The George Gund Foundation: 2017 Annual Report

An annual report that gets political

Under David Abbott’s leadership, the George Gund Foundation has moved more purposefully into political advocacy and democracy building in numerous ways—including in their annual report theme. In 2017, the theme was political activism in the arts.

Available only online, the annual report design focused on creating an immersive, digital experience. It included hand-drawn glyphs and headlines that emulated street art and graffiti, and that also worked in tandem with images captured by this year’s commissioned photographer Accra Shepp. The site also featured an audio recording of Cleveland poet Daniel Gray-Kontar reading a poem that addresses the roots of Cleveland’s artistic activism. The annual report was recognized by the American Advertising Federation for its nonprofit web design in 2019.

The Work

The George Gund Foundation has moved more purposefully into political advocacy and democracy building under David Abbott’s leadership. For example, the Foundation has begun to channel an increasing number of donations to organizations that address voting rights, healthcare, and criminal justice reform.

The Foundation has also begun to use their annual report theme as a way to highlight their democracy building. For 2017, the theme was political activism in the arts.

“We support the nonprofit voice as advocates for the people they serve. Too often, nonprofits feel they have to stay out of those debates. We’re trying to help them understand they can and should be engaged.”

— David Abbott, The George Gund Foundation Executive Director in conversation with The Plain Dealer

The Results

The 2017 Annual Report design fully embraced the theme, and was inspired by the Foundation’s shift into democracy building. Available only online, the report provides an immersive, digital experience that includes hand-drawn glyphs that come to life as users navigate the site.

Paired with headlines that emulate street art and graffiti, the microsite showcases images captured by this year’s commissioned photographer Accra Shepp. The collection of black and white photographs document artistic activism that is happening at nonprofit cultural organizations such as Brick City Theatre, Shooting Without Bullets, and Twelve Literary Arts. We carefully curated these images to translate the embodiment of activism that happens daily in these spaces to our digital audience.

The site also features an audio recording of Cleveland poet Daniel Gray-Kontar reading a poem that addresses the roots of Cleveland’s artistic activism. The poem, much like the executive director’s annual letter, is a direct response to Shepp’s photographic portfolio.

The microsite was recognized in the 2018-2019 Cleveland Award Show by the American Advertising Federation.