Leverage.

A hallmark of Rotary Charities grant making since 1977, leverage is the theme of this year’s annual report.

Quantifying the direct and indirect leverage of Charities grant making is a numbers game and lends itself to following the money trail.  Some grantees have leveraged millions of dollars from a modest investment, while others have achieved soaring results through increased people capital and raising of the proverbial bar, these with only modest dollar leverage.  Often, it’s a combination of both.

Portraying leverage in all its forms in this year’s report became the task of our creative team.  Since text guidelines called for a minimalist approach, the design/imagery aspects became even more important.

The challenge was:  How do we visually show the effects of Rotary Charities grant making?

Fortunately for us, photographer Vincente Ramos has an eye for capturing unusual images that both offer insightful glimpses of “a day in the life of” a grantee and also reflect leverage.

For instance, shooting assignments at places like PaperWorks and the Great Lakes Children’s Museum resulted in imagery rich with leverage.  One of Vicente’s photos depicts a young boy piloting a freighter on the Great Lakes, just one of many experiential exhibits at the popular museum.

Our design team thought about that tactile experience.  How might it change the boy’s world? Leverage it?  Create opportunity?  What doors might open as a result of it?  And might it play into a career decision later in life?

There are also the day workers from Brick Ways/building paths to independence, part of the skilled production team at Grand Traverse Products.  In line with the organization’s ethos of integrating their developmentally challenged family into the community, how does this experience offer leverage?

How does a day of satisfying work at GTP make residents feel about themselves?  About their co-workers?  Or about their ability to do other things in the community?

You will find these and other Charities’ grantees profiled in this year’s report.

We encourage you to think about the leverage demonstrated by these organizations and their work.

We suspect like us, you’ll find it in abundance.

 

 

 

 

 

Edward Downing
Board Chairman
Rotary Charities of Traverse City