Bolstering a Capital Campaign with Concordia St. Paul

Concordia St. Paul is a private university that specializes in providing an education that fits students’ unique needs, goals, and lifestyles. (Plus, it’s our principals’ alma mater!) Upswing has partnered with Concordia for nearly two decades to develop a huge range of branded content, from aerial campus footage and animated videos to print magazines and installations honoring benefactors. When it was time to create collateral for their “Elevate the Promise” campaign, the development office came directly to Upswing.

The CSP team envisioned “Elevate the Promise” as a fundraising campaign that highlighted two promises: The inherent promise in its students, and the promise Concordia makes to its students to deliver a high-quality education in a caring community that supports their goals. The campaign’s ethos was hopeful, impassioned, and honest — so we set out to write, shoot, and craft a video that brought those emotions to life, while maintaining a strong CTA that would help increase donations to the university.

We got to work on a hero video that displayed the depth and breadth of Concordia students’ backgrounds, goals, and academic journeys. At the same time, our designers needed to develop a visual identity that brought “Elevate the Promise” to life on the page and screen. Our dedication to the campaign message and history of expertise in development and alumni relations content yielded a slate of campaign collateral that took “Elevate the Promise” to the next level: Since creating a logo and anthem video, the campaign has added $3 million to the fund that powers scholarships, endowments, and so much more.