2026 is the ten year anniversary since the launch of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. Recognizing this as an opportunity to celebrate and showcase our work, I proposed a marketing campaign highlighting the anniversary to PS leadership.
The plan
Together with the director of communications, we established the goals, audience, and deliverables for the campaign, which include a magazine, panel discussion, and reception event.
We worked with center leadership to craft messaging that both looks back at the work we’ve done, and where we’re going next. We brainstormed and chose the specific research/stories we wanted to cover in the magazine, outlining it all in a document. Once the outline was set, we planned the layout, put together a project timeline based on when we wanted the reception event to culminate the campaign, and set tasks in Asana.
Coordination and execution
I reached out to peer communications teams to seek insight involving magazine production, vetted possible vendors and freelancers to help with the project, and coordinated a printer, cover designer, and copyeditor. I also served as graphic designer for the interior of the magazine, using InDesign.
We then also worked to plan the reception event: creating a formal invitation via Paperless Post, putting together an invite list of stakeholders and partners we wanted to attend, and booking the venue, catering, and decoration — all tracked in Asana.
The magazine went through a copyediting round with leadership, as did design mocks. It went through one more round of review before going to a freelance copyeditor. After the edits from the freelancer were incorporated, I sent the necessary files (packaged InDesign and pdf) to the printer, who sent back a proof. We then approved the proof and sent to print.
We will be sharing the magazine with guests at the reception, and mailing copies to a few of our key donors with a personalized note from our director.
The materials
The reception invitation
The magazine
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