Blue State is honored to have been recognized with four awards for our work with a collection of incredible clients.
The Anthem Awards celebrate purpose-driven work around the world that is making a difference. Blue State and its partners were awarded in the following categories:
- Best Fundraising Model
- Best Collaboration for Awareness Campaigns
- Best Local Awareness Program
- Best Brand Campaign
While the work hastens progress across a wide range of issues — the refugee crisis, abortion access, women’s rights, and voting access — we obtained success in each partnership by putting people first, combining passion with expertise, and working collaboratively. Learn more about the winning submissions below:
UK for UNHCR
Winning gold in the Best Fundraising Model category, the UK for UNHCR “Worlds Apart” campaign was recognized for its effectiveness and innovation. UK for UNHCR supports the UN Refugee Agency’s global humanitarian work by fundraising in the United Kingdom. Brand awareness in a crowded market remains a challenge and when they came to Blue State, the team was considering how to integrate digital-first appeals into their fundraising strategy.
After already raising a record-breaking £2.4 million during the first 10 months of the pandemic, our teams launched the “Worlds Apart” campaign responding to the feelings of frustration and distress from COVID-19 to drive empathy for how refugees feel every single day. The campaign came to life via Facebook, YouTube, paid search, and programmatic display activity to drive an increase in donors, revenue, and loyalty.
Within 10 weeks of launch, our teams raised more revenue online than UK for UNHCR had raised in the whole of 2019. The campaign raised more than £3 million, had a year-over-year donor increase of 360%, and secured a return of ad spend of 3:1. Negative sentiment from the public towards refugees declined from 25% to 15%.
We Demand More
Taking home silver in the Collaboration category for awareness campaigns, we’re proud that this work with We Demand More, a coalition of 70+ organizations, was recognized for its ability to amplify the message and brand of the coalition and demand meaningful action for women across the country.
We Demand More needed to leverage the collective power of progressive organizations to fight for women, especially women of color, who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.
With only three weeks from kickoff to campaign launch, we helped the new coalition align on a name and brand and launch a website to articulate their demands and mobilize the grassroots. From there, we worked together to target U.S. Senators through mobile billboards in seven cities and a 15-publication homepage takeover, social media campaigns, and strategic press placements. We Demand More’s work played a pivotal role in securing the American Rescue Plan Act, which prioritizes women’s needs.
See a full breakdown of the work.
NYC Votes
Winning silver in the Best Local Awareness Program category, this website redesign project in collaboration with the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Center for Civic Design, Big Duck, Pentagram, and Phases helped introduce ranked choice voting to all New Yorkers ahead of the June 2021 NYC primary.
The site was designed to educate voters and remove potential barriers to civic participation, as 2021 was the first year New York City used a ranked choice voting system in primary elections for city offices. A key element to this project was also ensuring that the website would be accessible for all who visited – and clearly outline the different types of support New York City provides for voters who need help filling out their ballot due to disability or limited English proficiency.
More than 1 million voters participated in the NYC 2021 primary, a jump of five percentage points from 2013. The new voting.nyc website had over 500K visitors in the five weeks post-launch, exceeding our 200K visitor goal and surpassing our benchmark for web visitors in the leadup to an election by 150%.
Learn more about our partnership.
Planned Parenthood
Claiming bronze in the Brand Campaign category for awareness campaigns, the “Reclaim Our Courts” campaign was done in collaboration with Planned Parenthood.
Together, we built an interactive web experience that gave the public a better understanding of why and how we’re losing ground in the fight for abortion access and rights. The project gave a clear overview of how the Trump presidency in particular caused a sexual and reproductive health crisis in the courts. At a moment when a rising number of disturbing abortion bans are leading people to ask, “How did we get here?,” the site helps give people knowledge and tools to reclaim our rights.
Take a look at the project site.
If you’re curious to learn more about this work, or wondering how we might be able to help your organization accomplish their goals, get in touch.