USYD: FOR GOOD
SERVICES
WRITING, EDITING, PROOFREADING
CONTENT STRATEGY AND IDEATION SUPPORT
OVERVIEW & CHALLENGE
The University of Sydney was launching its most ambitious fundraising campaign to date – For good: the Campaign for Sydney.
This major event coincided with the university’s 175th anniversary, creating the ultimate opportunity to speak to a legacy that's shaped generations of leaders, innovators, and change makers, while addressing the potential to inspire all that comes next.
With the campaign name, strategy, and branding already established, the campaign required the right words and tone of voice to bring its purpose to life. What’s more, these words needed to speak directly to a range of audiences and demographics: Current donors. Future donors. Students. Alumni. Staff. The general public. Each audience with different motivations, connections to the University, and reasons to believe.
HIMMEL was engaged to create impactful and engaging words (short and long form) across a number of digital and print touch points – from the campaign website to a suite of user journey eDMs, key stakeholder speeches at the event-launch, the official Case for Support document, campaign ads, event invitations and post-event thank you’s.
OUR APPROACH
We leaned into what the University has always stood for: leadership that serves, advances, and empowers everyone.
All copy deliverables needed to honour the university’s strong legacy, while still speaking to the future. We created copy that felt ambitious yet warm, urgent yet without a sense of pressure. Words that embraced gravitas without being overly ceremonial.
Collaborating closely with the Marketing and Communications team within the Advancement portfolio, the final copy moved between the personal and the universal – individual stories of impact sitting alongside the big-picture vision of what universities can, and should, do in challenging times.
One of our many goals for the copy was to let the words feel intimate while still being able to apply them at scale – creating connection across generations and geographies. From launch event copy assets to campaign website copy, speaking notes and longer-form content creation – every piece was written to inspire action while respecting the agency of the reader.
Through a considered tone of voice, and carefully chosen words, we helped position the campaign across four transformative spaces: health, environment, STEM, and education for all – areas that reflected the University's 175-year legacy as well as its commitment to addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges.
We considered the many ways we could play with language to make our copy feel unique and powerful in its own right. From punchy headlines to sharp body copy that spoke directly to the goals of the campaign, each sentence was crafted to share key messages in a direct and impactful way. Bold but never brash, hopeful but grounded in reality, the voice reflected all the university stands for while speaking to audiences of all ages, genders, and locations.
This approach made space for diverse stories and voices in their own right – reminding every reader, whether they’re a student, researcher, donor, or simply someone who believes in the transformative power of education, that leadership for good starts with the belief in better for all.
RESULT
Serving as the connective tissue of the campaign – our copy and tone of voice united audiences around a shared purpose, asking them to consider joining a movement that's bigger than a single gift or gesture. It invites us all to think bigger – to pursue solutions that match the scale and urgency of the challenges we face - whether in our daily lives or on a larger scale.
The final copy also empowers the University and its staff and researchers to continue delivering transformational change both locally and throughout the world – uniting alumni, donors, and industry to amplify collective impact.
"It's been a true joy having the opportunity to expand our ongoing relationship with the University and to help them bring this next chapter within their story to life. Ever since its inception, The University of Sydney has worked to create real-world change for students, communities, and indeed the world - and the potential for what comes next has us all very excited,” says HIMMEL founder, Alana Wulff.
“We are honoured to have crafted the words for the For Good campaign and hope they inspire a strong belief in leadership for good, no matter who you are or what you do. In these challenging times, universities have the power and responsibility to serve the public and share their knowledge – and if they can do this while empowering individuals and communities to contribute to a better future, we will all benefit in the long run.”
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