YMCA
Strategy
Campaign design
Production
A Story of Memory and Momentum. YMCA Calgary was preparing for the 100-year anniversary of Camp Chief Hector and needed to raise $17 million for a revitalization project. But how do you make donors, government, and past campers care about a place they may not have visited in decades?
Reconnecting with the core memories that made you, you.
In partnership with YMCA Calgary, we developed Core Memory Unlocked, a two-phase campaign to secure $17 million for the centennial revitalization of Camp Chief Hector. The first phase, launched in 2022, was a focused government relations effort that built the public case for provincial investment — resulting in a $2 million commitment from the Government of Alberta that August. The second phase put past campers back inside the story, using imagery, storytelling, and messaging rooted in belonging to re-engage donors who hadn't set foot at the camp in decades.
Core Memory Unlocked re-engaged lapsed donors, opened doors to new partnerships, and turned a fundraising target into a legacy moment. The campaign proved that the most effective storytelling doesn't sell facilities, rather it reconnects people to a version of themselves they'd half-forgotten, and asks them to pass it forward.
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