MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

Raise awareness. Raise $205 million.

You need to raise money. A lot of money. $205 million to be exact. How can you develop a name and a marketing strategy for a capital campaign that portrays the incredible excitement of hundreds of experts around the country working together for the betterment of your museum?

Overview

In 2005, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (MSI) embarked on their most aggressive capital campaign ever, and invited Taylor Bruce to join them. We gladly accepted the challenge to partner with them to develop the name, identity and marketing strategy.

Museum’s strategic approach to their campaign was to be nimble and responsive to feedback along the way. There were hundreds of experts around the country collaborating on the specific details of potential future exhibits. The directives and goals of the initiative were being refined, but education was always a focal point. And it became increasingly apparent that “inspiring today’s students to become tomorrow’s scientists” was the most prominent concern for nearly all potential donors.

Education was a pillar of the campaign, but the Museum had also recently demonstrated their bold vision for the future with innovative changes to an icon exhibit and two highly-interactive temporary exhibits. The museum would need a significant infusion of capital from all three of their key donor groups to continue to execute their vision, and the Capital Campaign materials needed to stir the imagination of individuals, corporations and foundations alike, and enlist their enthusiastic and generous support.

Naming and Identity

The name and identity of the Capital Campaign needed to speak to the Museum’s evolving brand promise to provide multiple avenues of inquiry that support the subjective experience of discovery. It needed to capture the energy of the MSI experience, communicate excitement and provoke interest. And so, Science:Rediscovered was born. The name communicated relevance and impact to the Museum’s broad donor and stakeholder base, as well as Museum visitors and staff. In every case, potential donors would rediscover the Museum’s connection to the issues that resonate most with them—and that give them strong emotional and ideological rationale to give.

The End Product

The Museum chose to have one primary brochure for the Development Team to use as a tool to solicit donor support for the public phase of the campaign and it would be a leave-behind for potential donors. Therefore, the printed piece needed work as a stand-alone, containing a concise but complete summary of all campaign directives in a way that created excitement for a widely diverse audience. It needed to capture the spirit and essence of the campaign, but not get bogged down in the details.

The brochure fully embodied the emotional and rational reasons to give and spoke to donors on a personal level, enabling them to see the Museum’s potential and want to support it and be part of it. It conveyed the transformative nature of the Campaign, reinforcing the Museum’s commitment to return to forward-looking, innovative design, and cutting-edge technologies, with educational programming at the heart of the museum experience.

A second accordion-fold brochure was added to accompany the main piece, which specifically highlighted the Museum’s commitment to expanding its education programs to offer innovative and engaging professional development workshops, courses and support for public school teachers. These educators would in turn inspire a deeper interest in science among their students, engaging and motivating them to achieve their full potential in the fields of science, technology, medicine and engineering.

Now in the public phase of the campaign, the materials are being put to the test and the Museum is well on its way to reaching their fundraising goal of $205 million.