About the Business
HACES is a nonprofit based in Lake County with 20 years of experience providing navigational support and expertise. Department of Justice-accredited, HACES specializes in immigration law and offers expert guidance on immigration cases. Operating on three pillars—legal, education, and health—HACES divides its services to address different aspects of clients’ lives, aiming to improve their overall quality of life.
My Role
The Marketing & Development Coordinator oversees the marketing department and creates all event visuals. Assisted by marketing interns.
Project Date
December 2024
Project Duration
6 Months
Project Brief
HACES introduced the annual Gran Lotería Night to bring the community together in a casual setting. This mini-fundraiser, which offered small sponsorship opportunities, grew HACES’ community visibility while raising funds. Designed as a more affordable and inclusive alternative to the formal gala, the event provided a fun and accessible opportunity for the community to connect with HACES and its cause.
The Gran Lotería Night took place in the evening at a brewery. This event targeted working adults. We organized the event from 6-8 PM to accommodate the busy schedules of our participants. Loteria is a Mexican game similar to bingo, but instead of numbers, it uses colorful illustrations with an associated title. While playing, attendees could purchase beer brewed in-house at Nightshade and Dark’s or food from a taco truck outside. In addition, seven lucky winners won prizes and gift baskets.
To further connect attendees to the HACES mission, I created nine custom HACES lotería cards and incorporated them into the game. Speakers shared information about HACES’ services when these special cards were announced. Seven of the nine cards featured Hope, the HACES mascot, adding a recognizable and engaging element. These changes offered attendees a unique and memorable HACES experience, reinforcing the mission they were supporting, highlighting its impact, and strengthening brand equity within the community.
Project Overview
The board members were interested in creating an annual fundraiser that would be:
- Cost effective
- Fundraise an additional $3,000
- Easy for the staff to recreate every year
- Would bring the community together to increase the visibility and strengthen the brand recognition of HACES
To successfully launch our new annual fundraiser, we chose a reliable platform that supported multiple payment methods and streamlined both online and in-person transactions. We also focused on creating a compelling and memorable HACES experience that attendees would look forward to each year. To maximize impact, the event was strategically launched on Giving Tuesday, allowing all donations to be matched.
Graphic Design
- Visual Design
- Postcard Invitation
- Sponsorship Form
- Loteria Cards
- Sponsorship Table Cards
Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Functioning Online Ticket Platform
- Above the Fold Image on Website
- Facebook Event Cover Graphic
Stakeholders
The Gran Lotería Night was organized by HACES staff and the Board of Directors. A dedicated fundraising committee was established to oversee the planning and execution of the event. Board members helped secure sponsorship and gift basket donations. Throughout the design and marketing process, careful consideration was given to the target audience, working adults, to create an event that would be fun, easy to participate, and well attended.
Sketches
After being assigned to create the event’s visual identity, I asked HACES marketing intern JP to review the project brief and provide me with an original idea of where we could take the visuals of the event. JP thought we could make the logo a glowing sign to emphasize the “gaming” aspect of the event, as seen in other industries like the casino. Additionally, he added that we should have flying loteria cards around it. Next to his written notes, he showed me a picture of a glowing sign he found on Amazon.
I loved JP’s idea. It was unique, eye-catching, and targeted the correct audience. Once I approved JP’s idea, JP created three initial sketches. I enjoyed JP’s layout in the second sketch. I did a quick sketch to picture how the cards could interact with the neon sign. I began to study the color scheme of the classic Mexican Loteria game made by Don Clemente and picked out the repeated colors I saw, noting them in my sketchbook. In addition, I started sketching the sponsorship logos for each category.
Color Scheme
The visual identity for Gran Lotería Night features a vibrant color palette of blue, yellow, pink, and green. These colors were chosen both to capture attention and to evoke the traditional look and feel of the classic Don Clemente Mexican Lotería game. This helped ensure that when the nine new HACES cards were integrated, they matched the overall design and felt authentic within the classic lotería aesthetic.
The classic Don Clemente Loteria cards lay on my desk at work. I chose ten cards that repeated the colors I most frequently saw within the deck.
I created a color palette based on those colors. I added five pigmented hues and three lighter hues for contrast.
Visual Elements
Nine unique HACES cards were created to add a personalized element to the invitation and the Loteria card. Considering our audience, the HACES cards included the title for each card in English and Spanish.
Showcases the three pillars of HACES from which the continuum of services is provided.
Represents HACES clients and volunteers.
Depicts HACES services and Hope, the HACES Mascot, informing the audience she is a Swallow.
The Final Design
In conclusion, the design of Gran Lotería Night maintained the look and feel of the classic Don Clemente Mexican lotería game while thoughtfully integrating HACES visual elements. This balance of tradition and personalization ensured familiarity for attendees while generating excitement around the unique twist HACES would bring to the experience.
Marketing
To promote Gran Lotería Night, I led a multi-channel marketing campaign that included:
A sponsorship letter (digital and printed)
A ticketing platform
Social media posts
Email marketing newsletters
A digital banner is displayed across various platforms
The digital banner played a central role in building brand recognition. It was promoted through multiple online outlets to raise awareness of the event and maintain visual consistency across channels. For example, the event banner was featured in the homepage slider of the HACES website (above the fold) and on the Facebook event page. When clicked, it directed users to the online ticketing site, which also displayed the banner, reinforcing branding.
In addition to digital outreach, I produced a printed sponsorship letter tailored for long-time sponsors who prefer traditional payment methods, such as checks.
