“A what?,” you ask?

That’s right, if you haven’t heard, we’re heavily involved with a unique fundraising platform in our community called The Rusty Ball. The event was the brainchild of local 80’s cover band sensation, The Rusty Griswolds. The band was getting so many requests to play benefit concerts that they knew they could never accommodate them all. So they decided to throw a party and invite charities of all sizes, shapes and missions to use the event as a revenue source. Event attendees select which charitable organization will directly benefit from the purchase of their tickets.

Openfield Creative’s role is to provide all design, development and social media marketing outreach for the event. We created the brand identity, website and provide the voice of The Rusty Ball on Twitter and Facebook. OFC Partner and Creative Strategist, Brian Keenan, serves as the marketing chair on the planning board for the event.

In year one, we proved it could work.
The first Rusty Ball was held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in November of 2008. The event featured 56 charities. It came together with less than 6 months planning but when 1,000 people showed up, we knew we had a great idea on our hands.

In year two, we tripled ticket sales resulting in a sell out.
The second annual Rusty Ball was moved to the Duke Energy Convention Center. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of all involved, the event sold out before the doors even opened. The demand was so great that calls for available tickets rang out from Facebook to Craiglist. That night, 3,000 people packed the house – a 300% increase in attendance during one of the most challenging fundraising years on record.

Save the date: November 20, 2010! We hope you’ll join us.

Comments are closed.