Drawing Community Connections
Sparking Awareness and Action Through a Community Art Contest
CommunityAid | results first
7,739
website sessions:
40% of traffic from digital ads, 17% from direct traffic.
5,000+
visits
on the
contest page.
1,000+
contest entries
and rules downloads.
272,729
impressions
contest and rules
1,200+
votes
for winning entries.
The Challenge
CommunityAid wanted to give back during their back-to-school season with a backpack giveaway—an idea rooted in generosity and community support. However, with a limited number of backpacks available in each store, the effort risked being short-lived and transactional, offering little opportunity to engage audiences more deeply or reinforce CommunityAid’s broader mission of helping local nonprofits and neighbors in need.
The solution
GAVIN proposed transforming the giveaway into a mission-aligned art contest that invited community members to actively engage with the brand. Centered around the theme “Neighbors Helping Neighbors,” the contest encouraged participants of all ages to submit original artwork for a chance to be featured on limited-edition backpacks. This approach not only turned the promotion into a participatory experience, but also amplified CommunityAid’s visibility through in-store displays, digital advertising, social toolkits, earned media, and community partner involvement—building both excitement and purpose around the initiative.
our approach included
- Custom contest microsite with age-based entry forms, submission galleries, and voting functionality
- Retail-integrated promotion: in-store posters, flyers, and bag-stuffers with QR codes driving to the microsite
- Winning artwork strategy, aligning product (backpacks) with brand mission for long-tail visibility
- Partner amplification tools, including a branded digital ad toolkit to empower community organizations
- Weekly campaign performance reporting to guide real-time optimization and insights
The execution
Campaign Development
- Full-funnel digital advertising across Facebook and Instagram, integrated into existing paid strategy
- Earned media outreach, including press releases and coordination of a Good Day PA feature
- Backpack production and fulfillment, with sourcing and print coordination managed by GAVIN
- Public voting activation, extending community engagement through shared ownership of the outcome
