When the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) wanted to chronicle its 25-year contribution to the Commonwealth, it put a face on its mission by turning the spotlight on the citizens aided by the organization. In 1997, the state-created mortgage finance organization, akin to Fannie Mae, financed 6,727 single family home loans worth $546.6 million and 4,106 apartments in 41 developments worth $151 million.
VHDA's 1997 annual report non-financial section profiled five cases, offering up a human touch with its mission statement. This transformed dry text into personable prose.
The challenge for PR agency Carter Ryley Thomas (CRT) in producing the book was to breathe life into the mortgage business, showing Virginians, legislators, the media and state employees what VHDA accomplished over a quarter century.
"We had to research customers and VHDA's history to uncover elements that would put a human face on what VHDA does: an agency helping low-and moderate-income Virginians obtain safe, sound, decent and affordable housing," says Emily Phaup, CRT senior associate.
A Silver Chronicle
The firm and VHDA started work in August 1997, handling the project from concept to delivery. CRT traveled throughout Virginia, coordinating photo shoots literally fusing a human face with the written word, maintaining deadlines and putting it all together - not an easy task.
The firm handled the layout and creative design while outsourcing the photography. "We had to coordinate travel time with the photographer, making sure the three schedules - profiled individual, photographer and our team - coincided with the production outline," says Phaup.
While CRT hit the ground running, VHDA hit the phones. To convey it 25 years of service, the organization returned to its roots in search of testimonials. "We went all the way back to the early 70s and called more than twenty," says Teresa Coleman, VHDA's publications manager. "We wanted to get a sampling from all over the state exemplifying our diverse outreach." VHDA decided on five cases, one profiling a long-time home owner, and a new home owner, a multi-family case, a non-profit project and a program continuation profile. This painted an overall picture of the organization's purpose. Working nights and weekends, VHDA completed the reporting and writing in three weeks.
Setting up the shoots and factoring in distance, time and weather where continual challenges in making this project a success, says Phaup. The three-person team completed the three-month project on time and delivered 3,000 copies of the annual report by November.
VHDA annually contracts out their reports. "We are not at a level of designing one in-house and even though this has been a tremendous learning process, it will remain to be seen if we produce one down the road," says Coleman.
On average, this project runs VHDA between $25,000 and $30,000. Budget for the 25th book totaled $41,110. The increase enabled VHDA to produce a quality four-color presentation that benchmarked a quarter century of service, says Coleman.
Thomas Daniels, of Thomas Daniels Photography was hired to take photographs for the narrative section and Tim Gabbert of Gabbert Hood Photography landed the job of taking the financial cover photo. Other members of the team were Mike Mulvihill, COO and exec. VP, and Gerry Wadsworth, VP and creative director for CRT. Booker Chambers, director of communications and Coleman rounded out the team on the client side.
It is organizational policy to bid out projects totaling over $30,000. VHDA interviewed five firms before deciding on Carter Ryley Thomas. "CRT had the best presentation and could meet our deadline," says Coleman. "Having done some brochures for us in the past and being familiar with our products, we felt confident CRT could make Joe Q public effectively know who we are." In addition, the firm's project management and design capabilities solidified the relationship. Coleman recounts their success with staying on top of deadlines, follow-up and ability to "flesh out" the internal idea, turning it into bounded pictures and words. "They [CRT] were able to sit down with us and keep open communication throughout the process," says Colemen. "They gave us three or four options with each stage and that flexibility enabled us to meet our goals."
Meeting the Challenge And the Kudos that Follow
Beyond juggling schedules, the process of gathering information turned out to be the biggest challenge. CRT found itself gathering a financial year's worth of vitals in a few months time. Phaup says the one thing she would do differently would be to develop some sort of form that could be distributed to key people within VHDA at the beginning of the year.
This would be used to gather information as the year progresses as opposed to waiting until three months prior to the delivery date. "I would want to do a case history then that details objective, strategy, key audience and results while everything is fresh in their minds," says Phaup.
Considering CRT averages two annual reports a year it would have been simpler to apply a traditional template to this one. The design team met the challenge, however, winning honors in the1998 Creativity in Public Relations national competition, the 1998 International Association of Business Communicators Best in Virginia competition and the National Council of State Housing Authorities awards program for annual reports and newsletters.
CRT's success with the 1997 book put them in the driver's seat for the 1998 VHDA annual report. The firm learned from its challenges and started applying these lessons in the new year.
"We interviewed the directors early on and gathered important information from the start," says Phaup. The 1998 annual report's budget was $46,980. CRT's role included copywriting this time around, hiking up the budget. The firm stayed within budget and delivered "Preparing for the 21st Century" on time.(CRT: 804/343-2313, VHDA: 804/782-1986)
Carter Ryler Thomas
Headquarters: Richmond, VA
Founded: 1898
Billings: $8.5 million
Clients: American Red Cross, Philip Morris, American Home Products