Every 14 seconds, a child under the age of 18 is left to take care of his or her younger siblings due to a parent dying of AIDS. AIDS Orphans Rising, run by the Religious Teachers Filippini and based in Morristown, New Jersey, was founded to help these child-headed households gain the skills and resources they need to build a better future. Since its founding, the organization has helped countless children in Africa, South America, India, and Eastern Europe, many of whom have gone on to be successful in business, technology, teaching, and nursing. But to reach even more kids in need, the organization needed a new identity and branded materials that told their story clearly and succinctly — and inspired donors to support their cause. After becoming Thinkso’s inaugural Give a Brand! winner, they received just that.
With the help of our sponsors, Thinkso completed Orphans Rising’s rebrand in one day. Here’s a look at the highlights.
We streamlined the name from “AIDS Orphans Rising” to simply “Orphans Rising” to highlight the organization’s positive and uplifting work.
The new identity developed from this bold, colorful, and child-friendly (but not childish) illustration style, which breaks away from similar charities by confidently asserting who Orphans Rising is without featuring photographs of suffering children.
The centerpiece of our redesign, the new website simultaneously tells the compelling story of child-headed households and provides specific, clear, and easy ways for people to contribute to the cause. The 14-second countdown on the homepage emphasizes the severity of the situation.
We created a kit of fundraising materials, including a handbook to support secondary, junior high, and high school students in their individual fundraising efforts. It contains tips on how to structure a fundraiser as well as the key messages and story to convey.
These pass-along cards are easy to hand out at fundraisers. They include a bold and captivating statement that contextualizes the orphans’ needs by relating the dollar amount to something in the donors’ lives.
be used as thank you notes and correspondences with donors. New t-shirts for volunteers feature the love quote in a heart shape, reminding everyone of the organization’s mission.