2024: A year of growth, bold moves, and big wins
As I look back at the past 12 months, I’m so impressed with what our team has accomplished both internally, and for our amazing clients.
2024: The year we expanded our comfort zone
In 2024, we took on our largest project to date. As an agency that has found a niche in elevating non-profit donor communications, our most common request is for single silo projects, such as an annual report, a 2-pager for a particular campaign, or a fundraising appeal letter. In this case, Nellie’s, our longest continuous client, approached us to support them in making a monumental change — directing their entire rebrand.
In all honesty, while this was outside of our regular range, the only reason we had never before taken on a project of this magnitude was simply because we’d never before been asked!
In partnership with Rachel Ott, of Varga Girl Design, and Katy Jonker of Kosmic Creative, we directed the rebrand with an appreciation for Nellie’s history and an eye on their future objectives, creating a gorgeous new logo, a beautiful and functional new website, and dozens of pieces of internal and external communications.
I’ll leave the “how did we do?” to Ingrid Graham, Director of Development and Co-Acting Executive Director for Nellie’s: “What felt like a daunting job at the onset, in the end was a seamless process. I can’t thank Luminate enough for their amazing work in setting Nellie’s up for the next 50 years.”
2024: The year we expanded our team
Megan Storozuk, student intern.
The dedicated and passionate team we built in 2023 held strong this year. And in May, we temporarily added one more, a student intern from the University of Waterloo.
I won’t lie, I was nervous about hiring an intern — I had only ever hired experienced professionals and was worried about how much hand-holding an intern may need.
But she quickly proved herself to be a quick learner, with good ideas I was happy to consider. It wasn’t long before she moved beyond doing only internal projects and onto client work, supporting the team on two accounts and attending meetings simply to learn how processes work.
Her 14 weeks with us was a learning for all, but one that ultimately strengthened Luminate through the new processes we created and the new ideas she brought forth. On hiring her, I thought back to my own internship experiences way back when (like WAY back when!) and endeavoured to give her the same positive experience as I had once had. I hope she feels I succeeded.
2024: The year we expanded our signature product
Time and time again, the project we’re most often approached to do is the annual report. These massive and intensive undertakings can tax an organization’s internal resources and are a natural project to outsource.
Five years ago, we produced just one or two a year. In 2024, we completed 14 impactful annual/impact reports.
Left: Esquimalt Nation; Right: John Howard Society of Peel-Halton-Dufferin.
As we continued creating these compelling reports, we also dedicated time to looking inward — working hard to build the Luminate Communications ‘engine’ by streamlining our processes, and creating materials to help us work more efficiently to not only meet, but exceed, our clients’ needs.
With our engine now built, and our talented team driving us forward, we look forward to producing even more annual/impact reports in 2025!
2025: The year we will level up!
We have a strong team, and we have a solid engine — now it’s time to move Luminate Communications forward in a big way! Doing so will be about building relationships.
Front row, from left: Jonathan Chan-Choong, Lynn Zeelenberg, Rachel Ott. Back row, from left: Hanna Wheeler, Deborah Evans, Suzanne Gardner, Keltie Thomas. Absent: Emma Bowes, Juliana Kedzior-Kaminski, Cara Smusiak.
In 2024, I joined the Nonprofit Hive to make connections and as the year drew to a close, I became a Trusted Hive Partner— a vetted, top-tier consultant dedicated to helping non-profits thrive. I’m excited to see where this, and other partnerships in the works, will take us.
To all our clients, thank you for trusting in us and offering us the opportunity to do what we love: create content that connects.
With gratitude,
Deborah Evans 🫶