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HOPE NOTES

Overview

Hope Notes is FH Canada's primary donor stewardship publication. A magazine donors actually sit down and read. Twice a year it lands in mailboxes across Canada and does something a donation receipt never could. It shows donors the real, human impact of their giving. Proof that it's working. From planning meetings to InDesign files, I designed and built every spread from scratch, working closely with the editorial team on direction and donor strategy. From a design perspective it's the real editorial thing. Stories told through words, photography, and visual pacing across 20 to 24 pages. Getting the balance right between copy and visuals, issue after issue, is the work. It's the piece I love making most. It's a canvas for the kind of editorial design that actually moves people.

Hope Notes is FH Canada's primary donor stewardship publication. A magazine donors actually sit down and read. Twice a year it lands in mailboxes across Canada and does something a donation receipt never could. It shows donors the real, human impact of their giving. Proof that it's working. From planning meetings to InDesign files, I designed and built every spread from scratch, working closely with the editorial team on direction and donor strategy. From a design perspective it's the real editorial thing. Stories told through words, photography, and visual pacing across 20 to 24 pages. Getting the balance right between copy and visuals, issue after issue, is the work. It's the piece I love making most. It's a canvas for the kind of editorial design that actually moves people.

Client

Food for the Hungry Canada

Industry

Nonprofit & International Development

Year

2020 to Present

FEEDING FAMILIES

Feeding Families is FH Canada's flagship annual appeal. It lands in the homes of thousands of Canadian donors every spring with a single ask: fill a family food basket.

The creative challenge isn't reinvention. It's keeping a proven format emotionally resonant and visually fresh year after year while staying true to an established brand and the direct response principles that make the campaign work. Every year I design the full package, the carrier, the letter, the reply device, and supporting buckslips, then extend the campaign into email and digital ads.

In FY24 the campaign raised $229,702 against a $217,000 goal. Direct mail drove $159,519 of that revenue. I've designed every iteration of this campaign since joining FH Canada in 2021.

Art directed an outdoor photoshoot in Ireland's breathtaking landscapes for a modern clothing company. Combining natural elegance with stylish simplicity, I led the creative vision to showcase refined, high-end apparel amidst rolling hills, rugged coastlines, and misty skies. The campaign's ethereal imagery and emotive storytelling captured the essence of effortless, modern luxury.

Conclusion

FH Canada donors keep coming back to Hope Notes as the piece they love and remember. For the 10,000 to 25,000 Canadians who receive every issue it shows them in a real way that their giving matters. It's FH Canada's most important relational piece with its donors outside of a direct ask. The ongoing design challenge is finding the right balance between copy and visuals within the constraints of the format. There is so much deeply good and meaningful content to share. Getting that right, issue after issue, is the work I keep coming back to.