United Way of Greater Nashville works every day to strengthen the community by uniting partners, mobilizing resources and helping thousands of Middle Tennesseans thrive.
United Way of Greater Nashville touches thousands of lives through more than 250 partner organizations, but the scale of that work can be hard to grasp. We found a way to make it simple, human and impossible to forget.
The Challenge
Showcasing Every Way United Way Shows Up
United Way’s partnerships span more than 250 organizations, all with the goal of helping improve the lives of Nashville’s residents. But the depth and breadth of its services often go unnoticed.
Our challenge was finding a way to clearly and concisely communicate just how much the organization does, without overwhelming the audience.
When an organization’s impact is wide-ranging, clarity matters as much as completeness. United Way didn’t need to say everything at once. It just needed the right metaphor to bring its work into focus and make the whole feel understandable, human and memorable.
The Work
The Oak Tree That Explained Everything
We developed an educational animated video that distilled United Way’s many services into a single, intuitive narrative.
By comparing United Way’s work to a large oak tree, we created a visual and emotional framework: deep roots representing foundational support, a strong trunk symbolizing stability and connection, and far-reaching branches illustrating the many ways United Way serves children, individuals and families across the region.
The video brought the oak tree concept to life through custom animation, built directly from United Way’s brand and visual language.
Each element of the animation worked together to show how diverse services are connected, underscoring United Way’s role as a unifying force in the community rather than a collection of standalone programs. The result was a simple, approachable way to tell a complex story.
AGENCY OF RECORD: The branded video is just one aspect of our longstanding relationship with United Way. We also built the organization’s website and continue to manage it. We create =the annual report. And we manage annual advertising campaigns on behalf of the agency’s partners, including VITA and Hands on Nashville.