Hill Country Ride For Aids - Ads For Good

In four short years the Hill Country Ride for AIDS used innovative advertising campaigns to grow donations from $175,000 to $573,000. Advertising is integral to nonprofit fundraising and when produced by some of Austin's leading creative agencies - including nFusion Group, EnviroMedia Social Marketing and commercial printers The Whitley Company, Lithoprint, and Horizon Printing - the results can be amazing for the community
HCRA's success story blossomed when the Austin Advertising Federation took on the ride as a public service client in 2003. Ad Fed Board members recruited volunteer teams of market researchers, graphic and web designers, PR specialists, media reps, printers, paper vendors and student guerilla marketers. The national award-winning posters and postcards were repurposed for donated display ads in area magazines and web-zines. Ride leaders appeared on TV newscasts and radio shows while media sponsors promoted the ride in print and on the airwaves.
All this media buzz helped increase the number of riders and crew 100 percent and helped the average rider raise more than $1,000. The result: HCRA secured its position as Central Texas' leading AIDS fundraiser.
"We all know the value of producing pro-bono work," said Ad Fed Past President and volunteer ride marketing chair Scott Van Osdol. "It's a great way to make new friends, build the portfolio and win awards. You give it away, it comes back.
But it has to be done right. It takes commitment on both sides. It takes a nonprofit organization ready to grow, ready to follow the strategic leads uncovered by market research, and ready to implement new campaign tactics."
The 10 Austin nonprofits which receive funding from the ride are not the only ones to benefit from the campaigns' success. The new logo and print campaign's produced by design firm Lewis Carnegie, The MAD House Advertising, and lead design agency nFusion Group won multiple ADDY Awards, and appeared in prestigious national juried publications Communication Arts and The HOW International Design Annual. The Austin Ad Fed won several national Club Achievement Awards for Public Service from the 60,000-member American Advertising Federation.
But the payoff didn't stop there-the Team Ad Fed Veloci-Peddlers (Latin for Speedy-Sellers-Our Campaign's Got Great Legs!) raised nearly $25,000 in four years and converted more than a dozen board members into die-hard road riders. Dozens of other creative agency folks signed on to ride with their own work, church or friends' teams. By donating their professional skills and personal passion, these people all became an integral part of the community fighting AIDS.
For more information about the Austin Ad Fed's public service programs visit www.austinadfed.com. Learn more about the Hill Country Ride for AIDS at www.hillcountryride.org.