This week, I’m handing the keyboard off to David Heyman, Associate Vice President, Marketing, who has some wonderful news to share:

As we head into Shabbat, our Marketing team is celebrating a wonderful milestone. We were awarded the AMA Pittsburgh Marquee Award for Top Digital Nonprofit Marketing Campaign and I’d like to share the journey that led to this moment. The Federation has been part of Jewish Pittsburgh since 1912. For generations, we have helped people learn, grow and feel supported. Yet many people still ask the same question: What exactly does the Federation do?

When I joined the Federation staff 15 months ago, I saw this as an opportunity. In marketing we define a brand not by what we say but by what people believe. With that in mind, I asked our team to find a clearer way to show the impact of donations to the Federation.

From that idea came the That’s Federation campaign. During September and October, you saw these stories everywhere. In your email inbox. On social media. In the Chronicle. Even on Murray Avenue bus shelters. Each story highlighted a different part of our shared work. Supporting day schools. Filling the shelves in the food pantry. Confronting antisemitism. Offering adult learning. Giving Jewish college students a welcoming home. Supporting communities in Israel. Providing quality care for older adults.

And to make sure our message was further amplified, I offered actor and comedian Michael Rapaport $20 to work That’s Federation into his interview at the Community Campaign Launch event. That guy cost me 20 bucks! (He had me donate the money to the Federation.)

When the marketing campaign ended, we took a careful look at what happened. More than 88,000 emails sent and our social media created more than 578,000 impressions. The most important result was engagement. The That’s Federation webpage became the most visited on jewishpgh.org. Email and social media brought a noticeable rise in both new visitors and repeat visits. And when we spoke with members of our community, they told us they had noticed the campaign and learned something new.

The results meant a great deal to our team. So much so that we submitted the campaign to the American Marketing Association Pittsburgh Marquee Awards. Last week the Federation received the award for Top Digital Nonprofit Marketing Campaign. I was honored to accept it on behalf of the Marketing team and the Federation.

As we enter this day of rest, I am grateful for the chance to help shine a brighter light on the work we do together. Your support makes every one of these stories possible. I hope these messages help you feel the shared strength of our community and the value of the important work we do.

Wishing you a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat. And looking forward to seeing you at Super Sunday.