Best of CASE District V Award
 

Institution: Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Title of entry: The Impact Report

About this entry: The Impact Report is a multi-channel storytelling campaign developed by the Southern Illinois University Foundation to strengthen awareness of philanthropic impact and reinforce donor confidence among alumni, donors and external stakeholders.

Created during the public phase of the Imagine SIU 2030 fundraising campaign, the strategic goal was to clearly demonstrate how philanthropy transforms student success, faculty innovation and community impact. Research and donor feedback indicated that supporters wanted greater visibility into the outcomes of their giving, and regional stakeholders expressed a need for increased promotion of SIU and the work being done on campus. In response, the Foundation developed a professionally produced television program distributed through WSIU-TV, YouTube, social media and institutional channels.

Each episode features compelling, human-centered stories, including scholarship recipients, endowed faculty, donor legacies and major institutional initiatives. The program reaches an audience of up to 5.5 million viewers through WSIU-TV broadcast distribution and generates an average of 45,000 social media views per episode each month, increasing the Foundation’s digital reach by tens of thousands of views monthly.

The campaign has directly inspired philanthropic gifts and generated numerous donor inquiries about giving priorities. Due to the strength and quality of the content, additional regional television stations now air each episode, further expanding reach and visibility.

The Impact Report has enhanced trust, reinforced philanthropic culture and positioned SIU as a national model for communicating advancement impact through strategic, multi-platform storytelling.