Maryland Nonprofits

Home Agency Insights Maryland Nonprofits

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We’ve hand-selected these case studies to show you our range and depth in nonprofit marketing and advertising. As you wade through, you will see that we’ve got the strategic, creative, and media chops to help Maryland Nonprofits with their comprehensive brand reboot and website buildouts.

Welcome

On this page, you’ll find the case studies we’ve selected especially for you. All of them showcase the talent, passion, and ingenuity we put into everything we do. Reach out if you have any questions!

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Facing down hunger with invigorated focus.

Two members of the FoodWorks training program, dressed in chef's gear, smile at each other in the teaching kitchen

Maryland Food Bank

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Maryland Food Bank

Home Work Maryland Food Bank

The Challenge

In Maryland, it is estimated that 1 in 3 people experience food insecurity—the Maryland Food Bank (MFB) is addressing this issue head-on. In a time when nonprofits across all sectors must constantly compete for attention and dollars, how could the Maryland Food Bank amplify its mission to fight food insecurity in the state?

As idfive dove into research, one thing became clear—the MFB needed to increase its outreach, inform a wider audience, and present a compelling appeal for support and partnership to be successful in improving the lives of Maryland families.

Maryland Food Bank homepage on mobile view

Outreach & Fundraising

Research conducted during the web redevelopment phase showed lackluster engagement numbers and poor Search Engine Optimization (SEO). These discoveries laid the foundation for a new website design and a content strategy capitalizing on the celebration of MFB’s 40th anniversary, which drove giving to new levels. The campaign, combined with the new site, helped MFB reach new audiences while strengthening the relationships they already had with donors, volunteers, and partners in Maryland and the surrounding region. But this kind of harmony between advertising and the web is nothing new to us.

Design & UX

Visual identity, graphic and typographic treatments are an extension of an organization’s personality. Slightly rounded corners throughout and a new, rounded typeface keep it feeling approachable yet grounded in the serious nature of its mission, while the bright colors bring in a sense of hope and energy.

We combined MFB’s existing brand with the additional knowledge gained during our discovery process to flesh out a fuller toolkit which included tools such as an interactive “Maryland Hunger Map.” The map uses data to inform volunteer activities as well as programming and policy decisions of partner agencies and local governments working together on this issue.

Print Collateral & OOH

In addition to the website redesign, we extended the new and refreshed visual identity to other collateral, like vinyl wraps, magazine spreads, and other printed materials. This cohesion ensures people will recognize MFB’s work, be it online or in person.

Client Success

Since its launch, the top visited pages have been “Find Food,” “Donate Today,” “Ways to Give,” and “Volunteer”—which quite literally represents the actions MFB wants its audiences to take. Finding effective ways to get families the resources they need, connecting financial supporters to the urgency of the crisis, and recruiting a team of committed volunteers are how informed design addresses our communities’ most pressing challenges.

Results

Since MFB was founded in 1979, it has served millions of meals, helping thousands of families put food on the table, as well as fund community initiatives to help people find jobs in the food industry. At idfive, we were energized by MFB’s conviction. We joined them in imagining a Maryland where children don’t struggle to learn, working families no longer debate how to manage bills—older adults aren’t hampered by limited mobility, and people in Communities of Color can overcome institutional barriers to food security. By using the expertise of our creative team and developers, idfive was able to fulfill its mission by helping MFB fulfill theirs.

Recruiting residents to Charm City.

A Baltimore City mailbox with an "I Heart City Life" bumper sticker attached to it

Live Baltimore

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Live Baltimore

Home Work Live Baltimore

The Challenge

Live Baltimore, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to recruit and retain Baltimore City residents, needed a new website that could convince a wide range of potential renters and homebuyers why Baltimore is the right place for them to find a home and stay long-term. It also needed to offer them the tools and resources to do so.

278

Neighborhoods in Baltimore

We cherish every chance we get to work for awesome clients with incredible missions such as these guys. Live Baltimore is an important hometown brand charged with showcasing how Baltimore City is a fantastic place to raise a family, work, and play. And our website does exactly that for them.

