Visualizing Bottom Line’s Impact  Celebrating a nonprofit's dramatic impact using visual storytelling.

For a nonprofit whose mission is to level the playing field in college completion, FY22 had impressive impact, with a pronounced increase in grad rates for NYC-based Black and Latinx students. Bottom Line wanted to capture that story in a visually engaging way to share with their donors for an end of year appeal. 

Project Objectives

  • Tell Bottom Line’s story visually and powerfully to community members, including donors and philanthropic partners
  • Ensure staff tell the story, as they are on the front lines of the work 

I met with staff in a facilitated discussion who were encouraged to share openly and honestly. I listened carefully to understand the meaning behind the impact stats. Who really were these students – demographics, passions, culturally?

I took notes which I later generated into a rough sketch, and then drew a final image that was used in email communications. It read:

As we at Bottom Line wrap up another year of service, we wanted to share this piece of art displaying several exciting new indications of our impact that surfaced this year. All of this good news has further validated what we already knew: Bottom Line is a powerful and proven driver of educational achievement and economic mobility, particularly for Black and Latinx students. Donate TODAY to help us strengthen our work with these critical populations – we greatly appreciate it!

Bottom Line was thrilled to be newly representing their work in this way.

The drawing visually portrayed key moments in students’ lives such as graduation and standing in front of a home they’ve bought to indicate the impact of these graduates’ increased earning power.