When Drexel University embarked on their Dream It. Do It. Drexel. A Campaign for the Future, they had a well-defined vision of their goal – to carry on the legacy of Anthony J. Drexel and create the modern urban university of the 21st century. Theirs was a broad perspective that embraced the entire institution, touching every school and college within the university.

From the outset of the campaign, they wanted a partner who could work closely with Institutional Advancement on a university-wide level. They sought a communications firm that could bring a fresh perspective to the campaign, a firm that was experienced in institutional fundraising. With that goal in mind, they selected MSK Partners.

As the primary communications firm for the campaign, we became intimately acquainted with the schools and colleges that make up Drexel University. We learned the hopes and goals for each of them. Through extensive interviews with alumni, students, faculty and board members, we discovered the stories for each of these individual entities within the university and their meaning to Drexel as a whole.

From this base of institutional knowledge, we were able to develop the messaging and design that would carry the campaign throughout its duration. Working collaboratively with Institutional Advancement, print and digital communication was created to deliver the campaign message to potential donors and internal stakeholders.

In 2016, Johns Hopkins launched an institute devoted to the study of a new and promising approach to cancer treatment, embracing the Obama administration's "moonshot" initiative to cure cancer, an effort led by then Vice President Joe Biden.

The Bloomberg–Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy was founded with two $50 million gifts—one from Michael R. Bloomberg, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and three-term mayor of New York City; the other from philanthropist Sidney Kimmel, founder of Jones Apparel Group. An additional $25 million was contributed by more than a dozen additional supporters.

MSK Partners supported the launch by developing a logo and graphic standards, then applying those to a variety of communications from print and digital invitations for the launch event to design of the Institute’s first website.

Following the launch event, Hopkins development staff wanted to send a thank you gift to all attendees. We suggested a stewardship and donor relations program that would have great impact, be cost-effective and allow for a tiered presentation to each donor level. Working with writers from Hopkins Medicine, we created a 42-page, hardbound book that was given to most attendees; a white, soft-touch box that contained the book for select donors; and a 13” x 19” brushed aluminum box (with the logo and graphics etched on the front) so the commemorative book could be hand delivered to each major donor.

For more than ten years, MSK has created fundraising and admissions campaigns for various entities within the University of Pennsylvania. These include Penn Engineering, Penn Nursing and Penn Athletics. These campaigns use print and digital communication to reach multiple audiences such as current and prospective donors, students and alumni, trustees and employees, corporations, and community non-profits. Our tactics have ranged from case statements and direct mail to email newsletters and collateral.

In 2017, we launched a marketing campaign for Advancing Women in Engineering that reaches out to high school students, guidance counselors, science teachers, and parents to encourage applications for admission and increase involvement in engineering activities once students arrive on campus. This program has been very successful – women now make up approximately 40% of Penn Engineering incoming class each year – and while that’s a significant increase from 26% a few years ago and above the national average of 22%, clearly there is more work still to be done through this ongoing campaign.

In addition, we have developed campaigns for a number of special initiatives including a program for General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP). The goal of the campaign has been to build awareness, understanding and affinity for GRASP among funding organizations, prospective students, government organizations, and potential corporate partners. Corporations involved with the research center now include Honda, Microsoft, Johnson Controls, and Lockheed Martin.