For the 25th Toys for Kids Winter Gala, which also celebrated the nonprofit’s 30th anniversary, I helped design an immersive, Polar Express–inspired experience that felt hopeful, childlike, and elevated for donors. The client’s goals were ambitious: raise a record amount of funding, educate guests about every program, and create an engaging journey that honored the organization’s impact.
I developed a suite of touchpoints to teach and delight guests while reinforcing the theme: themed boarding passes that prompted guests to visit each program backdrop and learn about outcomes, a cohesive event catalog that tied the journey together, and backdrops for each program that evoked emotion while reminding guests of the organization’s purpose. These elements supported the gala’s most transformative media to date, and by the end of the night Toys for Kids raised just over $1 million, the most successful gala in its history.