Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
For Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs: The Campaign for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Two Identities, One Story
CHOP had become two things at once: Philadelphia’s beloved community hospital and a global force in breakthrough pediatric medicine. The $1 billion campaign needed a narrative that could honor both dimensions—and create urgency across every audience.
What we faced:
- Identity tension — “global” vs “community”
- Billion-dollar goal urgency
- Messaging complexity from four priorities
- Tagline inadequate for campaign
$1B
CAMPAIGN GOAL
Result
Exceeded $1B Goal
4
strategic priorities
Setting the Stage
The Starting Point
CHOP’s organizational tagline—“Breakthroughs. Every Day.”—had served the institution well, but it couldn’t carry a campaign. It lacked donor-centric urgency, future orientation, and the call to action that transforms admiration into commitment. With the largest philanthropic endeavor in CHOP’s history approaching, the Foundation needed more than materials—they needed a strategic framework that could evoke the institutional brand, unify messaging across four ambitious priorities while equipping gift officers with language flexible enough for any conversation.
The Strategic Work
Strategic Discoveries
The Brand Story Was More Complex Than Anyone Realized
CHOP’s identity operated on multiple levels—community hospital, regional health system, national research powerhouse, and global breakthrough engine. Each audience connected to a different dimension. The campaign needed architecture that honored this complexity rather than flattening it.
Leadership Scale Demanded a Different Kind of Ask
A billion-dollar goal required more than incremental thinking. CHOP’s most compelling case wasn’t about sustaining excellence—it was about accelerating breakthroughs that would redefine pediatric medicine globally.
The Institutional Tagline Couldn’t Carry the Campaign
The tagline—“Breakthroughs. Every Day.”—celebrated ongoing excellence but lacked the future orientation and aspirational urgency that motivates sacrificial giving. The campaign needed its own voice.
Our Framework Applied
The Heart of CHOP's Campaign
CHOP’s organizational tagline—“Breakthroughs. Every Day.”—had served the institution well, but it couldn’t carry a campaign. It lacked donor-centric urgency, future orientation, and the call to action that transforms admiration into commitment. With the largest philanthropic endeavor in CHOP’s history approaching, the Foundation needed more than materials—they needed a strategic framework that could evoke the instituional brand, unify messaging across four ambitious priorities while equipping gift officers with language flexible enough for any conversation.
Why Now?
Medicine stands at an inflection point—and CHOP is leading the breakthrough.
Advances in immunotherapy, genomics, and personalized medicine have created a once-in-a-generation opportunity. CHOP is already pioneering these approaches—from CAR-T cell therapy curing previously incurable cancers to fetal surgery correcting conditions before birth. Philanthropic investment now will accelerate breakthroughs and define pediatric care for decades.
Why Here?
North America’s first pediatric hospital has never stopped being first.
The first successful pediatric hand transplant. Immunotherapy protocols now saving lives worldwide. Surgical techniques correcting birth defects before delivery. With the nation’s largest pediatric research enterprise, CHOP is the instrument through which donors achieve transformational impact on children’s health.
Why This?
Four priorities. One vision: Every child healthy.
Research & Discovery, Care Experience, Medical Education, and Advocacy & Outreach work as an integrated system. A gift to any of these priorities advances the whole, while allowing donors to invest in the dimension that resonates most deeply with their values.
Strategic Foundation
How Strategy Became Story
Three theme concepts were developed and tested. Make Them Well offered boldness but risked oversimplification. The Campaign for Breakthroughs felt passive. For Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs emerged as the winner because it honored CHOP’s breakthrough identity while pivoting toward the future—creating implicit urgency and positioning donors as essential catalysts.
The theme resolved the dual-identity tension by focusing not on what CHOP is, but on what CHOP—with philanthropic partnership—will make possible. It gave leadership language that worked across all four priorities: Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs might happen in research, the care experience, medical education, or advocacy and outreach. In this way, the theme was the perfect entry point to every pillar of the campaign.
CAMPAIGN Theme
The Work
Strategy Made Visible
Leadership Case for Support
A 24-page narrative document for principal gift conversations, following a deliberate message map from positioning through priority pillars to call to action.
Ovrture Digital Platform
A personalized donor engagement tool enabling gift officers to assemble donor-custom microsites in minutes, with pre-curated content panels for each campaign priority.
Campaign Communications Guide
Comprehensive brand standards codifying messaging, the distinctive hexagonal campaign mark, color palette, typography, and photography guidelines.
Priority-Level Case Statements
Four priority-level cases translating the institutional narrative into focused investment arguments, with Research & Discovery ($400M) anchoring the portfolio.
The Results
Lasting Impact
The campaign exceeded its $1 billion goal—but the transformation extended beyond dollars raised.
Unified Messaging Architecture
The “Why Now? Why Here? Why This?” framework gave gift officers a shared vocabulary that made every donor conversation strategically coherent while remaining personally authentic.
Scalable Personalization
The Ovrture implementation established infrastructure for personalized donor engagement extending well beyond the campaign.
Brand Clarity Across Complexity
For Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs gave CHOP language that was simultaneously local and global, immediate and aspirational.
Strategic Foundation for Future Campaigns
The donor segmentation matrix and modular case architecture created templates adaptable for future fundraising initiatives.
Let’s Talk About Your Campaign
Whether you need creative services, strategic counsel, or want to explore our integrated approach—we’re here.