Campaign for St. John’s College
An honest education at an honest price.
Sailing against prevailing winds.
Don’t stick to the wrong plan just because it’s the norm. St. John’s College gets this. Many private colleges — led by the wealthiest schools — have embraced an escalating pricing model referred to as “prestige pricing.” This trend has driven tuition at American private colleges up an astounding 157% over the past two decades. We put our heads together with St. John’s to envision, design, and launch a transformational Capital Campaign as the college takes the lead in reversing this trend in higher education, redefining the financial model, and bringing transparency to college costs.
Rectifying the conversation.
The cost of higher education has ballooned thanks to “prestige pricing”—rising tuition built on the idea that high price means high quality. St. John’s College was bold enough to call this out while owning their participation in the practice. The eye-popping price tag on their education was a barrier to access, preventing many families from considering the college. St. John’s needed to lower costs—both real and perceived. The catch? Their educational model, driven by small seminar classes taught by top-tier faculty, is expensive.
The big idea.
Because the college spends its budget to maintain the sterling quality of the program, lowering costs for families was going to take creativity and a bold idea. The Freeing Minds campaign launched with a transformative declaration: the college would cut tuition by more than one third, from more than $52,000 to $35,000. And they would achieve this by raising $300 million to multiply their endowment while also boosting support for incoming students in the short term.
Galvanizing success.
The college raised $320 million, exceeding their ambitious goal. The Winiarski Family Foundation led the way, committing a $50 million matching challenge grant. But it wasn’t just big donors who drove Freeing Minds—on Giving Tuesday 2021 the college raised $230,000 from 762 donors, this for an institution of under 1,000 students. This represented a 2,300% increase from just four years earlier. Donors brought 17,000+ individual gifts, making the campaign not only a landmark success, but a moment of unity for the entire community.
“Much of this campaign success is thanks to DISTINC_ Your team has been an amazingly calm, wise (and obviously talented) presence for almost a year. We could have never done this without you. Thank you for your counsel during hard times, your ability to work with so many nuanced voices, and for just being awesome.”
Carol Carpenter, Vice President, Communications & Creative Strategy at St. John’s
Services
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An immersive study investigates quantitative data and qualitative evidence from a variety of stakeholder groups. This audit helps identify how far your organization has come as well as understand what may stand in the way of progress.
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Ideation workshops offer a variety of hands-on exercises tailored to your organization’s unique situation. The group experience is strategically designed to test readiness for change and to help envision how quickly your organization can pivot.
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A strategy for change is not always easy to deploy as it often challenges old habits. Brand evolution permeates throughout your entire organization and we work together as a team to cultivate opportunities as well as navigate challenges.
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A strategic brand positioning clearly declares what sets your organization apart vis-à-vis the audiences you target and the competitors you face. Building consensus helps build enthusiasm and trust in the future.
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Your brand identity is much more than the sum of a logo, a set of typefaces, and hex codes pleasing to the eye. It can be a living, breathing, flexible system that is both open enough to communicate across your varied audiences and focused enough to cultivate a united brand experience, full of intent.
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Every organization has a voice. And every brand voice has a purpose: to distill your collective personality and ethos into a coherent expression that is accessible across many audiences.
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Compelling brands can only go so far without a proper deployment plan to put them to market. We architect strategic communication roadmaps across social, digital, print, experiential that achieve measurable results.
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Brands are driven by people, and people are driven by principles. We coach individuals within your organization to speak their truths while simultaneously seeing themselves as brand advocates. This training builds up collective values unique to your brand, and empowers everyone to do their part in sustaining them.