The Arthritis Foundation is the largest non-profit contributor to arthritis research in the world. The foundation helps people take control of arthritis by providing public health education, pursuing public policy and legislation, and conducting evidence-based programs to improve the quality of life for those living with arthritis.

In 2014, the Arthritis Foundation wanted to create a highly effective platform for its annual fund raising event, Tribute to Excellence. Each year, this event honors a distinctive leader within the Detroit business community. This year, the honoree was international business and motorsports leader Roger Penske.

With the support of Team Detroit LLC, the Arthritis Foundation developed Driving Community, a compelling platform inspired by the honoree, Roger Penske.
Together, we wanted to communicate to donors, volunteers and the community that their commitment and financial contributions would make a direct impact on those suffering with arthritis – especially children.

Our creative process was pretty simple. We knew our platform needed to speak directly to the power of the event honoree. Roger Penske is not only an international business and motorsports leader, he is a highly respected and extraordinarily generous community leader. He truly is an engine for building community in Detroit. This is what led us to the event platform Driving Community.

In addition to this custom event theme, we created invitations and promotional materials to help rally support from attendees. A unique look and brand guidelines were created and then carried throughout all communications.

• Invite- A graphic salute to one of Roger Penske’s many contributions to Detroit: new
EMS and police vehicles, alongside a signature Penske racecar.
• Awareness tools educated donors about the impact of arthritis on those suffering.
o Fold – Custom origami paper with instructions and messaging created for each
place setting at the event.
o Unbutton – Custom event program with belly wrap messaging.
o Infographic – Infographics within the event program showed key statistics about
the impact of the disease and how to support the cause

As a result of the Driving Community event platform, the Arthritis Foundation quadrupled its fund raising efforts year over year. $1 million was raised, the highest for a Tribute to Excellence event (2013 $250,000).