For more than eight decades, the Weizmann Institute has been a leader in scientific research, making breakthroughs that improve the lives of everyone, everywhere. For its 75th anniversary, Weizmann planned their most ambitious fundraising campaign ever—$225 million in three years. They asked Constructive to brand the campaign and create a communications strategy and a suite of communications to support it.
Launching the biggest fundraising initiative in the Weizmann Institute’s storied history called for a campaign brand as impressive as the organization’s contributions to the world. After exploring strategies to engage Weizmann’s traditional donor base and a new, younger generation, we created Transforming Tomorrow—an aspirational call to action that evokes the Institute’s ongoing quest to make a difference for the world. The resulting visual branding establishes a visual identity that’s scientific, progressive, and celebratory.
The Weizmann Institute’s fundraising operations are driven by national committee offices across North America, Europe, and Israel—each of which takes a high-touch approach to cultivating relationships with influential donors. Partnering with leadership, we planned and designed a modular fundraising communications system that meets the needs of development staff in a range of settings. The result makes the case for giving, offers opportunities, and facilitates donor cultivation throughout the giving cycle—from outreach to acknowledgment.
Fundraising communications strategy supports the in-person nature of the Weizmann Institute for Science’s development operations, emphasizing different giving opportunities and impact, through large donations and legacy giving.
Traditionally, the Weizmann Institute did not include digital fundraising as part of its development strategy. But since cultivating the next generation of supporters was critical to Transforming Tomorrow’s fundraising strategy, we recommended that Weizmann take the necessary step of creating their first online giving portal. Working with a limited budget, we executed a focused, high-impact campaign website that connects with Weizmann’s younger audiences and embodies a forward-facing organization worthy of their support.
While it’s great to celebrate history and talk about past accomplishments when you’re an organization as impressive as the Weizmann Institute, the whole idea behind Transforming Tomorrow was to point the way forward to future success. We designed a hub for Weizmann to publish impact stories that raise awareness of the amazing work their scientists are doing and offer fresh content they can then drive audiences to engage with.
“For our anniversary fundraising campaign, we were seeking a partner with digital and print design excellence who could add insightful strategic thinking about our brand. In Constructive, we found a partner who listened, immersed themselves in our project, and delivered in all areas. Their team is smart, creative, and enthusiastic—and they served as an extension of our marketing department to produce results that we’re extremely proud of.”
Jeff Sussman, Vice President, Marketing Communications, The Weizmann Institute
