March 3rd Tornado Response

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee

In the wake of destructive tornadoes, power outages, road closures, and rescues throughout Davidson and surrounding counties, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee activated the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund to support the affected communities and nonprofits helping victims address their ongoing needs.

Grants from the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund are made to nonprofits providing vital services, both immediate and long-term. Our work helps nonprofits concentrate on delivering crucial services while we “connect generosity with need” and our community sets out to rebuild lives.

The role I was fortunate to play in the CFMT response to the tornadoes that hit our community was to create a “branding” that would reflect our efforts and stand apart in the sea of information that would be circulating. We used a staff photographer to document the areas hit and had a wide range of media for communicating. In a short amount of time, I created social media graphics, billboards, press kits, signage, website elements, board and committee information sheets, and print ads. In the months that followed, I produced postcards and t-shirts for neighborhood canvassing and added an in-depth feature to our CFMT Newsletter. We also produced a 6-month report that was made available to the community. The branding created in the early days of this disaster was carried through to all of these communication outlets.