavier Welcome Table in New York, planting 30 trees along the LA River, and much more. Just one more way we live the BSD mission.
Closing the Gender Gap
More than 82 new BSDers came onboard (from a pool of more than 10,000 applicants!), bringing the BSD family to over 230. For the first time, women outnumber men in the BSD ranks.
Time off For Adults
Time off matters. To accomplish great things, you need focus, energy, and enthusiasm. So we rolled out a new, essentially unlimited paid-time-off policy.
Best Deliverables Ever
Five #BSDbabies and their parents enjoyed the benefits of our generous parental leave policy, with 11 more little ones expected (so far!) in 2015.
Fueling Change
73 people joined in BSD’s first-ever Hackathon, powering up 19 product innovations to accelerate change for our clients and their supporters. In the process, they consumed 84 doughnuts, 24 bagels, 13 pizzas, 8 salads, and 1,500 oz of beer to fuel the innovation.