Let me back up.

For months we had been working on a redesign of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas (UWMD) website. Coinciding with the launch was a huge Unite Forever Gala to celebrate their monumental work in North Texas over the past 90 years. A handful of our team flew out to Dallas for the event to provide technical support, social media assistance, and — perhaps not least of all — peace of mind.

 

Explain? You bet.

 

Here at Fifty & Fifty, we pride ourselves on going all in for our clients. Yes, we’re a design agency. Yes, we build websites. Yes, we focus on nonprofit storytelling, brand messaging, and have in-house dev ninjas. But we’re also dedicated to going above and beyond those services to make sure our clients have everything they need to effectively utilize the digital space to support the incredible work they do.

 

A key element of the UWMD gala was a night-of matching campaign where all donations up to $1 million would be matched. As part of their redesigned site, they implemented Donately as their fundraising platform (quick overview: Donately is an incredibly simple and efficient platform that manages donations and fundraising campaigns for non-profits and social causes, and was founded by Mr. Javan Van Gronigen who also founded Fifty & Fifty).

Since it was imperative that the functionality run smoothly for the barrage of donations that could potentially come through during the course of the event, members of our team acted as the on-site point people. They were also working in tandem with our satellite team in San Diego who were giving us play-by-plays of activity and flagging potential issues.

 

Shortly after we arrived in the morning at the AT&T Stadium (aka: Cowboys stadium/Jerry’s world), we went on a tour and walked onto the field which had been converted into a giant platform to host a 1500+ person dinner, a stage, and a concert pit. Looming above was the jumbotron featuring our handiwork that would call people to donate.

 

And so our joy began. That particular joyful moment was two-fold: Seeing our words and functionality on the largest screen in the free world was thrilling. And the fact that the words and functionality were lending themselves to support the endeavors of an organization that is literally changing millions of lives was bittersweet. We got to tangibly see how our creative contributions were directly assisting the imperative work of UWMD.

 

If you’re wondering what the rest of the Fifty & Fifty crew was there to do…we were assisting in social media for the event and were tasked with roaming to capture moments that could be used for live coverage on UWMD’s social channels. Let’s be honest, we were taking pictures anyway so we were happy to lend them to the greater good of showing the world what was happening. (And just so you know, Ryan and I are still fighting over who took the below picture.)

The day was long and our feet were numb. We have a gazillion stories about all we saw and all we did. But here’s really the whole point of this post. You ready? Teamwork wins.

 

Yes, we enjoyed a phenomenal concert co-headlined by Usher & Blake Shelton to cap off the gala. Yes, we ate our weight in Texas-sized portions of food. Yes, we rubbed elbows with Dallas Cowboys legends (see my 2015 Christmas card below). But the best part was the overwhelming fulfillment of being there for our client — being present, being supportive, being on their team — and doing whatever we could to alleviate the massive deliverables of that event.

 

It’s not just about getting our clients where they want to be. It’s joining them in the final push across the finish line. It’s not just ensuring that their needs are met, but that their expectations are exceeded. It’s what we do.