Frequent social media updates and strategic email campaigns helped build excitement and drive engagement by gradually revealing more event details in the weeks leading up to the event.
Sponsorship Letter
A fillable PDF was made for sponsors to fill out and send via email, or print out and bring in person.
Interact with the sponsorship letter above! Hover near the bottom left corner of the newsletter to flip to the next page.
Ticket Site
Givebutter was chosen as the event’s ticket site platform for its simplicity, usability, and ease of use. The platform has limited visual features that can be manipulated and a standard layout for each campaign type. However, the features and tools within Givebutter are highly effective, and the implementation is well thought out, allowing users to find solutions for any problem or need that might arise. The platform is truly powerful.
The Gran Lotería Night ticket site was designed so users could purchase an entry ticket, sponsorship, or donate easily by clicking the yellow ‘Donate & Tickets’ button. As supporters purchase a ticket or make a donation, they can choose to display their name and leave a comment, which will appear in the right-hand column of the ticket site.
Event Campaign Features
The images above and below are screenshots of the Givebutter platform. The Gran Lotería Night ticket site was created under their ‘Event’ campaign type, and the “URL” was customized to /GranLoteriaNight. More details about the features within their ‘Event’ campaign can be seen in the screenshots.
Mobile User Flow
Givebutter offers its users an intuitive flow. When supporting a cause, users can engage with it by writing a message, drawing an image, or including a GIF for others on that ticket page to see. Users are given the flexibility to pay using Google Pay, Apple Pay, a credit card, Venmo, PayPal, or directly from their bank account.
Live Display
A highlight of the Givebutter site is its ‘LIVE DISPLAY’ feature, which offers a live display mode during events to encourage donations by showcasing real-time contributors. HACES received many real-time donations through this feature. During the Gran Lotería Night, table cards with a QR code and the screens around the room encouraged donations.
Givebutter App
In addition to the online ticket site, Givebutter also has a downloadable app as an additional tool to facilitate in-person transactions and check-in upon arrival. By logging into the Givebutter portal, a staff member could quickly sell a ticket using a “tap to pay” credit card feature, check guests into the event by scanning the QR code on their ticket, or secure a quick donation again through the “tap to pay” features. The ease of use of this tool allowed us to make transactions quickly, allowing us to get more help to more people faster.
Digital Banner
Reaching all audiences invested in the HACES mission was essential to me and my team. I marketed to all the digital outlets where we had an existing presence, including the HACES website, ticket site, the company’s Facebook business page, and a Facebook event page. When marketing on the HACES website, I created a call to action so that users would click on the image and be directed to the ticket site to purchase a ticket or sponsor electronically. On Facebook, I wrote a description that included the link to the ticket site.
Email Marketing
Interact with the newsletter above! Hover near the bottom right corner of the newsletter to zoom in, zoom out, or enter full screen.
Social Media Marketing
6 months of a social media marketing campaign with varying posting frequency:
- 6 months prior: 2 posts
- 2 months prior: 1 post/week
- 4 weeks prior: 1 post/week
- 3 weeks prior: 1 post/week
- 2 weeks prior: 4 posts/week
- 1 week prior: 3 posts/week
- Final posts: 1 day before the event/3 posts
- 2 posts on the day of the event
- 1 post after the event
Posted a total of 21 posts.
This video is muted. Turn on the audio to hear the sound. It was posted on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram and created in collaboration with HACES interns JP and Andres.
This video is muted. Turn on the audio to hear the sound. This video was posted on Facebook and Instagram.
The Event
This section is split into two to showcase the graphic design materials used in the First and Second Annual Family Fun Walk & Run.
The First Family Fun Walk & Run included the following Graphic Design material:
- Customized T-Shirt
- Yard Signs
- Thank You Letter
Lotería Cards
Lotería cards were bought on Etsy. They were then personalized by removing nine original cards and adding nine HACES cards to 142 tables (tables are what the bingo-like game cards are referred to as), guaranteeing that up to 142 guests could play.
Sponsor Table cards
Table cards were placed on each table to recognize sponsors and basket donors. The front of the card featured the name of our largest sponsor and a QR code to encourage on-site donations. Next to the QR code, attendees were informed about the Giving Tuesday campaign, highlighting that they and their contacts could continue giving through December 24, with all donations still eligible for matching.
Outcome
The Gran Lotería Night was a success! We had a full house with 45 attendees, exceeding our fundraising goal by 244%. Our original goal was to raise $3,000, and we raised a total of $6,444, resulting in a net profit of $5,344 after expenses.
Beyond fundraising, the event also strengthened community connections. We established new partnerships with local startup businesses, including Waukegan Mail Depot and Euforia Café. Additionally, we engaged with several businesses that had not previously collaborated with us, such as Texas BBQ El Jefe, Orvil’s Handyman Services, Country Financial (Erica Hernandez), and Family Chiropractic & Sports Rehab.
The event significantly increased HACES’ visibility. Community members visiting the brewery joined in the fun and had the opportunity to learn more about HACES and the services we provide. We also reached new audiences through Facebook Events and were excited to welcome many new faces to our event.
Client Testimonial
Diana has worked with our organization, HACES, for several years, handling most of our graphic design work, including maintaining our website, create graphics and logos for our special events and creating and managing our monthly e-newsletter. We’re very pleased with the work that she does and I have enjoyed working with her. Diana is professional, easy to work with and very talented, I highly recommend her services!