From the Nominator

UCSF concluded our successful $6.2 billion campaign on September 30, 2020. 

At the core of our overarching campaign close communications strategy, which included virtual events focused on a personal, storytelling approach, and multi-channel marketing deliverables (print, social, podcast, and email), was a public-facing website to communicate our results, thank our donors, focus on impact, and look toward the future while addressing our entire community. The website is a public-facing open letter from our Chancellor, Sam Hawgood, MBBS. As our storyteller-in-chief, he takes the reader on a journey of self-reflection from the launch of the campaign, to the results, to the impact those funds have already had on our community, structured through each of the campaign’s main themes. Throughout the copy, we addressed the impact of COVID-19 and the issues of health equity on UCSF’s community while also focusing on UCSF’s future needs and the role donors play in moving our campus and scientific research forward. 

The site is a continuous scrolling experience with interactive elements, including: 

•    an opening cinema-graph 

•    animated handwriting and numbers 

•    audio clips of scholarship students 

•    a video on our basic science program 

•    an interactive model of a 3D-printed heart that moves as the reader scrolls 

•    a map of San Francisco that zooms as the reader scrolls through a list of our health equity efforts 

•    a slide carousel of buildings funded through the campaign

From the Judges

Within the category of giving microsites, there are a range of audiences and content types. UCSF and Georgetown created microsites for completely different purposes, both exceptionally well. UCSF’s campaign wrap-up site features excellent design, great photography, and clear and concise content. We were especially impressed with its ability to evoke emotion, not just convey information, and we really appreciated the gentle way in which the site positions the school for its next campaign. Georgetown’s site, on the other hand, is a highly customizable toolkit for individual donors. Staff are invested in the process by being able to add to and choose from a content library for each donor, and donors have password protected access to the simple, easy-to-use, and attractive platform with information curated just for them.