December 6, 1845 may sound like an arbitrary day to many of you, but to the men who proudly wear the letters Alpha Sigma Phi, the date represents brotherhood, pride and heritage. Alpha Sigma Phi is a fraternity founded at Yale University, 167 years ago on December 6 by three sophomore men – Louis Manigault, Horace Spangler Weiser and Stephen Ormsby Rhea. The purpose of the organization, then and now, is “To Better the Man, through the creation and perpetuation of brotherhood founded upon the values of character… Silence, Charity, Purity, Honor, Patriotism.”

At this point, you are probably asking yourself, why do the ladies of Rhyme & Reason Design know so much about a Fraternity? And we’d have to agree that it does seem a little odd, seeing as much of our work has focused on Sorority initiatives. However, we love the Greek community in general so when Steve Latour, the Senior Director of Development for Alpha Sigma Phi Foundation reached out to us for help developing a campaign for their Founders Day Challenge, we jumped at the opportunity.

Designing for a Fraternity is a bit different than designing for a Sorority. There’s the obvious difference of the target market gender, but there’s also the aesthetic and messaging that further separate the two. Colors, styles, personality, even verbiage varies from house to house.

Now of course we could focus on the many differences between Fraternities and Sororities, but in reality what we really needed to understand was Alpha Sigma Phi as an organization – their goals, their values, their mission and their vision, especially how they relate to the Founders Day Challenge. In so doing, we discovered that the 2012 Founders Day Challenge was dedicated “For Every New Brother”. The message was crafted to resonate with all members of Alpha Sigma Phi, from the freshman pledges to the retired alumni. The objective from a monetary standpoint was to raise $167,000 for the Fraternity’s growth and development of leaders. The goal from a design aspect was of course to encourage individuals to donate to the Challenge, but we also needed to create a campaign that touched the brotherhood on a more emotional level.

In order to connect with the target market, we developed several digital touch points – a landing page, a trio of enewsletter templates, a custom Facebook fan page tab, a custom Facebook cover photo and a shareable badge. Throughout the month of November and culminating today December 6, 2012, the Founders Day Challenge design materials have encouraged brothers to donate, share and give back to not only the organization that helped them become better men, but also to provide the same opportunity “For Every New Brother”. Take a look at AlphaSigmaPhi.org and enjoy watching as men across the nation share their brotherhood on Facebook.