The Inspiring Work of Our Most Charitable Clients

One of the best parts of working for BatesMeron is that there’s something to love about each of our clients. We work with brands that are witty, hardworking, honest and exciting, and get the opportunity to make them even better with our branding and marketing expertise. It’s an essential part of Our Manifesto: we intentionally work with clients who share our values because we care about the impact of our work. We want to do good, and we want to help brands that do good, too.

There’s something to love about every one of our clients, but the non-profits and associations we’ve worked with have always held a special place in our hearts. Helping a business reach its full potential is rewarding, but helping an organization reach its full potential to make the world a better place is downright inspirational. So, I decided to take a look back at some of BatesMeron’s most altruistic clients and our work with them.

From a charitable 5K to a platform for supporting victims of domestic abuse, these clients go above and beyond to make change for better, and we look to them as motivation to do better ourselves.

Get Growing Foundation

Get Growing Foundation was launched in 2017 by Flower Show Productions, the parent company of our client, the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. As a nonprofit organization, Get Growing Foundation seeks to cultivate a love of plants and flowers in children and teens, with all proceeds supporting the show’s year-round educational programs. The foundation participates in many of the show’s outreach programs, donates to community gardens and schools and offers educational demonstrations on gardening and sustainability for children and teens.

To help get the foundation started, BatesMeron designed the Get Growing Foundation logo, assisted with brand messaging and created the foundation’s website. “Horticulture, gardening and conservation are all things I care deeply about, so it’s wonderful that Get Growing Foundation is getting younger generations excited and involved. The energy they are creating around all things growing is amazing,” said our Senior Designer, Katie Baird. “I love designing around natural elements, so getting to be creative with a floral motif was a real treat for me as a designer.”

Takeda Cares Day

A client of ours since 2015, Takeda Pharmaceuticals hosts an annual event to bring together health, wellness and charitable causes on Takeda Cares Day. It is the Takeda U.S. Business Unit’s signature corporate giving program, benefiting organizations that are health, science education and community focused. The main event is a 5K walk/run, with the money raised per kilometer benefiting charitable causes and nonprofit organizations of Takeda employees’ choosing.

For two years in a row, BatesMeron had the honor of creating content for Takeda Cares Day. In 2015, we designed an infographic detailing the event’s impact. In 2016, we took a deeper dive, helping Takeda build momentum leading up to the event by elevating its identity with updated marketing materials and swag such as custom athletic shirts, way-finding signage and corporate support materials.

For 2017, Takeda shifted from hosting a one-day event and has expanded to make Takeda Cares a year-round program. To help Takeda capture 365 days of impact, BatesMeron designed a comprehensive infographic that outlined all the ways Takeda and its employees gave back to the community.

Luminarts Cultural Foundation

The Luminarts Cultural Foundation is dedicated to supporting young artists in Chicago with competitive programs offering mentoring, financial awards and artistic opportunities to help local youth launch their creative careers. The foundation offers fellowship opportunities in visual arts, classical music, jazz and creative writing, and provides its fellows with the opportunity to receive project grants to pursue their artistic dreams.

Luminarts Cultural Foundation turned to BatesMeron for several projects, including naming the foundation, branding events such as the 2015 Luminarts Fellows Celebration, Next Begins Now, the 2016 Luminarts Ball, Brilliance Gets Brighter, and the creation of other event marketing materials.

“Luminarts was organized within another, much bigger, wealthier organization and the sort of generic descriptor name they were using—The Civic & Arts Foundation—made it look like they were simply a department within this wealthy organization,” explains our President, Becka Bates. “It was crucial for potential donors to realize they stood alone: both from a fiscal perspective and a values perspective. By creating the name Luminarts, the foundation felt it struck the perfect balance of intuitively conveying their mission and also uplifting the brand to reflect the quality of the fine artists they support and help to thrive.”

No More Bound

A platform of support and guidance for “Queens who have struggled with any form of bondage,” No More Bound’s mission is “Inspiring Queens to Break Free from the Invisible Chains that Seek to Hold Them Captive.” Founder Airiel Sadler found her passion for creating safe spaces through her own experience as a victim. After enduring emotional abuse from her ex-husband, and through the process of her divorce, Airiel learned how crucial encouragement, love and healthy relationships are for survivors of abuse, both physical and emotional, as well as anyone experiencing doubt, emotional instability, financial challenges or any other form of bondage.

Through Facebook posts, discussions and Facebook Live videos, Airiel cultivates a supportive and inclusive community of survivors and victims of all kinds of abuse as well as anyone looking for empowerment. As Sadler puts it herself, “my goal for this ministry is to empower women to be free by creating a safe place for them to be transparent and receive my transparency with an open heart.”

For this brand, BatesMeron designed a custom logo for use on No More Bound’s Facebook page, marketing materials and merchandise. “The process of working with the BatesMeron team was a simplistic one,” said Sadler. “I gave them my ideas and they brought that vision to life. The color of my logo and the symbols that create it have a powerful meaning that aid the mission of No More Bound by providing an image for the Queens. This is not merely a word but a call to walk in their God-given positions with authority.”

Brave Gowns

When Summer Germann’s only brother was in the hospital with cancer, her family faced a challenge that most of us couldn’t ever imagine. Despite the difficulties of his illness, her brother’s biggest concern on Halloween night was not getting to dress up in a costume, instead confined to a drab hospital gown. To bring her brother a bit of hope, Summer helped transform him and his hospital garb into a zombie, turning his night into a fun memory filled with joy. From there, Brave Gowns was born.

Though her brother sadly passed, Germann used this experience to continue to make children smile with hospital gowns in various designs and patterns for kids. With more than 20 different styles of gowns, Braves Gowns gives children a better sense of normalcy and a little bit of imagination during their hospital stay in gowns that fit their personality.

To help spread the word about Brave Gowns, BatesMeron created an updated brand logo and a sell sheet detailing the company mission and product information. “I love that when I approached BatesMeron about helping with marketing materials, they wanted to dive in deeper.” said Germann.

“As a sister to a brother with a similar story to Summer’s, being on the creative team in charge of brushing up the designs for Brave Gowns brought me both professional and personal joy,” said our Creative Director,  Melissa Muñoz. “The hospital can be a scary place for kids—and this idea that Summer dreamed up is such a simple but effective way to bring a little bit of happiness to the families who need it most.”

Far too often, non-profits and organizations lack the depth of branding that could propel their charitable missions that much further. We are honored to work with each of these clients in taking their branding and marketing to new heights, allowing them to focus on what they do best: helping others.

If you know of any nonprofits or associations with excellent branding, we’d love to hear about them in the comments below! Or, if you are a non-profit or association looking to elevate your current branding and marketing, contact our president, Becka Bates, about working with BatesMeron.