Karo, Western Canada’s largest interdisciplinary branding agency, is very proud to announce the winners of it 2009 Karo Kaus creative services grant. This year the $100,000 of creative services will be split between two non-profits: Christmas Future in Calgary and Theatre Under The Stars in Vancouver.
The employee led program will use the donated time and expertise to develop brand strategy and multidisciplinary creative to help the recipients achieve their brand and marketing goals.
“Every day we help our clients better position themselves and become more competitive by developing relevant brand experiences and we want to help these non-profits achieve similar success”, says Chris Bedford, President of Karo Group.
Karo sincerely wishes to thank all the charities and non-profits that applied for this year’s grant. The professionalism and level of dedication to the community was outstanding and raised the bar for future Karo Kaus applications. For Karo, the grant serves as a reminder that a simple idea for change, fuelled by the desire to help the community, can flourish into an enterprising organization that brings joy and hope to many.
We encourage you to learn more about our two recipients and join us in congratulating them.
Web based non-profit one step closer to ending world poverty with $50,000 creative services grant.
Christmas Future in Calgary celebrate the announcement with Karo tribe members.
Christmas Future, a Calgary web-based organization, was awarded the $50,000 brand makeover as part of this year’s Karo Kaus.
Christmas Future launched Nov. 5, 2007 with a mandate to empower everyday people to end extreme poverty by refocusing a portion of the $1 trillion North Americans spend during the Christmas season towards holistic poverty-eradicating interventions in the poorest communities in the world.
The founder of Christmas Future, Jay Baydala was blown away. “As a startup non-profit organization, there is no way Christmas Future could have afforded to have a $50,000 Marketing and Communications budget, let alone have access to such a highly-skilled and sought-after interdisciplinary team. We are convinced this is specifically what will take Christmas Future to the next level. Crafting our story and brand in a way that makes it more accessible to everyday people is precisely what allows us to change the world even more.
We awarded Christmas Future their $50,000 cheque in a surprise presentation on January 23rd. Their reactions were inspiring as you could see the gratitude in their eyes and we knew we were joining forces with an organization that is really making a difference.
www.christmasfuture.org
Vancouver Theatre Company receives standing ovation with $50,000 brand makeover.
TUTS and Karo celebrate with handshakes and champagne.
Theatre Under the Stars, commonly referred to as TUTS, is one of Vancouver's largest musical theatre companies. The society presents two musicals during the summer season at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. A favourite summer tradition for locals and tourists alike, TUTS has been doing live musical theatre in Stanley Park since the mid-1940s. TUTS prides itself on giving people of all abilities and experience the opportunity to be a part of theatre, learn practical career skills and work in an encouraging team environment. TUTS’ Rising Star program is just one of the ways that TUTS provides that all-important “first step” for many people who then pursue careers in theatre.
“Theatre Under the Stars is an iconic part of Vancouver that has had a huge positive impact on the cultural community and we are honoured to be part of this great cause”, says Warren Baxter, managing director of Karo Group Vancouver.
The president of Theatre Under the Stars, James Cronk, and his team couldn’t be happier. “When we heard about Karo Kaus and the companies they have helped to rebrand, we saw the opportunity for Karo to take TUTS to the next level,” says James. “As a non-profit musical society, all of our funds and resources are focused on creating great shows for the audience. This creative services grant from Karo will provide us some much needed support and hopefully help us increase the awareness of the TUTS brand”.
www.tuts.ca