Andres Zapata

Founder

Strategy

How do you promote a “city of neighborhoods” and connect potential residents to the areas that best fit their needs, priorities, and preferences? idfive developed an interactive quiz that matches potential homebuyers and renters with the City’s neighborhoods according to major criteria such as:

Cost
Neighborhood “vibe”
Commuting distance to work

Site visitors have the option to set up My Personalized Moving Planner, an account that stores neighborhood recommendations, provides access to financial incentive programs, receive one-on-one consultations with Live Baltimore staff members, and connect with participating real estate agents who specialize in select neighborhoods.

Webpages for each neighborhood offer a glimpse of what it’s like to live there, with “At A Glance” information providing:

Estimated mortgage
Estimated rent
Median Home Purchase Price
Home types
Percentage of residents who own/rent

UX Design

A “Meet Your Neighbors” callout section provides links to community organizations and homeowners associations, and many neighborhood pages feature residents who share an insider’s look and who users can contact directly for more information — a uniquely personal touch.

The nonprofit’s homebuying resources are also easily accessible through user-tested navigation, as well as information about Baltimore city services; public and private schools (with map); major employers; colleges and universities; and homeowner incentive and loan programs.

Development

Our developers love a challenge. Here’s what they loved about the Live Baltimore redesign, by the numbers:

The site has integrations with at least 9 supporting services—Salesforce, Google Maps, Recaptcha, Walkscore, YouTube, Vimeo, Eventbrite, Google Translate, and Sendgrid.
The design includes 14 different content types, 12 with the capability of being saved to user profiles.
The three different maps share as much code as possible, but serve different functions and have different requirements.

The Result

An engaging, entertaining, and informative website that is as unique as the city it promotes.

Paying it Furward.

A medium black dog's tongue lolls out sideways

Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter

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Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter

Home Work Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter

The Challenge

Every year at idfive we reserve funds for holiday gifts for our clients. But in 2015, we wanted to try something new. Rather than send gifts, we decided to use that money to contribute to a nonprofit on behalf of our clients. And rather than just make a simple donation, we banded together to volunteer our time, energy and expertise.

Inspired by our fondness of both animals and Baltimore, we chose to support the Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS). As the largest shelter in Maryland that doesn’t turn away animals, BARCS takes in an average of 35 animals a day and as a result they’re constantly looking for additional resources in order to treat the never-ending influx of Baltimore’s sick and abandoned animals. In order to give a much-needed boost to year-end donations, we developed an integrated marketing campaign focused on fundraising. Concepting for the project started in November, with a goal of raising $100,000 in a month.

The Solution

Working with the BARCS marketing team and a host of volunteers, we created the #PayItFurward campaign which combined paid and earned social media, volunteer engagement, PR outreach, email, out-of-home, print, and point-of-sale tactics. Beginning with the launch of a four-minute online video released to volunteers in advance of #GivingTuesday, the campaign sought to engage BARCS’s most vocal and active audiences, and mobilize them as ambassadors for the fundraising effort. idfive and BARCS then released a steady stream of content through coordinated email and social media posts, as well as posters and “collateral” designed to engage humans and dogs alike—Milkbone “fortune cookies” wrapped with messages about BARCS fundraising.

The Results

idfive and BARCS’s marketing efforts shattered expectations and far surpassed the goal we’d set back in November. The campaign attracted the attention of multiple news outlets and we were even able to service the generosity of many of our previous partners, leading to a daylong billboard spot from Clear Channel and free poster printing from Indigo Ink. With idfive matching donations up to $1,000, on #GivingTuesday alone the campaign brought in over $32,000 (four times the money raised on that day the previous year). For the month of December, idfive and BARCS marketing efforts helped to bring in over $250,000 in online and offline donations, more than double the initial goal. The campaign then went on to win a Silver Award from Baltimore’s American Advertising Federation in the Public Service Integrated Campaign category. As a mid-sized agency working with a local nonprofit, that’s a momentous achievement—but then again, it’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog…or agency.

Reframing art and culture in Baltimore.

Nighttime outdoor festival decorated with strings hanging lights with a young crowd gathering around vendor tents

Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts

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Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts

Home Work Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts

The Challenge

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, a non-profit serving Baltimore City’s arts and entertainment community, identified their aging web site as an obstacle to effectively engaging sponsors, volunteers, policy makers, and the public. Its proprietary content management system limited their ability to easily update content and was not optimized for mobile audiences. They also struggled to combat the view that the organization was a city agency—a damaging perception that hindered efforts to solicit donations and funding.

