Transcend philanthropy fatigue and increase awareness of the challenges Native students face in seeking higher education and how the American Indian College Fund helps them.
Create a tangible and positively disruptive engagement tactic to connect with the general public and convey the real-life experience of Native students seeking college degrees.
Story: It’s not history. It’s present day. Some 28% of American Indians live below the poverty line, compared to 15.5% of the American population overall. This community faces numerous negative stereotypes, and they’re consistently overlooked—especially when it comes to higher education.
The American Indian College Fund exists to help Native students earn college degrees, which it does by supporting a network of 27 tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) around the country and providing scholarships to ~4,000 students each year.
And though the College Fund has been and is successful, engaging 75,000+ donors and annually providing $7.7 million in scholarships and $4.9 million to higher education institutions in service of Native communities, there remains an awareness and understanding gap among the general public. Going beyond web, email, social and fundraising event marketing, we envisioned a more tangible and positively disruptive engagement tactic. We turned to the student experience for inspiration.
It’s a difficult journey, with a dream at the start; greater opportunity at the finish; and dizzying obstacles throughout. In many ways, it’s a maze. We took this metaphor and made it real, creating a physical representation of the Native student’s experience and how the College Fund helps them.
Physically, the maze measured 30' by 30', making it impossible to miss on its debut at Mall of America in October 2019. Exterior walls featured beautiful, arresting imagery of scholars and American landscapes. Interior walls enveloped visitors with powerful images of scholars and a mix of statistics and quotes to deepen participants’ factual and emotional understanding of the mission.
THE REALITY IS, COLLEGE IS EXPENSIVE FOR EVERYONE.
But the poverty rate for American Indians is two times higher than the general population, making it even harder to pursue a college degree. Together, we have the power to break that cycle with education.
“We all need to understand that not everyone has the same opportunities.”
—Margarita, Diné Tribe
On many of the “dead end” walls, participants learned about the hurdles that Native students face in paying tuition, as well as navigating applications, transportation, childcare and more. Imagery and content balanced these obstacles with examples of great resilience, inspiring hope.
“It means a lot for me, my family, and my community, knowing that the American Indian College Fund is there to help us continue and enhance our way of life as Indigenous people.”
—Jason, Lummi Nation Tribe
While our aim was to build awareness of the College Fund’s mission, we also recognized that some people would want to engage right away. Satisfying these potential interests, we incorporated a branded photo booth, giving participants the opportunity to opt in and receive more information about the College Fund, and donation opportunities via cash or text.
As intended, we increased awareness of the College Fund and its mission. Mall of America promotions prior to the day of the event yielded 174,000 impressions. Day of, more than 44,000 people visited Mall of America, and 843 people went through the maze. Of those, 86 people took pictures in the photo booth, and nearly half of them opted in to receive more information. Also, 59 people donated more than $525.
The Mall of America installation was also a proof of concept. Participants and passersby were impressed by the activation, including several American Indians who shared about their own tribe and expressed gratitude for the maze and its purpose. With the quality of the installation and our meticulous attention to detail, including meeting the specifications of the grant that funded it, we know that the maze will go on to other sites. The College Fund is planning now for future installations.
