The Advertising and Design Club of Canada (ADCC) is Canada’s oldest non-profit advertising and design club. For 72 years, they have brought the Canadian advertising and design communities together with their year-round industry events, speaker series, student competitions and annual award show. They also curate Canada’s only digital archive of the best advertising and design dating back to 1948. But with the economic impact of COVID-19 hitting the industry hard, the ADCC suddenly found itself in danger of closing down.  

In order to keep the club alive, the ADCC needed to raise $75,000. And true to the industry it supports, there was a deadline: raise the money in one month or be forced to close their doors for good. 

For many creatives & designers, the ADCC is the first organizations they engage with as a junior, and the first award shows they attend. This early exposure to the excitement and the thrill of the industry is an unforgettable thing. 

Developed against a simple proposition – ‘24 hours to save 72 years of creativity’ – the idea was born from a phrase everyone in advertising/design understands: “pulling an all-nighter”. The effort had two key parts: an online fundraising webathon inspired by the nostalgia of old-fashioned TV telethons of yesteryear and a social campaign that drove awareness to the event itself. 

Creating 24 hours of original content during a pandemic was no easy feat, but it was unquestionably a successful one. After 72 years of the ADCC supporting creatives in Canada, the community returned the favour, raising the over $75,000 needed to save the ADCC. 

In 24 hours, in the middle of a global crisis and extreme economic uncertainty, Canada’s creative community came together on a global scale and raised every dollar needed to save the ADCC, preserving a beloved creative institution.