Using Great Stories to Inspire Community Giving

In December, Gem Box Studio worked with The Hudson School (THS), based in Hoboken, NJ, on a month-long fundraising campaign. The Hudson School, which was founded in 1978, merged with Mustard Seed School in 2024. With the expansion, this year for the first time, it’s now serving students from preschool to 12th grade.

For the campaign, THS shared different stories, or “Reasons to Love The Hudson School,” via email and social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) along with a request to donate. By mid-month, those stories accumulated to form a digital magazine (built on Shorthand) and print magazine, both of which circulated broadly to current families, faculty/staff, alumni, and friends.

Here’s one story: “The Hudson School Magic,” an article celebrating the school’s multitude of 20+ year veteran teachers.

Here’s how the story was shared on LinkedIn (and Facebook).

Here’s how the story was shared on Instagram.

In the end, THS exceeded its December fundraising goal, and the focus on beloved, experienced faculty engendered a lot of joyful comments and good will.

The key to executing this effort was choosing stories that had a broad appeal across the community—from alumni of different decades to current faculty, staff, and students—and sharing them across many channels, since different generations tend to belong to different platforms. Great stories take time and effort—and can have real impact. Make sure your community sees them!