We wanted to visually portray the ever-expanding community—evoked in the name—in the organization’s marketing communications. In doing so, we made a simple green dot represent an individual. This device has become central to Tipping Point’s communications. (We started quite humbly, with a small sticky dot applied to a lapel pin.) Now, members often sport green lapel pins. If you see a big green dot on someone’s bumper around town, chances are good it’s a Tipping Point member’s car.
In the 2011 annual report, many green dots (individuals) come together to make the community on the utilitarian cardboard front and back cover. A small, easy-to-read booklet (the annual report) covers the huge hole symbolizing the enormity of the problem. The 2012 digital annual report continued to play out the green dot community, incorporating short video clips (below).
As much construction was occurring throughout the Bay Area in 2014, we incorporated the visual language of temporary and permanent street signage into the theme of the benefit. The fight against poverty is on ongoing process.
For the first time, in the 2014 annual appeal, donors were given the option to contribute to the issue area of their choice.
For Tipping Point’s 10th anniversary year, the benefit served as a celebration of its grantees and their amazing work, including a timeline in the invitation and an “opening ceremonies” parade at the gala.
In the 2013 annual report, Tipping Point wanted to highlight donors as well as grantees. When donors do well, they are able to do good. And, when donors do good, they enable Tipping Point’s grantees to do good. Ultimately, it is the grantees’ clients who do well. And on and on.
We created a dual-sided (dos-à-dos, literally back-to-back) report. It’s a way of thanking the donors, paired with the year’s results. The metrics are presented in the middle of the report, where the two stories come together.
The 2017 benefit theme highlighted the power of the individual and collective equation needed to end poverty.
With a simple and poetic focus on the common thread of humanity, the 2017 annual appeal sought to unify the community. The campaign was a tremendous success, raising more than double the donations of previous appeals.
Tipping Point loved the idea of sending out a complex maze to their donors to symbolize the unprecedented challenges of 2020, while also conveying their desire to continue working together in new and different ways to fight poverty.
Tipping Point Benefit 2023: Let’s Get Together
Tipping Point 2023 Annual Appeal: Together, we can tell the full story
Tipping Point Benefit 2024: The Changing Times. The 2024 Benefit focused not only on the work that still needs to be done, but also on all the accomplishments and progress that have been made.
