Catholic University of America

Catholic University of America (CUA) first partnered with Madhouse in 2018 to develop a video that would kick off the public phase of their capital campaign, Light the Way. Early in the campaign the key stakeholders needed to become aware of the campaign, along with the campaign goals and priorities.

As the University’s largest fundraising effort to date, Light the Way continued to build into year two. As the campaign continued to gain traction and awareness, the goal was to keep people engaged, excited, and motivated to give.

For the third year of the campaign, Madhouse proposed using the well known song “This Little Light of Mine” as a backdrop to communicate how impactful CUA is in educating and preparing students for the future. These students will be the next generation to innovate and lead, and the idea of sending them out in the world to shine their light resonated well with the key audience, but also aligned nicely with the campaign theme. Madhouse created a new arrangement for the song to create a more reflective and impactful mood, and featured a CUA student as the vocalist.

In the fourth and final year of the campaign, Madhouse presented a concept that is rooted in the the Catholic tradition of reading petitions at mass and offering up prayer to those in need. Not only did we know this ritual would connect and resonate with the key stakeholders at CUA, but also allow us to reference a wide range of important work being done there. The music selected adds some mystery initially, but also builds throughout the video in hopes of leaving viewers inspired.