The Solution

idfive interviewed a range of stakeholders and conducted a comprehensive review of site analytics to determine how users arrived and traveled throughout the site. We used these insights to develop a new website based on an infrastructure that will allow the site to evolve to meet the demands and opportunities of new technological developments. Key features include a more sophisticated advertising platform, more relevant event pages, increased opportunities for fresh content, and a more relevant experience that caters to each audience.

Constructing a new platform for local artists.

Maryland State Arts Council

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Maryland State Arts Council

Home Work Maryland State Arts Council

The Challenge

The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) needed a brand new web platform to serve as a resource for Marylanders. Basically having an “Arts-one-stop-shop” for all their constituents; from arts and entertainment districts, to organizations and individual artists. Most notably they needed to directly grant artists access to highlight and sell their work.

See the MSAC website.

Research

idfive’s thorough Discover360 process uncovered the need to create a dynamic web application using a multitude of data sources, user roles, workflows, scenarios, and content types. We created streamlined experiences with the flexibility for integrated content like custom profile dashboards for organizations and artists, an interactive map of all arts in MD, etc.

Number of templates, including an arts registry.

Design

The site had to reflect the incredible diversity of the arts in Maryland with a visually arresting design and subtle, textural, illustrated backgrounds that touch on every genre of the arts. Infusing that with bold and modern design elements focusing on sensible layout of information made the site not only visually appealing, but practically enjoyable to explore.

Development

To create a seamlessly integrated web application, idfive’s development team engineered an elegant, joyful, and simple to use profile dashboard to allow artists across the state of MD to manage their content. They also custom-built several JS MVS applications that allow powerful browsing of art work in the directory.

1.8K

Profiles Migrated

To maintain the integrity of the content of thousands of profiles and their associated artwork, idfive migrated thousands of pieces of content from the previous CMS to a new one. That meant mapping and automating a migration of hundreds of fields from one platform to another.

Client Success

Undertaking a complex site like MSAC requires “structured flexibility” and a truly collaborative effort with the client team. Through wireframe, design, and development, the driving imperative was to create an impactful site that serves a wide range of constituents to promote the arts throughout Maryland.

Changing the view from the 40th floor.

A woman looks out a window which reflects clouds in the sky from the other side

Top of the World Observation Level

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Top of the World Observation Level

Home Work Top of the World Observation Level

The Challenge

Despite its location on the 40th floor of the World Trade Center building in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the Top of the World Observation Level was going unnoticed by many of the tourists below. A lack of online promotion and public visibility hampered ticket sales and limited the attraction’s potential. Partnering with idfive, the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts (BOPA) sought to improve Top of the World’s awareness with a redesigned website, not only to improve ticket sales, but to make the attraction a must-see for visitors.

The Solution

Working with BOPA, idfive designed an intuitive, responsive website to improve the attraction’s awareness among tourists. Rather than trying to position the attraction as a competitor to others at the Inner Harbor, we promoted it as the perfect place to start your day trip to the Harbor. The site encourages visitors to use the building’s 360-degree panoramic view of the city to see what’s around and visually plan their adventures. Supporting this strategy is a “What’s Nearby” feature that displays the proximity of top attractions as well as an “Upcoming Events” section with the latest happenings in Baltimore.

Development

idfive also performed technical and content search engine optimization to ensure visitors can easily find the Top of the World online. The mobile-first design makes it easy to see location, hours, and ticket pricing information without sacrificing the user experience on smaller devices. The website has won a number of industry awards for design and UX, while making it a lot harder for people to miss this iconic Inner Harbor destination.

Marking the turning point for urban renewal.

Happy woman gives child a piggy-back ride

One House at a Time

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One House at a Time

Home Work One House at a Time

Challenge

One House at a Time (One House) is a non-profit that transforms vacant properties, using receivership and other resources, to improve Baltimore neighborhoods. To propel their mission forward, idfive partnered on a brand gut-rehab that would serve to breathe new life into their identity.

