Webb Institute

Located on New York's Long Island, Webb Institute is a four-year fully accredited engineering college specializing in naval architecture and marine engineering. Every Webb student receives a full-tuition scholarship, a gift made possible by the school's endowment fund and continued, in part, by generous contributions of alumni.

Opportunity
The school embarked on a planned giving campaign to fund its endowment. School leaders wanted a visual and experiential way to reconnect with Webb alumni to encourage them to designate the school as a beneficiary in their estate planning.

Our Creative Approach
We proposed telling a series of personal stories about Webb alumni. These stories would explore the impact the school had made on their lives and explain why they designated Webb as a beneficiary of their estates. Bringing these stories to life through on-camera interviews with alumni, historical photos and live action footage of campus activities allowed us to make the case for planned giving at Webb based on a shared sense of nostalgia and school pride.

Results
We created a DVD of Webb planned giving stories, which became the centerpiece of a targeted mail campaign sent to Webb alumni around the world. The stories played an important role in helping to secure new commitments from Webb alumni to include the school in their wills.