Strategy

For their new brand, we focused on telling a simple, recognizable story.

One House helps rehabilitate neighborhoods throughout Baltimore. And they’ll continue their mission—Rebuilding Baltimore—until urban blight is replaced by community.

The brand includes a new logo, tagline, and identity guidelines. Additionally idfive provided the brand with stationary, an email signature and email assets, ‘For Sale’ signage, a PPT template for stakeholder presentations, and retractable banners.

Identity

One House At A Time is a trusted advocate and catalyst for change in Baltimore, fostering a better quality of life for families and communities by transferring vacant properties to qualified buyers.

Rebuilding Baltimore is a poignant, memorable tagline that signifies One House’s commitment to safe, thriving communities and city life.

The color palette is inspired by familiar building materials found in quintessential Baltimore rowhomes, with a modern spin that alludes to a bright future.

The logo mimics the shape of the row houses being renovated throughout the city, and also serves to represent a single brick shown from a bird’s eye view. This symbolism nods to the One House mission of Rebuilding Baltimore—one house, or even one brick, at a time.

The letterforms fill the row home shape with new life, but are not fully enclosed, representing that once a home is filled, their work isn’t done.

The tagline nestled beneath the logo is intentionally placed to mimic Baltimore’s iconic stoops.

Putting It All Together

A visual identity and guidelines were developed and also informed an initial set of marketing tools that would allow the One House team to implement the brand consistently across communications and campaign materials.

The result is a brand that highlights a vibrant Baltimore and a hopeful community, enabled by One House and their incredible efforts. And when all used together, the brand package reinforces their credibility as a nonprofit and a trusted partner between lawmakers, buyers, and Baltimore.

Advocating for public education in Maryland

A young adult student smiles in a classroom, with classmates in the background

Maryland State Education Association

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Maryland State Education Association

Home Work Maryland State Education Association

The Challenge

When you’re the largest professional organization in your state, people take notice, especially when you fight for educational equity and quality.

But since the Maryland State Education Association last rebranded in 2009, the public education landscape has shifted. MSEA needed a redesigned logo and brand platform to represent the energy and activism of its members — in 2020 and beyond.

75K

MSEA's membership

Many of the fivers who worked on this project have a strong connection to public education, with kids in the Maryland system or family members who are educators. When you work on something you passionately believe in, it never feels like work.

Peter Toran

Lead Strategist, idfive

Research

As with every idfive project, we started with research. MSEA wanted a broad range of voices included — from the Board of Directors to rank-and-file members. Using our Discover360™ process, we surveyed 309 members, conducted focus groups and audited existing MSEA communications. To understand the design landscape of education advocacy groups nationally, we created brand wheels of comparator organizations, like the one for the National Education Association.

Positioning

We used the findings from the Discover360™ to inform the redesign logo and update MSEA’s brand position, value proposition, and tone and voice. The aha moment: Survey responses and focus group interviews showed strong alignment around MSEA’s advocacy mission.

MSEA’s updated brand position and tone and voice guidelines reflect that alignment.

Brand Position
The Maryland State Education Association — the largest union in Maryland and an affiliate of the largest professional union in the country — advocates with and for 75,000 employees of the state’s public schools to elevate the quality of Maryland public education and enhance the education profession in the state.

Tone & Voice
We are…
Passionate, not unreasonable.
Professional, not exclusive.
Assertive, not strident.
Optimistic, not unrealistic.
Urgent, not knee-jerk.

Design

MSEA’s redesigned logo — the result of a collaborative, iterative process — is a refined, type-based mark that balances classic qualities with modernity and forward thinking. Graphic elements represent multiple constituencies coming together to advocate for education in the state. The bold primary color palette reflects MSEA’s values and brand personality — assertive, passionate, optimistic, and professional.

Assertive Red

Passionate Purple

Optimistic Gold

Professional Blue

Modern Teal

Grounded Gray

Soft Gray

The Result

A clean, modern logo that reflects MSEA’s professionalism, vitality, and vision. And, as a result of extensive research and ongoing collaboration, a revised messaging platform and brand guide that aligns MSEA’s messaging with its critical mission.

There’s more where that came from. Explore our website, meet our team, and learn about idfive.

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